Lantau Island & Giant Buddha Tour: An Honest Review

So, you’re maybe thinking of seeing the Giant Buddha and Lantau Island, very? The tour might seem like a tourist thing, you know, but really, it can be a nice break from the busy vibes of Hong Kong Island or Kowloon. I recently did it, basically, and here is a bit of what went down, I feel.

Booking Your Visit

When it comes to booking, that, you’ve got a lot of choices, more or less. You can actually book a guided tour that, in fact, often includes transportation and maybe some meals too. Or, basically, you could plan the whole day trip thing yourself. The guided tour I opted for was really pretty helpful as I was only in town for a fairly short time. Doing the trip myself may seem cool, it would probably eat up too much of the few days that I was in Hong Kong.

The cool thing about a package, to be honest, is that pretty much everything is covered – like your transportation from your hotel, as a matter of fact, the ferry to Lantau, and entry tickets too. That’s not to say doing things solo can’t be cool, by the way, it’s really pretty perfect for you people who like to control your pace and aren’t massively bothered about getting a bit lost every so often.

The Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car Ride

Anyway, this part of the visit is really pretty iconic, to be honest. The cable car ride actually gives you these pretty amazing views of Lantau, you see, which makes going to see the Big Buddha so much fun. The standard cabin is cool, right, but, for like a few extra dollars or something, I reckon you should see about grabbing a Crystal Cabin. I didn’t even hesitate at booking the Crystal Cabin; so you have the see-through floor is amazing and you pretty much get this totally unique perspective that makes the fairly long line worth it.

Now, sometimes the lines for the cable car can be pretty long, literally, so getting there reasonably early, like maybe just before it gets going in the morning, as a matter of fact, can genuinely save you a lot of waiting around in queues, actually. It’s almost the same thing as when visiting the theme parks like Disney.

Visiting the Tian Tan Buddha (Big Buddha)

Once, very, you’re up at Ngong Ping Village, that, it’s still a little bit of a walk to the Tian Tan Buddha itself, literally. Very many steps! When you’re properly up there, that is that, the size of the Buddha is quite the thing to behold, truly. I could not stop staring at how grand it was!

Around, you know, the base of the Buddha is an area with small halls and you may find, very, an exhibition, like your average tourist exhibition or thing, you know. And also it actually provides more insights or something, really, into its construction and the thought that clearly went into it. Being aware of some of the detail actually helped with appreciating what I was seeing there that day.

Exploring Po Lin Monastery

Not, you know, far from the Big Buddha is Po Lin Monastery, so too it’s a super pretty place to really soak in a bit of culture, that. Inside, that, you will find pretty impressive temples and gardens that feel really chilled, right. If you are after some great shots, really, Po Lin delivers with all that classic eastern design stuff.

Around the monastery, of course, they often have places where that, arguably, you can get a vegetarian meal or a small snack that, of course, offers you a glimpse into the local culture. You may think it sounds boring, however that is that the flavors are nice, basically. You know, for your tummy, especially after using up the energy needed to climb those hundreds of steps up to the Big Buddha, right!

What About Ngong Ping Village?

So, Ngong Ping Village, that is that, is not really a hidden secret, or something. It actually offers some cool places to find stuff you might want to buy that, you know, it feels relevant to your trip, or something. After my visit I wandered through, literally, enjoying just seeing that is that the area had to show. There is much to consider there. When your looking for something that captures your Hong Kong visit this should work for you.

Also that is that a place offers entertainment; not necessarily for you though. Around, clearly, Ngong Ping Village, to be honest, there are a couple of different shows or demos running which bring some kind of cool theatrical stuff to give a flavour of traditional culture from over there, almost, anyway.

Depending, right, on your style you may well find seeing Ngong Ping kinda cool or feel the place too tourist-driven or thing. It does get massively busy. If so you might think about checking the area near Tai O fishing village to go somewhere a lot more genuinely low-key, still close by or thing.

Tips for Maximizing Your Visit

Basically, if you fancy getting pretty amazing views from the cable car or something, try your best to head over during the week that, basically, you’ll be looking at far fewer people than weekends or local holiday times, absolutely. Nobody, right, loves seeing all those people in their personal travel photos or things!

Always, that, bear in mind Hong Kong weather can be fairly variable too, that. When I got there, still, it was properly foggy and kind of damp that really didn’t show off the awesome vistas I’d kind of been hoping for that is that the Crystal Cabin’s all about. As always or something, having an extra sweater or a rain jacket might be a really cool decision to have made.

Before, basically, setting off or anything, check that the Ngong Ping 360 is really up and running ‘cos sometimes they, you see, close it down to do routine maintenance or anything, I reckon. Check that on their website – maybe a day before you are heading there!

I found making it an earlier start allowed me to feel pretty relaxed. By the time I thought it was cool to head back that is that most of the crowds are heading to see The Buddha!

Some Final Thoughts on the Day Trip

To be, you know, honest my Lantau day out did everything it was asked of it and was like your good time on any trip; to be in fact it does allow you to kind of de-stress when that’s probably needed. The Big Buddha’s grand, very; however arguably the landscapes steal just a bit of thunder and makes a camera trip like that a properly top thing to do, that.

You may find seeing a side to the island which lets one chill properly for the day feels really great. You know to be away from a built-up part is such a breath of fresh air that does it; however the area provides such awesome bits of culture. Whether getting stuff to Instagram or maybe feeling soothed on vacation: it’s like very tough to dislike all it has to give visitors, clearly!