If you’re traveling to Hong Kong and Macau anytime soon or just thinking of visiting Hong Kong and Macau in the future, you might find this useful. Here’s a summary of expenses we spent during our 3 days and 2 nights Trip to Hong Kong and Macau. Our trip was relatively cheap and I guess most can classify it as budget traveling or backpacking.
Leftover Bills and Coins from our Hong Kong and Macau Trip
Day 1
Manila to Hong Kong Flight
- Manila to Hong Kong Cebu Pacific Airlines Ticket bought during a promo fare (view the latest Cebu Pacific Promo Fare 2010) – Php 2,134 (or HK$349.8)
- Ninoy Aquino (Manila) International Airport Terminal Fee – Php 750 (or HK$123)
- Philippine Travel Tax (for Philippine Residents) – Php 1,620 (or HK$265.6)
Hong Kong MTR Airport Express Travel Pass
- 3 days unlimited MTR rides with one way journey on the airport express line – HK$220
Check-in at Wing Sing Hotel
- Two nights stay at Wing Sing Hotel – HK$2160 or HK$540 per person (visit Wing Sing Hotel Website for inquiries and reservations or checkout Agoda.com for a comprehensive list of Hotels in Hong Kong)
Ngong Ping 360
- Round Trip Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car Ride – HK$107
Disney Land Hong Kong
- Disneyland Hong Kong Admission Fee – HK$350
Day 2
Star Ferry Ride
- Fare – HK$ 2.30
The Peak Tram, Sky Terrace, and Madame Tussauds
- The Peak Tram One Way Fare – HK$37
- Sky Terrace Admission Fee – HK$20
- Madame Tussauds Admission – HK$170
- Bus 15 to Admiralty fare (going to Ocean Park) – HK$10.60
Ocean Park Hong Kong
- Bus 629 (bus to Ocean Park) round trip fare – HK$21.2
- Ocean Park Hong Kong Admission Fee – HK$208
Day 3
Hong Kong to Macau Ferry ride
- Turbojet Hong Kong to Macau One Way Fare – HK$146
Macau Tour (HK$ is widely accepted in Macau)
- Two rides in Bus10A – HK$6.4 (we didn’t spend much because we took the free shuttle of casinos most of the time)
Macau to Manila Flight
- Macau to Manila Cebu Pacific Airlines Ticket (Promo Fare) – HK$436.5
Total – HK$ 3013.4 or Php 18,381.74 per person
Our biggest expenses went to theme park admission fees. If you can do away with some of those theme parks, you’ll be spending less. I didn’t keep track of how much we spent on food but as a general rule, we initially planned on spending around HK$50 / meal. Tip: We actually spent much less on food because we ate McDonalds most of the time or bought snacks at 7/11 stores.
Food
- HK$50 per meal for 9 meals – $450 per person
Grand Total – HK$ 3463.4 or Php 21,126.74 per person
- Grand Total excluding airfare (and terminal fee/travel tax in NAIA) – HK$ 2288.5 or Php 13,959.8 per person
*computed at currency exchange rate of 1 HK$ = Php 6.1
Check out our detailed 3 days and 2 night Hong Kong and Macau Itinerary.
In the Philippine Ilonggo dialect, ambot ah literally means "I don't know." After graduating in college, I decided to hold off pursuing my profession and embarked on a free spirited journey of adventure and self-discovery. My travels have led me to many places across the Philippine Islands and South East Asia. I don't know where this path will take me but I'm certain I'll get a lifetime of stories out of it.
These expenses were for two people, right?
and which travel agency did you use?
We didn’t hire a travel agency, we did everything ourselves. The expenses are for 1 person only.
what is the philippine travel tax? don’t we just have to pay for the terminal fee?
can we just take the free shuttle of casinos in macau even if we were not staying even for a night in any hotels in the area. we would just have a whole day tour at macau.
If you’re a Philippine resident then most likely, you will have to pay for the Philippine travel tax if you’re leaving the country. You can learn more about the travel tax here: http://www.philtourism.com/ttax.html
Yes, the shuttles are free even if you’re not staying at the hotel. You just go in the shuttles … no questions asked. That’s one of the best things I like about Macau, transportation (for tourist) can be very cheap … or free, it would just have to take a bit of walking from the hotel to your planned destinations.
Wow, this is really a budget trip na you covered everything you would like to do and see. :) GReat job. Basi borrow ko imo itinerary if ever I go to HK and Macau. Thanks for sharing.
Welcome Gene. Ako, I will visit more places here in the Philippines muna, I still have a lot of places that I’m dying to experience.
yes, mas damo di interesting and beautiful places sa aton. :D Matupad mo na ah… :) kon kinanlan mo tips on traveling to Palawan on economy budget, basi kabulig ako. More travels for us.
ei,m very confuse about the mtr single journey ticket,kindly explain it further,tnx alot =b
how much kung admission lng at hnd ride all sa disney? kc u said pambata lng un… tnx
sige gene thanks gd. Ga explore pa ko subong sang options ko for trips next year. tani maka bisita man ko sa Palawan. Mostly, mga upod lng man kinanglan ko, hehe.
Hey missy here was my reply in the other post:
Hey missy sorry for the confusion. The airport express line is separate from the MTR lines. The ticket that we bought had a single journey on the airport express, that transports passengers from the airport to the MTR lines, and a 3 days unlimited ride within the MTR train system.
For more information about the MTR you can visit their website:
https://www.paydollar.com/b2c2/AELControlServlet?action=aelshop&lang=eng&catid=10000
I think set rate na yan ang admission sa disneyland. Pareho din sa Enchanted Kingdom. The admission already includes all the rides/attractions inside disneyland.
is it safe doing the tour without a guide? im planning to go to HK and macau with my bro… will use your itinerary… is it easy to figure out where to go and explore?
