Hong Kong Detours: 6 Day Itinerary
Six days is our 5-day itinerary plus Ocean Park, the marine-life and thrill-ride counterpart to Disneyland’s day before it. Macau, two islands, Tai O and Disneyland all stay exactly as they were. Our 7-day itinerary adds the one leg that actually needs planning ahead, the Shenzhen border crossing, on top of this.
Book these before you go:
- Your Central or Tsim Sha Tsui hotel : rooms fill fast in the October-December window
- A Macau day trip on GetYourGuide : worth locking in for a weekend crossing
- A dated Hong Kong Disneyland ticket on Viator : the price tier moves by day, book the date you actually want
- Ocean Park admission on GetYourGuide : skip the gate line on a weekend visit
| Day | Focus | Travel time from HK |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Macau: the HZMB Golden Bus, the old town, the Cotai Strip | 45 min bus each way, plus immigration |
| 2 | Cheung Chau: car-free lanes, the Mini Great Wall trail | 35-55 min ferry each way |
| 3 | Lamma Island: the coastal hike, a seafood lunch | 20-30 min ferry each way |
| 4 | Tai O: stilt houses, a dolphin-watching boat | 45-60 min bus from Tung Chung |
| 5 | Hong Kong Disneyland | 30-40 min rail via Sunny Bay |
| 6 | Ocean Park | 20-30 min bus or taxi |
Day 1: Macau on the HK$65 bus, not the HK$194 ferry
Skip the TurboJet and Cotai Water Jet ferries, both HK$192-242 and about an hour, for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge shuttle, the Golden Bus, HK$65 in regular hours or HK$70 overnight. Macau’s own currency and border control, per macaotourism.gov.mo , make it a genuinely separate SAR. Spend the day on the old town and, if the casinos matter to you, a taxi south to the Cotai Strip.
Day 2: Cheung Chau’s car-free lanes and a coastal trail
From Central Pier 5, the ordinary ferry runs HK$16.70 weekday or HK$24.80 weekend, the faster boat HK$32.90 or HK$47.60, 35 to 55 minutes. No cars, bicycle rental, and the Mini Great Wall trail to Cheung Po Tsai Cave.
Day 3: Lamma’s coastal hike and a seafood harbourfront
From Central Pier 4, the Lamma ferry runs roughly HK$25 and 20 to 30 minutes. Walk the coastal trail between Yung Shue Wan and Sok Kwu Wan, then a harbourfront seafood lunch before the return sailing.
Day 4: Tai O’s stilt houses and the maybe-dolphins
Take the MTR to Tung Chung, then a bus to Tai O, 45 to 60 minutes, into a fishing village built on stilts. Boat operators run dolphin-spotting trips, but the local population has genuinely declined, treat a sighting as a bonus. Go at low tide for the clearest view.
Day 5: A full day at Hong Kong Disneyland
Ride the Disneyland Resort Line, transferring at Sunny Bay, 30 to 40 minutes from central Hong Kong. One-day adult tickets run a four-tier system, HK$669 up to HK$939, check your date’s tier on hongkongdisneyland.com before buying. It’s smaller than the US or Japan parks, so plan ride-count expectations accordingly.
Day 6: Ocean Park’s aquarium and thrill rides
Take a bus or taxi to Aberdeen and Wong Chuk Hang, 20 to 30 minutes, for a park split across a lowland and headland section, linked by cable car and funicular. Adult admission runs HK$538, child (3 to 11) HK$269, Hong Kong residents 65 and over free with an HKID, current tiers on oceanpark.com.hk . It’s arguably the stronger pick for older kids and teens with a marine-life interest, where Disneyland wins for younger children.
Disneyland or Ocean Park first, if you only get one day at each?
Order barely matters logistically since they’re on opposite sides of the harbour, but doing Disneyland first works better for families with young children still running on trip-start energy, saving Ocean Park’s longer walking circuit for a day when everyone’s legs are already broken in.
For the Shenzhen border crossing, left off this trip on purpose, see our Hong Kong day-trip guide and its own 7-day itinerary . For the city itself, read our Hong Kong guide or its 6-day itinerary . One concrete tip: book Disneyland and Ocean Park on non-consecutive days if your feet have a vote, both involve more walking than the ticket price suggests.