Macau makes a implausible day journey from Hong Kong as a result of it’s compact and straightforward to achieve. Simply an hour by ferry or two hours by bus from Hong Kong, you may step into a very completely different world. You may discover Macau’s two sides: the historic Portuguese colonial aspect and its hyper-modern glitzy aspect, even in a single day.
On this article, we’ll share with you our Macau day journey itinerary.
WAIT, WAIT, WAIT! In case your are touring quickly and nonetheless on the strategy planning stage, you too can go to our The Poor Traveler Masterlist. Right here, we compiled journey necessities, together with immigration necessities and all our really helpful resorts and excursions. Simply go to this web page: TPT Masterlist. We’ve a compilation for locations around the globe.
MACAU DAY TRIP ITINERARY
To maximise the restricted time we’ll be spending in Macau, let’s begin early. Get up at 6:45 AM and provides your self loads of time to prepare. Don’t overlook to carry your passport as a result of we’ll be crossing borders as we speak!
China Hong Kong Metropolis Terminal
By 8:00 AM, take the MTR from Central Station to Tsim Sha Tsui Station. The fare is HK$ 10.6.
From right here, open your Google Maps and use it to get to the China Hong Kong Metropolis Terminal, the place you may catch the bus to Macau. You’ll be strolling for round 10 minutes.
For this itinerary, ebook this bus switch particularly. There are lots of Hong Kong-Macau bus choices on Klook, however you’ll want to ebook this one particularly as a result of it has the stops and timings that match our itinerary.
For pickup location, select CHINA HONG KONG CITY, and for drop off, select GALAXY MACAU. The Venetian is OK, too, however Galaxy is nearer to our first cease.
TIP! For those who’re reserving this on Klook, use our promo code THEPOORTRAVELERKLOOK for 3-5% OFF should you’re a brand new consumer.
On our journey, although, we really booked the one from Prince Edward as a result of it entailed a shorter stroll. However now that I’m their web page, for some purpose, the earliest departure time accessible on Klook is 11:50 AM, which is simply too late. However from China Hong Kong Metropolis Terminal, there are earlier choices.
For those who actually wish to depart from Prince Edward, I believe you too can ebook on the provider’s official web site.
On the finish of the day, select the pickup level that’s extra accessible from the resort you’re staying in.
TIP! For those who don’t have a resort but, ebook with Agoda to get an enormous low cost! As much as P5900 or USD 100 off. Simply go to www.thepoortraveler.internet/agoda to redeem the low cost coupon, or should you want utilizing the Agoda cell app, simply faucet on the DEALS web page and enter our promo code AGODATPT, all caps. Then search and choose a resort, and upon try, enter AGODATPT once more within the coupon discipline to use the low cost. This gives you as much as 10% OFF capped at USD 100 (P5900 primarily based on present trade price).
You should definitely arrive on the pickup location on time! Board the proper bus and off you go.
By the best way, we additionally created an in depth article on the right way to get to Macau from Hong Kong, which you’ll be able to learn right here: HONG KONG to MACAU by Bus & Ferry
HZMB Port
On the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HZMB) Port, you’re going to get off the bus, undergo Immigration on foot as you exit Hong Kong, and discover the identical bus on the opposite aspect. So hearken to the directions, keep in mind your bus quantity, and all the time concentrate!
There are many indicators on the port. However when you make it previous Immigration, the indicators you need to search for are marked CROSS BOUNDARY COACH. To not be confused with Shuttle Buses. A workers member will verify your ticket to ensure you’re boarding the proper bus.
Then, strap in. You’ll be crossing the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao Bridge, one of many longest sea bridges on the planet. It ought to take over an hour from right here. You’ll even be clearing immigration on the Macau aspect.
Alight at Galaxy Macao, then stroll for 12-Quarter-hour to our first cease.
Taipa Meals Avenue
We start our Macau journey with a meals journey right here at Taipa Meals Avenue! Formally generally known as Rua do Cunha, it’s one among Macau’s most beloved foodie alleys, tucked into the historic coronary heart of Taipa Village. This slender pedestrian lane has been drawing locals and guests alike for many years!
To be sincere with you, these usually are not the most cost effective choices in Macau. You’ll discover extra inexpensive variations of these things in different elements of Macau. However what makes Taipa Meals Avenue nice is that you just’ll discover a few of the most iconic eats in only one space, with its mixture of Portuguese-influenced classics and native Macanese flavors. You may pattern snacks and specialties from stall after stall, all inside just a few blocks.
