10 Top Macau Travel Tips

(Last updated: August 2, 2026)

An excellent companion piece to the 10 Top Things to Do in Macau, these 10 Top Tips for Macau Travel were primarily written for visitors who have never been to Macau before.

Don’t be that person getting clobbered by casinos, cabbies and hordes of Chinese tourists, while shooting everyone and their mother 25% tips.  Rather, follow the advice below and become a mini Maven overnight, a seasoned veteran who knows the city inside and out.

Read on for all the things I wish I‘d known back in 2010!!

Macau Travel Tips #1: Stay For More Than 1 Day

I don’t know how one day travel plans to Macau ever became a thing, but they’re all over the net, particularly as add-ons to Hong Kong travel itineraries. Perhaps it was viable advice 20 years ago, but the city has changed a lot since then, with attractions multiplying not only on the history laden Peninsula, but in Taipa and Coloane as well.

To do the city true justice, you’ll probably need to set aside 3 days at least, with 4 or 5 a more appropriate number. To that end, I’ve devised detailed 3-Day and 5-Day Travel Plans for your viewing pleasure, along with a special 3-Day one if you’re on a Budget.

Now that you’re sure to be staying for more than one day, check our handy Macau Hotel Guide found here: Macau Hotel Guide.

Bottom line? Going to Macau for 1 day is like strolling into MacauSoul, ordering the 2004 Batuta and a cheese board, then taking off before any of it comes. For the love of God man, don’t you know where you are?? 

Stay, relax, enjoy!!

Macau Travel Tips #2: Avoid Chinese Holidays, Weekends, and Other Peak Times

Every year, Macau gets rocked by 4 or 5 massive tsunamis that whip down from the North, wrecking everything in their wake.  Fortunately they always happen to coincide with major Chinese holidays (Spring Festival, Labor Days, National Days, and Mid-Autumn Festival, as well as Grand Prix weekend), so you always know when they’re going to happen. 

When the Border Gate bursts at the seams and the city collapses in on itself from overcapacity, Macau turns into tourism from hell and just about the last place you want to be on Earth. All main streets and attractions get overrun, restaurant and hotel rates go through the roof, while public infrastructure takes a beating trying to keep up with the demand. Heed my advice and do the only sane and logical thing: visit another time.

While it’s nowhere near that bad on weekends, I don’t recommend visiting then either, since hotel rates get jacked up every Friday and Saturday night, particularly in the nicer casino properties. Try and hit Macau right in the sweet spot if you can – between Mondays and Thursdays, and from October to December, when the weather is best.

For more tips on climate, cash, karma, along with other vital info, please check out our Macau Introduction.

Macau Travel Tips #3: Take the Buses, not Taxis

Macau’s bus system looks far more intimidating than it actually is. Routes cover virtually the entire city, fares are dirt cheap, and with your phone tracking the journey, getting off at the right stop isn’t particularly difficult.

Frequent visitors should pick up a Macau Pass, which costs $130: $30 for the card itself and $100 in usable stored value. Besides cutting the standard bus fare roughly in half, it can also be used at convenience stores and thousands of other businesses around Macau.

Free casino shuttles are another excellent option, particularly when travelling between the major resorts, ferry terminals and border crossings. You don’t normally have to be staying at the hotel or gambling there to use them—just find the appropriate queue and climb aboard. They won’t take you everywhere, but they can eliminate some of the longest and most expensive journeys.

Combine public buses and casino shuttles with plenty of walking, and you can explore almost the entire city without needing a taxi. That’s good news because, although Macau’s taxis have improved considerably in recent years, they remain expensive by regional standards, particularly compared with mainland China.

For more detailed information on how to get around, just follow the Transportation link.

Macau Travel Tips #4: Be Smart In The Casinos

As I’ve written elsewhere on the site, I neither recommend nor endorse gambling, since the odds are stacked against you in every game you play, with the only exception being Texas Hold ‘Em, assuming you know what you’re doing. If you’re in Macau to have some fun though, and simply can’t resist the allure of winning some “easy” money, it’s important to gamble smart. That means you need to understand bankroll management, loss limits, which games are best, the proper way to play them, and what to avoid doing, in order to leave with a shirt on your back.

