Welcome to My Hong Kong Travel Guide Series

If you’ve seen my Instagram, you’ll know my most recent destination was Hong Kong! One of my favorite places in the world (and I’ve been to quite a few places), Hong Kong, is my ancestral home, and one I’ve gotten to know pretty well. I’m going to be really honest—I don’t really know what to write for this series. My last visit was my sixth time, and while I expected it to be my last trip, I quickly realized that I would be back, and much sooner rather than later.

My History of Visiting Hong Kong

My first trip to Hong Kong was when I was two years old, and it didn’t go great. I visited twice more throughout my childhood, and another two times during my adulthood before this past visit. This trip was bittersweet as it was my mother’s last trip home to her birthplace. Her health has declined enough that making the trip again would be much too difficult.

A Slower Trip Through Hong Kong

Because of this, we took the trip much more slowly than ever before, and I have to say, I took advantage of the slower pace to take in my surroundings more. Because of my more caretaker role on this trip, I also took far fewer photos than I would have expected and spent more time observing things with my eyes instead of my lens.

First Experiences on This Trip

Even though Hong Kong is one of the places in the world that actually feels like home, on this trip, we had a lot of firsts. My first time spending more than a few hours on the Island side of Hong Kong, trying on my first authentic cheongsam, and spending a day completely alone when my mom was overtired. That in itself made the trip really unique, and prepared me for my next visit, which will likely be solo.

How I Travel in Hong Kong

The one thing I do in Hong Kong that I rarely do on other trips is leave a lot of open time. I don’t plan my day to the minute—I leave lots of time for exploring and finding random spots. Random bakeries with egg tarts for under $1, random street markets with souvenirs for everyone back home, etc. Hong Kong has some of the coolest random spots, and you won’t find them all on Instagram.

What This Hong Kong Series Will Cover

A couple of things I’ll definitely tell you about in this series—links will be added as posts are published, so you can always find the whole series right here!

What to Know Before You Go

Like any international destination, there are a few things to know before traveling to Hong Kong.

Reasons You Might Not Want to Visit Hong Kong

Common misconceptions about Hong Kong and reasons you might not love it. I grew up understanding the quirks and culture of this beautiful city; however, they might be dealbreakers for you.

Where We Stayed in Sheung Wan

We found a great hotel on the Island side that we really enjoyed with a view of Victoria Harbour. The room rate was great, the breakfast buffet was surprisingly delicious, and the location was super convenient with two major MTR stations within a few minutes’ walking distance.

Where We Stayed in Kowloon

I can’t say enough good things about this hotel. It’s our favorite hotel in the world. While it might not be the fanciest, it’s always clean, modern, and bright. The service and the amenities are outstanding, and there is an MTR station right downstairs, below the attached shopping center.

How to Get Around Hong Kong

I’ll go over all your transportation options in the city so you know your easiest and cheapest options.

Hong Kong Disneyland

My day at Hong Kong Disneyland and why it’s so much easier to enjoy that other parks (hint: it’s much smaller).

Where to Eat in Hong Kong

Planned visits, unplanned visits, and why the “local places” aren’t always that great.

What to Do in Hong Kong

We love to play tourist in Hong Kong, but we also love just exploring some of the less touristy spots, like the parks. I’ll also be sharing some of my favorite accounts to follow on IG for finding cool pop-ups and unique events.

Where to Shop in Hong Kong

Our favorite street markets and boutiques, and why we don’t haggle very much.

Where to Find Tokyo in Hong Kong

I used to think it was funny how enamored Hong Kong is with Japanese culture. Now, I really enjoy it. I found a lot of my faves from Tokyo right in Hong Kong, and I’ll tell you where to find them.

Our Hong Kong Itinerary

Our itinerary—this one was a lot slower than most of my itineraries; however, I think we still made it to a lot of great spots.

Stay tuned for my Hong Kong posts!