The Advantages of Booking a Private Tour Guide

1. Save Time and Jump the Line

Hong Kong is tremendously crowded and busy. Our population tops 7 million.  The entire population of New Zealand only comes to around 5 million.  If you’re visiting top tourist attractions and want to ride the tram to Peak or the cable car to The Big Buddha on Lantau Island you can expect long queues.  Queuing is practically a national pastime here in Hong Kong.  People are prepared to wait and aren’t deterred by long queues.  It’s orderly and it’s fair, but it’s time consuming.  Time that you don’t want to waste.

By booking a Hong Kong private tour guide, your tickets are organised in advance.  Accompanied by your own private tour guide, you can save even more time and jump to the front of the queue for both the Peak Tram and the Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car.

Alternatively, we can arrange to visit many places by private vehicle.  This means travelling from one attraction to another is time efficient and comfortably air-conditioned.  In case you don’t know,  Hong Kong can be tremendously hot and humid during the summer months.  It can also rain a tremendous amount.  So as well as saving time, you can stay cool and dry whatever the weather.

2. Make Memories

Admit it, you’re not going to remember all the facts, figures and dates about places you visit on holiday.  You’re going to remember the experience and whether it was positive or not so positive.  Private tour guides know the most photogenic spots.  We live here, so we can share some cool insider tips and tricks and can give you the  scoop on what it’s really like to live in Hong Kong.

In 10 years time you won’t remember when the Peak tram was built or the key tenets of Buddhism, but you’ll have that great picture of you eating chickens feet, or holding a snake in the snake soup shop.  Your kids will remember being allowed to sound the bell on the tram or the secret echo chamber we showed them.  You also won’t remember the stress and frustration of getting lost or overpaying for a taxi, because you avoid it by booking a private tour guide.

We can also tell you plenty of things that won’t be in your guidebook.  For example, most visitors have no idea that there’s a fascinating story behind the ragged flags hanging in historic St John’s church or how significantly Feng Shui has influenced some of Hong Kong’s most iconic buildings.

3. Relax, you’re on holiday

Travel is supposed to be fun and you go on holiday to relax.  That’s hard to do if you’re nervous about trying new things. It’s uncomfortable to be in a position where you’re worried you might offend locals by going where you’re not supposed to be and doing what your not supposed to do.  We’re also sure you’ll agree that there’s nothing more frustrating than realising that you needn’t have queued in the rain for two hours or missed the best view point because you followed the catch-all guidebook instructions.

By booking a private tour guide, your trip should be as stress free and enjoyable as possible.  Let us take away the fear.  You don’t need to worry about which bakery sells the yummiest treats, where to find the nearest bathroom or getting lost.  With a private tour guide, you are in safe hands.

4. Enjoy a Customised Itinerary

Let us know in advance if you have any particular interests, whether it’s architecture, history, art or religion.  The routes on our private tours of Hong Kong are fluid and no two are the same.  Alongside some of Hong Kong’s main attractions, our guides want you to see what interests you.  For example, you could enquire about working Hong Kong’s Jewish Heritage into a tour.

5. Have Peace of Mind

You want to know that you’re in safe hands when you’re out and about in a new city.  By law, private tour guides in Hong Kong should be licensed.  At Hong Kong Greeters our guides are fully licensed, so don’t worry about heading out for the day with a rogue trader.  We have public liability insurance and as part of our training have to complete first aid certificate.

Why choose a Hong Kong Private Guide from Hong Kong Greeters?

We are Friendly

Here at HK Greeters we hand-pick our guides.  As well as being knowledgeable, our guides are approachable and friendly giving you the warmest of welcomes to Hong Kong. In addition to all the nuts and bolts facts and figures of your tour, please ask us what living in Hong Kong is really like. You might be surprised at the price of property, you should be impressed by the public transport system and we can tell you that there is absolutely no pineapple in a pineapple bun.

We are Family Friendly

We work hard to accommodate your needs.  Whether you have accessibility constraints or small children, we will help you get the best possible out of your tour. Regardless of whether your want to minimise walking or simply stay away from steep hills and lots of steps, we can take that into consideration when planning a route. If public transport will be a struggle for you with pushchairs or a wheel chair, please inquire about our private car tours.

We all know that children sometimes decide that they need to eat or go to the loo at the drop of a hat. That’s no problem. We know that children can be picky eaters and that even the best of us can suffer from dietary constraints. We will do our best to accommodate that. You can let us know in advance if you have request for any particular type of restaurant.

As an added bonus our city walking tours are free for under 16s, making the tours a little more pocket-friendly for families. Find out more about our family friendly private tours of Hong Kong here.

We speak your language

To make your trip even smoother our guides are all native or near native English speakers. Tours in other languages including Cantonese, Dutch, French, Portuguese or Spanish may be available on request. Please check with us.