Start by having a look at our Macau Gambling Guide, before checking out House Edge in Macau, the Game Strategy Guides, the Macau Casinos Guide, as well as VIP Info and Comps if you’re a high roller. When you think you’ve mastered the basics and are ready to roll, finish up by taking a fun Gambling Quiz to make sure.

No matter if you gamble or not, always get the free Player Card before eating in any hotel restaurant, since it usually gives you a 10% dining discount.

Macau Travel Tips #5: Avoid Chinese Restaurants In The Casinos

Speaking of dining in the hotel restaurants, it took me a little time to learn that the Chinese restaurants there are mostly a waste of your time and money. With locals shunning them for cheaper and better options on the street, they often stay empty or close to it, which leads to a very depressed dining environment and hardly any ambience. They’re basically haunts for tourists who don’t know any better, so don’t fall into the same trap.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t a few exceptions, however. By all means, experience out of this world Cantonese food, service and setting at Lai Heen, some of the best dim sum in the world at 8, or discover the refined flavours of Huaiyang cuisine at Huaiyang Garden.

The only other time to venture into hotel restaurants is for upscale International fare like Thai, French, Italian, and Japanese cuisine, as well as buffets. It will be expensive, but the food is often stellar.

Macau Travel Tips #6: Try Macanese Food

Proper Macanese food can only be found in one place in the world – Macau! Once you leave town that ship will have sailed, so it’s integral to get on board while you still can. Assuming you like Western food, and especially Portuguese food, then you’ll dig Macanese cuisine as well, since it’s basically the same thing, just with more exotic ingredients.

For more information, check out our handy Macanese Food Guide, to learn all about its history, top dishes, and the best restaurants to try them in.

Street food is another plus in Macau, so don’t sleep on that either, especially if you’re looking to save a little coin. Which brings me to….

Macau Travel Tips #7: Forget Tipping

Like Hong Kong and the mainland, tipping is not customary in Macau nor is it expected. Many restaurants already add a 10% service charge to the bill, while hotels have the audacity to take even more, an obscene 15%. Of course, if you feel the need to tip, either in restaurants, or with taxi drivers and dealers in the casino, it won’t be refused, but unlike the West, you are under no social obligation to do so.

Personally speaking, the only time anyone’s ever made a comment or shot a sideways glance is with expat waitresses in some of the Western restaurants, but such is life. That 10 percent service charge is money too.

Another side note about cash: Hong Kong Dollars are accepted at the same rates as Macau Patacas, although the $10 HKD coin is strangely shunned – not even the homeless will take it.

As for the casinos, the currency of choice is HKD, although a few places do accept Macau Mops.

Macau Travel Tips #8: Don’t Be Afraid of Older Hotels

Macau is experiencing a boom in new hotel properties, particularly in the mid-range, which naturally gets a lot of tourists’ attention. Comfort and cleanliness generally rank very high on everyone’s wish list, and hotels that have recently opened are very safe bets to provide those very things. That sometimes leads to a chain event where older hotels get pushed further and further back to the end of line. I mean, if you know the Parisian opened in 2016, the Venetian in 2007 and Sands Macao in 2004, I’m not sure how many people are going to be clamoring for the Sands Macao, just based on age alone. It’s certainly a very sensible approach to take, but in Macau you might be selling yourself short.

In my opinion, many of the city’s best hotels predate the handover in 1999. That’s primarily because more recent properties generally give patrons the short side of the stick in two areas: room size and facilities. As Studio City, the Parisian, and MGM Cotai clearly indicate, smaller rooms are preferred to larger ones, simply so the hotel can have more of them.

It’s also a sad fact that amazing leisure centers and recreation areas just aren’t being prioritized anymore. I think back in the 1980’s, hotels allocated a lot of resources there in order to stand out, but nowadays no one seems to care.

