A totally essential Mall at Victoria Peak, Hong Kong

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Things to do in Hong Kong - Visit the Peak Galleria Mall

A totally essential Mall at Victoria Peak, Hong Kong

A very hard to get image of the Peak Tower and the Peak Galleria Mall from above | The Peak Tower is the “wok” shaped building but the viewing section of the Peak Galleria Roof pretty much offers the same view as from the Peak Tower

click on the image to enlarge

The original Peak Galleria Mall opened in 1993

Total Renovation of the Mall in 2018

The awesome Peak Galleria Mall in 2025

The Peak Galleria Mall | Victoria Peak | Hong Kong

I am not a fan of mass market tourism, I am not a fan of huge and rude crowds of people but I cannot quite figure out why a lot of tourists have a very negative view of both the Peak Tower and the Peak Galleria Mall. The Peak Tower assessments are correct it is a “gouge you for every penny” experience and the sheer volume of foot traffic is mind blowing (and I should point out that it was exactly the same in 1972 when I used to visit the original Peak Tower) but the Galleria Mall caters not just to tourists but the many thousands of people that live at Victoria Peak and it is a totally different experience to the Peak Tower,

It seems a lot of people are confused and write reviews for the wrong mall.

I will cover the Peak Tower and Peak Tower 428 Sky Terrace in another post.

Roughly by most estimates 6 - 7 million people use the Peak Tram yearly to go up (and down) to see the most magnificent city view in the world and that is just too tempting a figure to ignore, it brings out the very worst in commercialism, it is estimated that given a lot of people use cars, taxis, buses and such to go up and down from the Peak you are talking probably a true figure of maybe 12 million people + who visit the Peak on a yearly basis and that is a conservative figure and it is going to get a lot worse. Mainland Chinese Tourists are roughly 75 - 80% of all tourists.

How an earth can you NOT have a shopping mall full of restaurants, convenience stores, coffee shops and such as well as plenty of bathroom facilities and that great and frankly better viewing experience than the Peak Tower.

This Peak Galleria Mall was built in 1992 | 1993 and is owned and operated by Hang Lung Properties a major property player in Hong Kong, they had acquired the land from the Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotels Group (who own the Peninsula Hotel Group) which was a somewhat unusual deal. The Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotel Group had previously owned the original Peak Hotel from 1922 to 1936 when it closed and then burnt down in 1938.

I was delighted to see this comment from the architects of the Peak Galleria that the brief was “To create a gem-like, eye-catching entrance that resonates the city’s lively spirit and symbolic image of “Pearl of the Orient” I am a big fan of the slogan - Hong Kong : Pearl of the Orient.

The Peak Hotel 1873 - 1938 on the Mall site

I do like to look at historic images, most people have no idea or would even give a moments thought to the historical significance of the Peak Hotel which had 2 versions between 1873 and 1938 when it was destroyed by fire. The Hotel occupied quite a bit of the land where the Peak Galleria stands today.

The Peak Tram was essentially built and opened in 1888 to serve the Peak Hotel and bring in more guests., everything is connected……

The Peak Mansion Apartment Block and the original Peak Tower

click on the image to enlarge

Prior to the Peak Hotel closing in 1936 there was a very famous apartment block built in front of the Hotel in 1928 which was demolished in 1990 to make way for the Peak Galleria. You can see the large white apartment block to the right of the original Peak Tower and car park. The apartments were bought by the Hong Kong Government in 1956 and used for senior Government Employees. I am guessing the image was taken in the 1970’s as this original version of the Peak Tower opened in 1972.

I personally have a lot of fond memories of the Peak Mansion Apartments, our family was involved in the June 1972 Kotewall Road Landslide disaster and we were made homeless and for 6 months (I was 11 years old! then) I stayed at a friends apartment in Peak Mansions and used to take the Peak Tram everyday to Bowen Road where my school was located, the Bowen Road Peak Tram Station did exist for a long time before it was closed down decades ago.

I cannot express how much I loved living at Victoria Peak.

