Budget Macau Trip Plan

(Last updated: August 18, 2026)

This 3 Day Budget Macau Trip Plan was specifically made for tourists who want to reduce costs in a city that can get very expensive to visit.  Like Hong Kong, Macau has a well earned reputation for being pricey, but with proper planning, it is possible to enjoy much of what the city has to offer for just under $60 US a day. 

The simple reason is because many of Macau’s best attractions don’t cost a thing.

Top Free Attractions/Places to Go

-The Historic Quarter (UNESCO 25 sites, the Street of Happiness, Penha Church, Camoes Park)

-The St. Lazarus Quarter (Old Ladies Home, St. Lazarus Church, St. Michael’s Cemetery, Tap Seac Square, Lou Lim Ieoc Park)

-The Mong Ha District (Kun Iam Temple, Lin Fung Temple, Mong Ha Park, Temple of Bamboo, Xian Xinghai Museum)

-Taipa Village

-Coloane Village and Lai Chi Vun Shipyards

-The Cotai Strip (Venetian, Parisian, Londoner, MGM Cotai, Grand Lisboa Palace)

The best museums are very cost effective too, if not free of charge altogether:

Macau Museum ($15), Maritime Museum (Free), Handover Gifts Museum (Free), Holy House of Mercy ($5), Art Museum (Free)

Food

To keep costs down in the food department, the solution is easy – take it to the streets!  From pig’s guts to cow’s tongues to beef organs to everything in between, Macau’s street food has you covered, often for less than $30 Mops a meal. 

For more information, just take a look at our handy street food guide here: Macau Street Food Guide.

Here’s a selection of my personal favourites from that list.

• Peking Dumplings (Rua dos Mercadores) – Their Pork and Cabbage dumplings are simply sublime, running only $30 for 12.
• Lam Kei (Travessa Dos Anjos) – Widely regarded as serving the best chicken buns in town, I couldn’t agree more.  And they’re only $28!
• St. Dominic Market 5F Food Court (Travessa do Soriano) – Stick to the rice dishes at the first and largest stall – Comidas Ping Kei – and you can’t go wrong.  
• Hoi Un Sio Sek (Rua Do Patane) – A good breakfast or lunch option, and the one to choose if you’re feeling adventurous.  Their Pig’s Guts Noodles are wickedly good, and the best part is that they’re not even made from pig’s guts at all, but rather pork or seafood.  One plate of three rolls runs $13.5 and I’d imagine that most people would have to order two servings to feel full.  

Restaurants: $24 to $40 per person

Restaurants need not be expensive either, if you stick to small local joints.  It probably won’t be the best food you’ve ever had, but it will be terrific value for money.

• Cafe Nam Ping (5th of October Street) – Open since 1965, Cafe Nam Ping was the first cafe to have air conditioners in Macau.  Specializing in noodles and sandwiches, the prices are from that era too.
• Hao Jing Fan Dian (Tv. dos Becos and Rua dos Mercadores) – Hao Jing serves classic Cantonese dishes like Chicken Rice, Duck Rice and BBQ Pork for around $35 a plate.
• Lou Van Fai Kei (Rua da Cordoaria) – Low key Cantonese tea house with a strong local following in sleepy Coloane Village.
• Margaret’s Cafe (Patio do Cmte. Mata e Olveira) – Famous for egg tarts, Margaret’s is a good breakfast option located right off of San Ma Lo.  Sandwiches cost around $25 while salads are $40.

Restaurants: $50 to $100 per person

• Long Wa Teahouse (Opposite Red Market) – Macau’s last standing original teahouse, Long Wa is a treat just to be in, whether you eat anything or not!  Dim sum is available for breakfast and lunch, costing $30 per selection.
• Tai Long Fong (5th of October Street) – Tai Long Fong serves up terrific dim sum near the old Inner Harbour, with most of it only $20 to $30.
• Niu Ji (5th of October Street) – Small specialty restaurant with sensational spicy curry beef and crab paste with wontons and noodles. 

And don’t forget – there’s no need to tip in Macau!

Transportation

As for getting around, with some advance planning you can get to know the bus routes, which are quick, convenient and cheap. The standard cash fare is $6 citywide, so have exact change ready because the farebox does not return any. Ordinary journeys cost $3 with a Macau Pass.

The casino buses are a tremendous resource too, offering free transportation between major resorts and transport hubs such as the Border Gate, Hengqin Port, the ferry terminals, the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge and the airport.

