Macau
Macau
Four centuries of Portuguese baroque and the world's biggest gambling city, fifteen minutes apart, with an egg tart in between.
Macau is the former Portuguese enclave at the mouth of the Pearl River, returned to China in 1999 and now a special administrative region an hour by fast ferry from Hong Kong. It is two cities in one: an old town of wave-tiled squares, baroque churches and incense-filled temples, crowned by the Ruins of St Paul's, and Cotai, a strip of reclaimed land lined with the biggest casino resorts on earth. Between them, the villages of Taipa and Coloane keep the egg tarts and Macanese cooking, one of the world's oldest fusion cuisines.
Suggested stay
1–3 days
Language
Cantonese, Portuguese
Currency
MOP
Timezone
UTC+8
Why you'll love Macau
Two cities in one The peninsula's tiled squares, pastel churches and temples, then Cotai's replica Venice, Paris and London across the water, all within a short bus ride of each other.
The Ruins of St Paul's A carved stone church front standing alone at the top of a broad stairway, all that survived an 1835 fire, and the city's defining image.
Macanese cooking Four centuries of Portuguese, Chinese, Malay and Indian influence on one table, from minchi and African chicken to the egg tart and the pork chop bun.
The quiet islands Taipa's village lanes and Coloane's chapel square, seafront and black-sand beach feel a world away from the casino floors.
Best time to visit
Oct-Mar
19-29° days
22.176° N, 113.551° E
UTC+8 · Asia/Macau
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Weather & when to go to Macau
Month by month: typical highs and lows, rainfall and rain days.
✓ Best Oct-Mar
Watch for May-Aug monsoon flooding risk · Jul-Oct typhoons risk
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
When to avoid Macau
May to August is hot, humid and wet, and typhoon season peaks from July into September, when storm signals can halt the ferries. Separately, the Chinese New Year, May Day and early-October Golden Week holidays bring mainland crowds that fill the old town and push room rates up, and the November Grand Prix closes streets around the Guia circuit.
Top things to do in Macau
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Ruins of St Paul's - the facade at the top of the stairs
history culture arts 👍 PopularThe Jesuits' Church of the Mother of God burned in 1835, leaving only its carved granite front: saints, a Chinese dragon, a Portuguese ship and a skeleton, worked partly by Japanese Christian craftsmen. Behind it a small crypt museum holds relics, and the snack-lined lane below is the busiest in Macau.
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Senado Square - the wave-tiled heart of the old city
history 👍 PopularBlack-and-white Portuguese mosaic ripples across the square between arcaded pastel buildings, the Leal Senado at one end and the yellow baroque Church of St Dominic at the other, with the Holy House of Mercy along one side. It is the start of every heritage walk and at its best in the early morning.
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A-Ma Temple - the sea goddess Macau is named after
history culture arts ⭐ Highly recommendedMacau's oldest temple climbs a rocky hillside at the peninsula's southern tip in a series of small halls, pavilions and carved boulders, wreathed in smoke from giant hanging incense coils. Tradition says the Portuguese named the whole place after the bay below it, A-Ma-Gao.
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Monte Fort - the Jesuit cannons above the old town
history scenicThe fortress the Jesuits finished in the 1620s, just after the Dutch attack, sits on the hill beside St Paul's with its cannon still trained over the rooftops. Inside the walls, the Museum of Macau tells the story of the city's trade, faith and daily life.
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Guia Fortress - the lighthouse and frescoed chapel
history scenicThe peninsula's highest hill carries a small fort, the first Western-style lighthouse on the China coast, and a little chapel whose walls were found under later plaster to carry frescoes mixing Christian and Chinese imagery. A tiny cable car climbs up from Flora Garden, and the ramparts look out over the whole city.
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Lou Kau Mansion and the Mandarin's House - old Chinese Macau
history culture artsTwo grey-brick merchant mansions show how wealthy Chinese families lived in the Portuguese city: Lou Kau's, a few lanes from Senado Square, with carved screens and stained glass round its courtyards, and the rambling Mandarin's House near Lilau Square, home of the reformist writer Zheng Guanying.
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Cotai Strip - the megaresorts after dark
nightlife music shopping 👍 PopularReclaimed land between Taipa and Coloane holds the Venetian, with its indoor canals and singing gondoliers, the half-size Eiffel Tower of the Parisian, the Wynn Palace's cable cars over its fountain lake and Studio City's figure-eight Ferris wheel threaded through the building. Wander in free; the gaming floors are strictly over-21.