The Peak Galleria Mall - Loads of shops etc

Peak Galleria Mall - Loads of shops etc

Peak Galleria Mall - Photogenic Entrance

Peak Galleria Mall - Kiddies Playground

Peak Galleria Mall - 10 yards to the Peak Tower

Peak Galleria Mall - Easy access to the roof

Peak Galleria Mall - My Guests on the roof

Peak Galleria Mall - The View!

So back to the Peak Galleria.

The original mall had by 2017 become more than a little outdated and was somewhat shabby, I have been in the mall probably a few thousand times and there was always some great restaurants to frequent and their bathrooms were so much better than the ones in the Peak Tower, in fact if you travel to the Peak by car, taxi or bus you get dropped off at the Peak Galleria.

The renovation project lasted 2 years and a bit and it is a huge improvement on the 2017 version.

Despite what some tourists say it never gets really crowded in there and it has an excellent range of retail outlets including Starbucks and McDonalds (which is very popular with everyone) it has quite a few excellent Chinese Restaurants and caters to pretty much everyone. The bathrooms are spotless, the kiddies playground is a lt of fun. It also has ATM machines dotted around and there are some very offbeat retailers selling all sorts of stuff!

Please remember this mall was not just built for tourists, it is very popular with Hong Kong residents, myself and others and just because it is located at one of the most crowded and popular tourist spots in the world does NOT make it touristy in any shape or form, it is absolutely essential.

… and as a reminder how can you NOT have a great mall in a spot that gets by my estimates at least 12 million visitors a year both tourists and residents.. funnily enough I have not seen any price differential at the huge and shiny 7 - 11 convenience store when compared to those around town… they surely make a tidy profit with their location near the front entrance!

In order to thrive and succeed as a retailer you need foot traffic and 12 + million people a year is a lot of foot traffic!

Learn more | My blog post - The 16 myths about Victoria Peak

For a tourist, you have options for the world class views of Hong Kong and for me the view from the top of the Peak Tower 428 Sky Terrace is NOT even close to being the best view and it does NOT have a 360 degree city view, that is nonsense, at best it is 90 degrees.

The title of the best panoramic city view belongs to the Lugard Road Lookout also known as Jamie’s spot at the Peak, where you get a sweeping 180 degree view, far more expansive than the one from the Peak Tower Sky Terrace 428, if you want to use cliches, it is the best hidden gem hiding in plain sight in Hong Kong!

The Peak Tower has a lot of prices for the Peak Tower Sky Terrace 428 which are linked to the Peak Tram cost and there are always deals floating around but in essence an adult can pay anywhere between US$6.50 to US$10 (HK$50 - HK$75) - I paid a visit on January 13th 2025 and paid US$10 ish or HK$75.

It was a sunny but very hazy day and it got very crowded at 11am when I was there and there is a lot of shoving and pushing going on, it was not a pleasant experience and what always seems to just annoy me in particular is the company that hires photographers to take and sell images of you and that view, they block off the walkway and you can wait a few minutes whilst they take images, very annoying.

Essentially you can walk to the Lions Pavilion on Findlay Road which is less than a minutes walk from the Peak Tower or the Peak Galleria Mall but it is very small and is always jammed with selfie taking tourists, the view is essentially exactly the same as the Peak Tower, again, not a pleasant experience., as there is no entrance fee it can get very, very crowded and manners go out of the window.

If you go to the roof of the Peak Galleria (just follow the easy to understand signs) they have a great viewing platform which also pretty much gives you the same view as the Peak Tower and the Lions Pavilion but without the rude crowds.

What is important is that the Peak Galleria and Lions Pavilion are FREE of Charge!

….. but, as a reminder the greatest panoramic city view in the world is from the Lugard Road Lookout which needs a 20 minute gentle stroll to get to, it just completely knocks the socks off the other views and I have been to that spot over 6,000 times since 1972… I just love the place and yes, it is free of charge but surely the point is to find the best view in the world.. that is the reason you go to the Lugard Road Lookout.

So there you go, if you do find yourself at Victoria Peak do not look at the Peak Galleria as a tourist trap, it is an ESSENTIAL and excellent shopping mall.