Macao · Macao SAR, China
Macao SAR, China packs four centuries of Portuguese-Chinese streets, free casino shows and Asia's best egg tarts in 33 sq km — 2 days covers the peninsula, Taipa and Coloane.
The short version
The place itself
Macao is two places laid on top of each other. One is the peninsula of cobbled squares, tiled church fronts and shrine smoke — a Portuguese-Chinese old town of 400 years that you can cross on foot in an afternoon. The other is the Cotai strip of air-conditioned fantasy: a fake Venice with gondoliers singing under a painted sky, shows that cost a family MOP 1,700 a night, and gaming floors that never close. The odd thing is that both are genuinely good.
Locals are cheerfully indifferent to the second Macao. They drink tea in old Cantonese tea houses, queue for pork chop buns, and leave the baccarat tables to visitors. Ride a bike forty minutes south to Coloane and you are in a fishing village where neighbours play cards under the banyans and the most famous egg tart bakery on earth operates out of a shopfront barely wider than its door.
The city got its name from a goddess. When the first Portuguese sailors landed in the 16th century and asked what the place was called, the locals thought they meant the temple and answered 'A-Ma-Gao', the bay of A-Ma. It came out as MACAU. The temple is still there, still the oldest in the city, and still working — at Chinese New Year the crowds at its gates start on New Year's Eve and burn firecrackers into the small hours.
It is also absurdly easy to visit. Ferries from Hong Kong run every 30 minutes until after midnight, the Gongbei border from Zhuhai opens at 07:00, and once inside, the resorts' free buses and a MOP 3.2 city bus network do the rest. Two days is enough; three lets you slow down.
Pins are plotted from real latitude and longitude on a 5° graticule. This is a schematic orientation diagram, not a political map — no boundaries are drawn.
The granite facade of the Church of Mater Dei, 23 m wide and 25.5 m high in five baroque tiers carved with chrysanthemums and Chinese characters — the only church front like it anywhere. Free, all day; the crypt museum behind it runs 09:00–18:00.
The oldest temple in Macao, over 500 years on the shore where the A-Ma legend landed, and the reason the city is called Macau. Four halls climb the hillside in incense smoke. Open 07:00–18:00; buses 1, 10, 11, 18, 21.
From Senado Square past the 17th-century St. Dominic's Church up the hill to St. Paul's and the Mount Fortress — a World Heritage stroll you can do in half a day. The fortress, with the Macao Museum on top, opens 07:00–19:00.
Five mint-green Portuguese houses from 1921 on the old waterfront, kept with their late-19th-century furnishings, plus a chapel and lotus pond. MOP 5, closed Mondays; then eat your way down Rua do Cunha behind it.
A US$2.4 billion Sands resort whose second floor is an indoor Venice: canals, gondoliers singing Italian folk songs, Renaissance shopfronts under a painted sky. Free to walk into; free shuttles from every border point.
The southern island that feels like a fishing village: beaches, BBQ on Hac Sa, and Lord Stow's original bakery, where the Macanese egg tart was invented. Lord Stow's and Margaret's tarts both run about MOP 6–10 each.
Most visitors arrive by sea or on foot. Turbojet ferries from Hong Kong's Sheung Wan terminal run every 30 minutes from 07:00 to after midnight (about 1 hour, from around HKD 140 by day, HKD 174 at night), with further services from Tsim Sha Tsui and direct boats from Hong Kong airport. From Shenzhen there are boats from Shekou and the Fuyong pier near the airport (about 1 hour, ¥155–210). On land, the Gongbei border gate from Zhuhai opens 07:00–24:00. Macau International Airport (MFM) sits on Taipa; bus AP1 to the border gate costs MOP 3.3 and a taxi to the centre about MOP 40. A helicopter from Hong Kong takes 16 minutes at MOP 3,700.
