Macau free travel experience and tips. Travel, hotels, food, attractions, movies, payment

As someone who just came back from traveling in Hong Kong and Macau, although I did a lot of research before departure, I found that many places were different from what I had planned. In addition, during the trip, some friends asked if I could share travel tips later, so I took this opportunity to sort out my experience of this free travel in Hong Kong and Macau and share it with everyone. This article is the second part - Macau free travel experience and tips.
  
1 Accommodation

Macau consists of three islands: Macau Peninsula, Taipa Island and Coloane Island. There are many hotels on both Macau Peninsula and Taipa Island. In comparison, Macau Peninsula is mainly dominated by the old town, with a compact urban building layout. It is closer to the Ruins of St. Paul's, Gongbei Port and Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal. If you live in Macau Peninsula, you can experience the local customs better. Taipa Island is mainly dominated by luxury hotels and shopping malls, and the roads are wider and newer than those on the Macau Peninsula. Major luxury hotels and shopping malls such as Galaxy, Venetian, Parisian, Londoner, Wynn Palace and Studio City are located here. Living in Taipa Island is more suitable for vacation and relaxation, but the hotel prices on Taipa Island are also relatively high.

2 Attractions

The main attractions in Hong Kong are introduced here mainly by area. The attractions in the same area can be visited in half a day or a day.

Macau Peninsula

Senate Square: One of the four major squares in Macau, it is located directly opposite the Municipal Affairs Bureau of Macau. From here you can walk to the Ruins of St. Paul's. There are also many shopping stores and delicious restaurants nearby.



Our Lady of the Rosary Church: Located next to Senate Square, it is one of the most historic and representative churches in Macau.



The Ruins of St. Paul’s: An iconic attraction in Macau. Needless to say, just come and visit.



Fortress of Macau: a historic heritage park located next to the Ruins of St. Paul's, you can take a stroll along the way.

Love Lane: next to the Ruins of St. Paul's, famous for its Portuguese-style buildings on the street, one of the popular check-in spots in Macau.

Cinco de Mayo: one of the popular check-in spots in Macau, experience the life of Macau and enjoy the street scenes of Macau.

A-Ma Temple: a symbol of Macau's Mazu culture and one of Macau's iconic attractions. The temple is not big, but has its own characteristics. It should be noted that the A-Ma Temple bus stop is currently closed for construction. Friends who take the bus can get off at Hebian Xinjie/Xiahuan or A-Ma Transportation Hub and walk there.



Maritime Museum: Located next to the A-Ma Temple, this museum explains the maritime history of Macau. There are many model ships on display and introductions. Friends who come to the A-Ma Temple can stop by to take a look.



Interior exhibition of the Maritime Museum

Macau Tower: One of the tallest buildings in Macau, you can stand on the observation deck of the tower to overlook the panoramic view of Macau, and there are also various extreme projects to try on the tower. Here I would like to recommend the 360° revolving restaurant on the upper floors of the Macau Tower. It is quite beautiful to sit in the restaurant and enjoy the panoramic view of Macau while eating a buffet, but the restaurant needs to be booked in advance.


Aerial view of Macau from Macau Tower

Guia Fortress and Lighthouse: A historic heritage park where you can overlook the Macau Peninsula from the top.



Macau Fisherman's Wharf: There are Greek buildings similar to the Colosseum here, which are very distinctive. There are also commercial facilities such as food, shopping, and hotels nearby.



Grand Prix Museum: A newly built museum in recent years, it explains Macau’s racing culture and event history. It also has many interactive experiences and is worth a visit.



Golden Lotus Square: an iconic attraction in Macau.




Taipa Area

Guanye Street: A food street in Macau. It is not long but crowded with people. There are many food shops along the street.




The Venetian Macao: One of the most luxurious commercial complexes in Macao, the mall is built in Venetian style and has many shopping stores and restaurants. The interior has a unique charm and there are gondola rides available.





