Hong Kong 7-Day Itinerary: Lantau, Lamma and Macau

What is the best 7-day itinerary for Hong Kong?

Spend four days in the city and three on day trips. Arrive on Hong Kong Island, give West Kowloon’s museums a day, ride the Ngong Ping 360 cable car to the Big Buddha before Tai O, take the ferry to Lamma, and spend a day in Macau. Keep the last day for an easy, bag-free departure.

The Hong Kong 3-day itinerary covers Hong Kong Island and Kowloon’s headline sights at a brisk pace. A week lets you slow those down and add the trips a short break cannot fit: Lantau’s monastery and stilt-house village, Lamma’s ferry villages and the hour-long crossing to Macau.

Each day trip uses public transport: the MTR to Tung Chung and the cable car to Ngong Ping, Hong Kong and Kowloon Ferry sailings from Central Pier 4 to Lamma, and TurboJET from Sheung Wan to Macau. None needs a tour, although guided options exist if you prefer company.

Choose a base near an MTR station on the Island or in Tsim Sha Tsui with where to stay in Hong Kong, and check the best time to visit Hong Kong for typhoon odds in your month.

What does the week look like at a glance?

Days two, three, five and six carry the fixed hours, so plan around them: M+ closes on Mondays, the Hong Kong Palace Museum on Tuesdays, and the cable car starts at 10:00 on weekdays. Put Lantau and Lamma on dry days, and keep day four flexible for weather swaps or an event in town.

Hours and fares come from the operators’ own pages, linked in each day below. Ferries and the cable car can stop in severe weather, so if a typhoon signal or rainstorm is forecast, swap an island day with day four rather than cancelling it.

Keep transport simple: the Airport Express and MTR for the city and Lantau, Hong Kong and Kowloon Ferry for Lamma, and TurboJET or the bridge shuttle bus for Macau. The getting around Hong Kong guide covers the city network.

How should you spend days one and two on the Island and in West Kowloon?

On day one, take the Airport Express to Hong Kong station, check in, and keep the afternoon light: a harbourfront walk and the Star Ferry across to Tsim Sha Tsui at dusk. On day two, spend the morning at M+ and the afternoon at the Hong Kong Palace Museum, avoiding Mondays and Tuesdays.

The Airport Express links the airport with Tsing Yi, Kowloon and Hong Kong stations in as little as 24 minutes. The Star Ferry crosses between Tsim Sha Tsui and both Central and Wan Chai, which makes it the easiest first-evening introduction to the harbour.

M+ opens 10:00–18:00, until 22:00 on Fridays, is closed on Mondays and on 31 October 2026, and charges HK$190 for a standard adult ticket. The Hong Kong Palace Museum opens 10:00–18:00, until 20:00 on Fridays, Saturdays and public holidays, and closes on Tuesdays except public holidays and on the first two days of Lunar New Year.

A Friday works best for day two: both museums stay open into the evening. If you want headline sights on day one instead, borrow the first day of the Hong Kong in one day plan.

How should you spend day three on Lantau?

Take the MTR to Tung Chung and ride the Ngong Ping 360 cable car, about 25 minutes over 5.7 km, to the Big Buddha and Po Lin Monastery. After lunch, catch New Lantao Bus route 21 to Tai O, about 20 minutes, for its stilt houses, then ride back the same way before the cable car closes.

The Ngong Ping 360 cable car is 5.7 km long, takes about 25 minutes and offers glass-floored Crystal Cabins as well as standard ones. It runs 10:00–18:00 on weekdays and 09:00–18:30 at weekends and on public holidays (Ngong Ping 360), and the Tung Chung terminal is next to Tung Chung MTR station.

The Big Buddha stands 34 metres from the base of its lotus throne and was cast from 250 tonnes of bronze; Po Lin Monastery opens 09:00–18:00, and its vegetarian kitchen serves 11:30–16:30. Tai O is about 20 minutes away on New Lantao Bus route 21 from the Ngong Ping terminus, and a boat ride of around 20 minutes passes the stilt houses.

Start early at weekends, when the cable car opens at 09:00, and check the operator’s announcements for servicing days, when the cable car stops but Ngong Ping Village stays open.

What should you do on day four in the city?

Use day four as your flexible city day. If the weather is clear, go up to the Peak in the morning and spend the afternoon in Kowloon’s markets. If your week overlaps the Wine & Dine Festival, Art Basel or the Hong Kong Sevens, give the day to the event, and if Lantau was rained off, move it here.

