Victoria Peak
The densest skyline in the world, seen from six hundred metres.
Duration
2 hrs – 3 hrs
Difficulty
●●○○○
Best time
An hour before dark
Open
Every day
Entry price
Free
The Peak tops out at 552 metres above the harbour. The rack tramway has climbed it since 1888 at gradients reaching twenty-seven degrees: the buildings seen through the window then look distinctly tilted, and it is a known illusion.
The ticketed Sky Terrace platform is not essential. The Lugard Road path, flat and free, leads off to the left at the top of the tram and gives exactly the same panorama over the harbour and Kowloon, with nobody on it.
Getting there
Peak Tram from Garden Road in Central. Bus 15 from Exchange Square climbs by road for far less, and without the tram queue.
What to bring
- Walking shoes
Rules on site
The Peak Tram queue runs over an hour late in the day and at weekends: bus 15 does the same trip with no wait. Summer haze wipes the view out for days at a time.
Other places in Hong Kong
- Star FerryA ten-minute crossing between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island, at water level, since 1888.
- Tian Tan Buddha at Ngong PingThirty-four metres of seated bronze at the top of two hundred and sixty-eight steps, on Lantau island.
- Temple Street Night MarketKowloon's night market, fortune tellers and open-air canteens.
- Man Mo TempleGiant incense coils hanging from the ceiling, in an 1847 temple wedged between two towers.