Day trips from Hong Kong are popular with many people wanting to see a slice of China seeing as it’s just over the border. Macau is almost certainly the most popular day trip from Hong Kong, but there is much more on offer. See our top five day trips below for a selection of the best all just a few hours from Hong Kong. Under a number of the links you'll also find dedicated tours to that destination offered by our tour partner Viator, they'll take care of transport, sightseeing and even the food.
1. Macau - Best for Relaxing
Copyright Rory Boland
Hands down the best day trip from Hong Kong, Macau, just an hour away by ferry, offers a cracking combination of quaint Portuguese charm and the bright lights of its casino strip – this is after all the biggest gambling center on earth. With ferries running between the two cities twenty four hours a day, and few nationalities requiring a visa for Macau, anybody in Hong Kong for more than a couple of days should really pay Macau a visit.
- Need Visa - No
- Travel Time - 1hr
- Check rates now for Macau tour
2. Guangzhou - Best for a Slice of China
Copyright Martyna Szmytkowska
Guangzhou is often overlooked when people are picking a Chinese city to visit, but while it may lack tea houses and temples, this is very much the face of modern China. If you want to get a feel for where China’s incredible economic growth is going, you can find the answer in the sleek skyscrapers, fast cars and air conditioned malls of Guangzhou. There is also the elegant architecture of Shaiman Island, where British, American and French companies traded from in the 19th century. Just two hours by direct train from Hong Kong.
- Need Visa - Yes, Chinese Visa
- Travel Time - 2hr
- Check rates now for Guangzhou tour
3. Shenzhen - Best for Speed
Getty Images/Digital Image
Shenzhen is where Hong Kong and China blend together, so much so that there are calls to merge the two cities into one mega-metropolis. Set just across the Chinese border, Shenzhen is less than hour away on the Hong Kong MTR. The drawback, there is next to nothing to see here, the real reason to visit is to shop – almost everything here is cheaper than in Hong Kong. The city itself is a concrete jungle, and if you’re looking for traditional China, you certainly won’t find it here. One extra advantage is that some nationalities have access to the special Shenzhen Economic Zone visa, which cuts down on paperwork and prices.
- Need Visa - Yes, Shenzhen Economic Zone visa or Chinese visa
- Travel Time - 45mins
4. Zhuhai - Best Off the Beaten Track
Courtesy of Zhuhai Government
While Zhuhai might be a minnow of a city by Chinese standards, it can still boast well over a million residents and is typical of the concrete jungles that have sprung up all over Southern China in the last twenty years. If you want to get a picture of daily life in a fairly standard Chinese city, Zhuhai is a good snapshot. That said, it’s less developed than either Shenzhen or Guangzhou, and with its many islands and beautiful coastline much more laidback. The city is a popular getaway for Hong Kongers, and restaurants and bars have sprung up along the beaches and boardwalks to cater for the tourists. Ferries from Hong Kong take just over one hour to reach the city.
- Need Visa - Yes, Chinese visa
- Travel Time - 1hr 20mins
5. Beijing - Best for Splashing Out
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Really want to see China? Then you need to book yourself on a flight to Beijing. This is a long haul, and you’re best connections are leaving at 8:00am arriving at 11:30am and then a 21:00 departure arriving in 0:30 in Hong Kong, both with Dragonair. This does however give you around six solid hours to explore the Chinese Capital. The city is the booming heart of resurgent China and home to the countries most important national treasures.
- Need Visa - Yes, Chinese visa
- Travel Time - 3hr 30mins
- Check rates now for Beijing Huting TourNote this is a tour in Beijing and not departing from Hong Kong
