.png)
Big Buddha & Lantau Island, Hong Kong: A Full Day Trip Guide (And 3 Mistakes We Made)
- 3 days ago
- 8 min read
The Big Buddha on Lantau Island was somewhere we'd actually visited twice before this trip, once around 20 years ago and again back in 2011, long before kids. We'd built it up in our heads over the years, so when it made it onto our 5-day Hong Kong itinerary with the girls, we couldn't wait to go back for a third time.
Honestly? This visit was a slightly different experience than we remembered, mostly down to a few avoidable mistakes on our part rather than the island itself.
So in this guide, we're covering everything you need to plan your own visit, including the three specific mistakes we made, so you don't have to repeat them.
This post may contain affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only ever share honest reviews of products and experiences we genuinely love.
Table of Contents
What Is the Big Buddha & Ngong Ping 360?
The Tian Tan Buddha (better known as the Big Buddha), is a massive bronze statue sitting on top of Lantau Island, and is one of the largest outdoor bronze Buddha statues in the world.
It sits next to Po Lin Monastery, which is an active Buddhist monastery, in a hilltop area called Ngong Ping..
The easiest, and by far the most memorable, way to reach Ngong Ping is via Ngong Ping 360, a 5.7-kilometre cable car connecting the village to Tung Chung station below. The ride itself takes around 25 minutes, gliding out over the water before climbing up into the hills, and you are treated to sweeping views over the airport, the sea, and the hills of Lantau the entire way, easily one of the best views you'll get anywhere in Hong Kong without a hike attached to it.
Between the cable car, the Buddha, and the monastery, it's an easy half-day trip, and one of the most popular excursions outside central Hong Kong.
Planning Your Day Trip to Lantau Island and the Big Buddha
There are a few different ways to reach Ngong Ping, and which one makes sense really depends on your budget and how much you want the cable car to be part of the experience itself.
By cable car (Ngong Ping 360): Take the MTR to Tung Chung station, then it's a short walk to the cable car terminal. This is the most popular option, and honestly, the ride itself is a big part of the appeal.
By bus: Bus 23 also runs from Tung Chung up to Ngong Ping, taking around 45 minutes. It's considerably cheaper than the cable car and easy to find at the bus terminal, although obviously you miss out on the views from the cable car.
If budget and time both allow, we'd still recommend the cable car at least one way, it really is a lovely ride, but knowing the bus exists is useful if you want to save money or the cable car queue is out of control (more on that next).
3 Mistakes We Made (So You Don't Have To)
We'd built the cable car up in our heads from our first visit years earlier, so this time round, we made a few decisions that, in hindsight, cost us both time and money.
Mistake no.1: We joined the pay-at-the-counter line instead of pre-booking online. Tickets bought online come with a separate scan-and-go lane that completely bypasses the ticket counter. We didn't realise this until we were already standing in a long line to pay in person, and it cost us at least 30 minutes before we figured it out.
Mistake no.2: We booked the cheapest Standard cabin. This was what we had done in the past and never had an issue, but with more tourists looking to visit, the vast majority of visitors choose the cheapest option, which means the Standard cabin queue was by far the longest at the terminal.
If we'd paid a little more for the Crystal or Crystal+ (glass-floor) cabins, we could have walked to the front of the line in a fraction of the time, simply because fewer people choose them.
If avoiding a long wait matters more to you than the cost difference, it's worth factoring that into which cabin you pick.
Mistake no.3: We booked directly through the official website instead of a platform like Klook. Third-party booking platforms like Klook regularly offer better pricing than booking direct, sometimes by a meaningful margin, and it's worth comparing before you buy.
We honestly used Klook for almost every excursion we booked across Asia, from teamLab Planets in Tokyo and Hong Kong Disneyland to airport transfers and city tours. The app was reliable, and made planning much easier by keeping all our reservations and tickets in one place.
For Ngong Ping specifically, it's also worth knowing Klook sells the cable car as part of a combined Tai O pass, bundling your return cable car ticket with the bus transfer to Tai O fishing village and a small snack coupon, all in one booking.
Our honest recommendation: pre-book your tickets online before you go, compare pricing across platforms, and think carefully about whether the Standard cabin's lower price is worth a potentially much longer wait.
What to Expect at Ngong Ping
Once you arrive at Ngong Ping, whether by cable car or bus, you'll find yourself in a small village-style plaza with shops, cafes, before you even reach the Buddha itself.
It's fairly touristy, but there's enough space that it doesn't feel overwhelming, and it makes for a pleasant walk up toward the Buddha.
One practical note: if you're taking the cable car back down, you'll need to be back at the terminus before it stops running for the day (typically around 6pm), so keep an eye on the time if you're planning a leisurely afternoon.