They’re also a great way to get between Macau Peninsula and the Cotai Strip too.  The Sands Macao will take you to the Venetian, Londoner and Parisian (and vice versa), the Starworld to the Galaxy, Wynn Macau to Wynn Palace, MGM Macau to MGM Cotai, Grand Lisboa to Grand Lisboa Palace, while Hotel Sintra services the City of Dreams and Studio City.

Crossing between Macau and Taipa is often an issue because the bridges are very long and not pedestrian friendly (you’re not even allowed on three of them at all!) so these free casino buses are often your best option.  And remember – you don’t even have to gamble or be a hotel guest to use them! 

Perhaps the best thing about transportation in Macau is that you won’t need it most of the time anyway.  Macau is a walker’s paradise and like my Mother always told me – it doesn’t cost anything to dream… or to walk either!

Accommodation

Okay, now for the bad news.  You’re going to have to stay somewhere and in order to stick to my self made budget of $60 US per day (or $480 Mops), the only option is the San Va.  I’m sorry, but there’s just no other way around it. 

The San Va is the cheapest place in town that doesn’t double as a brothel, and it’s not even that bad either, so long as it’s not summer.  When it is, though, it’s sometimes very difficult to get a good night’s sleep, since there’s no air conditioning, only electric fans. 

Here are the current room rates, quoted directly by the hotel.

Book in advance by sending them an email to info@sanvahotel.com.  Don’t use yahoo when you contact them.

If you’re a budget traveller visiting Macau between June and October, I’d advise you to spend a little more and stay at the East Asia Hotel or Macau Hotel S instead.  Perhaps only $200 more than the San Va, it’ll be worth every penny as you crank that AC up and enjoy your own private bathroom and bathtub.

The East Asia is far more historically significant, while Macau Hotel S offers all the cleanliness and comfort of a well maintained modern hotel. No matter which one you choose, it’ll be an excellent extra $30 US spent, particularly if you’re travelling as a couple.  Nocturnal activities do not play out AT ALL at the San Va, unless you like the whole hotel listening in. Besides that, if you feel like kicking it up a notch and doing it extra nasty, you’d probably break their beds too.

Barring that, however, should you be travelling between November and April, then the San Va should do just fine, and it has an amazing location to boot, minutes away from many of the top sites on the beautiful and historic Rua Da Felicidade (Street of Happiness).

For first time visitors to Macau, who are on a budget of about $60 US per day, here is a 3 Day Travel Plan I think you’ll enjoy.  Provided you stay at the San Va, you should be able to keep very close to the budget, while hitting many of the top sites that the city has to offer. 

Very similar to the main 3 Day Travel Plan, the difference with this budget version is that it is more detailed in terms of bus routes as well as information pertaining to discount dining and hotel options.

Budget Macau Trip Plan: DAY 1

UNESCO 25 Sites—Penha Church—Hotel Central—Holy House of Mercy—Macau Museum—Lisboa

Morning

-Arrive in Macau around 9:00 am, and use a current casino shuttle or public bus to reach the central Peninsula.

-Stop in at Margaret’s Cafe for a quick breakfast ($30).

-Walk to the San Va and check in, or leave your luggage there if the room is not ready.

-Walk to A Ma Temple.  Also visit the Maritime Museum (Free).

–UNESCO 25 sites.  Also climb up to Penha Church from Lilau Square and then return back the same way you came. 

-More UNESCO 25 sites.  Visit Mandarin’s House, St. Lawrence’s Church, St. Joseph’s Seminary and Church, St. Augustine’s Square, Dom Pedro V Theatre and the Sir Robert Ho Tung Library.

-Walk to Peking Dumplings ($50) for lunch.  It’s right around the corner from the San Va.

Afternoon

-Start your afternoon by going to the top floor of Hotel Central, for free views of the city.

-Continue with the UNESCO 25 sites in and around Senado Square. Also visit the Holy House of Mercy ($5) and Macau Museum ($15).

-End your day by visiting the Lisboa, which has become one of the most underrated tourist attractions in town.  Thirty years ago it towered over all, not only boasting the most famous hotel casino in Macau, but in all of Asia.  Almost reduced to an afterthought now, the two lobbies are endowed with so much art, beauty, class and charisma that you can’t help but wonder how they could get things so right in 1970, yet so wrong now.

Simply put, no visit to Macau is complete without visiting the Lisboa, an opinion of mine that only grows stronger through the years.

-Dinner at Cafe Nam Ping ($50)

DAILY EXPENSE: $150 + $260 for the San Va = $410.

Day 1 Closures: The Maritime Museum and Holy House of Mercy are closed on Tuesdays, Mandarin’s House is closed on Wednesdays and Macau Museum is closed on Mondays.

