One of the most densely inhabitated region in the world, bustling metropolis one after the other: Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Macau…

The Pearl Delta! Amidst those big cities, patches of rewarding nature! I went for around a week back in April 2025, mainly to eat as much as possible (My love for dumplings will last till I die) and see Hong Kong, one of Asia’s most interesting city; In the end, I had a memorable trip!

Before diving into my itinerary, a few considerations:

• It’s fine to start in any of the major airport, you can either do a ’line’ or a loop. For a line, the best starting and ending points are Hong Kong and Guangzhou
• Hong Kong is not really China, the one country two systems policy still remains, hence Hong Kong has its own visa policy and rules.
• To survive in mainland China, Alipay and a translator apps are lifesavers. Cash is accepted, but annoying to use and find.
• AMAP is now in english, even on Android, it works very well in mainland China. Google Maps is better in HK
• Never speak abour politics. It’s touchy.
• I did it in 7 days, but 8 would have been better. Damn flight deals.

I did a loop itinerary from/to Shenzhen as the flights were less than 100$ both ways from Phnom Penh, so I’ll keep that order, adapt to your situation ;)

____

Itinerary done quick

Pearl Delta

Day 1: Arrival in Shenzhen - Baoan

If you arrive in Shenzhen, I’m pretty sure you land in Bao’an. So what’s the best place to visit on a first day?
Bao’An of course!

I wanted to keep Shenzhen last as I arrived very early, so I actually skipped to Hong Kong by bus straight from the airport. To do that, I went to the tourist counter, they explained everything and sold me a transfer bus that left around 5AM to the island of Hong Kong. It’s super convenient! However I was super tired, it wasn’t as enjoyable to visit with half a decent night, hence I recommend spending an afternoon in Shenzhen before moving on to HK the next morning.

Morning?

A few kilometers from the airport, you have the Happy Harbour, a touristic area undergoing heavy development and a nice way to see Shenzhen. (You can also find the place under the name Baoan Binhai Cultural Park)

That’s also where you find the famous library, it’s in the commercial center, right in the middle.

I suggest spending your morning/afternoon there, get some food, explore the Xiaomi shop, see the sculptures, see the sea and Shenzhen impressive skyline… It’s a bit mid, but good as a first visit.
You can easily use two hours to see all, count three if you eat.

Afternoon

You have more time? Spend the rest of the day in Nantou’s old city to get this Old City Feel! The old cities of Nantou and Xin’An as well as a nice park, Zhongshan Park are right next to each other.

If you don’t have time, it’s ok. You can leave this for later if you return to Shenzhen.

It’s easy to spend two to three hours seeing everything.

Day 2: Hong Kong - North (Mong kok, TST & more)

The bus from Shenzhen will drop you around Mong Kok, if you come from the airport, it’s easy to reach. It’s also an area wth plenty of accomodation.

Fret not if you’re further, the YHA is in Sham Shui Po, an easy trip by subway. If you’re poor like me, then it’s nice to be out of the center.

Morning

It’s time to walk!

Start from the Wong Tai Sin Temple (metro by the same name), visit it and then make your way to the remnants of the densest neighborhood that used to be: Kowloon. Walk further to see the Nan Lian gardens and the Chi Lin nunnery and even further to hike a mountain! The viewpoints are many and so are the sights, eating opportunities and other cool stuff.

If you walked well, congrats, it’s now the (late) afternoon.

(Late) Afternoon

Lets go to Tsim Sha Tsui!

South of this part of HK, you have another nice cluster: Nice buildings, the avenue of stars, the Bruce Lee statue and the harbor. There are plenty of museums as well, if that’s your thing. I’m pretty much bored out of them, so I visit sparingly.

Once night falls, be sure to see the drone show. If it’s not too late, or if you’re not tired yet, see Temple Street on the way back for a rewarding night market experience.

Day 3: Hong Kong - Lantau

Morning

Let’s go get some greenery! To get to Lantau, the easiest way is to take the subway to Tung Chung. To get started for this day activity, you need to follow with a bus to Tian Tan Buddha. Those buses are near the man road, a bit north of the station, follow the tourists. This is the cheapest way to see the giant buddha and to start hiking Lantau Peak (934m according to Google), Lantau Peak is a good way to see the whole island.

Hence:

I recommend walking around the Big Buddha, walk up the stairs, see the Po Lin Monastery then head out toward the hiking path; walking past the Wisdom path and its pillars, toward the hill and viewpoint over the island. Be prepared to walk quite a lot, with a terrain that is not that easy, I rolled my ankle on the way down, the next five days weren’t so fun. The picture for this section has been taken from the top.

Afternoon

From Ngong Ping Village (near the Buddha), there is a cable car station and a bus station. Early in the afternoon, there are buses every 30 minutes going to the Tai’O fishing village. That’s the destination.

According to GMaps, bus number 21 is the only direct one, if you want to go down using the cable car, then you can use buses 1 and 11, it’s a 20 minutes drive.

