Handpicked experience · Macau
Macau, Macau
A city given a motto for refusing to change kings, a gate that opened three days a month, and streets that turn into a racing circuit for one weekend a year.
Mandarin's House-An old Chinese luxury mansion discovering how the elite class lived in Macau since 1850s.
St. Lawrence's Church-One of the oldest churches in Macau with very little changes since. Its artworks and sculptures and peacefulness is quite something to enjoy
D. Pedro V. Theatre- The oldest music and dance theatre in Asia for the Portuguese to entertain and dine
Leal Senado - One of the pretties Portugues gardens still standing in Macau together with one of the most secret kept library in Asia.
Largo do Senado-The iconic "fountain" of Macau the main square. Perfect opportunity for photos
Monte Fort - An high up view of Macau seeing the old historic centre and as well as modern Macau and across the water seeing Zhuhai China. The history of this fort is not to be missed.
Na Tcha Temple-The one and only Chinese temple in the world standing right next to a church
Hotel collection and return within Macau
A guide through the UNESCO-listed streets rather than a map
A working temple older than the settlement around it
Waterfront views from the tower if you want them
Six hours, which is enough to sit down somewhere
A six-hour day around Macau with a guide and an air-conditioned vehicle, collected from your hotel: the Historic Centre around Senado Square and the Ruins of St Paul's, the A-Ma Temple by the inner harbour, and the tower on the waterfront.
Driving between the sites and walking at each, which suits a territory this dense — the distances are short but the heat and the hills are real. Six hours allows time to stop rather than march.
The building on the main square carries an inscription naming Macau the City of the Name of God, and adding that there is none more loyal. The title was granted after Portugal and Spain were briefly ruled by the same crown: when that union ended, Macau had refused to recognise Spanish authority throughout. Portugal thanked the settlement with a phrase that has been carved into its civic architecture ever since.
Macau sat behind a wall built across the isthmus in the 1570s, with a single gate to the mainland. That gate was not a border crossing in any modern sense: it opened only on set days each month, and mainly to let food and supplies through. Everything the settlement ate arrived on a schedule set by somebody else. The present gate on the same spot dates from 1870 and stands in the middle of what is now a continuous city.
The temple at the harbour honours the sea goddess Mazu, and it predates the Portuguese arrival by decades. Her cult spread with Fujianese sailors along the whole southern coast, then to Taiwan and across Southeast Asia, until there were thousands of temples to her. This is one of the older survivors, and the carved stone junk inside refers to the boat she is said to have brought safely through a storm.
For one weekend each November the ordinary roads around the reservoir and the harbour are closed, fenced and turned into a racing circuit that has run since 1954. It is one of very few street courses used for both car and motorcycle racing, it is famously unforgiving, and for the rest of the year you drive along it in traffic without noticing. Your route today uses part of it.
Portuguese remains an official language here, guaranteed until 2049, although only a small fraction of residents use it. That is why every street sign is bilingual, why government documents run in two languages, and why the tiled street plaques read like Lisbon while everything around them does not.
Entry to the tower observation deck and anything you eat are settled on the day, so carry some cash. The Historic Centre is walked on steep cobbles, and summer here is hot, humid and the typhoon season.
Open it to pick a date and work out the price.
What the fare covers, and what to budget for separately.
The practical detail, and the answers people actually ask for.
A civic title: the City of the Name of God, and there is none more loyal. Macau earned it by refusing to recognise Spanish authority during the period when one crown ruled both Portugal and Spain.
Yes, across the isthmus from the 1570s, with a single gate to the mainland that opened only on set days each month, largely for food and supplies. The gate standing there now was built in 1870.
Mazu, the sea goddess, whose cult travelled with Fujianese sailors down the coast and on to Taiwan and Southeast Asia. This temple predates the Portuguese arrival and is among the oldest surviving.
Every November. The public roads by the reservoir and harbour are closed and fenced into a circuit that has run since 1954, and it takes both cars and motorcycles — unusual for a street course.
Because it remains an official language, guaranteed until 2049, even though only a small share of residents speak it. Hence bilingual street plaques and two-language official documents.
No. The observation deck is arranged on the day, as is anything you eat, so bring some cash with you.
Moderate but steep in places — the Historic Centre is cobbled and hilly. The vehicle covers the distances between sites.