Top Five Hong Kong Museums

In a city that is often accused of being soulless this is a fascinating exhibition that sketches out the city’s cultural past and its rapid development from backwater fishing village to thriving metropolis. Highlights include a series of time tunnels that reconstruct pivotal periods in the city’s past, including traditional village life, British rule and modern times. This is a great museum to get a handle on what makes Hong Kong tick and how the city defied geography and common sense to become one of the world's biggest metropolises.

• How to Get There: MTR to Che Kung Station
• Opening Hours: 10a.m.-6p.m., closed Tuesdays
• Price: HK$10, free Wednesdays

A sure fire winner, if you’ve got the kids in tow, the science museum boasts nearly 500 exhibits, two thirds of which feature wheels whirring, cogs spinning and bits and pieces to press and pull. Some of the real crowd pleasers include the motion, sound and light rooms, where you can make music with your hands, throw a curve ball and play the bubble races. This is theme park education and with a world of mirrors and a flight simulator, not only will you learn more here than at Hong Kong Disneyland, you might just have more fun.

• How to Get There: MTR to Tsim Sha Tsui
• Opening Hours: Mon, Tue, Wed, Fri 1p.m.-9p.m., Sat and Sun 10a.m.-9p.m., closed Thursday.
• Price: HK$25, free Wednesdays

Somewhat off the beaten track, the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence is one of the city’s most overlooked museums, although with a name like that it’s hardly surprising. The main pull here is the setting, which is the beautifully preserved, 100 year old Lei Yue Mun fort. The exhibits inside are a very decent selection of uniforms, maps and guns which trace Hong Kong’s military history from the early Ming period through British Hong Kong and the arrival of the PLA. Arguably the best most engaging exhibition is focussed on the little known Battle for Hong Kong – the brutal World War Two battle for the city with Japanese forces.

• How to Get There: MTR to Shau Kei Wan
• Opening Hours: 10a.m.-5p.m., closed Thursday
• Price: HK$10, free Wednesdays

One of the best collections of Chinese Art anywhere in the world featuring a rotating collection of nearly 15,000 items, the Hong Kong Museum of Art is probably the most renowned of the city’s museums. The collection of Chinese antiques is perhaps the museum’s most impressive, where you’ll find everything from traditional ceramics and glassware to a Mandarins costume and bamboo carvings. The museum also houses a Chinese fine art exhibition, an extensive calligraphy collection and an intriguing section dedicated to Hong Kong Art spanning more than 100 years.

• How to Get There: MTR to Tsim Sha Tsui
• Opening Hours: 10a.m.-6p.m., closed Thursday
• Price: HK$10, free Wednesdays

As the name suggests, the Dr Sun Yat Sen Museum documents the life and times of China’s most famous revolutionary. Known as the father of the nation, Sun has intimate ties with Hong Kong, including his high school and university education, and it was during his stay in the city that he started cooking up his plans to overthrow the Imperial Chinese government. The museum holds a somewhat dry collection of personal artefacts, photographs and reconstructed scenes, but is also at the heart of the Sun Yat Sen trail; a tour of historical buildings related to Sen.

• How to Get There: Buses 3B, 12, 12M, 13, 23, 23A, 23B, 40, 40M and 103 to Caine Road
• Opening Hours: 10a.m.-6p.m., closed Thursday
• Price: HK$10, free Wednesdays