What To Do During a Day in Macau

Spending one day in Macau is a must when visiting Hong Kong. At the same time, how to ignore this unique goal, anchored in our imagination: “Macau, hell of a game”, colonial pockets in central China, incompatibility of small Portuguese cultures at 2h30 from Canton?

If I have to give only one suggestion, remember to take your passport! You change your administrative area by leaving Hong Kong, and if you don’t need a visa, your passport is still important for immigration services. Macau is famous because it is a gambling center in Asia. The city even inspired the emergence of onlinecasinodeutschland.com.de and other famous gambling sites.

Take the ferry to Macau from Hong Kong

The Macau ferry departs from Sheung Wuan Port, which is located right next to the subway of the same name. Most go to the main port of Macau, which is located on land; others leave for Cotai on Taipa island, with casinos and beaches.

How long do you expect? The trip takes about one hour. If there is a departure every half hour (every 15 minutes during rush hour, every 45 minutes for Cotai), we can make you wait if the ship that arrived is complete. Arriving at 9:20, I was offered a departure at 10:15 … Be sure to be at the terminal about 30 minutes before the scheduled time of your trip: the flight begins a quarter of an hour before departure, and plans for 15/20 minutes to pass the immigration side Hong Kong; in Macao, it runs very fast for me in both directions.

If you only spend one day there, remember to buy your return ticket to the port when you get off at Macau! This can save you time at night, especially on Fridays or weekends, when many Macau people go to Hong Kong. And take a small sweater, the air conditioner is set to the “pole” level on the ferry.

Travel in Macau

To reach the old city, a good plan is to borrow one of the free shuttles provided by the casino between the ferry and the game room! Right at the terminal exit, the Grand Lisboa bus will take you to the city center. They leave every 15 minutes.

There, I experienced a major episode of failure. I want to go to Taipa island by bus from the casino, then take a taxi or public bus to reach the south. In short, I could never go any further than the casino district, and when time passed, I gave up and returned to where I started.

Inside old Macao, the distances are ridiculously small. Everything is very easy to walk.

Finally, to return to the port at the end of the day, take the bus! Ask the map of Macau at the tourist office of the ferry terminal, bus stops are all indicated. You have to have some change, but the trip between the city center and the ferry cost me only 3.20 MOP (0.35 €). The Largo Senado is generally the entry point of this part of the city: it is beautiful, with its beautiful Portuguese facades well restored and its black and white pavers shaped wave. At the end is the Baroque church of São Domingos. Um, are you sure we’re still in China?

Macau offers a blend of Chinese and European culture. Don’t you want to go there?

To read more on topics like this, check out the travel category.