Planning a Trip

In Hong Kong -- Your first stop for information about Macau should be as soon as you arrive in Hong Kong, at the Hong Kong International Airport. In the arrivals lobby, at A06, you'll find the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) information counter (tel. 852/2769 7970), open daily from 9am to 10pm (closed for lunch 1-1:30pm and dinner 6-6:30pm). Stop here for a wealth of printed material about hotels and sightseeing in Macau. In addition, there's another MGTO information bureau at Hong Kong's Macau Ferry Terminal, the departure pier for most jetfoils and other craft bound for Macau. You'll find it on the third-floor Departure Floor, in room 336 of the Shun Tak Centre, 200 Connaught Rd., in Central (tel. 852/2857 2287). It's open daily from 9am to 1pm and 2:15 to 5:30pm. Be sure to pick up a map of Macau; the hefty Macau Guide Book, with useful information on attractions; the tourist tabloid Macau Talk; Where, a quarterly with information on cultural activities, sightseeing, shopping, and entertainment; and What's On, a leaflet with information on festivals, exhibitions, and events.

In Macau -- Once in Macau, you'll find a MGTO at the Macau Ferry Terminal, located just outside Customs and open daily from 9am to 10pm; there is also a MGTO at Macau International Airport, open for all incoming flights. For complete information, however, your best bet is the main Macau Government Tourist Office, Largo do Senado, located in the center of town on the main plaza just across from the water fountain; it's open daily from 9am to 6pm. Other tourist information offices are located at Fisherman's Wharf, open daily from 10am to 1pm and 2 to 6pm; at Guia Fort and Lighthouse, open daily from 9am to 1pm and 2:15 to 5:30pm; and the Border Gate (also called Barrier Gate and serving visitors from mainland China), open daily from 9:15am to 1pm and 2:30 to 6pm. For information by telephone, call the Tourist Hotline at tel. 853/28333000.

Money

Even though the pataca (ptc; also sometimes referred to as MOP$) is Macau's official currency, you can use your Hong Kong dollars everywhere, even on buses and for taxis (though you are likely to receive change in patacas). The pataca is pegged to the Hong Kong dollar at the rate of $103.20 ptcs to HK$100; however, on the street and in hotels and shops, the Macau pataca and Hong Kong dollar are treated as having equal value. I suppose, therefore, that you could save a minuscule amount by exchanging your money for patacas (US$1 equals $8 ptcs; UK£1 equals 15 ptcs), but I rarely have done so and don't consider it worth the hassle for short stays in Macau. You may wish to exchange a small amount -- say, HK$20 (US$2.55/£1.30), but keep in mind that the pataca is not accepted in Hong Kong.

In addition, most Macau hotels and their restaurants, as well as restaurants catering largely to tourists, list room rates and menu items in Hong Kong dollars. For the sake of simplicity, the hotel rates given below are quoted in HK$, but this could just as well read "patacas." Outside of hotels, restaurants are more likely to give prices in patacas, but sometimes they use HK$, too. Attractions, however, always use patacas. To mirror the most common pricing practices in Macau, I use HK$ for hotels and restaurants but patacas for attractions listed below. In case you need it, there's an ATM at the ferry terminal that accepts American Express, MasterCard, Visa, and cards operating on the Plus and Cirrus systems.

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Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.

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				Frommer's Hong Kong, 9th Edition Author: Beth Reiber Pub Date: February 27, 2007 Price: $16.99				Related Titles: Comrades and Strangers: Behind the Closed Doors of North Korea Frommer's Beijing, 5th Edition Frommer's China, 3rd Edition