Full Day Lantau Island Small Group Tour in Hong Kong
The small public group Lantau tours last approximatly 7 hours. They start and finish at Tung Chung MTR station.
On weekdays, you meet at Tung Chung MTR station at 9:45am. On Sundays and public holidays you meet at Tung Chung MTR station at 8:45am. You start early to avoid the crowds.
Your small group Lantau tour starts with a ride on the Ngong Ping Cable Car. You will be treated to the most wonderful views of Lantau Country Park and the airport as you travel over the back of the island for 25 minutes. Your destination is the famous Big Buddha. Here you will learn about Buddhism, climb the 268 steps to the Buddha, visit the Po Lin Monastery and the new hall of 10,000 Buddhas.
From Ngong Ping it is a 20 minute public bus ride to Tai O, the Venice of Hong Kong. Tai O is one of the very few remaining places in Hong Kong where you can still see stilt houses over the water. Tai O used to be a fairly big community but due to the decline of the fishing industry it, like Venice, is now primarily a tourist destination, for both overseas visitors and Hong Kongers escaping the hustle and bustle of the city. Tai O is still known for its traditional production of shrimp sauce and shrimp paste and for its colourful seafood market.
You will embark on a full exploration of Tai O visiting the beautifully restored Old Police Station, now operating as a UNESCO recognised heritage hotel. This is where you will enjoy lunch (included) in the very nice Lookout restaurant which overlooks the ocean. You will visit one of the two remaining shrimp sauce production factories, meander the back streets in and around the stilt houses, visit a temple from the late 1400’s and learn about the religion of Taoism.
If you have the energy you will walk to a lookout point where you can get an excellent view of the construction of the 42km bridge that is being built between Hong Kong and Macau. For those that are less able to walk longer distances you can spend some free time browsing the shops around the temple, or taking a break in a coffee shop. You will also enjoy a (very fun) boat ride at Tai O, through the stilt houses. This is also included in your tour price.
Once you have finished at Tai O will take the public bus back to Tung Chung MTR station where the tour finishes.