AI Tour Itineraries for Hong Kong, Timing is a huge issue
Timing for attractions is underestimated or overestimated
The J3 Group - Premium Quality Private Tours | Experiences and Insider Chats since 2010
Me Jamie, your host, I am English and I have lived in Hong Kong since January 2nd 1972 - I know the place.
A meaningful blog post with a difference - tips on Travel, Tourism, Tours, Daily Life and my personal thoughts on Hong Kong.
Please do visit Amazing Hong Kong
Hong Kong | Pearl of the Orient
Customised Private Tours & Experiences in Amazing Hong Kong
Pearl of the Orient
Carefully Crafted Personalised and Customised Itineraries by Jamie | Hong Kong’s Most Experienced Private Tour Guide For : Solo Travellers Friends Families Seniors Couples Business People etc.
Private Tours Cultural Tours Walking Tours Sightseeing Tours City Tours Night Tours Layover | Transit Tours Private Shore Excursions Bespoke Tours Personalised Tour s Heritage Tours Luxury Private Tours Day Tours Themed Tours Private Family Tours Private Day Tours Corporate Tours
+ my unique Insider Chat Experience
Just you, your group and Jamie - your dedicated local guide who has lived in Hong Kong for 50+ years!
J3 Group Hong Kong | J3 Consultants Hong Kong | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong
Creating Memories That Will Last A Lifetime
Your Private Personal Tour of Hong Kong Begins Here
A Resident since 1972 - Sharing Hong Kong as Only a Local Can
This is not the person writing this blog
See image above of me, Jamie - yes I use AI but sparingly and AI cannot physically do a real private tour of Hong Kong
It also has a problem with the reality of timing for a tour in Hong Kong which can really wreck your day
Read On
click on the image to enlarge
© Copyright Acknowledged | All rights reserved
AI Tour Itineraries | The Problem with timing | Hong Kong
AI Tour Itineraries for Hong Kong: Basically, my advice, ignore timing estimates
Jamie a Hong Kong resident of well over 50 years and 2,360+ private tours completed since 2011 and yes, I am dealing head on with the new reality that is AI Itineraries for Hong Kong Tourism and Travel
You should also know upfront that I have been using AI (Grok) for a long time now, it is an invaluable tool but it has many limitations none more so when people ask for 1 - 3 day itineraries for their Hong Kong visit, so please read on, this is the acual reality
A popular attraction does not make it a great attraction or place to visit
Basically the images below sum up the frustration that many travellers have when they have used AI to prepare the perfect tour itinerary for their Hong Kong visit
These itineraries are then sometimes handed to a Private Tour Company who will handle the tour and basically the AI generated itinerary is useless as it has no basis in reality
I for one do not ever give out itineraries in advance, yes you can give me a list of things you might wish to do and I will plan accordingly but there are so many variables in play that will throw a spanner in the works and this only becomes apparent when we meet in person on the day
The weather on the day can have an impact on the tour timing
the number of people can be an issue, a tour with one person will always go a lot faster than a group of 4 or 6
the number of hours is critical, I generally do 4,5,6,7 or 8 hour private tours you cannot do 20 attractions in 4 hours, it is simple logic, the more hours for the tour, the more you will see
in Hong Kong just crossing a road can have a time penalty which really adds up and which needs to be factored in
there are literally thousands of things to see in Hong Kong just how viable is even doing an itinerary when you factor in all the variables.?
In a nutshell I can after doing 2,360+ private tours since 2011 work well with time and my estimates are normally pretty accurate and I can assess the viability of a tour itinerary within the allotted time. it normally takes me around 2 minutes of thinking when we meet
..and therein lies the problem, no matter how brilliant AI is (and it is brilliant) it is not without its faults and I spend a lot of time correcting AI time issues, AI cannot walk the streets, use public transport, tell stories on the streets or get from A to B to C to D in a timely manner, unfortunately the message is not getting through but I am realistic, AI will be eventually
Below are 3 AI itineraries all different in appearance and in how they prepare the itinerary, it is a real pity that they are not very accurate.
The elephant in the room of course is that suggested attractions are I imagine based on Tripadvisor reviews, Viator reviews, travel blogs and online travel articles and the Hong Kong Tourism Board and maybe from people you know who have travelled to Hong Kong and AI can collate this in seconds but that does not mean the information is in any shape or form accurate
A specific example is the Man Mo Temple in Sheung Wan on Hollywood Road, old, iconic, moody and on paper sounds great but reality is an issue for the Man Mo Temple, I simply refuse to take guests there because its location means it is jammed from opening to closing with hordes of Mainland Chinese Tourists on large coaches and free tour groups and low cost coach tour groups, the problem is that the Man Mo Temple is very small ( split into 2 smaller buildins ) and it feels overcrowded with 25 people in it never mind many hundreds!