The Parisian Macao: One of the most luxurious commercial complexes in Macao, the mall is built in Parisian style and has many shopping stores and restaurants, with a unique interior style.





The Londoner Macao: One of the most luxurious shopping complexes in Macao, the mall is built in London style, with many shopping stores and restaurants, and the interior has a unique charm. It should be noted that the Venetian Macao, Parisian and Londoner all have connecting passages inside, so if you need to go to the other two malls, you don’t need to come out, just follow the signs in the mall.





Studio City: One of Macau's luxurious commercial complexes, it is movie-themed and features a figure-8 Ferris wheel and water shows.





Wynn Palace: One of Macau's most luxurious commercial complexes, with a water cable car and fountains.



Coloane Island Area

Coloane Island: One of the most popular check-in spots in Macau. The main tourist areas are Ennis Garden and the area near the Coloane City Bus Station. You can walk along the coast and enjoy the sea view.





Black Rock Beach: One of the popular check-in spots in Macau, and one of the few beaches in Macau. You can take a walk along the coast and enjoy the sea view, but the beach scenery is relatively average compared to beaches in other places.





3 Food


Here I will mainly introduce the Macau food restaurants that I have collected and checked in by area. I suggest searching for the specific address and business hours through Google Maps.

Macau Peninsula

Kun Kee Restaurant
Address: R. Edificio Pak Nin Son, 264 Rua do Campo, Macau
Portuguese restaurant, but I am not used to Portuguese food, I think the taste is average, you can go and have a try if you want to.





Victory Cafe
Address: 94 Macau Avenue
Hong Kong-style cafe near Senate Square. The food is very good. Their pork chop buns are especially recommended.






Crown Bistro
Address: Rua do Campo, 308-310A, Macau

Margaret Egg Tart Shop
Address: 66 Ma Tong Ling Wai, Macau

Ming Kee Beef and Beef Cuisine
Address: 19 Penglai New Street, Macau

Xiang Kee Noodle House
Address: G/F, 68, 65 Fulong New Street, Macau

Boathouse Portuguese Restaurant
Address: 289 Rua do Campo, Lower Loop

Ali Curry House
Address: G/F, 4K Ming Kee Egg Tart Shop, Sai Wan

Taipa Area

Andrew's Egg Tarts
Address: Edificio Fei Choi, Guanye Street, Macau
Located on Guanye Street, a classic Macau egg tart shop, the freshly baked egg tarts taste good.






Mo Yi Ji
Address: Shop A, No. 9 Guanye Street, Macau
An ice cream shop located on Guanye Street. Its signature dish is durian ice cream, but the durian flavor is too strong.






Fat Boy Wen Food
Address: Shop I, G/F, Edificio Wa Fong Kok, No. 460, Dr. Sun Yat Sen Avenue, Macau

O Castiço
Address: No. 65, Rua do Regedor, Macau

Dumbo Portuguese Restaurant
Address: Rua do Regedor, n 312 Hei Loi Tang Plaza, R/C, Loja A Macau, Macau

Dalilai Head Office
Address: No. 35, Rua de Corias, Macau

Coloane Island Area

Andrew's Bakery
Address: No. 1-7, Rua de Dessin, Macau

Françoise Restaurant
Address: No. 9, Hac Sa Beach, Macau



4 Travel

The main public transportation modes in Macau include the Fa Cai bus (hotel shuttle bus), bus, and light rail (Taipa area). The Fa Cai bus is free to ride and mainly goes to Macau's top hotels, airports, ports, docks and some tourist attractions. It should be noted that the Fa Cai bus generally travels point-to-point. Before taking the Fa Cai bus, you must confirm the destination and departure time. In addition, you may need to queue up to take the Fa Cai bus during peak hours. Bus is the main public transportation mode in Macau. The bus network connects the entire Macau, and the bus stations are relatively dense. Generally, you can see a bus station every 500 meters. It is quite convenient to take the bus. In addition, if you travel in the Taipa area, you can also choose to take the light rail.