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Macau Tower - the bungy and the view
adventure scenicThe tower at the peninsula's southern tip has observation decks over the delta, a walk round the outside rim of the pod, and a 233-metre bungy jump once listed as the highest commercial jump in the world, run by AJ Hackett.
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Taipa Village - Rua do Cunha and the Taipa Houses
food historyThe old village on Taipa is a knot of lanes a short walk from the Cotai resorts, led by Rua do Cunha, a narrow street of almond-cookie and jerky shops and Macanese restaurants. At its edge five mint-green colonial villas on the old waterfront, the Taipa Houses, show how Macanese families lived.
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Coloane Village - egg tarts, the chapel and Hac Sa
food scenic ⭐ Highly recommendedThe territory's quietest corner: a waterfront village facing Hengqin, the small Chapel of St Francis Xavier on its mosaic square, and Lord Stow's Bakery, where the Portuguese-style egg tart took its Macau form. Hac Sa, a black-sand beach, and Cheoc Van, a sheltered cove, are a short bus ride away.
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Macanese food - minchi, African chicken and serradura
foodMacanese cooking blends Portuguese, Chinese, Malay and Indian kitchens: minchi, minced meat with potato and a fried egg; African chicken in a spiced coconut sauce; bacalhau; and serradura, a cream pudding layered with crushed biscuit. Street food runs to pork chop buns and the lanes around Rua da Felicidade.
Best areas to stay in Macau
$ Budget $$ Mid-range $$$ Premium
Historic Centre (Senado Square)
Heritage and food $$Tiled squares, temples and older hotels
Explore hotels in Historic Centre (Senado Square) →
NAPE and the Lisboa
Resort plus heritage $$$Peninsula casino towers by the harbour
Explore hotels in NAPE and the Lisboa →
Cotai
Resort stays $$$Megaresorts, malls and replica landmarks
Explore hotels in Cotai →
Coloane
Quiet escape $$Quiet village, beaches and green hills
Explore hotels in Coloane →
Live nightly prices from Booking.com, Agoda and others, centred on Macau
Getting to & around Macau
Getting there
Fly into Macau's own airport on Taipa, or into Hong Kong and cross by fast ferry or shuttle bus over the sea bridge.
Flight
Macau International Airport (MFM)
On reclaimed land off eastern Taipa, a few minutes from Cotai and about 20 minutes by taxi to Senado Square. The light rail and public buses run to Taipa and Cotai, and some resorts run free shuttles.
Ferry
Outer Harbour and Taipa ferry terminals
Fast ferries from Hong Kong take about an hour, landing on the peninsula at the Outer Harbour or on Taipa beside Cotai. Crossings also run from Shenzhen.
Coach
Macau Port, Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge
Shuttle buses cross the sea bridge day and night from the Hong Kong port beside Hong Kong airport, in well under an hour; clear immigration at both ends.
Train
Border Gate (Portas do Cerco)
The intercity line from Guangzhou stops at Zhuhai station, right beside the Gongbei crossing; walk through both immigration halls into northern Macau.
Getting around
Walking
The old town is best on foot, up and down stairs and over the wave-patterned mosaic pavements. Taipa Village is also a walk from the Cotai resorts.
Free
Resort shuttles
Many casino resorts run free buses to and from the ferry terminals and border crossings, the easiest way between the peninsula and Cotai.
Free
Bus
A dense, frequent network covers the peninsula, Taipa and Coloane; buses are often crowded, and stops are signed in Chinese and Portuguese.
TBC
Light rail
Links the Taipa ferry terminal, the airport, Cotai and Taipa, with a branch over the bridge to Barra, near A-Ma Temple.
TBC
Taxi
Metered but hard to find at peak times; queue at hotels and ferry terminals, and carry your destination written in Chinese.
TBC
Day trips from Macau
Hong Kong
Full dayHarbour city
The bigger neighbour makes an easy day out: Victoria Harbour from the Star Ferry, the Peak above the towers and dim sum in Central. You clear immigration at both ends, so bring your passport and allow for queues at weekends.
Getting there
ferry | bus
About 1 hr by fast ferry, or by shuttle bus over the sea bridge
Zhuhai
Half dayMainland border city
Mainland China begins at the end of the peninsula. Gongbei's vast underground mall sits right at the crossing, and the seafront Lovers' Road runs past the Fisher Girl statue that is the city's emblem. Mainland entry rules apply, so check your visa position first.