Hong Kong has 600+ Temples so if people want a Temple visit I will choose one where my quests will have a much better experience.
This again highlights an issue with AI, you can tell them the problem of inaccurate info repeatedly (which I do) but they never update the information with real world reports telling them the exact opposite of the gushing flowery blurb that is a hallmark of AI
Whilst timing is the big issue I also have a problem with a lot of their suggestions. they have a head in the sand mentality like coach tour companies in Hong Kong, which offer an itinerary that has barely changed in 50 years (including a shopping stope)
Briefly a classic example on many tours in Hong Kong is going to a place called Aberdeen.
Aberdeen is NOT a fishing village and has not been since the 1980’s, Aberdeen is a major town of anywhere between 60,000 - 80,000 people and most are not engaged in the fishing industry and for the record I lived in Aberdeen in the 1980’s for 5 years!
The highlight (and the only reason I would go there) was the Jumbo Kingdom Floating Restaurant, which I simply loved, it sank in 2022 near Cambodia after ceasing operations in Hong Kong. there are still sampan tours you can take around Aberdeen Harbour and they are as touristy as it gets and I dislike them intensely and the only reason they are still viable is that Aberdeen is still a major stop for the Big Bus Company and coach tours (with the Aberdeen jewellery factory stop!)
I do have friends who still go to Aberdeen and they at least try and make it interesting but without the Jumbo restaurant dominating the harbour the place just lacks anything of interest and yes, that is my personal opinion.
click on the image to enlarge
© Copyright Acknowledged | All rights reserved
AI Tour Itineraries | timing, timing, timing | Hong Kong
Timing and pacing in short visits
Think on this for a second
In a compact 4 to 8-hour tour window in Hong Kong, every hour feels precious. AI typically calculates travel based on ideal conditions, but real movement includes walking to stations, waiting for transport, and - most importantly - the impact of crowds at popular spots. What appears as a quick 30-minute transition can stretch when queues form or you want unhurried time to enjoy the atmosphere., yes that real world scenario kicking in again
.click on the image to enlarge
© Copyright Acknowledged | All rights reserved
AI Tour Itineraries | The new reality | Hong Kong
The image above is a real AI Itinerary I received from a guest recently, after they had booked 3 days of private tours with me and this not unusual anymore, in the past 6 months in particular it has become very common., I actually laughed when I read it because it was there was so many errors related to timing + one restaurant had closed down and another very famous one moved address 4 years ago, but there was so much under and over estimating time, that was the real problem.
The big big problem is that the itineraries put forward are for 12+ hour days, you cannot fit a 12 or 13 hour estimate into an 8 hour private tour! and a specific stop at a popular restaurant was listed at 30 minutes, problem is at the place you could easily wait outside in a line due its popularity and another 30 minutes to get served, bang goes the schedule
On the first itinerary AI allocates walking along Hollywood Road to Sheung Wan as from 1pm - 3.30pm the actual reality is you could easily do it in half the time! it then allocates a 2 hour stop at a cheap restaurant which can be done in an hour.. do you see what I am getting at!
click on the image to enlarge
© Copyright Acknowledged | All rights reserved
Viator Tour Itineraries | The Problem with timing | Hong Kong
The image above is a real 8 hour you can book on Viator one of the worlds largest OTA’s and like all AI generated itineraries it completely and utterly gets timing wrong. For the life of me I cannot understand why anyone (and all OTA’s) think it is a great idea to specify timing on an itinerary
this particular itinerary is listed at 8 hours but the timings add up to just 5 hours! and it clearly has NOT factored in the time needed to go from A to B to C to D to E!
One by one assessment of the timing
Victoria Peak - well it could easily take you more than one hour to get there on the Peak Tram
seeing the views and exploring will eat up an hour
depending on transport it could easily take an hour to get to Aberdeen Fishing Village (which has not been a fishing village for 40 years!)
