I took this in a display cabinet in the lobby of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hong Kong | A Graff Men's GyroGraff Skyline watch with a Hong Kong night view background, what an absolutely spectacular watch and every Hong Kong Private Tour Guide should have one.
Discover Hong Kong in a day Like a Local | Totally Customisable Private Tours
Some of my guests enjoying the Private Tour Experience with Jamie in Hong Kong
J3 Private Tours Hong Kong | Awarded the Tripadvisor Certificate of Excellence 9 years in a row 2012 - 2020 | 800+ reviews with a 5 star average!
You simply cannot replicate the fabulous experience of being on a private tour when you are in a group of 20 - 30 people with a flag waving, microphone wielding bored Tour Guide working from memorised script and aggressively upselling additional paid tours
This is NOT how I do tours! There are NO flags, whistles, microphones and headsets, stickers, and large groups led by a bored disinterested Tour Guide whose main goal is to collect tips and aggressively upsell additional paid tours I have in the interests of research done all of the above.
The worst one for me was the Coach Tour essentially the tour itineraries have not changed since the late 1950’s!
They tend to have 2 sources for guests
Hotel Guests - picking up guests from 5 or 6 hotels ( these tour companies tend to have a desk in the hotel lobby offering tours )
Cruise Ship Passengers on a Shore Excursion
In both cases the price of a tour is cheap but they have commercial agreements with shops, jewellery showrooms. restaurants and “operators” that earn them a commission of goods and services bought.
Sadly you spend more time on the bus listening to a bored, underpaid guide with a microphone working to a prepared script full of inaccurate information and telling lame jokes and the real highlight, trying to persuade you to take photographs so your face can be put on plates, mugs and keychains - quite horrendous, did I say this was a real highlight.. it is not, that is reserved for the jewellery showroom they take you to at the end of the tour, I am not kidding, we were taken to a jewellery showroom under the guise of a “cultural experience” and locked in for 30 minutes! it was horrible, no one wanted to be there and whatever goodwill they earned with a quite interesting itinerary of attractions went out of the window very quickly - but they have been doing this since the late 1950’s and they are simply set in the ways and don’t care to change.
The Free Tours to be fair have some very enthusiastic guides (mostly in their early 20’s) but again, they essentially work to a memorised script and talk through a microphone and it can be impossible to hear the guide on a noisy street - group sizes tend to average 20 - 30 people and personal interaction with the guide is all but impossible and it does not help that they push for tips at the beginning and end of the tour and aggressively upsell paid tours that they just happen to offer, so much for a free tour! I have been on four “free” tours in Hong Kong by different operators, generally the tours are a couple of hours only and honestly you do not learn much as you have to stop, gather round and try and hear what the guide is saying and if people ask a lot of questions it eats up the limited time and I absolutely accept there is a place for them as not everyone can afford to go on a Private Tour of Hong Kong.
You know that old cliche | chestnut - “you get what you pay for” well that absolutely applies here
All my premium Private Tours of Hong Kong can be customised to fit in | stuff | you might like to do but please note that the vast majority of people leave it up to me with regards to the tour itinerary relying on my 51 years of living in Hong Kong and noting that I have completed well over 2,300+ private tours in Hong Kong since 2011 | I am extremely flexible in this regard, I am pretty good at doing wish lists, special requests and such, be sure to let me know in advance or when we meet | please note I do not really have set itineraries as no two tours are ever the same.
If you are interested in doing more specific types of tours as detailed below, please be sure to tick the appropriate box on the booking form.
Most popular Tour | the 8 hour full day Private Tour of Hong Kong.
Kids 16 and under at the time of booking are FREE OF CHARGE and are always welcome on my tours!
Make the most of your Airport Layover / Transit Time when you stop off in Hong Kong on your way to somewhere else.
I am an expert in organising transit tours for single travellers, couples, families and small groups with pick up at the fabulous Hong Kong International Airport - my private transit tours are perfect for those who are in Hong Kong for a quick layover and would rather see the best that Hong Kong has to offer as opposed to sitting at Starbucks or McDonald’s for 5 or 6 hours or sleeping on a seat and I would suggest it also beats hanging around in an Airline’s First Class Lounge!
There are luggage storage facilities located at the Airport if needs be...