Café Vong Kei
Once you arrive, the very first thing that may steal your consideration is the enormous milk tea bottle on the aspect of the constructing housing Café Vong Kei. So let’s begin our culinary crawl right here. This colourful café has grow to be a serious landmark right here. Open because the mid-Twentieth century, it’s greatest identified for its iced espresso and milk tea (MOP 26). Each drinks are balanced and daring: the espresso is easy and refreshing, whereas the milk tea has that basic silky sweetness that pairs completely with a stroll down the road.
However wait, don’t drink it but. We’ll be utilizing it to clean down the stable gadgets we’re going to stuff our faces with — like pork chop bun (MOP 48)! Café Vong Kei’s pork chop is so large it appears to be like prefer it’s about to leap out of the bread. It’s juicy and peppery, complemented by the crispy pastry.
Our preliminary intention was to purchase one from Café Vong Kei and one other at Sei Kee Café not too distant. However after ending one, we have been already so full that we skipped the latter. In order that’s the lesson right here. For those who’re doing a meals crawl, simply order one and share! Depart room for the opposite stops.
Sei Kee Café
I might nonetheless urge you to attempt Sei Kee Café. It is among the oldest neighborhood cafés in Macau, relationship again to the Nineteen Sixties. It’s additionally earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand designation for its high quality and worth. Too unhealthy we weren’t capable of attempt it. Its pork chop bun prices MOP 50.
Lao Day Beef Offal
Just some steps away, the scent of slow-cooked beef fills the air at Lao Day Beef Offal. This spot has risen to fame extra not too long ago, incomes recognition on native foodie lists and drawing lengthy queues for its richly seasoned beef offal (about MOP 58). Tender, hearty, and deeply savory, every bowl gives a style of Macau’s street-food tradition that’s unpretentious, daring, and deeply satisfying.
Lord Stow’s Bakery
No go to to Taipa Meals Avenue is full with out hitting Lord Stow’s Bakery, the birthplace of Macau’s legendary egg tart. Based by Andrew Stow in Coloane in 1989, this bakery’s tarts are crisp on the skin with a creamy, caramelized custard middle — an ideal mix of Portuguese baking custom and native aptitude, and a signature Macau must-try at round MOP 11 per piece.
Mochi Macau
To complete on one thing candy and chewy, swing by Mochi Macau (usually acknowledged regionally as Cheung Chau Ping Kei) for freshly made mochi (about MOP 18). Whereas fruit-filled variations are standard, the crimson bean mochi is broadly thought of the very best right here, and we agree. It’s barely candy, delightfully chewy, and an ideal candy observe after savory snacks.
And that wraps up our lunch. Now, let’s head over to Macau’s historic core. And to do this, we have to catch Bus 33 and alight at Almeida Ribeiro/OCBC cease. By the best way, buses right here in Macau gather a flat price of MOP 6.
We’re now within the Macau peninsula and it’s right here that you just’ll discover the Previous Macau. And at its middle lies Senado Sq..
Senado Sq.
Senado Sq. is the beating coronary heart of Macau’s historic middle and a UNESCO World Heritage web site. This vast, open plaza is surrounded by colourful pastel colonial buildings and European-style pavement patterns that make it really feel like a small slice of Portugal in the midst of Asia. It’s a pedestrian-friendly hub the place locals and vacationers mingle.
The sq. is house to a number of historic landmarks, together with the Holy Home of Mercy, St. Dominic’s Church, and the Leal Senado Constructing. Throughout festivals, Senado Sq. comes alive with decorations, road performances, and vibrant markets, giving guests an actual sense of Macau’s wealthy cultural tapestry.
As you stroll deeper into the interior streets, your senses might be bombarded! The alleys main off the sq. are lined with shops promoting Macau delicacies, from Portuguese egg tarts to almond cookies and conventional meat jerky, lots of which supply free samples to tempt passersby. This makes strolling via the realm not solely scenic however scrumptious — an ideal approach to style native flavors as you discover.
