Exclusive Hong Kong Experiences: Peak Tram, Star Ferry & Junk Boats

Hong Kong's defining experiences are, for the most part, over a century old — a funicular railway, a harbour crossing, a racecourse — each one still functioning as genuine daily infrastructure rather than a preserved museum piece.

The Peak Tram

Opened in 1888 as the first funicular railway in Asia, the Peak Tram climbs nearly 400 metres from Central, covered in our areas guide, to Victoria Peak in a few steep minutes. A major 2019–2022 renovation nearly doubled its passenger capacity per trip while preserving the funicular's original steep-gradient route, and it now carries more than four million passengers a year to one of the best skyline views in Asia.

The Star Ferry

Crossing Victoria Harbour between Central and Tsim Sha Tsui, the Star Ferry remains one of the cheapest, most scenic short journeys anywhere in the world — a green-and-white vessel that has carried the same crossing for well over a century, with the entire skyline of both shores visible from the open deck in a single seven-minute ride.

Junk Boat Culture

Departing from Sai Kung and other harbours around the city, a private junk boat charter remains the definitive Hong Kong weekend — traditional wooden vessels or modern motor yachts alike, heading out toward the outlying islands for a day of swimming and anchored lunch well away from the density of the city itself. It is as much a local institution as a visitor experience.

Happy Valley Racecourse

Racing since 1846, Happy Valley remains one of the most atmospheric sporting venues in Asia, its Wednesday night races drawing a crowd of roughly 55,000 into a seven-storey stadium built on what was originally unusable swampland — the only flat ground available on Hong Kong Island at the time. The infield, now used for football and rugby by day, transforms into a floodlit spectacle each race night, framed by the skyscrapers of Central rising just beyond the rail.

Planning Around the Season

Happy Valley's Wednesday night race meetings run from September through July, pausing over the height of summer. The Peak Tram and Star Ferry operate year-round, though the clearest skyline views typically come in the drier autumn and winter months between October and February.