48 Hours in Hong Kong: hotels, restaurants and places to visit

New bars and restaurants and extra flights from the UK make the city a tempting prospect.

Why go now?

The oppressively hot days of summer will soon be coming to an end and the high-rise metropolis of Hong Kong will once again be a joy to behold. Throw in new flights, a wave of new bars and restaurants and some of the most iconic sights and experiences in the Far East and you've got a city break of epic proportions.

Touch down

Hong Kong is served by a number of direct flights from the UK. Flights with Virgin Atlantic depart every evening from London Heathrow on the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner; so you can travel in style.

British Airways also operates from Heathrow, as does Cathay Pacific, which will also fly from Manchester and Gatwick.

Around 12 hours later you'll touch down at Hong Kong International Airport, located on Lantau Island, 34 km north-west of the city centre. The Airport Express Train whisks new arrivals to downtown Hong Kong in 24 minutes. Services depart every 10 minutes, so you'll never be waiting around.

Get your bearings

The British have a long love affair with Hong Kong. A colony until it was handed back to China in 197, it is now an autonomous "special administrative region" of the People's Republic. It consists of 263 islands and a peninsula that juts down from mainland China.

The principle destinations for visitors are historic Kowloon and Hong Kong Island, located to the south on the other side of Victoria Harbour and known for its futuristic shoreline crammed with gleaming skyscrapers. But the outlying islands - notably Lantau, the largest in the archipelago - are also worthy of some attention.

Check in

Dating back to 1928, the Peninsula Hotel on Sailsbury Road may be the oldest hotel in Hong Kong but there are 21st century touches throughout: rooms with king-sized beds, waterfall showers and specially designed control panels. Elsewhere, unwind at the heavenly spa with treatment rooms overlooking Victoria Harbour.

Design property Hotel Icon at 15 Science Museum Road is kitted out with contemporary Chinese art but it's the harbour views that really impress.

The 148-room Butterfly on Hollywood at 263 Hollywood Road is stylish, well located and reasonably priced.

Day One

Take a hike

Start at one of Hong Kong's oldest temples. Dedicated to the gods of war and literature, Man Mo temple at 124 Hollywood Road was built in 1847 and its crimson interior is heady with the aroma of countless oils of burning incense. From there, cross the road and walk down a short flight of stairs, turning left onto Cat's Street. This pedestrianised strip is lined with stalls selling faux antiques and quirky souvenirs.

Chairman Mao watch, anyone?

Backtrack onto Hollywood Road and walk east. Pause for a macataha smoothie (coconut yogurt, maca powder, chia seeds and spinach) at Grassroots Pantry at number 108 and continue, keeping watch for the interesting street art on display at the junctions to the other streets. Finish at Shelley Street where you'll find the Mid-Level Escalators, a pioneering elevated walkway system that extends over 800 metres in a bid to provide the thousands of residents living on the steep hillsides with easy access to Central.

Window shopping

Mong Kok in Kowloon is the place for gadgets, but far more interesting are the fine art and rare Chinese artefacts on show in the antique stores along Hollywood Road.

Hong Kong is also home to some of the best tailors in the world. Gents can get a bespoke suit from Cuffs at 2F 27 Lee Garden Road, which has recently opened its second store in Causeway Bay. Favouring more contemporary designs, owner Ian Fong has devised a unique process that customises everything from the cut to the thread of the buttons.

Lunch on the run

Replenish your energy levels with a plate of stir-fried scallops with black garlic at SohoFama at 35 Aberdeen Street - best enjoyed at an outdoor table beside the restaurant's vegetable garden.

SohoFama forms part of the PMQ complex, a former police station transformed into a creative space with around 100 independent food and retail outlets, many design - and fashion - focused with local connections.

Take a view

There's no better vantage point to appreciate Hong Kong's vertiginous skyline than from Victoria Peak, best seen at dusk. If time permits, walk the one-hour circular Peak Trail for a different perspective. The nicest way to reach the 552 m summit is on the gravity-defying 125-year-old Peak Tram which departs from 33 Garden Road, in Central, every 10-15 minutes between 7 am and midnight.

Dine with the locals

Hong Kong's culinary scene in not only exciting but also constantly evolving with new innovative restaurants opening on an almost daily basis. One such eatery is Cobo House at 8/12 South Lane, from celebrated pastry chef Janice Wong. Dishes include duck breast with herbs and mocha mugi (a Japanese glutinous barley), and cod with smoked aubergine puree and dill cream.

Another new hotspot is QI Nine Dragons at 20/F Prince Tower, 12A Peking Road, which serves blow-your-socks-off Sichuan cuisine. Even the chocolate ice cream is spicy. Try the fried calamari with Sichuan miso and cool off with a nightcap on the rooftop terrace.

Day Two

Sunday morning: out to brunch

Do as the locals do and dine out on dim sum. But not just any old dim sum. Upon first impressions there's nothing particularly special about Tim Ho Wan at 2 Hoi Ting Road - the dining room crowded and a little drab with people eating on black plastic plates - but looks can be deceiving. Considered to be the cheapest Michelin-starred restaurant in the world, the dumplings are simply divine. Go early to avoid the queue. The slightly sweet barbecued pork buns are not be to missed.

A walk in the park

Kowloon Walled City Park on Tung Tsing Road, with pavilions and peaceful pathways, is based on the Jiangnan gardens of the Qing Dynasty and has a fascinating history; it stands on the site of a former ungoverned settlement that was once the most densely populated place on the planet.

Fought over both sides when Britain leased Hong Kong from the Chinese, it was eventually abandoned by both nations and became a place of brothels, opium dens and unlicensed health practitioners with 350 residential tower blocks crammed into an area the size of four football fields. Te city was torn down in the 1990s.

Cultural afternoon

Discover more of the city's beautiful past at the Hong Kong Museum of History at 100 Chatham Road South, which traces 400 million years of geological and cultural history.

Alternatively, focus entirely on its relationship with the sea at the Hong Kong Maritime Museum at Central Pier, which documents the naval history and trade of the city and the surrounding Pearl River Delta.

Take a ride

No trip to Hong Kong would be complete without at least one ride on the green and white star ferry across Victoria Harbour. Boats depart every 8-12 minutes between 7.20 am and 11 pm from Tsim Sha Tsui Pier in Kowloon, and two piers on Hong Kong Island: Central and Wan Chai. The crossing takes around eight minutes.

Icing on the cake

Green and mountainous Lantau Island, which sits at the mouth of the Pearl River, is ripe for adventure. Ride the panoramic cable car, stand under the 34 m-tall bronze Tian Tan Buddha and hike the three-hour Dragon's Back Trail for views across the island, its peaks and bays.

Also set aside time to visit the traditional fishing village of Tai O, where homes are built on stilts above the tidal flats. Stay overnight at the charming colonial style Tai O Heritage Hotel on Shek Tsai Po Street.

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