Lantau Island Itinerary: The Perfect Day Trip From Hong Kong

Lantau Island completely contrasts the bustling and over-populated Hong Kong and Kowloon, and I was excited to visit it.

With golden sands merging with the azure South China Sea, and forested mountains offering hiking trails and enchanting peak views, what's not to like?

There are plenty of things to do in Lantau, and its centrepiece is the bronze Buddha, which sits atop the hillside and casts an ethereal gaze over the Po Lin monastery. Indeed, no Hong Kong itinerary can be complete without a visit to this fascinating island.

No trip to Lantau is complete without visiting the stilted fishing village of Tai O, where a short boat trip takes you around this traditional village on water. Seeing this cultural way of living is pretty cool.

Read on to discover why you should add a Lantau Island day trip to your trip to Hong Kong.

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How to Get to Lantau Island

Public transport or an organised tour can whisk you to Lantau in 40 minutes. I usually like to travel independently, but with only a few days in Hong Kong, I let someone else act as my guide and booked a similar day trip to Lantau Island, complete with sightseeing and lunch.

Best Things to See on Lantau Island

Tsing Ma Bridge

Maybe not the most exciting part of the day, but the Tsing Ma Bridge is the longest road/rail suspension bridge in the world.

We stopped at the viewing platform of this iconic structure before crossing to Lantau Island.

It only opened in 1997; until then, the only way to get to Lantau was by boat.

The local people welcomed the bridge's construction, and now rail and road vehicles can travel back and forth easily, greatly reducing journey times.

After crossing the bridge, our next stop was at Hong Kong's longest beach, Cheung Sha. It was more of a convenience break than a chance to strip down to our swimming costumes and dip a toe in the South China Sea, but feeling sand between my toes in such a beautiful location was still lovely.

If you are coming to Lantau Island without a tour, allow yourself some time to spend on this 3km stretch of beach. It has two areas: the lower part, where restaurants, cafes, and watersport rentals are located, and the upper part, where we stopped, offering more of a remote vibe.

It was also scorching, so ensure you have all the protection you need for a beach day in the Hong Kong sunshine, or you may return looking like an overcooked noodle!

Tai O Fishing Village

Walking through Tai O Fishing Village was a real experience and one of Hong Kong's hidden gems.

Traditional shops, mainly selling dried fish of every shape and size, lined the maze of small streets, and at every street corner, we noticed a tiny religious shrine.

Some of the "delicacies" on offer were quite curious, such as the fermented egg yolks the children gobbled up like sweets, but it was a fascinating insight into the local Chinese culture.

We joined a tour boat and were shown around the small waterway for a closer look at daily life in Tai O Village.  

Seeing fishing junks tied up alongside stilted wooden houses and local people going about their everyday routines was fascinating. This culture and lifestyle are a million miles away from my own, but to be part of it for a while was a privilege and an experience we thoroughly enjoyed.

Po Lin Monastery

Back on the coach, we meandered through the scenic countryside and headed to Po Lin Monastery, home of the world's largest outdoor seated bronze Buddha.

The Buddha was the highlight of the trip, and as we rounded the corner and saw it serenely gracing the skyline and looking down over the monastery, it was everything we hoped it would be.

There were 268 steps to reach Tian Tan, the official name for the Big Buddha, but we got lucky; our coach took us straight to the top, so there were no stairs to climb!

Big Buddha

When you stand beneath the Buddha, you realise just how enormous the statue is and the remarkable feat of engineering involved in creating it.

The swastika on the Buddha's chest is a 5000-year-old Buddhist symbol of peace and spirituality, much like the cross represents the Christian religion.

The Buddha's right hand is raised, representing the removal of affliction, while the left-hand rests open on his lap in a gesture of generosity. The lotus flower the Buddha sits upon represents purity.

Bodhisattvas

Surrounding the Buddha stand six other statues called the Bodhisattvas, representing deities on their way to enlightenment.

Twelve Divine Generals

At the bottom of the stairs, we continued to make our way towards the monastery, where we were to be given a vegetarian lunch both prepared and served by monks.

We walked through the enormous white entrance gate and along the pathway flanked by the Twelve Divine Generals, who guard the Buddha. Each symbolised an animal from the Chinese Zodiac armed with a particular weapon. They also represent different times of the day.

General Sandira represents the horse in the Chinese zodiac and holds a conch shell.  He represents the hours of 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

General Kimnara represents the tiger of the Chinese Zodiac and holds a rope - though it looks very much like a bat and ball to me! He represents the hours of 3:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m.

We came face-to-face with several sacred cows wandering along the paths, which were fun to see.

Tourists from certain countries seemed fascinated with capturing a selfie with a holy being and posed and pouted with them for ages!

Giant Incense Sticks

Several other religious buildings are located in the monastery complex, and as it is a large area, you need to give yourself a few hours to see everything at your own pace.

Incense sticks are sold in all the stalls that line the pathways, and these ceremonial sticks were probably the biggest I had ever seen. They are so big that ladders are required to get up to the top and light them, so I'm not sure they would fit in my suitcase!

Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car

The final part of our trip was to descend the mountain on the Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car, the world's longest cable car at 5.7km.

The journey takes 25 minutes from the start at Ngong Ping to finish at Tung Chung, and the 360-degree scenery en route is spectacular.

Being wary of heights, I wasn't sure about upgrading to a crystal cabin with a transparent floor, but let's face it, this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to push me out of my comfort zone, so we just went for it.

I managed to make it through the journey, and I can report that it wasn't as scary as I thought.

We jumped back on our tour coach at the bottom of the cable car ride and returned to our hotel, The Royal Garden in Kowloon.

We had seen all the highlights of Lantau Island and were ready to kick off our shoes and relax. Visiting Po Lin Monastery and Big Buddha was very inspirational, and our organised trip gave us marvellous insight into the more serene side of Hong Kong.

Conclusion

Hong Kong has seen huge changes over the last few years, but it remains a country worth visiting. A visit to Lantau Island remains a spectacular addition to a Hong Kong itinerary.

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