Helpcreatingdetailitinarary for 48hours in HongKong
Oct 24th, 2010, 04:50 PM
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Helpcreatingdetailitinarary for 48hours in HongKong
I have been on this forum a number months ago and appreciate the input. I arrive in HongKong the afternoon February9,leave February11 2:55PMflight to VietNam(Friday-meet colleguein Hanoi). Will Stay at JWMarriott (free). Would appreciate a detailed itinary so I can cover the most in TST and HongKong Island in those 48hours. Probably would not want to travel to Stanley,etc. Desire somehow to see the light show (best from which side-which location best? Which day Wed -day of arrival or Thursday; ride the ferry; go to the peak; walk along TST along the waterfront and sites. Visit and walk around to multiple areas in HongKong Island. I was thinking of leaving most of luggage in airport; bring carry-on go to TST first walk along water front and then a ferry to HK then to my hotel. Maybe better to take metro to HKisland and go to hotel and the peak; then go back to TST in evening? Itinarary for Thursday also would like. Thanks Jack
Oct 24th, 2010, 11:02 PM
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For ideas of what to do in Hong Kong, I would first direct you to your own earlier post on this trip, see http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...ith-hotels.cfm. Your message there mentined shopping as an interest, but if you have other interests, it would be helpful to know when trying to make suggestions for such a short itin. Museums? Local street markets? Temples? WWII history? Beaches/views? (In the latter two cases, I would not rule out Stanely where you don't have to shop, but would appreicate the views and can visit Stanely cemetary.)
I personally would not want to have even just carry-on bags when walking along the waterfront in TST and taking the Star Ferry. You may be lugging those bags around for quite a long walk if you do the entire esplanade. And to use the Star Ferry you will have to go up/down stairs and inclined boat ramps. Carrying around shoulder bags or a small wheeled bag just would not be my idea of a fun way to do this. I would go to the hotel first. The JW is about equidistant from either the Central Star Ferry or the Wan Chai Star Ferry, so you really have a choice. Going from Wan Chai offers a marginally longer ride and perhaps a better view as it goes more diagonally across the harbour. But not a huge difference I would say.
You might consider going to the horse races in Happy Valley on the Wednesday, as that is a quintessential Hong Kong activity, and these are the first races after the Lunar New Year, so should be extra popular and hopefully extra lucky. First race is at 7:00 pm and the last at 10:30 pm, but you don’t have to go for the first or stay for all of them. You could actually walk from the Marriott to Happy Valley, all in its about 1.5 miles and would take about a half hour; but it is flat, and on the way you could stop by the Wan Chai markets, the Pak Tai Temple and/or the Tin Hau Temple. The markets and temples close around 7 pm, however the markets are quite interesting between 5-7 pm as people are out shopping for dinner. You could have dinner in Wan Chai or near Happy Valley in the Times Square area and continue on to Happy Valley. (You can also take the street tram or Bus #10 to Happy Valley, or a taxi. But if you want to see neighborhoods, walking to Happy Valley would be one to see some.) You could also go to the Peak first by tram for sunset, have a look around and possibly dinner, and then take the #15B bus which will take you to Happy Valley.
IMO the Peak is best done in the late afternoon so you can stay for sunset and then see the night views as well. In February, that would mean being on the Peak Tram at about 5:30 pm. You can go earlier if you want more daylight views, sunset is at 6:15 pm or so and it will be dark by 6:30 pm. I would say to avoid the Peak in the mornings in February, as it tends to be foggy, but if you get a clear morning and want to go, then by all means do. You can also take the #15 bus from in front of the Marriott to or from the Peak if you don’t want to take the tram, or if you want to go up more than once and don’t want to pay for the tram.
As for the light show, as I said in your other post, it really is a non-event, and I would not re-arrange my itin to see it. In Feb you may have fog as well which may make views a bit more obscured. I don’t know that there is a “best” place to see it, as different sides and elevations offer different, but not necessarily better, views. In any event, you can see the show from both sides of the harbour, as buildings on both sides participate, including buildings fairly far back on the Kowloon side. Judging from the flashbulbs one can see, the hordes of tourists who watch it do so mostly from the TST waterfront. There is music and commentary on the waterfront, and the buildings apparently “introduce” themselves (I have yet to see it from the TST side, but this is what I have been told. ) You can see it from the Peak (esp if you go up the top of the Peak Tram tower where no trees will obscure views). You would be able to see it from most harbour view hotels or restaurants on the Hong Kong or Kowloon side. Depending on where your room is at the JW Marriott, you may have a fairly good view from your room; otherwise you can walk to the water in front of the hotel and see it from there, there are also some restaurants near your hotel which would offer views like the Japanese San San Trois in the CITIC building. You can see it from the Star Ferry crossing the harbour, which may be one of the better places to see it, esp the ferry to Hung Hom as you would get a longer view on both sides. You could also take the Hutong junk on their cocktail circuit to see it, see www.aqua.com.hk for info. You can see it from the outdoor bar at SEVVA on Hong Kong Island, which IMO is probably the best place to see it as you can have liquor during it which helps a lot in the enjoyment. The lobby bar at the Intercon hotel may also work, but there is a 2-drink minimum. The Harbourside restaurant in the Intercon would offer views and dinner at the same time, or if you want to pay for it, Nobu and Spoon offer good views as well. The Woolomoolo Steak House wouild be an option, thre is a brand-new one on the 21st floor oThe ONe in TST where views should be very good, or they have an outlget at 66 Mody Raod wich also offers views. Hutong, the old standby, would also work.
