In a nutshell
- The typical hubs for Southeast Asia are Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore — but we also stopped over in Hong Kong and instantly fell in love with the city!
- Hong Kong is incredibly easy to navigate, wonderfully multicultural, and the food is seriously amazing.
- On top of that, it’s a great gateway to China, has cool street art, and you can escape the city into nature in no time.
- We think Hong Kong is simply perfect for a stopover — and especially for photographers, there are some incredible photo spots here.
- In this article, we give you 8 great reasons why a Hong Kong layover is absolutely worth it.
Hong Kong is surprisingly easy to get around
That might sound strange for a metropolis of nearly 7.5 million people, but we found Hong Kong surprisingly easy to navigate.
Most attractions in Hong Kong are located in the south of Kowloon and the north of Hong Kong Island, in an area of maybe 5×5 kilometers. And most of our best insider tips for Hong Kong are right here too — awesome!
We got our bearings incredibly fast. Public transportation is excellent and affordable, and if you go all-out on sightseeing, you can cover the city’s highlights in two to three days.
For that, your best bet is to book a hotel in the Central district on Hong Kong Island. For first-time visitors, it’s the best area to stay in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong is wonderfully multicultural
Hong Kong is a seriously international city. Many Asian cultures converge here, and a large number of expats from Western countries call it home.
We often heard from Western expats that they had only planned to stay for a year or two for work — and then ended up staying forever. The city definitely has a certain pull to it.
You see Hong Kong’s multiculturalism on every corner. Buddhist temples, Chinese temples, churches, mosques, and synagogues stand side by side. Everyone lives their life and their faith, and it just works!
And the food from every corner of the world! But we’ll get to that later.
Hong Kong is the gateway to China
You often hear that Hong Kong is a kind of China lite.
We haven’t been to mainland China ourselves, but Hong Kong already feels very Chinese to us.
Sure, officially Hong Kong belongs to the People’s Republic of China as a special administrative region — but it still has its very own culture and history.
Especially in the less touristy parts of Kowloon, you get a really great glimpse into Chinese daily life.
Exotic markets, Chinese pharmacies, and shops selling supposed miracle remedies shape the streetscape here.
For a first taste of China, Hong Kong is the perfect entry point.
Hong Kong is a total food paradise
When we think back to our Hong Kong stopover, the first thing that comes to mind is the incredible food. Mmmm, so good.
The best dim sum, delicious rice rolls, Japanese ramen, Vietnamese pho, Indian curries — all completely authentic and seriously delicious. Mmmm, we’re getting hungry all over again just writing this.
Our tip: If you’re not sure about heading out on a culinary adventure on your own, book a guided foodie tour. We did one of these tours ourselves and discovered tiny restaurants and dishes we never would have found on our own.
Hong Kong has amazing street art
Hong Kong and street art? We never would have put those two together before. But our layover proved us wrong. Especially in the hip Soho neighborhood, there are tons of truly stunning works of art to discover.
In general, some parts of Hong Kong are incredibly trendy. With its innovative restaurants and bars, small designer boutiques, and galleries, Hong Kong holds its own against any European metropolis.
Hong Kong offers city, nature, and ocean all in one
Before our trip, we pictured Hong Kong as a massive metropolis of skyscraper canyons, busy streets, and crowds of people.
Part of it is exactly that — but there are other, very surprising sides to the city.
Half an hour by bus and you’re surrounded by greenery. Or at the beach. And not some typical city beach where you step out of a high-rise and straight into the water.
No — a little fishing village with a wide, sweeping sandy beach. If you didn’t know these beaches were right in the middle of Hong Kong, you simply wouldn’t believe it.
Even hiking enthusiasts get their money’s worth here. Hundreds of kilometers of trails wind over green peaks, and sometimes you can still see the skyscrapers in the distance. Very surreal and very beautiful.
Hong Kong has incredible photo spots
Hong Kong is a seriously photogenic city. The skyline makes for a stunning shot, and so does the panorama from Victoria Peak.
But beyond the typical tourist attractions, you can take wonderful photos all over the city.
The skyscraper canyons look incredibly dramatic in photos, and the many markets are packed with great subjects.
So don’t forget to charge your camera batteries and bring enough memory cards. You’ll definitely need them.
In our article Camera gear for travel, we show you what photography equipment we use on the road.
Hong Kong is perfectly connected for a stopover
Hong Kong International Airport is one of the largest airports in the world and is super well connected to the city by public transportation.
From here, after a few days’ transit stop, you can reach many destinations in Asia directly — and after exploring Hong Kong, you can head on to enjoy the most beautiful beaches in the Philippines, Thailand, or Bali.
Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific offers direct flights to Hong Kong from Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Zurich, and Amsterdam.
On our flight from Düsseldorf to Hong Kong, we flew Premium Economy for the first time — and now we never want to fly regular Economy again. Ha!
Premium Economy sits between standard Economy and Business Class. Compared to Economy, you get significantly more legroom and much wider seats. The food is better, and there are a number of nice little perks like large headphones and priority boarding. Especially on a long-haul flight, it makes a real difference.
We wrote about our experience in our Premium Economy review.
More on Premium Economy and flight destinations: Cathay Pacific website
More on Hong Kong: Discover Hong Kong
