I initially thought Hong Kong is not an expensive place to visit given it's the most visited country by Filipinos. But I realized that cost of living is much higher compared to the Philippines and it's more expensive to travel to compared to countries like China or Taiwan. It's actually comparable already to Korea based on how much we've spent in several trips to Korea. I believe this is in contrast to what many people think that Hong Kong is not that expensive and Korea is an expensive place to travel to. The difference is that Hong Kong rely heavily on tourist destinations that entail cost (e.g. entrance fees, etc.) compared to other cities like Seoul where there is less of these costs.
Here's a breakdown of our expenses for Hong Kong and Macau Trip (4 Days/3 Nights):
If you remove Airfare and Taxes, here's our Day to Day Expenses:
We spent around Php 15,000 each, for 4 days in Hong Kong and Macau. We spent significant amount in watching 'House of Dancing Waters' in Macau (which was worth it! - see my review here) and in Ferry cost from Hong Kong to Macau and vice versa. You obviously will spend less if you don't visit Macau. However, you actually will spend much more if you decide to visit Hong Kong Disneyland, Ocean Park, Victoria Peak, or Cable Car (we skipped all these given that we already knew what to expect given our past experiences and felt it was not worth it). You'll easily spend around Php 30,000 if you visit all these usual tourist places.
Tips for lower cost:
1. Research first! - Check blogs first before deciding to go to these touristy places given that it's very expensive. E.g. we decided to skip Disney Land given we already went to Tokyo Disney Land and saw in blogs that both are very similar.
2. Save on hotels. If you don't mind small spaces and being in shared housing, use airbnb to stay in a good location but pay less. Our room was around Php 1,700 per night which we divided into two.
3. Just do Day Trip for Macau instead of spending overnight in an expensive hotel there. You'll save a lot on accommodation especially if you're not a heavy gambler.
To Summarize: If you're visiting Hong Kong for the first time and you want to visit all the famous tourist spots, expect to shell out a lot of money! Hong Kong is also known for its shopping, hence, expect also to spend money for shopping which is what most tourists do in Hong Kong. But if it's not your first time there (and have visited all these tourist spots already), then you can spend money similar to how much we've spent which is still quite expensive for a 4 day trip relative to the other places we've visited.
Disclaimer: This is an old post from my Blogspot account dated January 1, 2016.
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