Hong Kong Map inc articles on places and trails here on HK Outdoors

Hong Kong has far more to offer visitors than shopping and dining; here's a short summary of tourist attractions including hiking trails, a nature reserve, and islands.

Hong Kong Island is just one of over 200 islands and islets in the SAR. While many of these are little more than rocks, there are islands that are home to thriving communities, and others where villages are partly or wholly abandoned. Exploring them, you can stroll along narrow streets, hike trails across hills and headlands, admire waterfalls, and relax on beaches.

Best known for its market, Stanley is a pleasant place for strolling around, with highlights including a temple and a small beach.

Big Wave Bay is tucked away in an inlet on the relatively wild, east coast of Hong Kong Island. One way of heading there includes a hike up and along Dragon's Back - perhaps the finest short hike in Hong Kong.

Set right by the busy streets of Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon Park (九龍公園) makes for a pleasant green escape from the city streets.

If you like scenery, wildlife, and plants, Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (嘉道理農場暨植物園) should be high on your list of places to visit in Hong Kong. It's dominated by forested hills, with botanic gardens and greenhouses, cages, aviaries and enclosures holding captive animals, and wild birds and other animals that have been rescued and are being cared for.

One of Hong Kong's best wild places, Ng Tung Chai (吳桐寨), has a series of waterfalls in a ravine plunging down the north slopes of Tai Mo Shan.

Tai Fu Tai Mansion (大夫第), in San Tin to the east of Mai Po, was probably built in around 1870, by Man Chung-luen, a successful merchant and renowned philanthropist.

As well as several trails up the Kowloon Hills, there are narrow roads to the eastern part of the ridge, with one running close by Kowloon Peak.

Even before I walk into Kam Shan Country park (金山郊野公園) I see macaques, by Tai Po Road. Walking up and over Smuggler's Ridge, I find part of Shing Mun Redoubt - one of Hong Kong's main relics of the Second World War.

Hoi Ha Wan (海下灣) - the Bay Beneath the Sea - in the north of the Sai Kung Peninsula, is one of Hong Kong's best places for hard corals, with around 60 species.

The Tai Po Kau (大埔滘) Nature Reserve is a splendid example of reforestation - supporting a wide range of fauna and flora as well as being a good place to visit, with an excellent trail system.

Hong Kong Wetland Park is a curious place - huge money spent, yet habitats small and visitor centre immense, with lots of computer gimmickry and suchlike.

The Clear Water Bay Peninsula (清水灣半島) lies to the east of Kowloon. The main hill is the striking, steep sided High Junk Peak (釣魚翁), which at 344 metres dominates a ridge that runs south to the tip of the peninsula.

Hong Kong’s Mai Po Marshes Nature Reserve is like a natural theatre, a place where you can enjoy impressive wildlife spectacles.

Cheung Sha Wan (長沙灣) on the south coast of Lantau Island boasts one of Hong Kong's longest beaches - stretching around 2km from east to west, though almost split into two by a tiny headland.

Lantau Island's southwest peninsula attracts rather few hikers, yet boasts some of the finest hiking and scenery in Hong Kong, as well as some offbeat attractions including a landscaped garden and a flying dragon statue.

Though Nong Ping can fairly swarm with tourists, clambering up steps to the Big Buddha and roaming through Po Lin Monastery and along a path through the Tea Gardens, there is tranquillity to enjoy close by, including along the Lantau Trail.

Viewed from Ling Wui Shan, Lantau appears completely free from urbanisation. Nearby are waterfalls in steep ravines, a temple tucked into a wooded hillside, and even a Chinese style landscaped garden. Walking here, it's easy to agree with Financial Secretary Henry Tang's description of Lantau as, "Hong Kong's biggest and most beautiful island."

The Silver Mine Waterfall at Mui Wo, eastern Lantau, is one of the most easily reached of Hong Kong's best waterfalls. It's accessible by strolling gentle trails, passing by the beach, village houses, and through fields and woodland.

There's a fairly long (ca 15km) but otherwise easy walk along the northwest coast of Lantau Island, between Tai O and Tung Chung. For roughly two-thirds of the route, it follows a coastline that for the time being is fairly wild.

Though it lies just off southeastern Hong Kong Island, Po Toi (蒲台島) is easily overlooked when planning a rural outing. Yet there is fine hiking, excellent coastal scenery - and for birdwatchers, Po Toi is a migration hotspot.

Lamma lies just west of Hong Kong Island, and has a perhaps outdated reputation as a hippie haven. Especially in the wilder south, it offer a great contrast to the city.

Though you can hike here, Sharp Island and its neighbours are most popular for activities focused on the shore and marine environment – especially swimming at two of the best beaches near Sai Kung, as well as snorkelling over coral.