Must-see attractions in Macau

  • Lou Lim Ieoc Garden

    Macau

    Locals come to this lovely Suzhou-style garden to practise taichi, play Chinese music or simply relax among its lotus ponds and bamboo groves. The…

  • Museum of Sacred Art & Crypt

    Macau

    This small museum behind the Ruins of the Church of St Paul contains polychrome carved wooden statues, silver chalices, monstrances and oil paintings …

  • Pou Tai Temple

    Macau

    A picturesque monastery founded in the 19th century by Buddhist monks, Pou Tai is the most important Pure Land Buddhism or Amidism site in Macau. There's…

  • Hong Kung Temple

    Macau

    There's some debate over the identity of Hong Kung – whose statue is seen in the main hall of this peaceful and surprisingly magnificent 200-year-old…

  • Maritime Museum

    Macau

    Located a stone's throw from A-Ma Temple and Moorish Barracks is the Maritime Museum. The highlights here are the interactive displays detailing the…

  • Moorish Barracks

    Macau

    These former barracks (c 1874) were designed by an Italian in a neoclassical style inspired by Moorish architecture to accommodate Muslim Indian policemen…

  • A-Ma Temple

    Macau

    A-Ma Temple was probably already standing when the Portuguese arrived, although the present structure may date from the 16th century. It was here that…

  • Former Chong Sai Pharmacy

    Macau

    This late 19th-century shophouse was, for a brief period, a pharmacy established by Dr Sun Yatsen, founder of the Republic of China. It was subsequently…

  • Taipa Houses-Museum

    Macau

    Before being converted into a museum, the pastel-coloured villas (c 1921) here were the summer residences of wealthy Macanese. The Macanese Living Museum…

  • Luís de Camões Garden & Grotto

    Macau

    This relaxing garden with dappled meandering paths is dedicated to the one-eyed poet Luís de Camões (1524–80), who is said to have written part of his…

  • Macau Tea Culture House

    Macau

    Adjacent to the picturesque Lou Lim Ieoc Garden, this museum introduces tea-drinking culture with exhibits of teapots and 'tea paintings'. The latter were…

  • Macau Giant Panda Pavilion

    Macau

    Coloane offers a convenient and inexpensive opportunity to see pandas. The pair of cuddly ones are kept inside a purpose-built pavilion inside Seac Pai…

  • Tai Fung Tong Art House

    Macau

    Featuring a mix of Chinese and European architectural styles, this beautiful and unusual mansion was built in the 1910s by a philanthropist. It’s now…

  • Pawnshop Museum

    Macau

    Occupying a street corner, the photogenic Tak Seng On (virtue and success) pawnshop building is now a museum offering a fun and atmospheric glimpse into…

  • Na Tcha Temple

    Macau

    There’s no better symbol of Macau’s cultural diversity than Na Tcha Temple sitting quietly beside a major Christian monument – the Ruins of the Church of…

  • Lou Lim Ieoc Garden Pavilion

    Macau

    Inside the Chinese-style Lou Lim Ieoc Garden, you'll find this Victorian-style pavilion featuring classical and Chinese architectural elements. It was…

  • Arts Empowering Lab

    Macau

    AEL is a non-profit that stages some of Macau's more interesting exhibitions of local art and photography from its headquarters inside an attractive…

  • Macau Cultural Centre

    Macau

    This US$100-million, 45,000-sq-metre contemporary steel-and-concrete structure is the territory’s prime venue for cultural performances: from dance to…

  • Chinese Reading Room

    Macau

    'Octagonal Pavilion' as it is called in Chinese was built in 1926 as a drinks booth. Today this unusual eight-sided pavilion, located in downtown Macau,…

  • Tam Kung Temple

    Macau

    This temple is dedicated to Tam Kung, a Taoist god of seafarers. Inside the main altar is a long whale bone carved into a model of a dragon boat. To the…

  • Old Protestant Cemetery

    Macau

    As church law forbade the burial of non-Catholics on hallowed ground, this cemetery was established in 1821 as the last resting place of (mostly English…

  • Macau Tower

    Macau

    At 338m, Macau Tower looms above the narrow isthmus of land southeast of Avenida da República. You can stay put on the observation decks on the 58th and…

  • Museum of the Holy House of Mercy

    Macau

    In the heart of Largo do Senado is Macau's oldest charitable institution (c 1569). The house once sheltered orphans and prostitutes in the 17th- and 18th…

  • Seac Pai Van Park

    Macau

    At the end of Cotai, this 20-hectare park, built in the wooded hills on the western side of the island, has somewhat unkempt gardens, the Macau Giant…

  • G32

    Macau

    This three-storey tenement building has been restored as a middle-class Macanese home from the 1960s and '70s, with wooden floorboards, floral wallpaper…

  • Hác Sá Beach

    Macau

    Hác Sá (Black Sand) is Macau's most popular beach. The sand is indeed a blackish colour and makes the water look somewhat dirty, but it’s natural…

  • Street of Happiness

    Macau

    Not far west of Largo do Senado is Rua da Felicidade (Street of Happiness). Its shuttered terraces were once Macau’s main red-light district. Several…

  • Oriental & Occidental Arts Gallery

    Macau

    This art space on the ground floor of a residential building only opens for shows and events. The exhibitions here straddle cultures and genres – such as…

  • Flora Garden

    Macau

    The former grounds of a Portuguese mansion, this European-style garden is known for its cable car, which travels the short distance up Guia Hill, the…

  • Cheoc Van Beach

    Macau

    About 1.5km down Estrada de Cheoc Van, which runs east and then southeast from Coloane Village, is the beach at Cheoc Van (Bamboo Bay). It's smaller but…

  • Church of St Anthony

    Macau

    This stern-looking grey stone church, built from 1558 to 1608 (and renovated in 1930), is one of Macau's oldest, and the Jesuits' earliest headquarters…

  • IACM Temporary Exhibition Gallery

    Macau

    This cool, dimly lit gallery just inside the entrance of the Leal Senado offers welcome respite from the heat and hectic pace of Avenida de Almeida…

  • Macau Science Centre

    Macau

    In an IM Pei–designed silvery spiral of a building on the waterfront, this modern science museum is one of Macau's best places to take kids. Fourteen…

  • Church of Our Lady of Carmel

    Macau

    Built in 1885, this lovely yellow neoclassical church stands on a hill overlooking the harbour, scenic Taipa Village and the pastel-coloured Taipa Houses…

  • Fire Services Museum

    Macau

    This two-room museum in a stately 1920s colonial building is worth a peek if you're with children or into fire engines. The highlights are two vintage…

  • Sé Cathedral

    Macau

    East of Largo do Senado is this cathedral, consecrated in 1850 and rebuilt in 1937 in concrete. It’s not a particularly attractive structure, though it…

  • Red Market

    Macau

    A traditional wet market thrives inside this three-storey art-deco building with a clock tower. It was designed by Macanese architect Júlio Alberto Basto…

  • Creative Macau

    Macau

    This space managed by a nonprofit organisation aims at promoting Macau's creative industries. Exhibitions span works from a spectrum of industries, from…

  • Chapel of St Michael

    Macau

    Set amid the baroque graves of the Cemetery of St Michael, this dainty chapel, built in 1875, has a green-and-white facade and baroque features in small…

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