Aberdeen to Repulse Bay say 30 minutes if you are lucky and an hour at Repulse Bay - possible
Repulse Bay to Stanley at least 30 minutes and then at least an hour at Stanley
At least an hour to get back to Victoria Harbour from Stanley depending on transport timing, it is a long way from time and presumably you would cross the harbour by Star Ferry to Kowloon to look back at Hong Kong Island after crossing the harbour
so basically the itinerary suggests 5 hours when you have booked an 8 hour tour but actual reality is you would need at least 8 hours and possibluy 9 but it may take just 6 hours, quite confusing
For the life of me I do not quite understand this itineary other than it is a popular one for Mainland Chinese Tourists
Ypu need to check your OTA (Online Travel Agent) listings very carefully as they do not seem to be based on any reality that I know of, of course it is more likely that Viator does not care about accurate timing but I do imagine that they care just enough to give you an 8 hour tour as listed - personally there are much more rewarding tour itineraries out there.
click on the image to enlarge
© Copyright Acknowledged | All rights reserved
AI Tour Itineraries - Grok | The Problem with timing | Hong Kong
)I use Grok and this is one of the offerings they came up with and I have been trying to get the point across that their timing estimates are way off
Basically they quote 8 hours but if you add it up it comes to 9 hours and could even potentially be 10 hours if they planets do not align!
To be fair it is not a bad itinerary (mainly because I suggested some corrections, but the restaurant stop could easily turn into 90 minutes if you choose to eat at Maxims Palace or in Wanchai (it could easily take 20 - 30 minutes to get to Wanchai from Central District)
I have also indicated that going to Man Mo Temple is not recommended, first of all it is a good 25 minute walk from Central District and secondly it is jammed with Mainland Chinese Tourists and tourists on free tours and cheap coach tours and it is packed from opening to closing and it is very small, even with 25 people in it, it feels overcrowded
The Star Ferry is a no brainer but it is a good 20 minute walk these days even from close by in the Business District
TST Promenade and the Clock Tower, well 20 minutes is fine to see the harbour and viewing Hong Kong Island from Kowloon, if you can deal with hordes of Mainland Chinese Tourists milling around on the Avenue of the Stars then fine and you might even notice the epic Bruce Lee Statue!
Yes, the Art Museum and Space Museum are close by but you can waste hours in there, your best bet is to cross Salisbury Road in front of the Space Museum and visit the iconic Peninsula Hotel,, far, far more interesting and have a quick stroll up Nathan Road.
So this itinerary is not too bad, timings are off in a big way and I have much better places to visit within the allotted time
At the end of the day the message is really quite simple, it is really not possible to produce a practical itinerary that actually works as there are so many variables, my most popular tour is the 8 hour tour and I do not have a fixed itinerary, knowing how many people on the tour helps (tours can really slow down if there is more than 4 guests) the weather is a factor, day of the week is a factor but I have done 2,360 + private tours so I know a fair bit on the realities of time and getting around. I deal with actually reality not theory. so temper your expectations!
At the same time and something to remember, Hong Kong is a living, breathing city with its own unique energy and rhythm. What looks perfectly balanced on screen sometimes needs a gentle dose of real-world reality -especially when your visit is limited to just 4 to 8 hours, which is common for many explorations or private tours. That small adjustment is often what turns a good trip into one that feels truly special and stays with you long after you leave.
For the record, Private Guides and Private Tour Companies have only one mission and that is to give you the best possible experience, we are Hong Kong experts and deal with reality every day, in other words we have the human touch.
I do not do Food Tours in Hong Kong but I know people that do!
I do not do food tours as mentioned above, I have very specific reasons and part of it is that I do not speak Cantonese or write Chinese, I am from Yorkshire in England and I lack the language gene and it is not through lack of trying and yes a lot of restaurants do not have English menu’s or staff who speak conversational English.
.. and yet I have eaten at close to 1,400 restaurants in Hong Kong since January 2nd 1972, my wife was born in Hong Kong and we have been together over 40 years and her first language is Cantonese and a lot of her family are Chinese or half Chinese so I have never had much of an issue!
This does not translate to doing food tours though, yes, I could do them, no problem there but they would never ever be as good as the food tours done by my friends (see the 3 links above) most of their awesome guides are locally born Hong Kong Chinese and obviously food culture is part of their DNA, it is impossible for me to compete with that!
So please feel free to contact them for food tours
I do not do Hiking Tours in Hong Kong but I know someone that does!
I do not do Hiking Tours, never have and never will even though I used to go Hiking a lot when I was a lot younger, The Hong Kong Government is promoting hiking tours so I urge you to contact my friend Sabrina at Hong Kong Trails and Tours, she is a long time Hong Kong resident and and a very experienced hiker with close to 700 Hikes in 15+ years under her belt, please click on the link below
click on any image to enlarge
© Copyright Acknowledged | All rights reserved | all images taken b Jamie
Jamie’s Hong Kong | Some of my favourite images | Hong Kong 101
© Jamie Lloyd | J3 Consultants Hong Kong | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong |
| 2010 - 2026 All rights reserved. |
Click on any image to enlarge to full screen
Current images from my Instagram feed
