Victoria Harbour

Victoria Harbour is not just a body of water that divides Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. It is the heart of the city and one of the main Hong Kong attractions. The harbour has really made the city what it is today. Indeed, it is the main reason the British forced China to give them this piece of territory, then sparsely populated and unremarkable. As the world’s greatest naval power of the day, the British realised the great potential of this natural deep water harbour.

It quickly became a major Asian trading hub. Like so many other places in the world, it was named after Queen Victoria, just as the original Hong Kong settlement in present-day Central.

Harbour City

Victoria harbour has been a vital component throughout the city’s history, including for Hong Kong travel. To this day, many tourists arrive here by sea on one of the many cruise ships operating in the South China Sea.

Connecting Hong Kong to other destinations in Southeast Asia like Singapore and the Philippines, many of them dock at Ocean Terminal on the western shore of Tsim Sha Tsui.

True to the spirit of Hong Kong, where an opportunity to build a shopping mall is never missed, the ships launch their passengers straight into the gigantic Harbour City Mall. The current structure has no resemblance to its past, as one of the historic colonial wharves, but it’s definitely still a centre of business activity!

Tsim Sha Tsui Waterfront

This heavily commercial area is a real tourist hot spot. Moving east from the Harbour City complex, there’s the Star Ferry terminal, followed by a special viewing platform for the famous Symphony of Lights (probably the best but most crowded place to see it). After that there is the Avenue of Stars (a tribute to Hong Kong movie stars), and a couple of Hong Kong’s biggest museums.

There are also countless hotels in the area, including the waterfront Intercontinental, the historic Peninsula, and the more modest YMCA. Further north Tsim Sha Tsui continues with its many shopping malls along Nathan Road, including the Mansions with their many hostels.

View of Victoria Harbour

In fact, having all this open water in the middle of the city is a big part of what makes the Hong Kong skyline so great. The empty space in the middle really helps the skyscrapers stand out the way they do. The shoreline in Tsim Sha Tsui is a wonderful place to take it all in, as you can see the tallest buildings in Central, the Victoria Peak mountain top above, and Wanchai with the Hong Kong Convention Centre and Golden Bauhinia Square, site of the 1997 reunification ceremony.

The one big thing you can’t see too well from here is the ICC, the latest skyscraper to grab the “tallest in Hong Kong” title, because it has broken away from the pack and stands on a newly constructed peninsula northwest of the TST promenade. Actually, you might visit the ICC and its sky100 observation deck to take in a brand new view of Victoria Harbour. Or there is always the classic view from Victoria Peak.

Star Ferry

But TST isn’t the only place with a view of the harbour. The Hong Kong Island side also wants a piece – in fact, it is taking over more and more of the harbour as the shoreline keeps moving north through land reclamations. Fortunately, from a view point of view, Central is quite hilly, and the different elevations mean that many tall buildings have a view out over the water, including the upper parts of the luxury hotels, of course.

But the most popular recommendation for really seeing the harbour is still to take the traditional ride on the Star Ferry. This old ferry service will offer you a great view as you cross over to the other side, and all for less than 3 HKD per ticket!

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