Hong Kong & Macau, 5 Nights

Met at Hong Kong International Airport on Lantau and driven to the hotel, about 30 to 45 minutes depending on whether you stay in Kowloon or on the Island. The rest of the day is for check-in and rest. In the evening, an easy walk along the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront, where the skyline across the harbour is lit after dark and the Avenue of Stars runs along the shore. Dinner is open, and the area has plenty of vegetarian and Indian restaurants nearby.

By road to Tung Chung and up on the Ngong Ping cable car, a roughly 25-minute ride over the bay and the forested ridge. At the top, 268 steps lead to the bronze Tian Tan Buddha, about 34 metres high, with Po Lin Monastery below and a vegetarian lunch available there. The cable car closes for scheduled maintenance several times a year; if it is shut on your dates we use the road to the plateau instead and tell you before you travel. Back at the hotel by late afternoon.

A morning on Hong Kong Island: the Peak Tram up the steep slope to Victoria Peak, where the viewing terrace looks over Central's towers and the harbour. Then down into Central and across Victoria Harbour on the Star Ferry, a short crossing that has run for well over a century. The afternoon is free; the evening suggestion is the Temple Street night market and the Ladies' Market. Anyone who prefers a theme park can take this day for Disneyland or Ocean Park instead, arranged as an extra.

After breakfast, a transfer to the Hong Kong ferry terminal for the crossing to Macau, which takes about an hour. Macau is a separate border, so passports are checked on both sides and bags come with you. After hotel check-in, the afternoon covers the old city: the carved granite facade of St Paul's ruins, the wave-patterned pavements of Senado Square and the lanes of egg-tart bakeries and almond-biscuit shops around it. Dinner is in the old town.

The morning starts at A-Ma Temple, a seaside Taoist temple that is said to have given Macau its name, with incense coils hanging in the courtyards. Then across the bridge to Cotai, the reclaimed strip of resort hotels, where the Venetian's indoor canals and gondolas, the replica Eiffel Tower at Paris and the free resort shuttles let you wander without a plan. The late afternoon is open for the casino-free parts of the resorts, shops and shows, many of which are ticketed separately.

The road and sea links between Macau and Hong Kong's airport include ferries and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, and the best option depends on your flight time. We confirm the route and departure time at booking and plan for a generous margin, because you clear Macau and Hong Kong immigration separately. A late-morning or afternoon flight is easier than an early one; an early departure may mean a night in Hong Kong instead.