How to Get to Victoria's Peak and Avenue of the Stars

6:25 AM | Labels: Avenue of the Stars, Hong Kong, Travels, Victoria's Peak

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Day 1 - Have you been OUTSIDE Disneyland?
Day 2 - Ocean Park: See Hong Kong's National Treasures!
Day 3 - Get Up Close and Personal with the Giant Buddha at Ngong Ping
Day 4 - Shopping Galore at Sham Shui Po and Temple Street
Day 5 - How to Get to Victoria's Peak and Avenue of the Stars
Day 6 - Fast Passes: The Secret to Disneyland
Day 7 - How to Get Around Macau for Free
Day 8 - Party the Night Away in Lan Kwai Fong

For the life of me, I can't recall exactly what we did the morning of our 5th day. I assume we went to Citygate Outlets and explored the mall for great buys (yeah, we haven't had enough shopping yet!)

What I do remember is that we planned to go to Victoria's Peak that afternoon. We left at around 3pm to go back once again to Central and exited through Exit J2, as advised by Tata.

I think this was also the time we booked the hotel we would be staying in Macau. There was a booth in the MTR station in Central (if I'm not mistaken) which offered to let us book in any hotel. We decided on Metropole although it was only a 3-star hotel, because it was cheap (first priority) and we wouldn't be staying there long anyway, just overnight (second reason). I figured we would be too tired from touring all day to do anything but sleep once we got back to our hotel. And lastly, one of our colleagues in the office suggested this hotel.

We had a hard time looking for the Peak Tram terminal. We had a vague idea where it was but didn't know how to get there. I also remember we rode an old fashioned tram. A tram is a vehicle that runs on tracks, sort of like a train, only smaller and no segments. These were probably built by the British when they still occupied Hong Kong. So it was also an experience to ride one of these relics. Hehe. However, we got off at the wrong place and had to walk back. We followed all the signs we could see until we finally found the Peak Tram terminal by accident.

Riding the Peak Tram

While searching the net, I found out what we did wrong. After we exited through exit J2, we should have just walked along Garden Road (between the Bank of China and the Cheung Kong Centre) to the Peak Tram instead of riding the normal tram. The walk would take 15 to 20 minutes.

Another alternative to get there is to get off Admiralty Station from the MTR, Exit B then go to Lippo Centre Bus Terminus and take bus 12S.

Anyway, we bought our tickets to ride the Peak Tram (HK$30 for a return trip, HK$20 for one-way).

The ride up to the Peak was something else. It was very steep (27 degrees) and the view is a must-see! But the ride was over all too quickly, about 10 minutes.

When we reached the Peak, we passed by Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum but decided not to visit it because we were already short on $$ and we haven't even been to Disneyland and Macau yet. Besides, looking at the wax sculptures didn't really interest us. But we still posed with Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee's wax statues which were free. Hehe! Also, there was a booth where you can dip you hands in wax to make a model of it.

with Bruce and Jackie!

We wandered in and outside the Peak tower. The design of the structure is unique and certainly great for some photo shooting. =)

The Peak Tower

At the lowest floor of the Peak Tower, there was a mini Disneyland castle. We purchased our tickets to Disneyland here in advance so that we wouldn't need to fall in line the next day. We got one free Disney umbrella but couldn't decide among the three of us who would get to keep it. Hehe!

When it was nearly night time, we headed up to the Sky Terrace, the highest point in the Peak and also the best place to see the view of the city. There was an additional HK$20 to go to the Sky Terrace.

The view was certainly spectacular with all the lights and I was glad I brought my tripod with me so I can take better pictures.

I was also eager to visit the Avenue of the Stars that night and witness the largest light and sound show in the world, "The Symphony of Lights". We left Victoria's Peak and headed once more to the MTR.

We got off Tsim Sha Tsui station and exited through Exit J2. Unfortunately, we were too late. The show had already finished as it started promptly at 8pm. We still had fun taking pictures and fitting our hands on the imprints left by Hong Kong stars. We didn't know most of them but still, Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, Jet Li and Chow Yun-Fat's stars were there. There was also a sculpture of Bruce Lee. Now I know why this place is also called the Hollywood of the East.