Ruins of St. Paul’s
On the finish of the primary pedestrian road, you’ll discover the Ruins of St. Paul’s, Macau’s most iconic landmark. What stays as we speak is the ornate stone façade of a Seventeenth-century Portuguese church, which was destroyed by hearth in 1835. Regardless of being a smash, the intricate carvings, statues, and Latin inscriptions on the façade nonetheless convey the grandeur of its heyday, making it one of the vital photographed websites in Macau.
Climbing the steps to the ruins offers you a small museum tucked behind the façade, showcasing artifacts from the unique church and monastery, giving context to Macau’s colonial and spiritual historical past. From right here, you too can soak up sweeping views of the encircling streets of the outdated metropolis, mixing Macau’s Portuguese and Chinese language heritage in a single body. And that’s completely captured if you spot the following merchandise on our itinerary.
Na Tcha Temple
Simply subsequent to the Ruins of St. Paul’s is the small, unassuming Na Tcha Temple, creating a robust visible distinction between Chinese language and Portuguese non secular traditions in a single nook. It was inbuilt 1888 and is devoted to Na Tcha, a protecting deity in Chinese language people faith. And sure, additionally it is a part of Macau’s UNESCO World Heritage–listed Historic Centre.
Architecturally, the temple is small and understated, with a easy stone construction, conventional Chinese language rooflines, and incense coils usually hanging inside. Regardless of its dimension, it performed an essential position for the native Chinese language neighborhood, particularly throughout instances of sickness and hardship, when Na Tcha was worshipped as a guardian in opposition to illness and misfortune.
Visiting the temple gives a quiet, reflective pause amid the crowds, and it completely symbolizes Macau’s distinctive identification — a spot the place Jap and Western cultures have coexisted for hundreds of years, generally actually aspect by aspect.
After the temple go to, stroll to Praia De Hac Sa Bus Cease and catch Bus 26A to Est. Do Istmo / Londoner cease. The fare is MOP 6.
Cotai Strip
Welcome to Cotai Strip! That is Macau’s tackle the Las Vegas Strip, a blinding stretch of reclaimed land connecting the islands of Coloane and Taipa, filled with mega-resorts, luxurious resorts, and leisure complexes. Cotai has remodeled quickly over the previous decade, evolving into the guts of Macau’s fashionable tourism trade.
Past the grand façades, the Cotai Strip is a buying, eating, and leisure paradise. Excessive-end manufacturers line the corridors of resort malls, whereas numerous eating places serve every part from Cantonese dim sum to European advantageous eating. Guests also can catch spectacular exhibits, gondola rides, and light-weight shows — all a part of the immersive, over-the-top Cotai expertise. However since we solely have very restricted time, we’ll be making solely three stops tonight: London, Paris, and Venice. Properly, kind of.
Let’s begin with London.
The Londoner Macao
The Londoner Macao is clad in basic British structure, mimicking the Palace of Westminster and Homes of Parliament. It additionally has a miniature Huge Ben tower, supplying you with a distinctly London look.
On the essential foyer, you’ll discover a reproduction of the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain! And from right here, you might get misplaced in mini-London and take unli-selfies on the many UK icons scattered round, together with a double-decker bus and a statue of Sir Winston Churchill greeting everybody at 10 Downing Avenue. You can even hop right into a taxi for what they name Black Cab Escape, the place you’ll get to get pleasure from a digital drive with David Beckham. These are simply a few of the many sights inside! We have been informed there’s additionally a altering of the guards, however we didn’t get to see it.
All these might be accessed for FREE by the best way.
There may be additionally the Harry Potter The Exhibition, however this one collects an entrance charge and we don’t have time for that on this journey. For now, let’s cross over to Paris.
The Parisian Macao
The Parisian Macao delivers on French class. The centerpiece is a half-scale reproduction of the Eiffel Tower. Each Quarter-hour from 6:15 PM to midnight, each single night time, the long-lasting landmark is roofed in dazzling lights, creating an superior present that bathes the encircling space in numerous colours.
The tower has two remark decks, one on Degree 37, which costs MOP 75 per particular person, and the opposite on Degree 7, which is open to everybody FREE OF CHARGE. As for us, we determined to only keep on the bottom, admire it from afar, and snap numerous photographs with the colourful construction as backdrop!
And proper subsequent door lies Venice.
The Venetian Macao
The Venetian Macao is among the largest resorts on the planet and brings Italy’s romantic Venice to Cotai. With indoor canals, gondola rides, and replicas of Venetian landmarks, it’s a feast for the senses.