Inside the city, the free casino shuttle buses are the open secret: they run from the border gate, both ferry terminals and the airport to the big resorts, and nobody asks whether you plan to gamble. City buses cost MOP 3.2 on the peninsula, MOP 4.2 to Taipa, MOP 5 to Coloane and MOP 6.4 to Hac Sa beach — no change given, and you must flag the bus or it will not stop. Taxis flag at MOP 13 for 1.6 km; radio taxis on 00853-28519519. Trishaws around the Nam Van lakes are a tourist ride at MOP 150–200 an hour, and bicycles can be hired in Taipa village — note that riding in Macao keeps left.
| Month | Weather | Crowds | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 12°C / 4°C · cool, damp | Quiet | Good |
| February | 14°C / 6°C · cool, damp | Very busy | Good |
| March | 18°C / 10°C · clear and mild | Moderate | Best |
| April | 24°C / 16°C · clear and mild | Moderate | Best |
| May | 28°C / 21°C · cool, damp | Busy | OK |
| June | 32°C / 25°C · very hot, humid | Moderate | OK |
| July | 35°C / 28°C · cool, damp | Busy | Avoid |
| August | 34°C / 27°C · cool, damp | Busy | Avoid |
| September | 29°C / 23°C · very hot, humid | Moderate | OK |
| October | 24°C / 17°C · clear and mild | Very busy | Best |
| November | 18°C / 11°C · clear and mild | Quiet | Best |
| December | 13°C / 6°C · cool, damp | Quiet | Good |
Two days is the honest number, and the source guide's own answer. Day one covers the peninsula: Senado Square, St. Dominic's, St. Paul's, the fortress, then A-Ma Temple and the Maritime Museum, ending in the old snack street of Rua da Felicidade. Day two does Taipa — the Houses-Museum and Rua do Cunha — then the Cotai resorts and an evening show. A third day buys Coloane properly: the beaches, the village lanes and a slow afternoon at the original Lord Stow's bakery.
Plan these days properly
Zhuhai
Guangdong · 4 tours
Zhuhai is China's slow, green coastal city, pressed against the Macau border, and 2 to 3 days is enough to enjoy it: the 28 km Lovers' Road and the Fi
Hong Kong
Hong Kong SAR, China · 4 tours
Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region of China and one of the easiest great cities in Asia to travel — 5 days covers Victoria Peak, the Star Fe
October to December, when the weather is mild, the humidity drops and the Grand Prix runs in November. Winter (January–March) is cool but sunny. May to September is hot and wet with typhoons — good for the beach, risky for travel plans.
Not if you carry Hong Kong dollars. HKD circulates at par with the pataca everywhere, and inside the casinos it is the only currency accepted on the tables. Chinese yuan works in some shops but is refused on buses and in many stores, so carry MOP or HKD for small spending. The rate is roughly 8 MOP to ¥10.
No — the old centre is a UNESCO World Heritage site and the best part of the city. The Ruins of St. Paul's, A-Ma Temple, Senado Square, the fortress and a whole quarter of 19th-century streets are free, and Taipa and Coloane keep village streets, sea views and the original egg tart bakery. The resorts are a spectacle worth one evening, not the whole trip.
By ferry from Sheung Wan, every 30 minutes from 07:00 until after midnight, about an hour and from around HKD 140. There are also boats from Tsim Sha Tsui and Hong Kong airport, and a 16-minute helicopter at MOP 3,700. Buses now also cross the sea bridge. Bring your passport and allow time for immigration on both sides.
Start with the egg tart — Margaret's behind the Largo do Senado or Lord Stow's original shop in Coloane. Then a pork chop bun at Tai Lei Loi Kei, water-crab congee at Seng Cheong on Rua do Cunha, and a plate of bacalhau at A Lorcha by A-Ma Temple. Finish on Rua da Felicidade, where the snack shops hand out free tastings of jerky and almond cookies.
Yes — entry is free and the resorts are built to be walked through. The Venetian's indoor canals, the free shuttle buses and the public areas are open to anyone over 21 with proper dress: no shorts or flip-flops on the gaming floors, and the air-conditioning is fierce, so bring a layer. The Casino Lisboa runs 16:00–03:00; the big Cotai floors never really close.
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