Anyway, here are 7 hotels that you should definitely consider, even if some of them are much older than you!

–East Asia | Price: $450 per night | Opened: 1920

A strict budget option all the way, I don’t think you’ll find an older hotel in Macau that’s better.

–Regency Art Hotel | Price: $600 per night | Opened: 1980’s

Formerly known as the Hyatt Regency, their spa and pool are both outstanding, far outclassing hotels that charge $1500 plus per night.

–Hotel Central | Price: $700 per night | Opened: 1928; restored and reopened in 2024

Macau’s best midrange property offers gorgeous rooms that cover three different eras—the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s.  Step back in time just steps away from Senado Square.

–Grand Coloane Resort | Price: $900 per night | Opened 1993

Formerly known as the Westin Macau, this comprehensive resort offers an 18 hole golf course, outdoor and indoor pools, spa, tennis court, Kids Club and smoking views of Hac Sa Beach.

–New Oriental Landmark Macau | Price: $1000 | Opened: 1997

Formerly known as the Landmark Hotel, the rooms are a little like the Wynn Palace or Grand Lisboa Lite, for half the price.

–Lisboa | Price: $1000 per night | Opened: 1970

I actually prefer it to the Grand Lisboa, given their retro style rooms straight out of the silky smooth swinging 1970’s.

–Artyzen Grand Lapa | Price: $900 per night | Opened: 1980’s

Formerly known as the Mandarin Oriental, the Artyzen Grand Lapa’s pool, gym and spa facilities are second to none.

Should you be traveling with children though, one hotel towers over the rest and that’s Studio City. When it first opened in 2015, it branded itself as the entertainment epicenter of Macau, and I’d still agree with that description today, but only if you’re under 15 years of age.

Macau’s most family-friendly resort by far, Studio City shines with its state-of-the-art Water Park, the super-souped-up, VR-heavy Legend Heroes Park, Macau’s best children’s play area—the aptly named Super Fun Zone—plus the new Nickelodeon Town and Macau’s first rooftop skatepark.

No matter what, you should strongly consider basing your stay somewhere on the Cotai Strip if you have children, since the Peninsula is mostly limited to adult attractions and sites like churches, museums, world heritage sites, and casinos.

For a complete guide to Children Activities, please click the link here: Macau For Children.

Macau Travel Tips #9: Don’t Trust The Guidebooks

The Internet is littered with so much bad advice regarding Macau that I had to strike back by writing an article about Overrated Attractions. Each place on the list is a total waste of time, with no history, culture or meaning, and I wouldn’t be caught dead taking anyone there.

Restaurants are another disaster waiting to happen, and how joints like A Lorcha, Robuchon Au Dome, Ying, and Alain Ducasse ever get such positive press is beyond me. The latter three are even Michelin approved, so feel free to peruse my personal Michelin Maven Guide before walking into a world of hunger and hurt, where portion size shrinks in proportion to the price, as in the more expensive the dish, the less you seem to get of it!

Tripadvisor is another joke too, with its Macau rankings routinely overwhelmed by restaurants inside the Sands hotels, a clear gaming of the system that shouldn’t be allowed to continue. 

I understand that people are free to write whatever they want online, but that doesn’t make what they say useful or true. At least I’ve got some punch behind my punditry, with a decade on the job and hopefully many more to come. 

To wit, I’m especially proud of my 4 Trip Reports, fantastic in depth summaries of what 3 or 4 days in Macau might look like, which I rate as some of the best writing on this site. Even though they’re a few years old, Macau moves in centuries, not minutes, so most of what is detailed is still relevant. In the few cases where there’s been some change, I’ve noted it and made the appropriate updates.

Macau Travel Tips #10: Say Hello to the Maven

As a way to finance the site, I’ve set up a Patreon account that allows us to do a Meet and Greet in Macau, an excellent choice for those who need help with trip planning and/or getting around.

I don’t want to say too much here, so for more information, just follow the link: Meet and Greet.