Where else could you find soaring, needlepoint skyscrapers and flustered businessmen alongside narrow streets full of food markets and dark, dingy shops hawking all manner of ancient cure-alls. English directions mingle with the elegant hieroglyphics of kanji on countless neon signs and old men with their decrepit rickshaws line up alongside the rattling cross-city trams signs. Welcome to Hong Kong Island.

Scale Victoria It dominates the skyline whether you're on the island looking up or looking out from the Kowloon across Victoria Harbour. Victoria Peak pushes the skyscrapers apart as it climbs into the cool air over 550 metres (1800ft) above the city. Bamboo and ferns coat the slopes beyond the reach of the mansion houses, the vernacular railway and the ascending road. From the observation deck at the summit you can look beyond the peak-top shops and eateries to the spectacular view of the island, the shimmering blue waters of the bay and Kowloon in mainland Hong Kong.

The quickest way up is on board the Peak Tram, which takes less than ten minutes to scale slope. Once you reach the mount terminus you can hoof it to the very top or take a more leisurely hour-long stroll around the mountain to enjoy the best of the panoramic views.