Macau or Hong Kong: Similarities and Differences to Keep in Mind

Last updated on 10 November 2026

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Deciding whether to stop over in Macau or Hong Kong? Or both…?

One of the things that I love about travelling in Asia and also Europe is how close other countries are to wherever you’re visiting.

I’ve said it before, but New Zealand is lacking in day-trip neighbours.

But Asia? Europe? The Americas? Africa?

All have bordering countries, and while I recognise that having neighbours that close can be a problem at times, it does make for super easy travel between places, and the opportunities that come from that are many.

So on the way back to New Zealand from Mongolia, my dad and I stopped in Hong Kong for a few days, and also made the trip across the harbour for a day in Macau.

And while the two have their similarities, there are some things that feel really different between them.

The quick differences between Hong Kong and Macau:

• Hong Kong: big, busy, high-rise, with plenty to fill a week
• Macau: smaller, pastel, cobbled, juxtapositions, and easy to wander in a day

I’ve been to Hong Kong multiple times (as a child and a few times as an adult, too), but only been to Macau once. So just keep that in mind when you’re reading this blog post. 🙂

Let’s chat about Hong Kong for a moment

Let’s start with the biggy.

Hong Kong feels big. High-rise buildings and bridges everywhere linking the island to the mainland and out to the airport, which sits on its own island, people hustling and bustling everywhere.

When I was there in 2014, on our way from England to New Zealand, we actually stayed on a little island which you need to get the ferry from Hong Kong to, called Cheung Chau, which I spent many a holiday growing up when we lived in Mongolia.

We took the ferry over for a day in Hong Kong, and visited a friend or two. One friend who’s fluent in Cantonese took us for dim sum when we were there so we got to experience traditional food but with a translator/someone who did all the talking. Which was a very good call. Without her, we’d have ended up ordering some seriously strange things or not eating at all.

In 2018 we stayed with a friend in Sha Tin, wandered the markets, bought bubble tea (because when in Hong Kong), and took the MTR to Nathan Road, which is one of the main shopping streets, super busy, super bustling.

Very Big City vibes, which we really don’t get here in New Zealand (Auckland doesn’t count).

And what about Macau?

Macau is an autonomous territory of China, so it’s basically its own little country. It was run by Portugal until 1999, and it shows in the architecture around the island, which I absolutely love.

Pastel buildings with stone columns sit along cobbled paths, and then one street over, the alleyways are completely Asian, with signs in Chinese characters, washing hanging out of top-floor windows, and pork buns steaming in the shopfronts. YUM.

Europe and Asia’s little love child, basically. The juxtaposition is something I hadn’t really experienced before.

So, Macau or Hong Kong?

The feel of Macau is different. I found myself being able to relax a little more, as there were fewer people (even though there were still a lot!) than in Hong Kong, and the familiarity of some of the Portuguese architecture also feels really different.

But if you’re choosing between Macau or Hong Kong … you’ll want to do both. 🤣

In part, because of necessity. You’re likely flying into Hong Kong (or through Hong Kong), and then you have the option for a day trip or half a day trip over to Macau.

Getting around both places

In Hong Kong, I was always going somewhere: trains, buses, boats, an airport shuttle. In Macau, we jumped on one local bus heading in the general direction of where we wanted to start, and after that we just walked.

That’s a big part of why the two feel pretty different, I think: Hong Kong is a city you move through. Macau is one you can wander more. Despite both being relatively small in land mass (in comparison to maaaaaaany other countries).

There are lots of similarities, obviously.

Food, for a start. Pork buns, dumplings, noodles, and dim sum showed up in both, and I’m very happy about that. Dumplings are life.

Both were also run by a European country once upon a time (England in Hong Kong, Portugal in Macau), though Macau has definitely kept that European feel.

Both have street-level life everywhere you look, from the markets in Sha Tin to the higgledy-piggledy shopfronts in Macau.

So, which one?

Hong Kong has more than I’ve managed to fit in over a few trips, so if you’ve got a week, it’ll fill it, easily.

I feel like Macau suits a single day, maybe two, especially if you like to wander and don’t need a long list of things to tick off. It was a very last-minute decision for us, and one day was all I needed.

If you’re stuck choosing, pick Hong Kong as your base and pop over to Macau for the day. That’s what I did, and it worked super well. I’d very happily go back to both, though!

Have you been to either? Which was your favourite? Do you find them comparable or not so much?