Victoria Peak, the Star Ferry and Central to Sheung Wan

The classic image of Hong Kong is the amphitheatre of skyscrapers rising between the green ridge of Victoria Peak (552 metres) and the busy shipping lanes of Victoria Harbour. Experiencing this vertical landscape from water level, street level and mountain crest gives you the clearest orientation to the territory on your very first day.

The Peak Tram and the Lugard Road cliff walk

Since 1888, the funicular Peak Tram has hauled passengers up from its lower terminus on Garden Road in Central to the upper saddle at roughly 396 metres, climbing gradients so steep that the apartment towers outside the right-hand window appear to tilt at twenty-seven degrees. Tap your Octopus card at the lower turnstile early in the morning or an hour before sunset, or take the scenic double-decker Bus 15 from Central Pier 5 if the tram queue is long.

While the paid Sky Terrace 428 atop the Peak Tower offers an elevated deck, the finest views on the mountain are completely free: step outside the tower onto Lugard Road, a flat, paved 3.5-kilometre circular footpath cut into the cliff face in 1913 under banyan trees and ferns. Fifteen minutes into the walk, the foliage parts to reveal a sweeping panorama straight down over Central, Wan Chai, Kowloon and the container terminals of Stonecutters Island.

The Star Ferry and Central's heritage staircase lanes

Back at sea level, cross between Central Pier 7 (or Wan Chai) and Tsim Sha Tsui on the green-and-white double-ended boats of the Star Ferry, operating across the harbour since 1898. On the island side, ride the 800-metre Central-Mid-Levels Escalator (which runs downhill during morning rush hour and uphill from mid-morning until midnight) and step off along Hollywood Road:

• Tai Kwun (Centre for Heritage and Arts): the meticulously restored former Central Police Station, Magistracy and Victoria Prison compound (1864 to 1925), pairing red-brick colonial verandahs with dramatic contemporary gallery cubes designed by Herzog & de Meuron.
• PMQ & Sheung Wan: walk west past independent Hong Kong design studios at PMQ (the former Police Married Quarters), step beneath the giant hanging spiral incense coils of 1847 Man Mo Temple, and browse the antique lanes of Upper Lascar Row (Cat Street). Pair with Kowloon in our 3-day itinerary.