Organized Tours

Hong Kong offers lots of organized tours, so if you're pressed for time, this may be the best way to go. Most major hotels have a tour desk where you can make bookings for city tours. In addition, I heartily recommend participating in one or more of the Hong Kong Tourism Board's Meet the People cultural activities, which are free, 1-hour tours, classes, or lectures given by local specialists covering everything from Chinese antiques to tai chi (shadow boxing).

Land Tours

For general sightseeing, Gray Line offers a variety of tours, with bookings available through most Hong Kong hotels or by calling tel. 852/2368 7111 or searching www.grayline.com.hk. The Deluxe Hong Kong Island Tour is a 5-hour trip offered both morning and afternoon and includes stops at Man Mo Temple, Victoria Peak, Aberdeen, and Stanley. It costs HK$295 (US$38/£21) for adults and HK$190 (US$25/£14) for children.

Other Gray Line tours take in the Po Lin Monastery and Giant Buddha on Lantau island or the New Territories; there are also sunset cruises. Most useful, in my opinion, are Gray Line's tours to the New Territories, since they cover large areas that would be very difficult, if not impossible, to reach in 1 day on your own. The "Land Between Tour" is a 6 1/2-hour excursion that enables visitors to see how much this once-rural region has changed in the past couple decades, with traditional villages now overshadowed by huge government housing estates that house half of Hong Kong's population. Passing satellite towns with high-rise apartment buildings, farms, and villages, the bus stops at a temple, a lookout point on Hong Kong's tallest mountain, a walled village, and a fishing village to see how fisher folk breed fish in submerged cages, and a Cantonese restaurant for lunch. The price of this tour, with departures daily, is HK$395 (US$51/£28) for adults and HK$345 (US$45/£25) for children and seniors.

Gray Line's "Heritage Tour" also takes in the New Territories but emphasizes Hong Kong's past rather than the present and makes stops at historic Chinese sites that even Hong Kong residents seldom see. It's a must for those who are interested in local historical architecture; it also gives insight into clan life in the New Territories long before the region became part of colonial Hong Kong. Lasting approximately 5 hours, tours make stops at Tai Fu Tai, a Chinese-style ornate mansion built in 1865 by a high-ranking official, fascinating for its insight into how the rich lived; Tang Chung Ling, an ancestral hall belonging to one of the Five Great Clans; Lo Wai, a walled village built by the Tang clan; and the Man Mo Temple in Tai Po. Tours depart every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday (except public holidays), and cost HK$295 (US$38/£21) for adults and HK$245 (US$31/£18) for children and seniors.

Splendid Tours & Travel (tel. 852/2316 2151; www.splendidtours.com) also offers a general city tour, excursions to Lantau and the New Territories, night tours, and cruises, which can also be booked through Hong Kong hotels.

Boat Tours

Since so many of Hong Kong's attractions are on or near the water, a variety of boat tours are available, including those given by Gray Line and Splendid Tours & Travel . One of the most popular is the 1-hour Star Ferry's Harbour Tour (tel. 852/2118 6201; www.starferry.com.hk/harbourtour), with boarding available at Tsim Sha Tsui, Central, Wan Chai, and Hung Hom ferry piers. Cost of the daily cruises, which have on-board commentary, is HK$40 (US$5.20/£2.85) for adults and HK$36 (US$4.65/£2.55) for children and seniors. One-hour Star Ferry evening cruises, which include refreshments and some with views of the nightly Symphony of Lights multimedia show, cost HK$85 (US$11/£6.05) and HK$76 (US$9.85/£5.40) respectively, while 2-hour cruises cost HK$120 (US$16/£8.55) and HK$108 (US$14/£7.70) respectively.

Watertours (tel. 852/2926 3868; www.watertours.com.hk), Hong Kong's largest tour operator of boat and junk cruises, offers a 2-hour cruise that includes a trip to a typhoon shelter and its junks and the firing of the Noon Day Gun in Causeway Bay (a holdover from colonial days that you can see if you're there, but don't go out of your way to see it) by Jardine Matheson & Co., Hong Kong's oldest trading company. The cost of this tour, which departs at 10:15am from the Kowloon public pier and 10:30am from Queen's Pier in Central and includes refreshments, is HK$220 (US$29/£16) for adults and HK$130 (US$17/£9.30) for children. Watertours also schedules more than a half-dozen other longer boat trips, including a combination water-and-land tour and sunset and evening cruises aboard colorful boats. You can pick up a Watertours pamphlet at HKTB Visitor Information and Services Centres and in many hotels.

Hong Kong Dolphinwatch (tel. 852/2984 1414; www.hkdolphinwatch.com) offers 4-hour trips several mornings a week that include a bus ride to the new satellite town of Tung Chung followed by a luxury cruise to the natural habitat of the endangered Chinese pink dolphins (Indo-Pacific Humpback dolphins), which live off Lantau island within sight of power plants, factories, Tung Chung, and the airport. Advance booking is necessary, and the cost is HK$320 (US$42/£23) for adults and HK$160 (US$21/£11) for children.

A Junk Cruise for Free -- The best cruise deal in town is aboard the Duk Ling, an authentic Chinese junk. Free 1-hour cruises, organized by the Hong Kong Tourism Board, are offered 2 days a week (at last check on Thurs and Sat). Registration is required; contact the HKTB at tel. 852/2508 1234 or go to www.discoverhongkong.com for the latest schedule.