I made my friends laugh when they asked me about my itinerary for my Hongkong trip. I told them that i want to go hiking and explore nature at Hongkong. Well, anyone knows usually people going to Hongkong for shopping or feasting! But hey, i can be different right?
I remembered my first trip to HK was very touristy, Disneyland is always on everyone’s itinerary whenever they go HK. But this time round, we look for more nature related activities at HK. Surprisingly HK has more things to offer beside shopping, eateries and their famous skyscrappers, HK also has a lot of nature hidden gems which only known by locals.
We even planned a trip to Sai Kung, booked a transport there via KKDay.com, but it was cancelled due to bad weather (in fact that fated day is Typhoon warning 8). But i promised that one day we will plan to go there again. We just realized how bad the weather at HK just a week before the trip. Was i regretted for planning all outdoor activities? Nope! Not at all! It was cold and windy, or sometimes rain, but we went ahead doing things that we love! EXPLORING NATURE!
Day 1 – Sai Wan Swimming Shed
This place seems underrated but trust me it’s such a hidden gem in hustle bustle city life at HK, visit this place and feel something different, breezy winds, and rough waves. You can even go for swimming here!
How to go there?
Sai Wan Swimming Shed is located near Kennedy Town MTR station, the easiest and cheapest way to go is by walking around 15-20mins along Victoria Road until you find the signage (in white and red writing) then you can go down from there just follow the steps down towards the bridge.
You can reach this place by bus or hire cab also.
Day 2 – Architectural Viewing: TUVE Hotel & Zaha Hadid’s The Jockey Club Innovation Tower
2nd day is the Typhoon day, when we stepped out from our hotel, we didn’t go for any outdoor activity, we just had a walk to view few architectures around the city.
First, TUVE Hotel
Located in east of Victoria Park, the uniquely decorated TUVE is a quiet space in contrast to the nearby bustling Causeway Bay area. The hotel is a 5-minute walk from Tin Hau MTR Station and a 15-minute walk from Causeway Bay shopping area. If you are not the hotel guest don’t miss out the unique feature wall in front of the hotel.
Second, Zaha Hadid’s Jockey Club Innovation Tower
This building of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University located on Chatham Road South in Hung Hom district, Kowloon. It was designed by Pritzker-prize-winning architect Zaha Hadid. If you are minimalist seeker, this is for you!
We didn’t go inside as it need guided tour, you can find out more about the tour on this link:
http://www.sd.polyu.edu.hk/en/j.c.-innovation-tower/tours
How to go there?
Walking distance from Hong Hum MTR Station
We didn’t continue our exploration due to raining and strong winds. We found out that the typhoon is already at warning 8 that time and all the shops were closed. Nothing else can be done therefore we decided to rest at hotel.
Or you can go to random Landmark or skyscrapper building too!
Or you can just hangout around MTR and taking photos with their unique colourful mosaic tiles.
Day 3 – Lion Rock
The weather not getting any better but we still decided to go for hiking, to Lion Rock this time.
Can u see the tip of the mountain looks like Lion head?! Omg it looks so damn far far away!
At the end of Sha Tin Pass Road you will find the Lion Pavilion. This is starting point of the forest area.
After at least walking 2hrs from MTR station finally we saw another sign. Very inclined slope made it even harder to climb, took longer to reach.
There are so many viewing spots.
After walking for quite sometime we found another sign. It’s stated Lion Rock in 0.5m, we thought it was super near! Yes actually! But the slope is even much more inclined!
The uneven steps and pavement in muddy condition made it harder to climb. That day the rain shower were also come and go! We both wet due to rain at few spots along our way.
BUT… We finally made it!
Even tho we took very long to reach due to rain, as we need to go looking for shelter at few points waiting the rain stop.
No one on top of Lion Rock so we have freedom to take photos!
Only met a guy just arrived when we just finished taking our photos
But the view is very nice omg! Even tho is super windy!
Thanks for cooling weather too, we didn’t get any heat stroke.
Lion Rock 495m altitute!
To reach the top, we need 3hrs and walk downhill is only 1hr, lol!
