I´m travelling to Hong Kong for christmas, I´ll be there for 5 days. I´ve read about Macau but I´m wondering if there is anything else to do there besides gambling and shopping. Is it really worth a visit?

I enjoyed our visit to Macau. There are still charming historical parts of Macau which we liked. We also went to have a lovely meal at Fernando's - one of the best meals we had and one of th least expensive. I didn't find any shopping of interest and have no interest in gambling, but we really enjoyed our day trip to Macau. It was a nice contrast to Hong Kong.

Although the formerly pretty harbour has been ruined by land reclamation and development, there's a day's worth of walking around hilly narrow streets of ancient housing to various fortifications, churches, and a hill-top museum of Macau's history, which is well-done. The Portuguese and far less prosperous development of Macau is visible in quite a different type of charm from Hong Kong, and not yet hidden by the massive mainland investment in the run-up to the handover of 1999 and since. Signs are in Chinese and Portuguese, there's still a significant Portuguese and Macanese population, bacalhau can be found on many a menu, along with other hints of colonial charm (e.g. if you go to eat at the Clube Militar.)

And although gambling may not be of interest, at the other end the massive expansion of gambling in Vegas style, in what is becoming the new centre of gravity of Macau where land reclamation has joined two islands together, is something to look at, including a version of Vegas' Venetian, but with sampans amidst the gondolas. Even so, only a few minutes by taxi from the centre of maximum development (now rather slowed by economic conditions) there are villages completely undisturbed by these changes.

The journey past assorted islands, motley shipping, and across the Pearl River Delta at high speed by turbocat can also be a pleasure.

Peter N-H

There used to be an old Portuguese colonial hotel called the Buena Vista. This was in the 70s. Does anyone know if it's still there?

gertie3751 - The Buena Vista has been converted to the residence of the Portugese consulate in Macau.

Well well! Thank you for that. I have happy memories of drinks on the verandah and large light airy rooms with ceiling fans. They were making a film there. We treated ourselves to a bit of posh (and it was quite cheap and rather run-down) while backpacking through SEAsia! I'm going back next year and would like to look it up.

gertie - I have had many Sunday brunch on the verandah there as a kid in the 70's.

thanks for the tips everybody!

I don’t gamble, and the Cotai casino strip makes me weep for what Macau used to be, but I do enjoy the old town parts of Macau city, and also find that Taipa and Coloane (esp Coloane), have much less of a city feel, offer some nice beaches and parks, and are mostly devoid of the hordes of tourists you can find in the old town in Macau. The little town near Hac Sa is cute (this is where Fernandos, mentioned above, is located) and the village of Coloane itself has a Tin Hau temple and the famous and very good egg tarts at the Lord Stow Bakery. In Macau city itself, once you get out of the main historic core around the cathedral and the steps of St Paul’s, it can be very quiet indeed and much less crowed. For a good walk, try Rue de Sant Antonio and Calcada do Embaixador and the areas around those streets.

As you will be in town over Christmas, I would suggest you NOT schedule a Macau trip on December 25, 26 or Sunday the 27th, as it is quite likely to be very crowded on those days (the 25th and 26th are public holidays in Hong Kong and Sundays are always quite crowded). If you do have to choose one of those days, then I would strongly recco that you make bookings for the ferry both outward and esp return, as this may save you quite a bit of time waiting in line for tickets and for seats on a ferry. See http://www.turbojet.com.hk or http://www.nwff.com.hk/ for details on doing this (the latter ferries depart from the Kowloon side of the harbour). For the ferries, get first class tickets, there will be more available and it’s less crowded.

Also, when you arrive at the ferry pier in Macau, it is not necessary to wait in line for a taxi to get to town. Just take a bus (buses usually have no or a very short line). Take the #3 or 3A bus which will take you to the Senado Square area in the centre of town for MOP$2.50. (There is an ATM machine inside the ferry terminal, before the glass exit doors, look for signs.) You can take the #25 bus down to Coloane from Senado Square in about 30 minutes, it costs MOP$4. A taxi from the same area will cost about MOP$75 (just under US$10). There are other buses which will take you to Hac Sa beach, check the bus stops or a guidebook.

You can also hire a taxi for a few hours to give you a tour around, this will be around US$20, these guys will be waiting when you come out the glass doors into the taxi/bus area and will approach you, so don’t worry about finding one.

A street map will be helpful. You can can get maps at the tourist office at the regular ferry piers in Macau. Most larger guidebooks for Hong Kong/Macau (like Fodors, also have city maps of Macau in them as well.

Well Cicerone, aren´t you quite a guide!!!!
thanks so much for all the very usefull tips! I´m definitely considering the trip right now. So, do you think Dec. 23rd. or 24th. are good dates to go there? I´ll be in HK from Dec. 23-27.
once again, thanks a lot everybody!!

