Many tourists visiting Hong Kong take a day trip to neighboring Macau, and while this history-rich city warrants more than just a day, you can still see its top sights on a day trip.
This article will guide you on how to create an itinerary for a successful Macau one-day tour…
First of all, to make sure your Macau day tour is really enjoyable, you should get up early and take a ferry that leaves Hong Kong at 7am or even earlier… The ferry ride takes one hour and doesn’t It makes no sense to start your Macau tour after 8 am, if you plan to return to Hong Kong at the end of the same day…
More details about traveling from Hong Kong to Macau can be found in my other article, “How to get to Macau from Hong Kong”.
Outside the Macau Ferry Terminal, there is a bus stop from which you can travel to your first destination: Senate Square (Largo do Senado) – The heart of the city of Macau and a convenient starting point for the Macau UNESCO World Heritage Route.
Like most of Macau’s old streets, this large square stands out for its Portuguese-style cobblestone paving, with black and white wave patterns. Around the square, there are some nice local cafes, where you can start your morning, as well as a small market, hidden in the small alleys behind the square, where you can buy export surplus and factory items at a bargain price. …
More importantly though, some of Macau’s most exciting heritage sites are just a short walk from Senado Square, including…
- Macau Museum it is built on a hill and occupies most of what used to be the strongest fort in Macau, hundreds of years ago. It’s not a very big museum by international standards, but it has some very nice exhibits that tell the story of this lovely city in an interesting way…
- Ruins of San Pablo: All that remains of what was once the largest Catholic church in Asia is an impressive 16th-century façade, with intricate reliefs and carvings.
- Church of Santo Domingo It is a Filipino-Baroque style church from 1828, which houses a small museum, where you can see precious historical objects, related to the history of the Roman Catholic Church in Asia.
- Lou Kau Mansion: A beautiful 19th century courtyard house that used to be the residence of one of the wealthiest Chinese merchants in the city.
- Cathedral
- The Holy House of Mercy: Another important historical building, with a small museum in it.
From Senado Square, you can easily walk southwest along the UNESCO-listed Macau World Heritage Trail, passing some of the city’s most interesting heritage gems, such as the picturesque happiness streetwhere a famous scene from the movie “Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Doom” was shot, San Agustin Square (Largo de Santo Agostinho), where the first western-style theater in China is located, St. Joseph’s Churchwith its fabulous baroque architecture, Church of San Lorenzo (which is one of the three oldest churches in Macau), Lilau Squarewhere Macau’s only source of fresh water used to be, the Moorish barracks… and henceforth, to A-Ma Temple and Macau Maritime Museum.
There are excellent Portuguese-Macnese restaurants around the A-Ma Temple and the Macau Maritime Museum, such as in lorcha and Coastal Restaurantso try not to nibble too much along the way…
It will probably be late when you complete your “historic city walk”. From here, you have a few options:
- You can take a taxi to macau towerone of the tallest free-standing towers in the world and a great place to enjoy a cocktail at sunset while watching night slowly cover the city and Macau’s quirky neon signs glow in a thousand colors…
- From here you can drive across the bridge to the island of Taipa and then to Cotai, where the world’s largest casino is located, in the Venetian. Visiting this colossal casino is exciting even if you’re not a gambler, and what’s more, you can enjoy great shopping, dining, and gondola rides at the adjacent Venice-themed mall called the Shops on the Grand Canal.
- taipa villagea short distance from the Venetian, this is where the original community of Taipa Island began…Wandering through the cobblestone alleys of this old town has its own magical charm, and you can pop into one of the homey restaurants and enjoy. a fantastic portuguese-macanese party…
Traveling back to Hong Kong is as easy as ABC. If you end your day at the Venetian, simply take one of their free shuttles to the temporary Taipa Island Ferry Terminal, where you can board the CotaiJetbut if you’re near Macau City (or the tower), traveling via the Macau Ferry Terminal will likely make the most sense.
In any case, ferries run between Macau and Hong Kong 24/7, so you can take your time and enjoy Macau’s nightlife without pressure.