I personally would not want to have even just carry-on bags when walking along the waterfront in TST and taking the Star Ferry. You may be lugging those bags around for quite a long walk if you do the entire esplanade. And to use the Star Ferry you will have to go up/down stairs and inclined boat ramps. Carrying around shoulder bags or a small wheeled bag just would not be my idea of a fun way to do this. I would go to the hotel first. The JW is about equidistant from either the Central Star Ferry or the Wan Chai Star Ferry, so you really have a choice. Going from Wan Chai offers a marginally longer ride and perhaps a better view as it goes more diagonally across the harbour. But not a huge difference I would say.
You might consider going to the horse races in Happy Valley on the Wednesday, as that is a quintessential Hong Kong activity, and these are the first races after the Lunar New Year, so should be extra popular and hopefully extra lucky. First race is at 7:00 pm and the last at 10:30 pm, but you don’t have to go for the first or stay for all of them. You could actually walk from the Marriott to Happy Valley, all in its about 1.5 miles and would take about a half hour; but it is flat, and on the way you could stop by the Wan Chai markets, the Pak Tai Temple and/or the Tin Hau Temple. The markets and temples close around 7 pm, however the markets are quite interesting between 5-7 pm as people are out shopping for dinner. You could have dinner in Wan Chai or near Happy Valley in the Times Square area and continue on to Happy Valley. (You can also take the street tram or Bus #10 to Happy Valley, or a taxi. But if you want to see neighborhoods, walking to Happy Valley would be one to see some.) You could also go to the Peak first by tram for sunset, have a look around and possibly dinner, and then take the #15B bus which will take you to Happy Valley.
IMO the Peak is best done in the late afternoon so you can stay for sunset and then see the night views as well. In February, that would mean being on the Peak Tram at about 5:30 pm. You can go earlier if you want more daylight views, sunset is at 6:15 pm or so and it will be dark by 6:30 pm. I would say to avoid the Peak in the mornings in February, as it tends to be foggy, but if you get a clear morning and want to go, then by all means do. You can also take the #15 bus from in front of the Marriott to or from the Peak if you don’t want to take the tram, or if you want to go up more than once and don’t want to pay for the tram.
As for the light show, as I said in your other post, it really is a non-event, and I would not re-arrange my itin to see it. In Feb you may have fog as well which may make views a bit more obscured. I don’t know that there is a “best” place to see it, as different sides and elevations offer different, but not necessarily better, views. In any event, you can see the show from both sides of the harbour, as buildings on both sides participate, including buildings fairly far back on the Kowloon side. Judging from the flashbulbs one can see, the hordes of tourists who watch it do so mostly from the TST waterfront. There is music and commentary on the waterfront, and the buildings apparently “introduce” themselves (I have yet to see it from the TST side, but this is what I have been told. ) You can see it from the Peak (esp if you go up the top of the Peak Tram tower where no trees will obscure views). You would be able to see it from most harbour view hotels or restaurants on the Hong Kong or Kowloon side. Depending on where your room is at the JW Marriott, you may have a fairly good view from your room; otherwise you can walk to the water in front of the hotel and see it from there, there are also some restaurants near your hotel which would offer views like the Japanese San San Trois in the CITIC building. You can see it from the Star Ferry crossing the harbour, which may be one of the better places to see it, esp the ferry to Hung Hom as you would get a longer view on both sides. You could also take the Hutong junk on their cocktail circuit to see it, see www.aqua.com.hk for info. You can see it from the outdoor bar at SEVVA on Hong Kong Island, which IMO is probably the best place to see it as you can have liquor during it which helps a lot in the enjoyment. The lobby bar at the Intercon hotel may also work, but there is a 2-drink minimum. The Harbourside restaurant in the Intercon would offer views and dinner at the same time, or if you want to pay for it, Nobu and Spoon offer good views as well. The Woolomoolo Steak House wouild be an option, thre is a brand-new one on the 21st floor oThe ONe in TST where views should be very good, or they have an outlget at 66 Mody Raod wich also offers views. Hutong, the old standby, would also work.
Oct 29th, 2010, 02:13 PM
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wAOW!! I DO NOT THINK MUSEUMS, HIGH END SHOPPING, BEACHES, WW11 ARE FOR ME AND MY WIFE. lOCAL COLOR, SEEING WHAT THE PEOPLE DO WOULD BE WHAT I WOULD GRAVITATE TO. WILL SHOW THIS TO MY WIFE AND SEE WHAT SHE SAYS PRIOOR TO MY ASKING MORE QUESTIONS. THANK YOU
