Hong Kong private tours

Does anyone have experience with good tour companies in Hong Kong? We will be there for a 2 day visit post cruises.

No need for organized tours. Orient yourself with the Metro, ferry, and buses, and you will get around easily. If you insist, take a cab. Very inexpensive.

We are also in Hong Kong for two days. One of us isn't able to walk long distances so may need a tour guide/driver. Interesting that most of the guides seem to be for food tours. Also, DH would like a suit made. Can anyone tell us how to find the people who measure you one day and the suit is done the next day? Would that be near any good hotels for our 2 day stay?

Does anyone have experience with good tour companies in Hong Kong? We will be there for a 2 day visit post cruises.

Yes, Chris Rowthorn's company offers excellent tours. Here's what I posted in another thread so you may have read this already, except for one important mistake. In the first post, I typed Chris Rowland when I should have typed Chris Rowthorn. (I've corrected the spelling in the text below)

"The first two times we visited Hong Kong, we got around the city on our own and saw the typical tourist sites. We had no trouble with the transportation, but we felt we were skimming the surface of what we were seeing. On our the third trip, we hired guides from the Chris Rowthorn Company -- two different guides for two days of touring. The first day, touring the Hong Kong Island side, the itinerary focused on a mixture of history, government, and traditional life. The second day, touring Kowloon we focused on the traditional Chinese life of the city. One of our most interesting experiences was wandering past the traditional Chinese stores and learning the names and use of the many items being sold. That day included lots of visits to markets -- Jade, Goldfish, Bird, Flower, etc. -- but these were intended to showcase the daily life of the people. I doubt the tour has any relationship with any of the vendors. Certainly, we weren't encouraged to stop at any stalls with an eye towards buying something there.

The two tours we selected are still being offered, but Rowthorn's company offers a one-day tour that hits the highlights of both Hong Kong and Kowloon. There are other tours: the outer islands, a food tour, and a seriously long one-day trip to Macau."

Here's the link to Rowthorn's company which is realize I didn't include in my earlier post: http://www.hongkongprivatetour.com/

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Sansterre, I read about your mobility concerns. Hong Kong isn't going to be an easy visit for you. As I've indicated our two tours were walking tours. My recollection is that Hong Kong City side was reasonably hilly. Kowloon was flatter terrain, but much of the appeal comes from walking through the streets, parks, and markets. You could certainly enjoy the views from the water by riding the ferries to some of the outer islands like Lamma.

Here's a link to an extended thread on buying a suit in Hong Kong. The topic of how many fittings a buyer should expect/want gets covered in this thread.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2331691

No need for organized tours. Orient yourself with the Metro, ferry, and buses, and you will get around easily. If you insist, take a cab. Very inexpensive.

Navigation is the least important reason for using a guide.

Guides enhance the understanding of their clients. My favorite guiding story took place in Venice. We stopped at a thoroughly unremarkable corner as other tourists kept streaming past us. Our guide pointed out an icon set in the wall above a gate and talked at some length about what that icon represented in the history of Venice. This icon hadn't been mentioned in the DK Eyewitness guide book we traveled with, but our guide knew to stop there. As a result, we learned fascinating information without having to do our own exhaustive research.

Interesting that most of the guides seem to be for food tours.

That's definitely my area of interest! I've found that food tours fill my belly and also give me a great understanding of the area, people & culture. And often I get a "traditional" walking tour as well as we move from food to food :D

Pet Nit Noy - Thank you for perfect advice in information for me.

We are also in Hong Kong for two days. One of us isn't able to walk long distances so may need a tour guide/driver. Interesting that most of the guides seem to be for food tours. Also, DH would like a suit made. Can anyone tell us how to find the people who measure you one day and the suit is done the next day? Would that be near any good hotels for our 2 day stay?

We will be in Hong Kong on a cruise on Feb. 28, 2017. Check out the website for Viator - http://www.viator.com. They have a full day city sightseeing tour that seems to hit all the hotspots. This is not a walking tour or a food tour. I looked at the shore excursion but I assume they offer the same tour from a downtown hotel. I have used this company in the states and friends used them in Prague. They did a wonderful job. Other tour guides I checked were much more expensive and primarily walking tours which wouldn't work for us either.

Hope this info helps.

Helen

Navigation is the least important reason for using a guide.

 

Guides enhance the understanding of their clients. My favorite guiding story took place in Venice. We stopped at a thoroughly unremarkable corner as other tourists kept streaming past us. Our guide pointed out an icon set in the wall above a gate and talked at some length about what that icon represented in the history of Venice. This icon hadn't been mentioned in the DK Eyewitness guide book we traveled with, but our guide knew to stop there. As a result, we learned fascinating information without having to do our own exhaustive research.

Very well said! We like to do a mix of independent travel and guided tours. We've always picked up a nugget of information, sometimes boulders of information, from our guides. One of our shipmates organized tours with Chris Rowthorn in Hong Kong and in Hiroshima and the guides were excellent. Yes, we could have gotten around on our own, but it might not have occurred to us to take a taxi to the top of Victoria Peak and return on the tram, which we had almost to ourselves. We arrived to a packed station.

Was your Venice guide talking about the books?

More great advice. Thanks to all!

Very well said! We like to do a mix of independent travel and guided tours. We've always picked up a nugget of information, sometimes boulders of information, from our guides. One of our shipmates organized tours with Chris Rowthorn in Hong Kong and in Hiroshima and the guides were excellent. Yes, we could have gotten around on our own, but it might not have occurred to us to take a taxi to the top of Victoria Peak and return on the tram, which we had almost to ourselves. We arrived to a packed station.

 

Was your Venice guide talking about the books?

Actually, I remembered the mystery location after I posted. There is a building which is called "Marco Polo's house". Look at any guidebook and you'll see this building complete with official placque. That's great except for one important detail. There's no reason for this label. The only documented building associated with Marco Polo isn't the one with the placque! We went to one which our guide claimed was the real deal and he spent a fair amount of time explaining his rationale for his point of view. His research and logic persuaded us he had the right place, but ultimately what was more important is his explanation of Marco Polo's place in the history of Venice.