24 HOURS: Hong Kong

Just 24 hours in Hong Kong? I feel bad for you. Thankfully, Hong Kong is one of the most dense and small cities in the world so even if you just have one day (perhaps on a layover) you’ll be able to get a good flavor of what this megacity has to offer. Hop on the Airport Express and you’ll be in the city in under 30 minutes.

Start your visit off with a stroll through Hong Kong Park, which you can access through the MTR Admiralty Station and Pacific Place shopping mall. It’s a beautiful lushly landscaped haven among the glass and concrete mega towers. There’s also a delicious vegetarian teahouse situated in the middle of the park, Lok Cha, where you can fill up on dumplings, cakes, finger sandwiches and more.

Hong Kong Park is a good starting point for your journey up to Victoria Peak – which you can access via a roughly 30-45 minute walk/hike or a ride up on The Peak Tram. Mind you the railway may end up taking longer depending on lines, which often stretch up to an hour or longer. Victoria Peak offers the quintessential Hong Kong view; harbours, skyscraping skyscrapers, lush hillsides, ships, and even Mainland China in the distance.

If you took the tram up, take a walk down or vice versa. Regardless of where you go, try and end up back near Pacific Place, because you’ll be catching the MTR from the Admiralty station back across the harbor to Tsim Sha Tsui. Peruse some of the shops but hold back your appetite because you’ll be grabbing high tea at The Peninsula Hotel – a Hong Kong rite of passage. Depending on when you finish your classy date at The Peninsula you may have some time to peruse the plethora of mega shopping malls, the seedy Chunking Mansions, urban Kowloon Park or even just wander along the Kowloon Waterfront Promenade and soak in the views to Hong Kong Island. From the waterfront hop on the basically free Star Ferry for one of the most dazzling ferry rides you’ll ever take, across the harbor to the Central Piers/IFC.

By now it’s around 6pm, the sun is setting. Grab a beer at The Beer Bay, a little shack along the pier that sells DOZENS of craft brews from around the world and grab a seat for some satisfactory people watching. Or, if that’s a bit too casual for you, grab an Uber over to the Princes Building in Central and head on up to the rooftop for a decadent cocktail at Sevva. Either way you’re well positioned for an evening on the island.

For dinner, since you’re in Hong Kong, we’re going classy. Walk or take a taxi over to Sheung Wan, the hipster capital of Hong Kong. We’ll be dining at Three Monkeys, a hip cocktail den with a delectable Japanese focused menu that even vegetarians go nuts for. Being on Hollywood Road, you’re just a stroll away from some of the city’s greatest cocktail bars and clubs. The heart of Hong Kong’s gay community is centered here in Sheung Wan, on Jervois Street or if you’re looking for something a bit more Hong Kong’y, take an Uber over to Lan Kwai Fong – no less than 20 bars and restaurants, a smattering of clubs and thousands of people crammed into just a couple of blocks. Stay til the sun comes up if you’d like. The Airport Express starts running at 5 a.m. so you’ll be able to get back to the airport just in time for your flight.