Macau - Destinations

For the rest of our China Trip:
1. China Part One - Meizhou
2. China Part Two - Guangzhou (Destinations)
3. China Part Three - Guangzhou (Eats)
4. Taiwan Day One
5. Taiwan Day Two
6. Din Tai Fung - Taipei 101, Taipei
7. Taiwan Day Three
8. Taiwan Day Four and Five Part 1
9. Taiwan Day Four and Five Part 2


After all the fun we had in Meizhou and Guangzhou, we made our way to Macau. We took a bus from Guangzhou to the Gongbei Port in Zhuhai, which is the Guangzhou and Macau border line. Once we were through immigrations on both sides, we took a free shuttle bus straight to The Venetian. The ride to the hotel took around 20 minutes and on the way we passed an endless line of massive hotels and casinos.

I've been to Macau once before for a day trip and was blown away when we visited The Venetian It was the biggest hotel I've ever been in and everything was so luxurious. This time, I was again overwhelmed by the size and sights of The Venetian and was very excited to be staying overnight. 







Living up to its name, the rooms had a luxurious European style. The room felt a little dated not just due to its style, but because there were obvious signs of wear and tear, such as saggy couch cushions, which was a little disappointing. Another complaint I had was their air conditioning system, that always seemed to be set on 'death by FREEZING'. We tried turning on heat which made no difference and even when it was switched off there was still a cool breeze from the vent. Good thing we were planning on spending our whole day outside the hotel room.

The first location we headed to was the ruins of St. Paul's. We caught a taxi from the hotel and headed straight there and the trip cost MOP 110.





 


The ruins of St. Paul's is a UNESCO listed World Heritage site and I understood why when I saw it. Although, only the facade is left of the Cathedral, once you see it you can imagine how majestic the complete building must have been. As you can see from the pictures, it is a very popular tourist site so expect to capture strangers in your photos and to queue for the perfect spot. 

After admiring the ruins of St. Paul's we made our way down the stairs and readied ourselves to walk through a very busy alleyway. We didn't actually know where this alleyway was going to take us. But, as we reached the end we arrived at Senado Square, another UNESCO listed World Heritage site.


St. Dominic's Church

Senado Square



Above are some photos of the unique building in Senado Square. There were many shops, mostly selling souvenirs and foods with some pharmacies and cosmetics stores. Other than that, this place was purely for sight seeing.

After spending around one hour exploring Senado Square, we were ready to go back to the hotel and explore there. We had a lot of trouble hailing a taxi as there was no where for them to stop. In the end we caught a bus to Macau Taipa Ferry Terminal and then transferring to a shuttle bus back to The Venetian. The bus ride cost MOP 3.20 which was much cheaper than the taxi and we got to enjoy the sights along the way.

When we arrived back at the hotel we were ready to explore the rest of the vast building. Just a word of warning, one day in the hotel is probably not enough to fully explore the hotel, so plan a longer stay if you want to see everything The Venetian has to offer!


Food court



Main entrance






We walked around the hotel for two hours and must have only covered a third of the hotel, but gave up from exhaustion to go any further. I loved everything I saw anyway. It was like exploring a shopping centre inside a palace, complete with a man-made river.

The next morning we had a rushed breakfast and then headed off to the ferry terminal to catch a ferry to Hong Kong. The ferry we caught was the Cotai water jet and cost MOP 150. We checked in luggages for MOP 20 per luggage with a maximum of 25 kg per luggage. If you do want to check in luggage, make sure you arrive at the terminal at least one hour before departure time or they just may reject your request and you have to board the ferry whilst dragging your luggage along. The tickets for the ferry is available from the hotel through the Cotai water jet outlet.

Another word of warning, I suffer from mild sea sickness, but riding on these ferries caused severe sea sickness, so I always make sure I take my sea sickness tablet before boarding. If that sounds like you then make sure you're prepared too otherwise it will be a veeeerrryyy long and sickening 40 minutes!


Information

Zhuahai Railway station (Gongbei Port)
3 Qiaoguang Road
Xiangzhou
Zhuhai
Ph: +86 756 816 7000

The Venetian
Website: http://www.venetianmacao.com/
Ph: +853 2882 8888

Ruins of St. Paul's
Rue de Sao Paulo
Macau

Senado Square
Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro
Macau


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