Oh but you can hire cab halfway before the Lion Rock gate, so you don’t need to climb from very beginning and can save an hour to go up.
How to go there?
Take the MTR to either Diamond Hill MTR Station or Won Tai Sin MTR station (Exit B3). From there you have 2 options to get to the start of the trail: walk an hour to the start of the trail or take a 10-minute taxi. It is a 1.6-mile walk from both MTR stations, and the taxi ride is about the same.
Rate: Medium Hiking, 3-4 hours return journey.
Day 4 – Dragon’s Back and The Peak
On day 4, we decided to hike Dragon’s Back even tho the weather not getting any better, well at least it’s not raining!
Dragon’s Back hiking is very famous recently among the tourists, because it’s consider very easy to reach peak.
The hiking track looks like this! Uneven pavement, so must wear sport shoes.
Few view points along the hiking track.
Cloudy weather so cooling just nice for hiking!
Yup this is the top view of Dragon’s Back, the shape looks like dragon.
Very windy, take a lot of courage to climb the rock. The wind almost blown away my cap ?
The peak can be reached within an hour hiking, pretty easy!
Didn’t hv chance to visit the Shek O beach bcos we need to rush back check out and change hotel.
How to go there?
Start the trail from To Tei Wan. Take the MTR to Shau Kei Wan Station and go to Exit A3. From there, take Bus 9 to To Tei Wan, journey around 30 minutes. Or take a cab from the Shau Kei Wan MTR Station with only 10 minutes long journey.
Rate: Easy Hiking, 1.5 hours return journey for short route.
Hiking in the morning and we spent our afternoon at The Peak.. Collabs with KKDay, since our Sai Kung island trip was cancelled, we decided to utilize the voucher for priority tram ticket, basically it’s like special ticket to cut queue going up to The Peak, save at least 2hr queueing. Worth it!
Day 5 – Hot Pool at The Royal Plaza Hotel
Even tho our room got upgraded to corner suite room, but we didn’t get city view, in front our window is super huge tree blocking the view 🙁
Hanging around their spacious lobby..
But you still can walk around nearby hotel in busy HK street.
I guess mid of the year till end of the year are not the best time to visit HK due to typhoon, based on my experience, end of December to February weather started to be more pleasant with its cooling temperature and less raining.
If raining, you can go shopping, hehe.. Classic architectural in HK quite unique too, this is at Harbour City area.
And this is at Peninsula Hotel…
Where to Eat?
1. Dim Sum: Dim Sum Icon and Dim Sum Square – what’s the meaning going to HK without eating Dim Sum right?!
2. Hot Pot: Top Grade Hotpot – We had hotpot to warm our belly on rainy day. This were all condiments and you can make your own chili or dipping sauce. Mala is average but tomato soup is good! The hotpot is decent, but the good thing they hv a lot of discount, our bill ended up much cheaper bcos when we left early from the timing they set, we got another 30% off.
Top Grade Hotpot
Running Chicken Hotpot
Sun Kee Cheese Noodles
Phone: +852 2730 1356
7. Ichiran Ramen (if you are craving for one! but you are not in Japan) – Sorry to dissapoint all Ichiran’s fans, i am not a fan of Ichiran Ramen, i found it was just a normal Ramen, i still prefer Keisuke Ramen.
Where to Stay?
1. Butterfly at Victoria
Boutique hotel will be my first choice whenever we stay at HK, because they are very near to MTR and some of them providing free portable wifi and phone for the guests. Their room are generally very small (like typical HK’s room), but hey room is not important when you stay at HK, you will mostly spent your time outside anyway.
2. The Royal Plaza Hotel Hong Kong
Royal Plaza is huge but quite far from MTR even tho there are 3 MTR surrounding it.
What i don’t like from the hotel why the guest cannot take photo at the pool area, doesn’t make sense for me.
Oh, I have to say that I fall in love with this post. It looks so so so stunning and inspiring. I already wanna explore Hong Kong, but reading your post makes me feel desired to be there immediately. The Lion Rock sounds strange for me. Anyways, thanks so much for your sharing your amazing experience.