Victoria Peak Garden, Victoria Peak, Hong Kong
How to get to
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Prior to visiting Victoria Peak Garden, you may wish to visit the Lugard Road Lookout for one of the Worlds greatest city views or do it after you have seen the Garden and also after visiting Victoria Peak Garden you can do Barker Road. Click on the weird red button thingy below for my how to get to instructions for the Lugard Road Lookout and Barker Road, it is very easy to do all 3 attractions within a 3 - 3 1/2 hour time frame.
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Victoria Peak Garden at The Peak in Hong Kong
Historical Interest as mentioned by Gwulo
As for the origins of the existing Old Peak Café (舊山頂餐廳), it is evident that an open-sided shelter was built in 1901-1902 by the Public Works Department (PWD) on this site for the accommodation of both public and private sedan chairs. On the other hand, it is believed that before the completion of the sedan chair shelter, the Peak Tramways had built on this site a workshop and a shelter for engineers responsible for the construction of the Peak Tram in 1888. On completion of the tramway the site and the building thereon was handed back to the government. The site was used as a shelter for sedan chair bearers until 1947, when the building was converted into an open-air cafeteria. In 1973 a public petition was raised to prevent redevelopment of the site and to save the building from demolition.
It should be noted that this stone shelter was completed during the period 1901 - 1902 at exactly the same time Mountain Lodge was finished! great timing.
How to get to | Victoria Peak Garden, Victoria Peak, Hong Kong
Victoria Peak Garden at Victoria Peak in Hong Kong is a largely ignored attraction in Hong Kong primarily because it is not exactly easy to get to, if you have a car it is easy, you can also get a taxi to take you up there but they probably will not wait for you, so you may have to walk down and you will end up at the Peak Tower, you can of course wait to see if another taxi comes up but do not hold your breath.
My how to get to | instructions are based on the premise that you will walk up from the Peak Tower and walk back down (ie you go down exactly the same way as you went up) !
Please note that you can do the Victoria Peak Garden Experience at Victoria Peak, Hong Kong on your own without hiring a Private Tour Guide, simply open this blog post on your smart phone and follow the very detailed step by step instructions.
I have been there many times over the years and was there quite recently and as usual it was largely deserted which is a real shame, I just love the place.
First things first
• anyone with a reasonable level of fitness will be just fine to walk up or down
• I would suggest pushing strollers | wheelchairs up there is not really an option, take a taxi
• there is NO public transport such as minibuses going up there, your options are a private car, a taxi or walking
• I always shake my head at the optimists who claim wholly unrealistic times to walk up there from the starting point, I have seen times stated as little as 10 minutes to 30 minutes., if you are a fit marathon runner it might take you 30 minutes but I base my timings on the average person and let me make it clear there is a bunch of interesting things to see on the way up which will eat up time as well.
• it will take anyone with that reasonable level of fitness 45 - 60 minutes to walk up there at a moderate pace, the more people in the group the slower it will be
• the first part of the walk is quite steep and if it is 33oC and 90% humidity you will need to stop and rest, fortunately the second half of the walk is mainly shaded by a semi tropical jungle!
• you have to remember you will be walking on a very narrow road on the second part of the walk as you enter the “jungle” area, you will at some stage have to give way for cars and vans, you have to have your wits about you, no matter how many times I have walked up there I have encountered 2 or 3 vehicles.
• and again, you also have to factor in stopping and smelling the roses and taking pictures and such
• you really have to be realistic about the timing, of course if you take a taxi up, no more than 5 - 10 minutes but you will miss out on some splendid photo opportunities which you might miss however if you choose to walk down so will still get those opportunities
• after walking up the initial very steep part of Mt. Austin Road you will come across a lovely playground | garden that has a perfectly fine bathroom and lots of seats so you can rest up, this is NOT Victoria Peak Garden by the way, it is Mt. Austin Playground
A Brief History of Victoria Peak Garden
In essence the entire history of the site revolved around a structure | retreat built for the Governors of Hong Kong from the 1860’s onwards to escape the summer heat by moving up to the house called “Mountain Lodge” and enjoy the supposedly relatively cooler climate at the altitude of about 520m or so., remember in this era there was no air conditioning.
I should point out that I think that was nonsense, I have been up there in the summer heat and humidity many times and to me anyway there was no real discernible change in the temperature or the humidity! It has been suggested that there is a 5oC differential in the temperature, I don‛t think so, even if it was 28oC and 95% humidity it will feel uncomfortable and you will be soaked in sweat.
If you want to believe it is that much cooler, go right ahead!
I digress.
The first “Mountain Lodge” was completed in 1867 however from 1867 to 1892 a succession of structures were built and quickly destroyed by termites, rot and 3 huge typhoons! So it was decided that a more permanent substantial structure needed to be built and the new “Mountain Lodge” opened in 1902 and the first Governor to live there in the summer was Sir Henry Blake.
However it was not an idyllic spot with major issues being heat, humidity, fog, toilet facilities, water issues and of course actually getting there from the Peak Tram (which had opened in 1888) you needed to hire a rickshaw or sedan chair for the uphill journey - what looked good on paper ended up being a nightmare and yes, one of the problems was how hot it was living up there, remember the place was built because it was supposed to be cooler!
It was however a 43 acre site with a lovely garden so occupants and guests made the best of it, Hong Kong does have 4 distinct seasons so for at least 6 or 7 months of the year the weather was relatively nice.
The Japanese occupation from 1941 - 1945 put paid to “Mountain Lodge” it fell into complete disrepair and was demolished in 1946 with the exception of the Gate House, a structure down the road from “Mountain Lodge” which was declared a Monument in 1995
To be honest, what happened next is a bit of a mystery, apparently the site was renamed Peak Park and the Pavilion that was built on the site was constructed apparently between 1968 - 1970 but despite many hours of research I can find nothing of note of what was at the site from 1946 - 1968, amazingly even the Antiquities and Monuments Office in Hong Kong has seemingly no information of the site status from 1946 - 1968 I am presuming it was all fenced off with only the substantial garden being open to the public.
I remember going to Victoria Peak Garden in 1972 not too long after we arrived in Hong Kong and as mentioned I have been up there many times since, it is a lot busier on a weekend!
Victoria Peak Garden has been renovated | modernised many times since 1970 but not that much of a change at all and certainly there has been no effort to widen the road or offer a minibus service from the Peak Tower to the Garden, it remains one of those “cool and unusual things to do” whilst in Hong Kong
My advice, if you have the time do visit it and so we are clear, I do think the experience will be much better if you have a private tour guide with you.
So that is the brief history of Victoria Peak Garden, I will put some comments with the images where relevant
So what now follows is precise instructions with notes on how to get to Victoria Peak Garden
So now it is decision time, how to get down - well you can wait for a taxi that comes up infrequently or you can walk down by following the road you came up and you will end up back at the Peak Tower or maybe you had hired a car with a local private guide (quite a good idea actually)
I know it seems like a lot of time is needed but I absolutely believe it is worth it and I hope that all my images get that message across!
So why do I have an issue with the Wikipedia Information about Victoria Peak Garden?
It states that the elevation of the Garden is 300m, well the military antenna masts on top of Victoria Peak are at 552m and they are a very short walk from the Garden, you have to walk UP a steep road from the Peak Tower to get to Victoria Peak Garden, the Peak Tower is at 428m so I put the elevation of the Garden at between 480 - 520m
This sort of basic error really annoys me!
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