Macau

The peninsula, Taipa, Coloane and Cotai

Macau is tiny but has three distinct areas, and each deserves its own block of time. The peninsula holds the old Portuguese town and the older casinos. Taipa and Coloane, the two former islands, keep quiet villages. Between them, Cotai is reclaimed land lined with the giant resorts.

• One day: start early in the Historic Centre, before the tour groups. Walk from Senado Square up to the Ruins of St. Paul's and Monte Fort, then down through the lanes to A-Ma Temple. In the evening cross to Cotai to walk past the lit-up casino fronts of the Venetian and Galaxy.
• Two days: give the second morning to Guia Fortress or the Macau Tower, then take a bus to Taipa Village for lunch and continue to Coloane Village and the beach at Hac Sa for the afternoon.
• Three days or more: slow down. Visit the old Casino Lisboa for its antiques, see a resort show, or cross into Zhuhai through the Border Gate or Hengqin, which requires a valid mainland Chinese visa.

Most people arrive on a day trip from Hong Kong, so stay a night: the old town and Senado Square empty in the evening.

Timing affects the bill. Hotel rates jump on Friday and Saturday nights, when Hong Kong weekenders arrive. A midweek stay is cheaper, and packages bundled with ferry tickets often beat walk-in prices. Book festival weeks and resort shows early.

Regional flights use Macau International Airport on Taipa.

Dry autumns, typhoon summers and Grand Prix week

October to December is the window to aim for. Northern winds bring dry air off the continent, and the mean daily maximum falls from 28.5°C in October to 24.7°C in November and 20.3°C in December, with only about 31 to 39 mm of rain in the last two months.

January and February are cool, with average highs near 18.6°C in January. Cold fronts can occasionally knock 10°C off the temperature within a day, so bring a jacket. March and April turn humid, often misty or drizzly; April already sees about 153.5 mm of rain.

Summer runs long, from May to September. July averages 31.4°C at its peak and around 290.7 mm of rain, and typhoons arrive more often than at any other season. Follow the official typhoon signals, since ferries and bridge buses can stop. Indoors the contrast is sharp: air conditioning keeps casinos and malls near 18°C while it is 35°C outside. Carry a long-sleeved layer.

Crowds follow the Chinese calendar more than the weather. Chinese New Year, the Golden Week holidays and the A-Ma and Mid-Autumn festivals all bring large crowds. In November the Grand Prix lines the street circuit with barriers that make walking and crossing roads awkward for days.

Egg tarts, minchi and cha chaan teng

Three cuisines share the table. Portuguese cooking is hearty and salty. Look for bacalhau (salt cod) with potatoes and caldo verde, a kale and chouriço soup. Bean feijoada is common too; for dessert there is serradura, a cream pudding layered with crushed biscuit. The best of it is in a few higher-end restaurants at the southwestern tip of the peninsula.

Macanese food is the local fusion, built on Portuguese recipes with spices carried by traders from Africa, India and Southeast Asia. Order galinha à africana (barbecued chicken in a spicy piri-piri sauce), minchi (minced pork with potato) and, if you are brave, pato de cabidela, duck stewed with its blood. Galinha à portuguesa, chicken in a coconut curry sauce, is not Portuguese at all despite the name. Fernando's on Hac Sa Beach in Coloane is the best-known Macanese restaurant.

Street food is cheap. Buy warm pastéis de nata (egg tarts), a pork chop bun and almond cookies, the classic souvenir. Everyday eating is still Cantonese. Think dim sum and noodle shops, or the cha chaan teng diners where menus are often in Chinese only.

Manners follow Hong Kong. In temples, don't point at a deity's statue with your index finger; use an open palm. Business cards are given and received with both hands. Drunken behaviour is frowned on, and the drinking age is 18. English is not widely spoken, so a few words of Cantonese help: m goi covers thanks for a service and excuse me.