Hong Kong — hero

Asia

Hong Kong

Where a neon skyline meets green hills and island beaches: a hyper-connected city of dim sum, night markets and dramatic hikes, all minutes from the harbour.

Currency
Hong Kong Dollar (HKD)
Language
English, Chinese
Best time
November – April
Visa
Visa-free for UK passport holders for up to 6 months (FCDO). Hong Kong has its own immigration controls, separate from mainland China.

The FCDO has no advisory against travel to Hong Kong.

Still current at: 13 November 2026 Updated: 1 April 2026

Source: UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office — the definitive source. Check it close to your travel dates.

Flight cancelled or delayed because of this? Your rights under UK261 / EU261 →

Why visit

Why Hong Kong

Where a neon skyline meets green hills and island beaches: a hyper-connected city of dim sum, night markets and dramatic hikes, all minutes from the harbour.

  • Victoria Peak, the harbour skyline & Star Ferry
  • Dim sum, dai pai dong street food & night markets
  • Big Buddha and monastery on Lantau
  • Hiking trails and beaches minutes from the towers
Read more

Hong Kong is one of the world's great sensory cities, a place where a dazzling skyline rises above one of Asia's most famous harbours and where East and West have blended for generations. Dense, dramatic and endlessly energetic, it delivers an enormous amount within a compact, walkable footprint.

What surprises first-time visitors most is the green: over three-quarters of the territory is countryside, with hiking trails, hills and quiet beaches reachable within the hour. It is a city of contrasts, temple incense one moment, rooftop bars the next.

For 2026, Hong Kong is a superb bleisure and soft-adventure hub: world-class connectivity and dining paired with island escapes, making it perfect for families and remote workers alike, and an unbeatable gateway to the wider region.

A pillar, not a footnote

Eat your way through Hong Kong

The single reason many travellers come back — the food culture worth reshaping a trip around, and the dishes to seek out region by region.

Hong Kong

One of the world's great eating cities, from dawn dim sum trolleys to a 3am bowl of wonton noodles.

Begin with yum cha: a clattering morning tearoom, trolleys of bamboo steamers weaving between tables, and you pointing at whatever looks good — translucent har gow, barbecue-pork buns, custard tarts still warm. Dim sum is Hong Kong's genius for small, precise, endlessly varied pleasure, and the tea keeps coming as long as you leave the lid ajar.

But the city really lives in its everyday places. Duck into a cha chaan teng for East-meets-West comfort — a crisp pineapple bun with a cold slab of butter, macaroni in soup, and a cup of silk-stocking milk tea strong enough to lean on. On the street, a lacquered char siu and roast goose hang in the window, an egg waffle blisters on the iron, and after midnight the move is a bowl of springy wonton noodles at a hole in the wall. Come hungry at every hour; this city rewards it.

Dishes to seek out
  • Dim sum (steamed tea snacks)
  • Roast goose (crispy Cantonese)
  • Char siu (barbecued sweet pork)
  • Wonton noodles (shrimp dumplings in soup)
  • Egg waffle (bubble-shaped sweet waffle)
  • Egg tart (flaky custard tart)
  • Hong Kong milk tea
Plan your own trip to Hong Kong
Where to stay

Hand-checked places in Hong Kong

Browse all Hong Kong stays →
When to go

Weather & timing in Hong Kong Right now RIGHT NOW 25°C cloudy

Best Dec–Feb · Shoulder Mar–Apr, Nov

Units

Next 7 days

Forecast · Met Office · Powered by Met Office data

Typical · climate data

Best time to visit

November – April

Best for
  • Culture
  • Cuisine
  • Landscape
  • History
At a glance
Sunshine 8.5 hr/day
Rainfall 192 mm/mo
Wettest August · 367.2mm
Driest January · 15.1mm
Part of East Asia →
By season

Units

Spring (Mar–May)

What to expect — Daytime highs average about 25°C with overnight lows near 20°C, with plenty of rain.

What's best — Warm, then Shoulder season, then Wet. Mar is among the best months here (warm, sun and cloud).

Summer (Jun–Aug)

What to expect — Daytime highs average about 29°C with overnight lows near 26°C — the wettest stretch of the year.

What's best — Wet.

Autumn (Sep–Nov)

What to expect — Daytime highs average about 27°C with overnight lows near 22°C, with plenty of rain.

What's best — Wet, then Shoulder season.

Winter (Dec–Feb)

What to expect — Daytime highs average about 19°C with overnight lows near 13°C.

What's best — Mild. Dec, Jan and Feb are among the best months here (mild, sunny).

Live forecast map · Windy.com · temperature with wind, °C and km/h
A little context

A little history

To read what you're looking at — the empires and eras that shaped Hong Kong's food, art and streets.

Ceded to Britain after the First Opium War (island 1842, Kowloon 1860, New Territories leased 1898), Hong Kong became a British-built free port and global trade hub
it returned to Chinese sovereignty on 1 July 1997 under 'one country, two systems', keeping its own legal system, currency and border as a Special Administrative Region
that guarantee is set to run 50 years, to 2047, a defining backdrop to its politics
it grew from colonial port to leading financial centre, behind the dense skyline, deep-water harbour and service economy.
Before you book

Know before you go

The practical back-matter — safety, drones and the essentials, in one place.

Safety

No FCDO advisory against travel FCDO advice →

Official UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office guidance is the definitive source — check it close to your travel dates.

Drone rules (sub-250g)

  • Hong Kong
    Legal for small drones but hemmed in. Since 2022 a sub-250g drone needs no registration for a tourist, but a dense official no-fly map, packed urban airspace and a blanket night-flying ban leave little usable space; heavier drones need CAD registration, which visitors can pre-apply for. ⚠ Check the official CAD drone map: large no-fly and permission-required zones cover the airport, urban Kowloon and Hong Kong Island, harbour approaches, country parks and government sites. Night flying is prohibited everywhere. Rules checked: Jul 2026

National parks, protected sites and religious/heritage venues often have their own rules and permits — always check the specific site before you fly.

The essentials

Plug & voltage Type G · 220V
Daily budget Expensive (cheap street food, though)
Region Eastern Asia