Urban tranquillity in city parks

Feel like taking a break from the hustle and bustle? Take refuge in these lush green havens right in the middle of Hong Kong. Whether you’re looking for an immersive green experience or just a quick repose from your urban exploration, these easily accessible parks are packed with delightful surprises, and offer a closer encounter with the locals whom you’ll spot running, exercising, and even walking backwards.

Hong Kong Park

An oasis of green in an urban setting, Hong Kong Park Get me there {{title}} {{taRatingReviewTotal}} {{taRatingReviewText}} Address {{address}} Website {{website}} More info is outstanding in the way its design blends in with the surrounding natural landscape. The park features an aviary, a greenhouse, the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware Get me there {{title}} {{taRatingReviewTotal}} {{taRatingReviewText}} Address {{address}} Website {{website}} More info , the Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre Get me there {{title}} {{taRatingReviewTotal}} {{taRatingReviewText}} Address {{address}} Website {{website}} More info , fountains, lily ponds, playgrounds, a restaurant and even a marriage registry. The aviary features more than 80 species of birds in a well-designed tropical ‘rainforest’.

Also noteworthy is the way flowing water has been employed as a thematic motif to link the different features of the park by waterfalls, streams, ponds and cliffs made from artificial rocks. The park makes for a great vantage point to take some snaps of the surrounding skyscrapers.

Join one of the free guided bird-watching walks held every Wednesday morning by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society. You can find more information here.

Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens

Having been completed in 1871, the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens is the oldest park in the territory. The gardens, with an area of 5.6 hectares, are divided into eastern and western parts by Albany Road. These are connected by a pedestrian subway. The eastern part, known as the Old Garden, comprises the children’s playground, aviaries, a greenhouse and the fountain terrace garden. It is also home to birds such as the American flamingo, Bali mynah, Hawaiian goose and red-crowned crane. The western part, or the New Garden, is mainly home to mammals, including the Bornean orangutan, buff-cheeked gibbon, emperor tamarin and raccoon, as well as reptiles like the elongated tortoise and spurred tortoise.

On top of the fauna and flora, don’t miss the Memorial Arch, the Bronze Statue of King George VI and the Pavilion.

Kowloon Park

Amidst the hectic surrounds of Tsim Sha Tsui, the tranquillity of Kowloon Park Get me there {{title}} {{taRatingReviewTotal}} {{taRatingReviewText}} Address {{address}} Website {{website}} More info washes over you like a mountain spring. Step in and relax at the Chinese Garden, which comprises a two-tier lotus pond linked by a rock cascade, and be sure to look out for the terrapins basking in the sun.

Don’t let a wet weather day put you off from visiting either: listening to the rain falling on the foliage from the park’s 200-metre sheltered walkway is pure bliss. There are also kung fu and lion dance performances every Sunday, as well as the Hong Kong Avenue of Comic Stars located on the eastern side of the park featuring painted sculptures of local comic characters and bronze handprints of distinguished local comic artists.

Victoria Park

Opened in 1957, the park was named after the statue of Queen Victoria. An oasis of calm and space in teeming, bustling, non-stop moving Causeway Bay, Victoria Park can offer a welcome respite to an urban shopping spree. Its convenient location is also what makes it so popular with locals, including remote-controlled boat enthusiasts who bring their prized vehicles to race with each other at the park’s dedicated model boat pool, often on Sundays.

With an area of 19 hectares, it is the largest park on Hong Kong Island. Aside from families popping by for a walk or office workers enjoying a quick lunch on the benches, you will find choreographed tai chi sessions in the mornings, glowing lanterns during the Mid-Autumn Festival, a colourful flower market during Chinese New Year, as well as the annual Hong Kong Flower Show.

Information in this article is subject to changes without advance notice. Please contact the relevant product or service providers for enquiries.

The Hong Kong Tourism Board disclaims any liability as to the quality or fitness for purpose of third party products and services; and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy, adequacy or reliability of any information contained herein.