The best time to visit Victoria Peak in Hong Kong

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Insider tip - The Best Time to catch the Peak Tram in Hong Kong

The best time to visit Victoria Peak on the Peak Tram in Hong Kong

The Iconic Peak Tram to Victoria Peak in Hong Kong

The Peak Tram

“The venerable Peak Tram is, as most passengers agree, the only way to truly experience the beauty of Hong Kong's natural wonders. Tens of millions of people from every corner of the globe have taken the ride, which affords a uniquely spectacular perspective of the city.”

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What are my options when it comes to going to Victoria Peak on Hong Kong Island via the Peak Tram ?

This is a very valid question the Peak Tram gets approximately 7 million + passengers a year at a minimum

I am a Private Tour Guide in Hong Kong (since 2010) and I have lived in Hong Kong since 1972 and in those 53 years I have been to Victoria Peak over 6,000 times and have been on the Peak Tram probably somewhere north of 4,000 times.

I want to make it perfectly clear that I am a huge fan of the Peak Tram in Hong Kong, it is as iconic as the press suggests and it has been running since 1888 and is owned and operated by Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotels Ltd (The Peninsula Hotel Group) and they certainly know how to operate the Tram in a professional manner.

Unfortunately it is not all a bed of roses and since 2010 the service quality has | had degraded very rapidly, The Peak Tram has in many respects become the victim of its own success and a reboot during and after Covid in 2022 (a major upgrade project) has failed to solve the major issue and dare I say it, The Peak Tram has become a tourist trap..

What is the major issue you might ask? …..

Long queues to go up and come down 7 days a week.

Hence this post and my insider tip suggestions about the best time to go on the Peak Tram.

Depending on the time of day overcrowding is a real issue going up on the Peak Tram from the Garden Road Peak Tram Terminus in Central even though the new 6th Generation tram can now carry 210 passengers rather than 120, booking tickets online through any number of OTA’s means that the so called skip the line, line is meaningless as this queue can sometimes be even longer than the one that is for people who purchase a ticket at the terminus and when there can be easily 500 - 1,000 people waiting in the line, it can take a very long time to get on the tram, the tram still travels up to Victoria Peak at the same speed! and it takes longer to board and disembark 210 people rather than 120!

Actually the math is quite simple, the tram operates at 15 - 20 minute intervals and holds 210 people (with almost 50 people having to stand which is very uncomfortable) the Garden Road Terminus where you get on the tram to go up, holds 1,300 people in air conditioned comfort (standing though) so say there are 1,000 people waiting to get on the tram (not uncommon) it could take anywhere from 60 - 90 minutes waiting in a line and that is pretty much standard after 12pm all the way through to 9pm or 10pm.

…. and what goes up must come down | it can be a huge problem coming down on the Peak Tram anytime after 1pm (ish), the terminus at the Peak Tower at Victoria Peak was upgraded in 2022 to accommodate the 210 capacity tram but not the waiting area, so indoor waiting seems to have a capacity of around 100 (ish) people and for the rest, you have to stand outside and that is a huge issue particularly in inclement weather.

The new 210 seater trams and upgraded terminus were supposed to have fixed the problem of waiting in line, it has been the opposite, it seems to have gotten worse since 2022 because of the sheer volume of visitors who want to go on the Tram to Victoria Peak - the frequency of the tram cannot be increased so you must wait.

I should point out that getting on the Peak Tram is every man for himself so to speak, there is little in the way of crowd control and naturally everyone wants to snag the best seats, it can be quite an awful experience to be pushed, shoved, manhandled and cursed in a foreign language. It does not help that the Peak Tram employees are quite timid and clearly do not want to get involved.

To be fair to the Peak Tram Company, they do state quite clearly that you should try and go as early as possible during the day and they have introduced a morning special ticket to encourage you to go up prior to 12pm and then their recent introduction of a special “ruby pass” to me seems to be an excuse to gouge paying customers (see below)

They have also introduced the Ruby Special Priority Lane pass as at totally outrageous price (see below) but at least you will really skip the line going up and down.

So with all of this in mind, here are my tips on avoiding the crowds and thus enhancing your experience of riding on the iconic Peak Tram to and from Victoria Peak

• If you are going up then I suggest you be on the Peak Tram no later than 10am (and bear in mind Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays means it gets very busy even in the early morning as a lot of Hong Kong residents love to go to the Peak on weekends and holidays.

• the longer you leave it the more crowded it gets, as a Private Tour Guide, I always made sure that we got up to the Peak by around 10am, no crowds makes for a more enjoyable experience.

• going down on the tram up until about 2pm is generally just fine

• a lot of people love to go up between 4pm - 5pm for “golden hour photography” and then catching Hong Kong at night, this has a dramatic and very negative effect on timing going up and coming down via transport options. please note this

• generally because on a Private Tour a lot of ground must be covered in a fixed amount of time, I would always go to Victoria Peak in a Taxi or on the bus and then go down on the Tram, I believe you only need to do the Tram ride one way and personally I find going down to much more interesting

• if you are going up after 5pm and coming down after 6pm, no matter what transport you take (Peak Tram, Bus or Taxi) you are going to be waiting for some time

• … and please ignore the nonsensical advice from well meaning tourists who suggest you can walk up and down from Victoria Peak, I have covered this in other blog posts, for 99.9999999% of visitors this would not be a viable option

• So we are clear, Hong Kong got 45 million visitors in 2024, the forecast for 2025 is 50 - 55 million visitors and yes, a lot of them list riding the Peak Tram to Victoria Peak as their number one priority, so the crowds are going to get much worse particularly in the late afternoon and evening, therefore you need to plan accordingly

… and here is another of my Insider tips, please check the 2 links below for the weather cams that will allow you to assess whether the iconic views are visible or not and if you go this sites menu link “Victoria Peak HK” so will see all the articles I have written about Victoria Peak.

The amazing panoramic city view from the Lugard Road Lookout at Victoria Peak

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