The Business / Cultural / Colonial district on Hong Kong Island is just 30 minutes on the Airport Express Train from the Airport
If you have between 5 - 12 hours in transit I can make it happen, oh and just so we are clear I pick you up at the airport and I make sure I get you back there on time to meet your connecting flight.
I am a huge fan of visiting Cheung Chau, my first visit there was in the spring 1972 and I have to say it never seems to change much no matter how many times I go there. I always tell my guests that Cheung Chau is an ambling place, you simply amble around, the Island is not that big so there is no need to rush around, you have the time to explore and really get a feel for the place.
What makes Cheung Chau so different is the lack of tall buildings and the lack of cars | buses and such, the main mode of transport for the resident population is a bike but I get the impression that most people just walk. The permanent population is roughly 25,000+. Fishing was always the major money spinner historically along with smuggling and such (there are all sorts of stories about the Pirates of Cheung Chau!) these days fishing is banned in Hong Kong waters on a commercial basis so the Island relies on "tourists" to bolster the Island economy and I imagine a lot of residents engage in “smuggling”!
The Island has a great beach, plenty of places to eat with all manner of food available, there are bars, there are plenty of shops selling weird Cheung Chau trinkets and some very interesting Temples but for me it has always been the slow pace of life that has fascinated me, it is the total opposite to living in Hong Kong proper.
I also love the ferry ride, where possible I try and take the slow ferry which has an outdoor deck where you can sit and watch the world go by, I just love it... so all in all a 4 hour premium private tour to Cheung Chau Island is a very pleasant way to spend half a day and see a part of Hong Kong that doesn't really fit.
Yes, I do Private Night Tours! Hong Kong is fabulous by night so why not book one of my 3 or 4 hour night tours.... Hong Kong is spectacular during the day but you know what, it comes alive at night, it has a buzz about it and I am more than happy to do night tours.
I offer 2 types of night tours
totally family friendly tour
somewhat darker, grittier and seedier tour
We will discuss which option you would prefer when we meet
My Private Hong Kong Night tour runs from 7pm to 10pm or 11pm daily and you can customise the itinerary or just leave it to me.
Please note that many places and attractions that are open during the day in Hong Kong are closed at night.
Night Markets, Harbour Views, Ferry Rides - just some of the things to look forward to on a Night Tour of Hong Kong
Make the most of your Shore Excursion when you visit Hong Kong on your amazing cruise ship, I am an expert in organising Shore Excursions for couples, families and small groups with pick up at the at either the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal or the Ocean Terminal in Hong Kong.
Generally most shore excursions are touted as a half day (4 hours) or full day (8 hours) tour, I would say that the best tour length would be a 6 hour or 8 hour tour - this to me is a better bet for a Shore Excursion - naturally I could also do 5 hours, 7 hours or 9 hours, the choice is yours and you are not on a bus with 15 | 30 | 50 other passengers wearing stickers and following a barely understandable guide holding a flag working to a script.
This is a private tour with no stops at jewellery shops under the pretence of watching jewellery being made and such, we use public transport and walk and you will get a full immersion into what Hong Kong is all about.My Private Shore Excursions are perfect for those who are in Hong Kong on a cruise ship for 1 - 2 days...
oh and I will make sure you do not miss your ship if you are on a sailing deadline!
Over the years I have had a great many Jewish guests who have visited Hong Kong and have not realised the cultural impact that Jewish people have had in Hong Kong in a very positive manner since the early 1840's. The Jewish population in Hong Kong is quite small and always has been, today it numbers 4,000 - 5,000 people only. A lot of Hong Konger’s are strangely unaware that we have a small Jewish population but the signs are there if you know where to look.
The most famous Jewish family in Hong Kong is the Kadoorie family, the Chairman of the Holding Company that owns many other companies is Sir Michael Kadoorie (that's him in the pewter grey early 1930’s Rolls Royce Phantom below) who personally is worth roughly US$10 Billion +!
My premium private Jewish Cultural | Heritage Tours can be 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 hour tours.| If you wish to visit the fabulous Ohel Leah Synagogue please let me know in advance.
Generally most of my Jewish Guests are quite happy for elements of Jewish culture to be woven into my normal tours rather than a specific (for example) 8 hour intense tour!
I have many guests who choose to do multi day tours with me in order to maximise their limited time in Hong Kong.
