Insider tip - The Concrete Bench on Lugard Rd The Peak
Pass the bench and get the best city view in the world
Me Jamie, your host, I am English and I have lived in Hong Kong since January 2nd 1972 - I know the place
A blog post with a difference
Please do visit Hong Kong | Travel, Tourism, Tours, Tips, Daily Life and my personal thoughts on Hong Kong.
Hong Kong | Pearl of the Orient
Customised Private Tours & Experiences in Amazing Hong Kong
Pearl of the Orient
Private Tours Cultural Tours Walking Tours Sightseeing Tours City Tours Night Tours Transit Tours Shore Excursions
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
J3 Group Hong Kong | J3 Consultants Hong Kong | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong
Creating Memories That Will Last A Lifetime
Book Now
Insider tip - The Concrete Bench on Lugard Rd The Peak
Pass the bench and get the best panoramic city view in the world
click on the image to enlarge
This is the very famous iconic concrete bench on Lugard Road at Victoria Peak in Hong Kong. You have to walk past this bench to get to the Lugard Road Lookout which is about a 90 second walk from the bench, if you have NOT passed the bench then you are in the WRONG PLACE for the view!
If you go to the site menu and click of the link How to get to Guides you will see a link for the Lugard Road Lookout, this is my very detailed instructions on how to get there
If you read any of my blog posts about Victoria Peak in Hong Kong then you will know I have been there over 6,000 times since 1972 and yes, that means I know the best spot at Victoria Peak to get the best panoramic city view in the world.
Forget the Peak Tower Sky Terrace 428, the Lions Pavilion or the roof of the Galleria Mall, there is only one place to get the really fantastic and much more expansive view and yes it requires some effort to get there.
When I am with guests I always give them 4 options for the view, I have to give options as the Lugard Road Lookout is a 20 minute walk there and 20 minute walk back to the Peak Tower | Peak Tram, this is the time needed for normal people, for people who like to walk fast and ignore their surroundings then you can probably knock of 5 minutes each way.
So over the years I came up with a simple explanation on how to get to the viewpoint and basically this is it
Start at the historic white building at 1 Lugard Road, keep walking on Lugard Road, do NOT deviate from the road by walking up paths (2 of them) ignore all the views. After about 18 minutes you see an old concrete bench, walk past the bench and 90 seconds later you will be at the Lugard Road Lookout, you will know it when you see it
I repeat again, the concrete bench in the image above is the marker, anywhere with a view PRIOR to passing the bench is quite simply the WRONG place.
Since 2010 when I got into the whole private tour guide business I have had probably hundreds of arguments (more like discussions) with people who stop at the wrong place, there is a place about 3 minutes from the concrete bench which has a decent view but it is NOT the fantastic view. A lot of people seemed to think I was some sort of con man or flim flam artist when I tried to tell them they were in the wrong place so invariably I had to give them my business card and tell them how many times I have been to the Lugard Road Lookout since 1972
click on the image to enlarge
See my explanation above, a lot of people stop here as there is a break in the trees just past the lightpost that gives a limited view, this is BEFORE the concrete bench and it is the WRONG place, on many days you will see 20 or 30 people here taking pictures and they do not walk to the Lugard Road Lookout
click on the image to enlarge
Once you have walked past the concrete bench you will then see this in your vision, there are NO trees in front of the fence to block the views, this is the spot, the Lugard Road Lookout or Jamie’s spot at the Peak. it is a quite stunning 180o degree panoramic view of Hong Kong.
click on the image to enlarge
This is the view on a sunny day and you can pan right or left, it is a 180o degree view and far, far superior to that of the other viewpoints mentioned above. which at best are a 90o degree view.
click on the image to enlarge
This image is from the 1950’s and the Lugard Road Lookout is just a few steps forward of the people in the image, I remember this well from the early 1970’s - eventually they redid the road and changed to STEEL fences for safety reasons, but that single concrete bench remains!
click on the image to enlarge
The Lugard Road Lookout | This is an image from the 1960’s even back then the Lugard Road Lookout was popular with locals and tourists, you can see the scope of the view looking EAST and it gets even better looking WEST, you simply cannot get the expansive view looking west from the Peak Tower Sky Terrace 428, The Lions Pavilion or the Peak Galleria roof
My insider tip 1
Visit the right spot at Victoria Peak for the greatest panoramic city view in the world
You will notice from my link Victoria Peak HK on the site menu that I know a few things about the Peak. Most people who write about Victoria Peak for some reason claim that the best view from Victoria Peak is from the Peak Tower Sky Terrace 428, this is total nonsense, they also recommend the Lions Pavilion and the Peak Galleria roof, again nonsense. The best place by a huge margin is the Lugard Road Lookout, I have been there 6,000+ times since 1972, it is a 20 minute walk there and 20 minutes back, there is NO entrance fee and it is a lovely walk, as long as it is not foggy or raining you need to go here and even on rainy days the view can be outstanding!
My insider tip 2
Please note that in general if you book a tour on Viator or Tripadvisor you generally have NO control over what guide will lead your Private Tour of Hong Kong and this is the most important component of the tour. I urge you to check the actual company website and book via their website and do not forget to read Tripadvisor reviews as well.
© Jamie Lloyd | J3 Consultants Hong Kong | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong |
| 2010 - 2025 All rights reserved. |
Click on any image to enlarge to full screen
Current images from my Instagram feed