Please get in touch if you’d like further information on any of our private tours in Hong Kong.  We also offer trips to neighbouring Macau and additionally offer group tours, like our Vegetarian Food and Cultural Tour of Hong Kong.  If you already have a tour in mind and are ready to book, click here.

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Hong Kong’s Jewish Population

Hong Kong’s total population is close to 7.4 million people.  Despite there only being an estimated  4,000 Jews in Hong Kong, their impact on the city has been substantial.  The earliest Jewish traders set up in Hong Kong, Macau and Canton as China opened up to international trade in the mid-1800’s. Although most are of Iraqi decent, nowadays, approximately half of the Jewish population of Hong Kong originate from overseas.  It seems that they now hail from many countries including the US, the UK, France, Australia, South Africa, Israel and Canada.

Jewish Heritage Sites

We have two synagogues in Hong Kong.  The first is the Ohel Leah next door to the Jewish Community Centre is pictured above.  The magnificent Ohel Leah synagogue in Central is often a surprise detour for guests. The second is Kehilat Zion in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon. Both have kosher restaurants and will deliver food locally. Additionally, there is the Shuva Isreal Restaurant in Central, Hong Kong.

Hong Kong Greeters is able to provide a specialist tour itinerary to include the Jewish heritage of Hong Kong.  This enables our guests to discover more about Jewish influence and heritage in Hong Kong.

Your itinerary can include:

• The Ohel Leah Synagogue, Midlevels
• The Jewish Cemetery, Happy Valley
• The Peninsula Hotel and Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
• The Verandah restaurant, Repulse Bay

Please let us know on the booking form, what you are interested in seeing. Our guide Nadia is the perfect guide for these tours, as her mother was Jewish.

How we can Tailor you Tour

Hong Kong Greeters provides customised private tours for visitors to Hong Kong.  We can tailor our Jewish Heritage itinerary to include other sites that interest you.  Perhaps you would like to head up the Peak and admire the famously expansive view.  If shopping is on your agenda, there are plenty of markets to explore, either for souvenirs or to see how locals shop.  There are many beautiful temples, which would contrast neatly with a synagogue visit.  Equally, there are lots of unique buildings, statues and other quirks of Hong Kong life, peppering the streets.

We e are able to offer this itinerary in the comfort of a private, air-conditioned, 8-seater vehicle. Please select below, and confirm the date of your visit by email to info@hkgreeters.com.

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Preparation

Cantonese duck is much easier to prepare.  The Peking version requires pre-ordering a few days ahead from a specialist restaurant.  Our newest infographic below highlights some differences between the two delicious dishes and where to eat them.  We also recommend delicious ‘must-try’ roasted meat restaurants for your Hong Kong visit.

Cha-Sui

If you enjoy Cantonese roast duck, then you should also try ‘charcoal furnace roast goose in plum sauce’.  In Cantonese it is called ‘cha-siu’ which is seasoned boneless barbecued pork. The best place to try is: Yat Lok Barbecue Restaurant, Stanley Street, Central, Hong Kong.

Having Beijing roast duck is one of the two ‘must dos’ when in Beijing: climb the Great Wall and eat Peking duck. The Huffington Post declares it as the number 1 dish in the world to try before you die! In Hong Kong, find it at Sha Tin 18 at the Regency Hyatt Hotel, Shatin, New Territories.

Book Your Hong Kong Private Food Tour Instantly Below

We use a third party system to provide a one-click booking service to you.  Book a food tour with us today by visiting our food tour page, or by using the booking link at the bottom of the page.

If you’re not a meat lover, we now also offer a vegetarian food tour.

If your date is available on the calendar, you can book immediately.  We just need to know how many people and the length of the tour your require.  Alternatively, get in touch with us to find out more about our various walking and car tours of Hong Kong and Macau.

Discover the difference between Hong Kong egg tarts and Macau egg tarts?

How do you finger count in Hong Kong?

Visit Hong Kong

Hong Kong Greeters offer private walking tours, groups tours, virtual tours and self-guided Hong Kong Quests. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch to see how we can help you enjoy our city.

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All tour guides need a break sometimes! Usually we are busy guiding our clients around Hong Kong and know well the benefits of hiring a professional.  So when we were lucky enough to spend a week in Bali with our family, naturally we did our research to find a great family tour guide in Bali.

We find especially when we have children in tow, taking a family tour smooths the way to a happy holiday.  Children can easily get tired, hungry or bored.  By booking a family tour guide in Bali, we were able to ensure that our children enjoyed all the activities did and sights we saw.

Our Recommended Family Tour Guide in Bali

Huge thanks to Gede and Ketut from Bali Taxi Driver and Tour Guide for making our stay so terrific. We would 100% recommend their service to anyone wanting a driver or guide when they visit Bali.

Family Friendly Accommodation

No holiday is possible without a place to lay your head after a busy day at the beach or exploring the other delights of the island.

We stayed at the Nusa Dua Beach Hotel & Spa and give it a huge thumbs up.

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