Better go on the 23rd. By 24th, some people in HK may take early leave and head to Macau, so ferry tickets may be tight and the piers more crowded.

While it might be a bit strange on your very first day in Hong Kong to go to Macau, the 23rd may be a better day. Hard to say. Some offices will close early on the 24th, so ferries from Macau on the evening of the 24th may be crowded. But if you have a reservation for a ferry, this is not as much of an issue, IMO.

The 23rd is a Wednesday, and one thing you might consider doing that night is going to the horse races at Happy Valley. (I am guessing by your screen name that you might like to gamble). This is the quintessential Hong Kong experience I would say. See http://www.hkjc.com/english/index.asp, click on “Horse Racing”, then "Come Racing" and then "Overseas Visitors" for info. You can either stand in the stands or sit and have a meal at a place like the Stable Bend Terrace. In the “winter” weather, it’s really a fun night out. (There are also races in Sha Tin on Sunday afternoon the 27th, but this may not work with your flight schedule and Sha Tin is not as conveniently located.)

The other thing is that I would say that you should go to the Kowloon waterfront on Christmas eve night and walk the esplanade and Salisbury Road (which is usually closed to traffic that night) as this is just a fun thing to do. Thousands of people are out seeing the Christmas lights and just relaxing. It’s a carnival atmosphere, and it’s one of my favourite nights in Hong Kong. So you might miss that if you were in Macau. (Lines for the Star Ferry can be long on that night if you need to go across the harbour, but it’s a scenic way to travel, and the MTR won’t be much better, so I say suck it up and take the ferry for the views and experience.)

If you are planning on going to the Big Buddha on Lantau at any time on the 25th or 26th and you want to take the cable car, then you absolutely should (I would even say <i>must</i make a reservation now so as to avoid having to waiting hours in line (which is likely to be far more time than you will spend AT the Buddha). See http://www.np360.com.hk/html/eng/front/index.asp. (I would recommend the “crystal cabin” as this will allow you to jump most of the line for the cable car. A reservation allows you to skip the line for tickets, but there is then a line for the cars themselves, which can be just as long as the line for tickets.) I would say to only take the cable car one way, as the bus ride actually offers great views too, or you can walk down, there are some wonderful walks from difficult to easy.

If you don’t have cable car tickets, then to get to or from the Buddha, just take the bus either from Tung Chung MTR (Bus #23) or from the Mui Wo ferry pier (Bus #2). Both are likely to have lines, but IMO buses run more often from Tung Chung so I would take the MTR option. (On Sundays and Public holidays, Bus #1R will take you to/from the Nathan Road area in Kowloon <i>right to the Buddha</i> in about 1.5 hours. This may be a good option too, but again there are likely to be lines for this bus.) The only reason to go via a ferry IMO, is to do the wonderful Lantau Trail #12 walk or the Trappist Monastery Walk, both of which are very interesting, not difficult (although there are some uphill portions, this is Hong Kong after all), and can be done before or after a visit to the Buddha. Personally, I think there are many other things to do in Hong Kong rather than going to the Buddha, but I know it makes a lot of people’s list.

thanks again Cicerone! so many tips and all so very useful.
Actually, I´ve seen many Budhas already, so, do yo mean this one is not worth a visit?

What I mostly mean is that going to the Buddha involves a lot of time and effort to see a perfectly nice, but not overly inspiring, Buddha, IMO. It is very large, which is impressive. But if you have seen the large outdoor Buddhas in Japan, the PRC, India or Thailand (or some of the large indoor ones in Thailand), then it may not even impress you that much. And to me it does not have the serenity or approachability of many of the Buddha figures you find in Thailand or Cambodia.

The entire trip out and back will take about 4 hours, and that does not include time spent waiting in line for the cable car, which can add like 2 hours just one way unless you have reserved ahead of time. And in my experience, most people seem to spend less than an hour at the place. So the effort-to-experience-ratio just does not seem worth it. (Also, right now there is a good bit of construction going on around the monastery area so there is dust, noise, cranes, etc.) I find Lantau to be a really beautiful island with great beaches, walks/hikes, little villages and some other interesting monasteries, but the average visitor does not see this. They spend over an hour each way getting to the Buddha (not including wait time at the cable car) about 45 minutes at the Buddha/monastery, and perhaps have a rather average vegetarian meal (indoors with no views, on an island with some fun beachside restaurants and wonderful picnic opportunities). I think that a trip to the Buddha combined with another activity on Lantau is a great way to spend time, but just going out and back to the Buddha alone is really not something I would do and would not encourage my visitors to do either.

Thanks for all the great information, I wasn't sure if I wanted to go to Macau. But I've decided to go now. Thanks again

Macau, like Hong Kong, is worth visiting for that fascinating blend of east and west.