Walk around the market, spot the cats and eat delicious mochis! AThere is a promenade near the sea, a few nice shops (inexpensive compared to the rest of the country) and a marker. After that visit, it’ll probably be late, head back to Tung Chung by bus (Bus number 11) and zip back to mainland HK by subway (Orange line).

From Tai’O, it’s easily two hours to get back to the center of Hong Kong… Be prepared to be dead tired.

Day 4: Hong Kong - Central

Morning

Now let’s explore the last important island of Hong Kong: Hong Kong Island (of course). The beautiful skyscrappers of the coastline, the monster building in Causeway Bay, the batteries and forts… Just by going east along the coast, you have sights after sights. (I recommend taking the bus, it’s quite spread out, use and abuse it) If you like uncommon sights, you can go a bit further out and check out the Haw Par mansion or the Hong Kong movie archives (I haven’t been inside but the building is cool) Once I visited all of that I went to get some eggtarts from Bakehouse in Central (And to grab some lunch on the go)

Afternoon

If you too went to Bakehouse in Central, then you are near one of the main touristic area, the Central-Mid levels escalors and the main parts of Central. Enjoy the street art, the cool building and the escalator letting you go all the way to the base of Mount Victoria. And then… It’s hiking time again.

Go up the mountain for a good sunset/night view of the city! If you went up Lantau the previous day, without hurting youreslf like I did, then it should be fine. Even with one limping leg, I did it easily.

That’s it for Hong Kong. If you have more time, then you can head to more museums, go shopping, see different viewpoints, see a horse race near Wan Chai, perhaps even go to Lamma Island… If I were to be stranded one month in HK, I legit would never be bored!

Day 5: Macau

Morning

Both Ferries and buses goes to Macau, I think I went with One Bus, but I’m not even sure, it’s been a while. There are two islands, drop your bags to your hotel in the right island!

I started with Coloane, the southern island. Check out the casinos, the tram and, if by chance you have enough time, the Coloane village! I think it’s ok to visit until 3PM or something. Take your time. I didn’t visit Coloane Village, and I kinda regret, another traveler showed me pictures and it was hella cute. Instead I spent more time in the northern island and ended up rushing it a bit (Same as with Guangzhou)

Afternoon

Let’s go to the northern island. Start from A-Ma temple (at the tram’s terminus) and walk toward the center It’s as easy as that. On the way you have the Casa do Mandarim, a lot of portuguese churches, the Dom Pedro V theater, pastries…

Then, it’s time to see the Largo Do Senado, the Sao Paulo ruins and the Monte do Forte. That’s a lot!

Once night befell the skies, I headed east toward the casinos (such as the Lisboa, to get another night view. If you have more time, lucky you! Be sure to head to the Guia lighthouse while you have time (And see the San Lazaro district on the way)

Don’t hesitate to add a day to spread it out, I walked more than 20 kilometers that day.

Day 6: Guangzhou

Morning

Let’s go to Guangzhou.

And take the train this time. Head north with a bus to Portas do Cerco (They also go round the island, ask around and see!), that’s the border. From there, after the crossing you get to a train station where you can use your remaining patacas before heading to Guangzhou.

Once in town, I recommend walk toward Yuexiu park starting form the Temple of Six Banyan Trees. From the temple go north to the Dr Sun Wat-Sen’s Memorial Hall then the Nanyue King Wen’s mausoleum.

Eat an early lunch before going to see the rest, otherwise you’re going to have a very late lunch.

Afternoon

Right after the mausoleum stands the big park hosting the famous ram statue and the Guangzhou museum an old building/viewpoint that is a cheap museum teaching about the city’s history and fights with pirates. Interesting and good for pictures! Before the dark replace the blue, use the metro to zap to the English district in Shamian. You can have a leisurely walk near colonial buildings, close to the river. In the late afternoon it’s busy in a good way. It does’t take too much time and allow you to see another side of the city.

Afterwards, it should be around nightfall, head to the center to see the light show near the Guangzhou TV Tower, iirc it’s the Huacheng Plaza, the small island and then the new tower is across. An underground shuttle allow you to freely cross tehe river without worries, but there are a few bridges as well.

Don’t hesitate to use Didi to get to those places easily. It’s hard to find your way in the subway or to use the buses. I took more time than wanted to see the city because I walked too much and had too hard of a time finding my way. Hopefully, by now there are better transportation apps in english (AMAP was still in chinese only when I went…)

Day 7: Last day - Guangzhou/Shenzen

Morning

Use remaining time to finish the visit in Guangzou, I recommend to see the Shen Clan Ancestral Hall, but be sure to book in advance (online only) then head to the station and zip to Shenzhen. If you have time, the two parks neaer the Hall are both equally green and beautiful, it’s nice to take a break from the big city.

Afternoon

We are getting to the end of this article and i’m gtting Lazy. So refer to day 1 of Shenzhen and finish any unfinished business. Shopping, old town, the harbour, a hike… There are many possibilities, but Shenzhen ain’t exactly a touristic city.

Day X: With more days, ideas

Too much time on your hands? Add a day for the casinos in Macau or spend one more night in Guangzhou to have more leisure!

You can also add a day in HK to hike, it’s a hiking paradise after all :)

Comments?