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Macau City
Where Portugal meets China in neon
Where Portugal meets China in neon
Macau’s emblem — the towering baroque stone facade of a 17th-century Jesuit church, all that survived a great fire, standing at the top of a grand sweep of steps.
💡 Go early to beat crowds; explore the crypt and museum behind the facade.
The heart of the UNESCO historic centre — a wave-patterned Portuguese cobbled plaza framed by pastel colonial buildings, churches and the Santa Casa da Misericórdia.
💡 The whole old town is walkable — follow the tiles between the squares.
Beyond the squares lie atmospheric lanes of herbal shops and bakeries, the A-Ma Temple, Mount Fortress and the Portuguese-tiled streets of old Macau and Taipa village.
💡 Taipa Village is great for Macanese food and old-world charm.
Macau is the world’s gambling capital, and its skyline of mega-casinos — the golden Grand Lisboa and the Wynn among them — is a spectacle in itself, dazzling after dark.
💡 You needn’t gamble — the lobbies, shows and buffets are attractions too.
The reclaimed Cotai strip is home to colossal themed resorts — the Venetian’s canals and gondolas, the Parisian’s Eiffel Tower — a surreal, dazzling world of their own.
💡 Free shuttle buses link the Cotai resorts and the ferry terminals.
Macau is one of Asia’s great food cities, and its Macanese cuisine — a unique fusion of Portuguese and Cantonese cooking with African and Southeast Asian touches — exists nowhere else. Try minchi (minced meat with potatoes), African chicken, Portuguese-style baked seafood rice, and the beloved Portuguese egg tart, crisper and more caramelised than its Lisbon cousin. Don’t miss pork chop buns, almond cookies and jerky from the old-town shops. Macau also has serious fine dining, with several Michelin-starred restaurants across the resorts and old town, plus superb, cheap street food and dim sum. Wash it down with Portuguese wine or a local beer. Taipa Village and the streets around Senado Square are the best hunting grounds for authentic, affordable Macanese flavours.
Macau is compact and easy. Many visitors arrive by ferry from Hong Kong (about an hour) or across the vast bridge from Hong Kong and Zhuhai; there’s also an international airport. Within Macau, the historic centre is best explored on foot, and the free casino shuttle buses (linking ferry terminals, the airport and the resorts) are a brilliant, cost-free way to get around. There are also cheap public buses, taxis, and the elevated LRT light rail serving Taipa and Cotai. Note Macau drives on the left. The peninsula and Taipa/Cotai are linked by bridges. Bring your passport, as Macau is a separate immigration zone from mainland China and Hong Kong.
The Ruins of St Paul’s, Mount Fortress, Senado Square and the old streets.
A-Ma Temple, then Taipa Village for Macanese food and egg tarts.
The Venetian and Parisian, a show, and the dazzling casino skyline after dark.
Macau is a separate immigration zone from Hong Kong and mainland China.
Casino shuttle buses link ferries, airport and resorts — a free way to get around.
Don’t just gamble — the unique fusion food is Macau’s real treasure.
Autumn (Oct-Dec) is driest and clearest; summer brings heat and typhoons.
Quick answers to the questions travellers most often ask before visiting Macau.
Macau is famous as the world’s biggest gambling hub — nicknamed the ‘Las Vegas of Asia’ — and for its unique blend of Portuguese colonial and Chinese culture. Highlights include the UNESCO-listed historic centre with the Ruins of St Paul’s and Senado Square, the Cotai casino resorts, and its distinctive Macanese fusion cuisine.
Most visitors arrive by ferry from Hong Kong (about an hour), across the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge, or by flying into Macau International Airport. Macau is a Special Administrative Region of China with its own immigration, so bring your passport even when coming from Hong Kong or the mainland.
Very much so — even if you don’t gamble. Its walkable UNESCO old town, unique Macanese food, baroque churches, temples and the surreal spectacle of the Cotai mega-resorts make it a fascinating day trip or short break, especially combined with Hong Kong.
October to December is ideal — dry, clear and pleasantly cool. Spring is mild but damp, while summer (May to September) is hot, very humid and carries a risk of typhoons. Autumn offers the most comfortable sightseeing weather.