Inside, you’ll discover teamLab SuperNature Macao, the most effective teamLab branches that we’ve got skilled. However once more, possibly not on this journey, as we don’t have time.
The resort additionally options luxurious buying and over 30 eating places, together with a meals courtroom. And sure, that is the place we’ll have dinner. Costs listed here are a lot increased than normal meals courtroom fare, although.
Again to Hong Kong
For those who nonetheless have time to spare, stroll across the mall, possibly store. Simply just remember to go to the bus decide up level at 8:00 PM. Sure, you can be boarding the bus again to Hong Kong right here on the Venetian at 8:30 PM. The bus fare is HK$ 160.
You may ebook this prematurely on Klook, particularly this trip, as a result of this has an 8:30 PM pickup on the Venetian, which is ideal for our itinerary.
Within the record of choices, select MACAU VENETIAN HOTEL because the departing level and select HONG KONG PRINCE EDWARD because the vacation spot.
Once more, identical to earlier, you’ll have to go via each the Macao and Hong Kong Immigration inspection, so have your passports useful.
You must arrive within the Prince Edward space in Kowloon by 11 PM. From right here, stroll and take the MTR to your resort. The fare from Prince Edward Station to Central Station is HK$ 13.20.
And that’s it! You may simply insert at the present time journey itinerary into your Hong Kong itinerary! However the query is, how a lot finances do you have to put together?
MACAU DAY TRIP BUDGET BREAKDOWN
Right here’s the finances breakdown for our pattern 1-day Macau itinerary, together with the bus transfers. It assumes you’re a celebration of two, splitting the price of shared bills equally.
TOTAL: HKD 578.5 (USD 74, EUR 62, SGD 94, PHP 4360)
IMPORTANT! These are the minimal budgets to organize. However please observe:
- Add a buffer (even as little as HKD 200) to cowl doable worth actions, forex trade changes, and different bills we would have missed. These don’t embody private purchases (buying finances) and alcohol.
- These itineraries shouldn’t be taken as official journey recommendation. Simply use these as a information in constructing your personal. Be happy to tweak to match your bookings, availability, schedule, and preferences.
And there you might have it! That’s our pattern Macau DIY day journey itinerary if coming from Hong Kong.
Whereas it’s positively doable to see Macau’s key sights in a single day, I nonetheless strongly encourage you to return and keep longer. On this pattern day-trip itinerary, we solely barely scratched the floor — we mainly simply blitzed via the town, hitting the highlights and transferring on. Macau is compact, nevertheless it’s wealthy in tradition, historical past, and distinctive experiences, and a single day doesn’t do it justice. Spending an evening or two right here means that you can discover at a extra relaxed tempo, soak within the ambiance, and actually recognize the town’s mix of Portuguese and Chinese language heritage.
There’s much more to see past what we’ve shared right here. It additionally has peaceable metropolis gardens like Camoes Sq. and Jardim Lou Lim Ioc; interactive sights like teamLab Supernature, Harry Potter the Exhibition, Martial Arts Area and Grand Prix Museum; and historic websites just like the Ama Temple and Guia Fortress. Or you may go meals tripping. There’s additionally a thriving meals scene past the standard vacationer spots, from homegrown household eating places to beautiful fine-dining territory.
Primarily, a day-trip gives you a style, however staying longer helps you to expertise the complete taste of Macau.
Shield your funds when touring!
Getting a journey insurance coverage is elective, however we extremely suggest this, particularly when touring overseas. Journey might be unpredictable, and although we hope we’ll by no means use it, having it offers us peace of thoughts in case of sudden delays, cancellations, or emergencies.
For worldwide locations, take into account PGA Sompo’s TravelJOY Plus insurance coverage. You may GET IT HERE. Don’t overlook to make use of WORTHIT for a particular inexpensive price.
Be part of The Poor Traveler Assist Group
✅ When you have any questions or want journey ideas, be happy to publish them to the TPT Assist Group. The members are very useful. This Fb assist group has been round for a very long time, and plenty of members have discovered journey buddies via it. You may be part of too! Simply go to The Poor Traveler Assist Group. Be aware that that is completely different from The Poor Traveler Fb web page.
2026 2 4 – First uploaded
Edited by: Asta Alvarez
