Home Culture

Victoria Peak

Victoria Peak

Write: Doron [2011-05-23]

The Victoria Peak is absolutely incredible! It is the tallest hill in Hong Kong Island and the Peak Tram is one of Hong Kong s oldest and most memorable attractions. Looking down from The Peak you'll be amazed by the spectacular view of the surrounding city skyline, the world-famous Victoria Harbour and Kowloon, towering skyscrapers and peaceful green hillsides.

Rising from the hyperkinetic buzz of Central, the funicular runs every 10 to 15 minutes from the lower terminus on manic Garden Rd up the side of 552m Victoria Peak to finish at the newly renovated Peak Tower. Standing on the Lugard Road scenic spot, Lion Pavilion, observation deck on the peak or Sky Terrace of Peak Tower, you can appreciate the breath-taking sceneries of Hong Kong under the mountain.

On the peak, there are various kinds of shopping facilities and lots of restaurants.

Be sure to visit Madame Tussauds Hong Kong, open from 10am to 10pm daily, for an engrossing interactive entertainment experience! It is located on Level 2, Peak Tower, 128 Peak Rd., Victoria Peak with100 life-size wax figures of celebrities, politicians, and historical figures. In addition to the usual figures--Marilyn Monroe, the Beatles, Winston Churchill, victims in a medieval torture chamber--there are also local heroes like Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh, and Bruce Lee. You'll probably spend about 30 minutes here.

Another well-known attraction is Ripley's Museum! The 26th Ripley's museum to open worldwide, it contains oddities (and replicas of oddities) collected by Robert L. Ripley on visits to 198 countries over 55 years, including a shrunken head from Ecuador, torture items from around the world, a two-headed calf, and models of the world's tallest and fattest men.

Be forewarned that some of the items are purely grotesque, or, at best, out of date in a more socially correct world. Still, human nature being what it is, probably everyone wants to visit one of these museums at least once, and children, of course, are fascinated. You probably won't be able to tear them away in less than an hour.

It's open daily from 9am to 10pm.

Peak Explorer, Level 4 of the Peak Tower, is a 36-seat motion-simulator theater that features changing, 8-minute fast-paced films and seats that move, jerk, roll, and rock in accordance to the action on the screen. It's almost like being onboard the roller coaster, racecar, motorbike, or whatever is being shown, and is definitely not for those with motion sickness.

The hour-long circular hiking on Lugard Road and Harlech Road, both located just a stone's throw from the Peak tram terminus, is a wonderful thing. Mainly a footpath overhung with banyan trees and passing lush vegetation, it snakes along the side of the cliff, offering great views of the Central District below, the harbor, Kowloon, and then Aberdeen and the outlying islands on the other side. You will also pass Victoria Peak mansions. This is one of the best walks in Hong Kong; at night, the lighted path offers one of the world's most romantic views.