Hong Kong Recs?

Shameless bounce, sorry ?

Do you have a budget in mind?

YMCA Salisbury is a very good option, don't be put off by the name, the place is good and location is perfect (check out Trip Advisor for reviews).

Shopping is cheaper than here, so is food, but your husband will not get any peace and quiet there! It's one of the most fast paced cities in the world.

I didn't like Hong Kong I'm afraid. In fact I hated it. The smell (I've been to Bangkok so I'm used to smell, but I actually liked the smell of Bangkok, not so HK!), the smog, the food (I ended up crying as we walked from one restaurant to another not being able to find anything appealing - it was all sea cucumber and sea blubber type dishes - and we ended up in McDonalds?), the dullness of it all really - so city-fied and corporate...

I adore shopping, but I got no joy from the shops in HK - the malls are just soooooooo huge, you actually get bored of going from one shop to another. And most of the clothes are teeny tiny ?.

I suppose there's Lantau Island which would fulful your H's needs of getting away from the city - you'd have to get a ferry there from HK Island / the mainland, and you could do the buddha and monastery thingy.

There's Stanley on HK Island which has a beach, but it's not really beach like you might want. It reminded me of a bit of a crap UK beach ?

Sorry, I'm not really helping am I!

Another HK hater here. I love cities normally, incuding SE Asian city bustles with all the heat, smells, traffic, and bllatent miling-money-from-tourists, but HK is something else.

Macau might be nice for another day trip - v portugese / chinese rather than british-chinese, although last time I went, the British influence is pretty much dropped from HK now.

The old temples & markets seem to be being squeezes out too, by more flats & malls.

Cocktails at the Intercontinental is good for their huge picutre windows on the evening light shows though

I wonder if I'll hate NYC too...

I lived in HK for 6 months a while ago and loved it- so buzzy.

For peace, I suggest Lamma and Lantau. stanley is also nice but not really the sort of place you go to lie on the beach- it has an interesting market.

Macau, as I recall it, was nothing but gambling and prostitutes. It's where the HK Chinese go to do all the things that are illegal in HK.

Hmm, if your H found Havanna too hectic, he won't be able to stand being in HK proper for very long...

Lantau is lovely, and if you want a couple of days in the city, we stayed here (in Kowloon):

/en-us/hong-kong/

We were very impressed with it at the time, but this was 7 years ago now!

I was not a fan of HK at all and I've been living in Bangkok for 5 years so am certainly used to big city life, but I found HK very claustrophobic as it was just a maze of high rise buildings and found a lot of the people very unfriendly. There's not actually that much to do either, other than shop (and yes it's not bad) and go and watch the light show at the harbour (which is amazing). One plus is you are only an hours ride by ferry to Macau and I much preferred Macau.

Have you considered Bangkok? As you get the best of both worlds - hustle & bustle of city life (more chaos actually), great shopping, fantastic food and only a 45 min flight to some of the most beautiful beaches in the world.

Thank you all, sorry i'm a bit late back to this one.

Lots of advice, think I maybe a bit more confused than when I first asked ? I love to shop, but non stop malls are a bit depressing.

The lamma and Lantau options sound worth checking out. I'll have a look at Bangkok too, although I've got HK in my head for some reason, maybe the cheap flights I have found ?

Thanks again for all your replies, off to google x

? hi, long time lurker here who is currently spending some time in Hong Kong so I hope I can help redress the balance a little.

My husband was born in Hong Kong and we still have family over here so visit as often as we can - it's my 2nd visit this year (5th time overall) and this stay has been for a month.

There is LOTS to do apart from shop. We're here with a 3 year old so HK Disneyland is featuring quite heavily for us... as are trips to the parks (Hong Kong park is stunning, you'd never know you were in the middle of a bustling city) and the beach. I don't wholly agree with the poster who said Stanley was just like a bad UK beach - it is the main tourist beach it's true (and not that bad IMO), but there's also a great museum there and a very popular market. However if that's not your thing there are many other beautiful beaches all just a taxi or boat ride away (all public transport is pretty cheap).The star ferry is a real icon of Hong Kong and taking one across the harbour is an unforgettable experience.

The air conditioned shopping malls are a godsend on a hot humid day but for a taste of 'real' Hong Kong shopping there are still plenty of markets around especially if you venture away from Central. Um, what else. The peak is a must if only for the breathtaking view. The Hong Kong tourist board also has lots of excursions and cultural experiences available, many of which are free.

One thing I would say is that lots of tourists to Hong Kong tend to stay on Kowloon side in the Tsimshatsui district... it's a real tourist trap and in parts pretty seedy (am thinking in particular along Nathan Rd / Star ferry pier where you can't take 5 paces without someone trying to sell you a cheap tailored suit or a copy watch). This is not representative of Hong Kong as a whole. I hate it there and would be really sad if the whole city/islands were tarred with the same brush.

Thanks, that's really helpful. I was looking at the Tsimshatsui area, but that does sound like H's idea of hell!

Neither of us are too fussed on a beach. Am thinking of staying a bit out of the city and venturing in based on this advice. Hoping that the parks and the Peak will be good escaping from the hustle and bustle. Hmm, so much to consider!

We're currently staying in Sheung Wan in a serviced apartment but I think there are a number of hotels round here too. For us it's perfect - although where we are staying it is the business end of Hong Kong (so quieter for our 3 year old), we are right on a tram line (fantastic experience and so cheap, you can travel from one end of the island to another for 2 dollars which is less than 15p), we have a well connected mtr train station downstairs, a taxi rank round the corner, are just 10 minutes walk from the harbour and all the ferry piers and 5 minutes walk to central / midlevels where most of the bars and expat hangouts are. If we head in the other direction we can have a good mooch round 'older' Hong Kong where there are still loads of traditional shops to be found selling dried foods, tea, birds nests etc.

To be honest, nowhere is difficult to get to no matter where you stay in Hong Kong, the public transport here really is outstanding. If you're planning to come in November the weather will be much cooler too so walking is a great option. My husband will walk for miles here as there's so much to see along every road whereas at home in the UK he's the complete opposite and the lazy sod will happily take the car to the corner shop!