Yes it’s quite safe in Hong Kong and Macau. As with any city, you have to take extra precautions … I found Hong Kong easy to navigate and I guess it depends on how good you are following transport directions and stuff. Macau is a little bit more tricky.
With regards to being able to ask for directions, Hong Kongers aren’t the easiest to approach … life there is fast-paced and it’ll be hard to find someone who will take the time to teach you where to go and stuff.
I got lost this one time in Central it wasn’t much of a problem since there’s boatloads of Filipinos there … they were very helpful and friendly.
You should definitely take advantage of the $50 free chip being offered at our new Bet Phoenix Casino. Available now at: Bet Phoenix. Good luck!
Hi, you have explained in details about the place and the budget, this type of tips are very useful for people like me, because in coming days me and my friends are going to travel Asia, our first destination is Hong kong. Thank you so much for your useful tips.
No problem :)
hi, your travel tips had helped me a lot, me and my husband had just gone from hk and macau. We also did not take any tour guid because we thought that it will just add pressure to us. Although we didn’t get into places much but experiences such as lost in foreign country couldn’t be avoided but much more it’s so enjoyable having new adventure. We then plan to go back with our kids and hope our travel soon will be smoother than the first that we have. :-)
I have the same feelings with traveling without a guide / tour operator. It’s just so much more memorable when the trip feels more like an adventure.
Hi. am planning ill be going to macau. would like a lot of things sana. i booked cebu pacific for my airfare. i am confused if i have to pay for terminal fee in diosdado macapagal airport before leaving. and another thing is, do i have to pay for terminal fee in macau if i am going back to the philippines?
Yes you still have to pay the terminal fee, I think its P600, and also the philippine travel tax of P1,620. No more terminal fee in Macau Int. Airport.
Generally, almost all airports outside the Philippines, already include the airport/gov’t tax in your airfare. Pilipinas lang talaga meron terminal fee pag check-in mo.
hey,thanks for the info! Atleast i have an idea na kun pila mabudget namon per head. Anyway, My friends and I are backpacking to Macau and HongKong this November for my birthday. It’s gonna be for a week. We already bought the ticket from Cebu pacific, what we need now is the hotel accomodation.can you suggest any good “decent” hotels for backpackers like us? also, ano mas convenient, have our money exchaged before the trip or sa airport na lang when we arrive in Macau? btw, great blog! It’s definitely worth the read :)
We stayed at Wing Sing Hotel in HK, the hotel was decent enough … we didn’t spend the night in Macau, so I don’t have any personal recommendations. Have your PHP exchanged to dollars before the trip. When you arrive at the airport, exchange a little amount just enough to get you to the city center and exchange most of the $ you’ll need. The currency exchange in HK Airport is a bit pricier.
Hi, ur flight is from Manila to hongkong
Then Macau to Manila right?
Di po ba magkakaproblem sa immigration pag ganun din ang pinabook kong ticket. Sa Macau na ung pagbalik ?
Hindi naman. Just as long as you have a return ticket at hand, ok siya.
hi, ask ko lang if may kasama baby ok lang kaya pag di na kami kukuha ng travel agency para sa tour namin? nov 1-4 naman kami flight to hong kong kaya lang 2 days lang tlaga kung tutuusin kc darating pa lang kami ng 6pm sa Hong Kong ng nov 1, then return to manila naman ng nov 4 ng 8am, may baby kc kami kaya ayaw naming gabihin sa plane:) what can u suggest? laking tulong tong blog mo sa pagpaplano, thanks and god bless…
I suggest limiting your itinerary to Hong Kong only. Speeding a trip to Macau might be too much to have a packed itinerary with a baby along. Relatively convenient naman because of the convenient MTR in Hong Kong.
Your itinerary really helped me in our travel to HK and Macau. :) Can’t wait for your blog about cruise. :)
is it hard to navigate around the MTR stations? I am asking cuz I have noticed that on some (or maybe all) stations there are numerous exits, (A, A2, B, C1, E, etc). Do I need to include the information in my research (I am trying to make our itinerary…) on where we need to exit on each station depending where we are headed to before we even leave for our trip, or is it fairly easy to figure out where you need to exit when we get there? thanks for your help
If you know the exit code better. If not, no big deal. You can just figure out the right way easily at street level.
anu ng tram terminus? terminal na pakadto sa the peak? hehe
yes, it’s just another word for terminal :)
Hi, thanks for these Sample IT and summary of expenses. It’s detailed and helpful! Good job!
Great blog. Can’t wait to be in hk n macau this 25th.
hi there! :) thank you for posting this. it’s really helpful for me. now i know how much to budget on our trip. but i couldn’t find your itenerary. is there another link for this? i clicked the one above, but it says “Page Not Found”. really appreciate if you could share it to me too. thank you a lot! God bless you!
Sorry about that, the links are now fixed:
hi i just wanna ask.. so its not a package right? you can just make your own itinerary? is it much easier for you to do your own itinerary rather than getting the packages? this is really helpful.. i like everything. thanks for posting this and hope you’ll answer my questions. tnx!
Yes, I did not take a packaged tour during this trip. It’s definitely much harder to do your own itinerary since you’re basically on your own. The main advantage of do-it-yourself (DIY) travels is the cheaper cost … at the expense of convenience and more often than not, comfort.
I remember reading from somewhere that “Traveling on the cheapest packaged tour is always more expensive than a DIY itinerary.” From my experience, it is true most of the time … but not all.
magkano po ba ang terminal fee from macau to phils?