5 Days of Secret Peaks & Harbor Nights: A Romantic Nature-Focused Hong Kong Itinerary for December

The day begins with the soft slap of water against fishing boats in Sai Kung, the air smelling faintly of dried seafood and espresso as you sit in a tiny café watching locals argue amiably over newspaper headlines. By mid-morning you’re trading tiled pavements for the pale sand of Long Ke Wan, shoes in hand, the December sun low and kind on your shoulders, waves hissing quietly at your feet. From there, the landscape hardens: volcanic rock columns and concrete dolosse at High Island Reservoir East Dam, the wind whistling through gaps in the stone as you trace the curve of the MacLehose Trail Section 2, its staircases a steady drumbeat in your calves. Lunch is simple and salty back in Sai Kung town, the clatter of plates and the squeak of plastic stools grounding you after the vastness of the park. Evening returns you to the harbour, this time framed by the Cultural Centre bridge and then the Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade, where the skyline flickers to life and the air tastes faintly metallic from the sea. Tomorrow, the mountains get higher and the cable cars longer – Lantau is waiting in the wings.

The morning starts with the low mechanical hum of Ngong Ping 360’s cable cars sliding out over Tung Chung, the cabin swaying gently as you rise above scrub and reservoirs into the pale December sky. Midpoint Overlook appears like a pause button in mid-air, giving you a moment to drink in Lantau’s folded hills, the airport laid out below like a toy set, the air inside the cabin cool and faintly oily from the metal and grease. By late morning, you’re climbing the stone steps to Tian Tan Buddha, incense thick in your nose and the sound of temple bells carrying on the wind, the bronze figure above you calm and impossibly steady. Lunch is simple in Ngong Ping Village, then the afternoon stretches into a steady uphill push on the Lantau Trail towards Lantau Peak, stone underfoot and clouds close enough to feel like you could touch them. You descend at dusk, legs pleasantly shaky, and glide back down on the cable car as the harbour lights flicker on in the distance. Tonight’s harbour view comes from much higher – a reminder that tomorrow’s Dragon’s Back will trade altitude for sea spray and ridge lines.

The day opens with the clatter of cups and the smell of eggs and coffee at a tiny café in Shek O, the sea just out of sight but already in the air. By mid-morning you’re on the Dragon’s Back trail, the path curling along the ridge like a question mark, wind tugging at your shirt as Hong Kong Island’s southside beaches and golf courses unfurl beneath you in muted winter greens and blues. Lunch is lazy at the Dragon’s Back Picnic Site, backs against warm timber, the sound of other hikers’ laughter carried off quickly by the breeze. In the afternoon you push a little further to Shek O Peak, where the rock under your hands is sun-warmed and slightly rough, the view a wide sweep of bay and headland. Evening pulls you back towards town: a casual dinner somewhere inland, then a quiet drink or walk, the sea-salt still drying on your skin. Tomorrow, it’s time to trade trail dust for manicured park paths and the layered sounds of Central’s urban canyons.

You wake to the sound of Central coming online – delivery carts rattling over tiles, a tram bell echoing off glass – and walk uphill into Hong Kong Park, where the city’s edges soften into waterfalls, koi ponds, and the rubbery feel of jogging paths underfoot. The air here smells of damp stone and foliage, a gentle contrast to the coffee roasting a few blocks away. Lunch is somewhere above the harbour, the tablecloth crisp, the Cantonese precise, the view a grid of towers and water. The afternoon is for harbour promenades: first on the Hong Kong side, tracing the waterline with the skyline at your back, then crossing to Tsim Sha Tsui where the Cultural Centre’s concrete curves frame the view like a brutalist picture frame. As the light drains from the sky, the Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade becomes your living room – couples leaning on railings, kids on scooters, the water catching every LED flicker from opposite. Tomorrow, you’ll loop around The Peak after dark, but tonight is about learning the harbour’s angles at ground level.

On your final day, Hong Kong greets you with the soft clang of the Peak Tram in the distance and the smell of espresso near Sheung Wan, but you’re heading for quieter ground. The morning belongs to gear and anticipation – a stop in Sheung Wan for last-minute hiking bits, then a cable car or bus up to The Peak, where the Peak Trail wraps you in cool air and the faint scent of pine as you circle the city from above. Lunch is somewhere elevated and indulgent, a last salute to the harbour, before you push further out in the afternoon to Mai Po Wetlands, where the city’s noise falls away completely. Out there, it’s mudflats, reeds, and the distant calls of migratory birds, the air earthy and slightly metallic, your boots picking up flecks of dried mud. Back in town, you close the loop with one final harbour-level drink or tea, watching the lights flicker on like a slow exhale. Tomorrow you’ll board a plane, but tonight Hong Kong feels less like a destination and more like a topography you’ve learned by heart – peaks, waterlines, and all the quiet spaces in between.