Climbing the Big Buddha
Getting up close to the Buddha means climbing 268 steps, which is genuinely more demanding than it sounds, especially in Hong Kong's heat and humidity. We visited in the low 30s°C with heavy humidity, and it was a proper workout for the whole family.
The reward at the top is genuinely worth every one of those steps, sweeping views back over Ngong Ping and the surrounding hills, and a much closer look at the statue's scale and detail than you get from below. Photos really don't do it justice, standing directly underneath it is a different feeling entirely.
If steps aren't realistic for everyone in your group, it's worth knowing you can still see and appreciate the Buddha perfectly well from the plaza at its base, so nobody has to miss out on the experience entirely.
Po Lin Monastery
Just beside the Buddha is Po Lin Monastery, which is an active Buddhist monastery with a gold-toned interior and rows of Buddha statues inside the main hall.
It's worth setting aside some time to walk through, even if temples have started to blend together by this point in a Hong Kong or wider Asia trip. It's definitely the most impressive temple interior we saw in Hong Kong.
The monastery also runs a vegetarian meal hall, where you can buy meal tickets at the bottom of the steps if you'd like to eat there. We didn't on this occasion, but it's a popular, well-reviewed option if you'd rather eat on-site than head back down for food.
Hiking Down to Tung Chung: An Alternative Way Back
Instead of taking the cable car or bus back down, there's also a hiking trail connecting Ngong Ping to Tung Chung, which is what we chose to do on our visit, partly out of nostalgia, since it's the same route we'd walked together years earlier, long before kids.
If you are considering hiking down, we'd recommend picking up a map from a tourist office, or making sure you have AllTrails downloaded on your phone.
A word of honest warning: it's not for everyone. It's a genuine downhill hike, so comfortable shoes and a reasonable fitness level matter, and on our visit we found the trail noisier and less charming than we remembered, largely because of ongoing construction work along parts of the route.
It's worth keeping in mind that trail conditions can change over time, so what we experienced may not be exactly what you'll find.
That said, we still enjoyed it. Along the way we stopped at a small waterfall, a nice quiet break partway down, and the walk gave us a slower, more scenic way to end the visit compared to simply retracing our steps on the cable car.
If you're considering it: budget significantly more time than the bus or cable car (expect at least an hour or more depending on your pace), bring water, and check recent trail condition reports before you commit, since conditions like ours can vary depending on construction or weather.
Should You Add Tai O Fishing Village?
We didn't make it back to Tai O on this particular trip, but we did visit years ago on an earlier trip to Hong Kong, and it's stuck with us as one of our favourite lesser-known spots on the island.
Tai O is a traditional fishing village on the western side of Lantau, known for its stilt houses built out over the water, sometimes referred to as the "Venice of Hong Kong." It's reachable by bus from Ngong Ping (around 20 minutes), or from Tung Chung directly if you'd rather skip Ngong Ping altogether.
What makes Tai O worth the extra trip is how different it feels from the rest of Hong Kong.
If you have the time and energy to extend your day, combining Ngong Ping with Tai O is a popular way to make the most of the trip out to Lantau, since it's not a quick journey to get out here in the first place.
As mentioned above, Klook's combined Tai O pass makes this an easy add-on to book alongside your cable car tickets rather than arranging it separately once you're there.
Practical Tips & FAQ
Big Buddha hours: Daily, 10:00am - 5:30pm.
Po Lin Monastery hours: Daily, 9:00am - 6:00pm (the monastery's kitchen/meal hall runs 11:30am - 4:30pm).
How long to budget: A half-day is enough for the cable car, Buddha, and monastery. A full day gives you room to add Tai O without feeling rushed.
What to wear: Comfortable shoes, given the 268 steps, and lightweight clothing if visiting in the warmer months, it gets hot with very little shade along the climb.
Cable car closures: the cable car can suspend operations during high winds or storms, so it's worth having a backup plan (the bus) in mind if the weather looks uncertain on the day.
Luggage: if you're heading here directly before or after a flight, some department stores near the terminal offer luggage storage, worth checking if you're short on time before heading to the airport.
Final Thoughts
Lantau Island and the Big Buddha are still absolutely worth the trip out, this visit just came with a few more lessons learned than the ones before it. If you pre-book your tickets, pick your cabin type with the queues in mind, and compare pricing before you buy, you'll avoid the exact mistakes that cost us time on the day.
For the rest of our Hong Kong trip, including where we stayed and what else we got up to, take a look at our 5-day Hong Kong itinerary, as well as our daily diary entry from the day, where we've got plenty more pictures.
We're a Calgary-based family that travelled for 100 days, documenting each step so other families can get an honest, real-life look at long-term travel with kids.
You can browse the full 100-day daily diary contents list here.
Comments