Getting there
walk | bus
On foot through the Border Gate at the top of the peninsula, reached by bus
Hengqin and Chimelong Ocean Kingdom
Full dayMarine theme park
Across a short bridge from Cotai, Zhuhai's Hengqin island holds Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, a huge marine theme park built round giant aquarium tanks with whale sharks, belugas and roller coasters. It is mainland China, so the same entry rules apply.
Getting there
bus | car
Bus or taxi from Cotai to the Hengqin crossing, then a short ride to the park
A little history of Macau
Before the Portuguese, the peninsula was a scatter of fishing villages round a temple to A-Ma, the sea goddess whose name the settlement took. Portuguese traders were allowed to stay in the 1550s, and for a century Macau was the hinge of a vast trade carrying Chinese silk to Japan and Japanese silver back, and the base from which Jesuits set out for China and Japan. When Japan closed to the Portuguese in 1639 and Hong Kong rose across the estuary after 1841, Macau slid into a long, quiet decline, and licensed gambling became its lifeline.
Portugal ruled until 1999, when Macau became a special administrative region of China with its own currency, laws and border. The end of the casino monopoly in 2002 brought in Las Vegas operators and the building of Cotai on reclaimed land between Taipa and Coloane, and within a few years Macau's gambling takings had overtaken Las Vegas. The old town, meanwhile, was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2005.
Portuguese traders are allowed to settle on the peninsula, beginning more than four centuries of Portuguese Macau.
The Jesuits found the College of St Paul, the first Western-style university in East Asia.
A Dutch invasion fleet is driven off, and the Jesuits' Monte Fort above the town is finished within a few years.
Fire destroys the Church of the Mother of God, leaving only the facade now known as the Ruins of St Paul's.
The first Macau Grand Prix is run on the Guia street circuit.
Stanley Ho's syndicate wins the casino monopoly, which it holds for four decades.
Sovereignty passes from Portugal to China on 20 December, and Macau becomes a special administrative region.
The gaming monopoly ends, foreign operators arrive, and the Cotai Strip rises over the following years.
The Historic Centre of Macau is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list.
Know before you go
Payment
Cards & cash mixed
English
Limited
Wifi
Reliable
Power
Type G
230 V, 50 Hz
Dialing
+853
Monsoon flooding risk in this window; check current conditions before you go.
Typhoons risk in this window; check current conditions before you go.
The months our climate read flags to avoid: the wettest, lowest-rated weather of the year.
FAQs about Macau
▸ When is the best time to visit Macau?
October to March. Autumn is warm, dry and clear, and winter is cool and mild. May to August is hot, sticky and wet, with typhoons most likely from July into September. Beyond the weather, plan around the Golden Week holidays and the November Grand Prix, when rooms are scarce and the old town is packed.
▸ Do I need my passport to visit Macau from Hong Kong?
Yes. Macau runs its own immigration even though both territories are part of China, so you pass border controls leaving Hong Kong and again arriving in Macau. Many nationalities enter visa-free for a set period. Crossing on into mainland China at Zhuhai or Hengqin needs mainland entry, which is separate again, so check your own nationality's rules.
▸ Can I use Hong Kong dollars in Macau?
Yes, almost everywhere, and the casinos deal mainly in them. The local currency is the pataca, pegged to the Hong Kong dollar at close to par, so change often comes back in patacas. They are hard to spend or exchange outside Macau, so use them up before you leave.
▸ Is Macau just casinos?
No. The casinos dominate the skyline and the economy, but the old town is a World Heritage Site, and Taipa and Coloane keep village lanes, temples and beaches. Only over-21s may enter the gaming floors, while the resorts' pools, malls, shows and restaurants are open to everyone.
▸ Is Macau worth more than a day trip from Hong Kong?
Most visitors do it in a day, which covers the old town and one resort. Staying a night shows the other side: Cotai and the Lisboa lit up after dark, and the old squares quiet in the early morning before the tour groups arrive. Two or three days adds Taipa, Coloane and time to eat properly.
▸ What language is spoken in Macau?
Cantonese day to day, with Portuguese as a co-official language on street signs and government buildings, and Mandarin widely understood. English works in hotels, casinos and at the main sights but less in small shops and taxis, so carry addresses written in Chinese.
▸ Is Macau expensive?
It depends on the calendar more than the place. Resort rooms can be good value midweek and climb sharply at weekends and during mainland holidays. Eating runs from cheap noodle shops and bakeries to some of Asia's priciest dining rooms, and most of the heritage sights, the churches, squares and temples, are free to enter.