The Wine & Dine Festival runs 29 October to 1 November 2026 at the Central Harbourfront Event Space and Tamar Park, Art Basel Hong Kong runs 25–27 March 2027, and the Hong Kong Sevens returns to Kai Tak Stadium on 9–11 April 2027, with ticketing details to follow.

Whether the Peak is worth the queue depends on the view on the day, as our Peak guide explains. For neighbourhood ideas, the second day of the Hong Kong 3-day itinerary covers Kowloon, and things to do in Hong Kong lists alternatives.

How should you spend day five on Lamma?

Take a Hong Kong and Kowloon Ferry from Central Pier 4 to Yung Shue Wan, the more frequently served of Lamma’s two ferry villages, and spend an unhurried day on the island. Return from Yung Shue Wan or from Sok Kwu Wan, but check the timetable first: Sok Kwu Wan has far fewer sailings on weekdays.

The Yung Shue Wan timetable, effective from 1 April 2026, shows sailings roughly every 30 to 60 minutes from Monday to Saturday and about every 30 minutes on Sundays and public holidays, with adult fares of HK$24.90 on weekdays and Saturdays and HK$34.70 on Sundays and public holidays.

The Sok Kwu Wan timetable has 11 sailings each way from Monday to Saturday, about every one and a half to two hours, with the last departure for Central at 22:40 and adult fares of HK$30.90, or HK$43.50 on Sundays and public holidays. Its listed times are when the pier gate closes, so arrive early.

How do you do a Macau day trip on day six?

Take an early TurboJET from Sheung Wan to Macau’s Outer Harbour, about an hour, and spend the day on the Historic Centre’s northern half: Senado Square, the Ruins of St Paul’s and Mount Fortress. Return on an evening sailing; the last leaves at 23:00. UK passport holders need no visa for Macao.

TurboJET sails between Sheung Wan and the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal in about 60 minutes, from 07:30 and roughly every 30 minutes by day; the round-the-clock bridge shuttle bus is the alternative. Carry your passport: the FCDO says UK nationals can stay in Macao for up to six months without a visa.

The Ruins of St Paul’s open 09:00–18:00, and the Macao Museum is closed on Mondays. For a full day plan, use day one of the Macau 3-day itinerary, and avoid this trip on a day when Signal No. 8 is forecast.

How should you spend your last day before flying?

If your airline offers it, check in at Hong Kong station’s in-town counters in the morning, then spend the day bag-free near the harbour and take the Airport Express in the afternoon. Check-in opens 24 hours before departure and closes 90 minutes before, and Cathay Pacific’s counters there run 06:00–23:00.

MTR’s in-town check-in at Hong Kong station serves Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong Airlines, China Airlines, Mandarin Airlines, Qantas and Singapore Airlines, with shorter hours and fewer airlines at Kowloon station. It covers only flights those airlines operate, not codeshares, and needs an electronic passport.

You enter the check-in area with an Octopus, a contactless bank card, a QR code or an Airport Express ticket, and the full fare is deducted at that gate. Each bag must weigh no more than 32 kg. Arrival and departure options are compared in HKG to Hong Kong airport transfer, and lounges in the Hong Kong airport lounge guide.

How should typhoon signals or heavy rain change the week?

Hong Kong averages 2.43 days a year with Signal No. 8 or higher, almost all between June and October. When signals go up, island and Macau days are the first to go, so swap them with day four, move to West Kowloon’s museums, and keep a buffer between any Macau return and your flight.

The Hong Kong Observatory records an average of 0.80 days of Signal No. 8 or higher in August, 0.67 in September and 0.53 in July. The FCDO says public offices and public transport shut down under a Typhoon 8 signal, and Ngong Ping 360 may suspend its cable car in rainstorms or thunderstorms (Ngong Ping 360 FAQ).

Cross-border buses stop too: on 25 July 2026, the bridge shuttle bus suspended service from 22:30, twenty minutes after Signal No. 8 was raised (HZMB notice). For indoor ideas, see Hong Kong in the rain.

What should you book before a week in Hong Kong?

Book the Ngong Ping 360 cable car online if you are going at a weekend or on a public holiday, M+ tickets for your museum day and any event tickets for day four. Ferries to Lamma and Macau need no long advance planning outside holidays, but hotels around Art Basel, Easter and the Sevens should be booked early.

Ngong Ping 360 recommends booking online to save queuing for tickets, especially on weekends and public holidays (Ngong Ping 360 FAQ). The 2027 public holidays, including Easter from 26 to 29 March, were gazetted in May 2026 (RTHK).

Compare guided Lantau trips, Macau day tours and food walks across platforms with GetYourGuide vs Viator vs Klook, and shortlist hotels on our Hong Kong hotels page.