The most popular options are |
2 x 8 hour Day Tours based on 2 days in Hong Kong or 1 x 8 hour Day Tour and 1 x 4 hour Day Tour based on 2 days in Hong Kong
2 x 8 hour Day Tours and 1 x Night Tour based on 3 days in Hong Kong
2 x 8 hour Day Tours, 1 x 4 hour Day Tour and 1 x Night Tour based on 4 days in Hong Kong
Multi Day Tours allows me to give you a total immersion experience into Hong Kong Culture
Please note you can also visit the nearby Big Buddha (Tian Tan Buddha), est. 1989, The Iconic Po Lin Monastery est. 1906, + ride the Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car back to Tung Chung, these attractions are located about 15 minutes (ish) from the Tai O Fishing Village by Blue Taxi or Public Bus, all these places are located on Lantau Island, NT, Hong Kong
A visit to Lantau Island makes for a splendid day out, including travel time roughly 7 hours | Instagram Heaven.. a photographers dream day out.
Due to the popularity of the attractions on Lantau Island and taking into account I have done tours of Lantau Island over 250 times, I have my own “order of doing things” to avoid big crowds and lines which I tend not to deviate from.
MTR (Subway) to Tung Chung on Lantau Island
Single decker Public Bus to the Tai O Fishing Village
Single decker Public Bus or Blue Taxi from the Tai O Fishing Village to the Big Buddha | Tian Tan Buddha
Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car from the Big Buddha to Tung Chung (25 minute ride through the mountains)
MTR (Subway) back to town from Tung Chung
Prior to 1949 the Tai O Fishing Village was a sleepy backwater because of poor transport links to the rest of Hong Kong and commerce was fishing, salt processing and shrimp paste processing, in 1949 many people fled China and came to Hong Kong as refugees and Tai O was a popular place to settle.
I first went to Tai O in the summer of 1972 and also paid a visit to the Po Lin Monastery and have been back there hundreds of times since then and after living in Hong Kong for so long, I have earned the right to have an opinion about the Tai O Fishing Village, I can be pretty blunt.
It has 2 parts to it, the modern town with houses, apartment blocks and normal buildings and then across the water you have the same with the addition of stilt houses, please note the stilt houses are NOT unique to Tai O, they can be seen in many locations in Hong Kong, many travel blog writers who see the world through rose tinted glasses wax lyrical about Tai O being “the Venice of the East” which is laughable, I have been to Venice and it is not even close to being the right comparison, the Tai O Fishing Village is a dump by comparison.
Despite my comments above I am a huge, huge fan of Tai O quite simply because it is so different to the rest of Hong Kong, because it is so far from town it is in essence a retirement community, it is very quiet Monday to Friday but gets really busy on the weekend with visitors from all over Hong Kong (Hong Kong residents) who see visiting Tai O as a monthly ritual and they have this innate desire to purchase a jar of shrimp paste which is partially manufactured in Tai O along with other dried fish products. (which incidentally can be bought anywhere in Hong Kong, go figure!)
The waterways in Tai O are generally horrid, strewn with litter and all manner of waste, some of it organic as the stilt houses flush directly into the waterways, so what looks like a discarded Mars Bar probably isn’t! but do not let that deter you, keep your hands away from the water, schools of odd looking fish will deal with the “Mars Bar” and tell yourself that the Tai O Fishing Village is quite fascinating which it is!
You can visit the Tai O Heritage Hotel which is brilliant and has a lovely restaurant and yes, they have shrimp paste dishes on the menu... on the walk back you can see the shrimp paste processing plant (the odour is pretty noxious), take a boat ride to try and see the pink dolphins - I have seen them only once in all the times I have been on the boat to try and see them but the boat ride is great as you also get a tour of the stilt houses through the waterways, I actually also do a lot of walking around the area where all the stilt houses are located, there are lots of dodgy restaurants, lots of interesting street food to try, some totally weird sights, packs of toothless old crones sat outside sizing you up for the pot, some really old Temples, lots of back alleys and yes, plenty of souvenir shops as well... Brilliant.
Commercial fishing was banned in Hong Kong quite a few years ago, you will notice in the waterway hundreds of powerful “speedboats” which I have always suspected are engaged in smuggling activities given the proximity to Mainland China which is just a few miles away across the sea, cigarettes are a popular commodity.
The Lantau Island Experience Tour is a very popular tour!
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