Budget Macau Trip Plan: DAY 2

Camoes Park—St. Lazarus Quarter—Mong Ha Region—Macao Museum of Art—Handover Gifts Museum

Morning

-Start at Hoi Un Sio Sek for some delicious Pig’s Guts Noodles ($40).

-Circle back to Camoes Park, St. Anthony’s Church and the Protestant Cemetery.

-Walk to the St. Lazarus Quarter and visit Old Ladies Home, St. Lazarus Church, St. Michael’s Cemetery, Tap Seac Square, and Lou Lim Ieoc Park.

-Lunch at Long Wa Teahouse ($90)

Afternoon

-Visit the Mong Ha sites (Lin Fung Temple, Mong Ha Park, Xian Xinghai Museum, and finish up at Kun Iam Temple)

-Walk through the underground tunnel under Guia Hill to the Art Museum.  

-Visit the Art Museum (Free), then the Handover Gifts Museum (Free)

-Walk up near the Grand Prix Museum, then take Bus 3 from the M241 Tourism Activities Centre stop ($6) to Ribeira Patane/Mercado.

-Walk to Niu Ji for dinner ($65)

Walking between Mong Há and the waterfront museums takes approximately 30 minutes. Travellers who have already had enough exercise can spend $6 on a bus without being expelled from the budget-travel community.

DAILY EXPENSE: $200 + $260 (San Va) = $460

Day 2 Closures: The Macao Museum of Art and Handover Gifts Museum are closed on Mondays. The Xian Xinghai Memorial Museum is normally closed on Tuesdays.

Budget Macau Trip Plan: DAY 3

Taipa Village—Coloane Village—Cotai Strip

Morning

-Walk to Tai Long Fong for a dim sum breakfast ($65).

-Walk back to San Ma Lo and turn left.  The first bus stop you see should be the M143 one.  Take Bus 26A to the T364 Est. Baia N S. Esperanca/Quartel stop ($6).

-You’ll be let off right at the entrance of Taipa Village, so just walk right in!  Explore Our Lady of Carmel Church and the streets between Pak Tai Temple, Tin Hau Temple and Sam Po Temple.  Make sure to check out the Taipa Houses Museum, which is now free.

-Return to the same bus stop you got off at, and catch the next 26A bus to the C660 Assoc. De M De Coloane stop ($6).

Afternoon

-Coloane Village time!!  Lou Van Fai Kei is a good budget restaurant in Coloane Village, serving the same type of Cantonese soup, rice and sandwiches as Cafe Nam Ping on the peninsula.  Packed with locals every day it obviously meets their approval, and the price is right, with dim sum under $20, and most rice and noodle selections $22 to $27. 

Afterwards, treat yourself to a couple of Lord Stow’s famous egg tarts ($11 per piece).  All told, we’ll call lunch an even $60.

-Visit Coloane Village, exploring the Chapel of St. Francis Xavier, Tam Kung Temple, Tin Hau Temple and the village’s narrow streets.

-Walk to adjoining Lai Chi Vun and visit the former shipyard area and its cultural exhibitions.

-Take the 26A bus back to the Parisian and the Cotai Strip ($6). 

-Have a look at the monster hotels on the Strip, in particular the Parisian, Venetian and Londoner, which are destinations in themselves and big time bargains for walk in visitors.  I mean, it costs absolutely nothing to snap pics next to a Venetian gondola, the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, or other architectural nonsense that catches your fancy. 

For more high brow eye candy, check out both the Grand Lisboa Palace and MGM Cotai, which are both awash in art, Ming Dynasty rugs, Secret Gardens and some gobsmackingly gorgeous lobbies and common areas.

Wherever you finish up, take a free casino shuttle back to the historic peninsula.   

-Walk to Hao Jing Fan Dian for a delectable dinner of delicious roasted meat ($45).

DAILY EXPENSES: $190 + $260 (San Va) = $450

Day 3 Closures: The Taipa Houses are closed on Mondays. Most of Taipa Village, Coloane Village and Cotai can still be explored that day, but the route is better from Tuesday through Sunday.

Budget Macau Trip Plan Summary

Alright, let’s total all of our expenses together, including another $100 for incidentals when you’re out and about such as water and juice etc.

Day 1 ($410) + Day 2 ($460) + Day 3 ($450) + Incidentals ($100) = $1420.

If averaged daily, it works out to roughly $470 Mops, or just under $60 US per day.

As you can see, Macau need not be so expensive if you can handle the conditions at the San Va and be willing to try small, local restaurants.  As I said earlier, the vast majority of the city’s best attractions don’t cost a thing.