It should be noted that you can use Alipay to pay for taking the light rail in Macau, but the bus does not support Alipay code scanning. You can only swipe the "Macau Pass" card or coin. Therefore, it is recommended that friends who travel frequently apply for a "Macau Pass" card, which can be purchased and recharged at 711 convenience stores in Macau. The card fee is 30 Macau patacas, and the minimum recharge is 100 Macau patacas. You can enjoy a 50% discount on public transportation and free transfer within 1 hour. The "Macau Pass" card can be used in most offline payment scenarios in Macau, including public transportation, convenience stores, and some restaurants, which is more convenient.

When traveling in Macau, it is recommended to use Google Maps and Amap together. Using Google Maps, you can generally search for the least walking (most convenient) travel route, but Google Maps may not be accurate. The route searched by Amap may have a longer walking distance, but it is still feasible. Although there is no map software that can provide real-time Macau public transportation data, Macau Public Transportation has its own real-time public transportation information query website, which has a high measured accuracy. In addition, you can also see the diversion information of bus routes and stations on it. Since Google Maps and Amap do not fully include the diversion information of Macau bus routes and stations, it is best to first understand the travel station information through the real-time public transportation information query website when actually traveling to avoid missing the bus.

In addition, Macau also supports taxi call, which requires downloading the "Macau Call" app and registering before use.



5 Movies

In Macau, you can check the movie schedule of cinemas through the "Macau Movies" app, and when buying movie tickets, you need to go to the official website/app of each cinema to buy. If you watch a lot of movies, you can also consider opening a membership card of the corresponding cinema, which will give you coupons and discounts.


6 Entry

There are many ways to enter Macau. In simple terms, they mainly include entering Macau from Macau Airport, entering Macau from Zhuhai, and entering Macau from Hong Kong.

To enter Macau from Macau Airport, you mainly take a direct flight to Macau, enter through the airport, and then take a bus or a taxi to the city.

To enter Macau from Zhuhai, you can enter through various ports. Generally, there are buses/taxis to the city after entering. In addition, you can also purchase direct bus tickets from Zhuhai city and airport to Macau city through the "Zhuhai Airport Express" WeChat official account.

To enter Macau from Hong Kong, you can purchase a ferry ticket to Macau Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal and Taipa Ferry Terminal from Hong Kong Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal, or you can purchase a direct bus ticket from Hong Kong city to Macau city through the "Hong Kong-Macau Express"/"Circum-Island China-Hong Kong Pass" WeChat applet.

Note that you need to apply for a Hong Kong-Macau Pass and a visa to Macau in advance before entering. The visa type can be either individual travel or group travel. When passing through customs, you can use the self-service customs clearance channel to save queuing time. When entering the country (the second customs clearance), be sure to save the machine-printed approval receipt for future inspection.

7 Payment

Since many friends will visit Hong Kong and Macau at the same time when traveling, here are some tips on currency payment. In Macau, you can use Hong Kong dollars in cash for payment. Almost all merchants accept Hong Kong dollars, including public transportation, but the settlement is generally calculated at an exchange rate of 1:1 between Hong Kong dollars and Macau dollars (with a small exchange rate loss), and Macau dollars may be added when making up. In addition, some merchants in Macau can also use RMB cash for payment, but the settlement is generally calculated at an exchange rate of 1:1 between RMB and Macau dollars (with a certain exchange rate loss), and Macau dollars may be added when making up. In Hong Kong, merchants generally do not accept Macau dollars and RMB cash for payment. Therefore, if you visit Hong Kong and Macau at the same time, you can pay in Hong Kong dollars and Macau dollars respectively, or you can pay in Hong Kong dollars in cash. In addition, many merchants in Macau support WeChat/Alipay payment, and the exchange rate is calculated in real time, which is more cost-effective than paying in Hong Kong dollars/RMB cash.