We saved the best for last! On our final morning in Hong Kong we made one last stop on the way to the airport.

The Ngong Ping 360 cable car takes you up and away from the city, over the airport, over a long weaving path below for the brave who decide to hike the route, past foggy peaks and deep green valleys all the way to the Tian Tan Big Buddha statue.

It’s one of the best ways to view the land surrounding Hong Kong. After a series of rainy and foggy days we were thrilled to have a sunny forecast.

The line gets long pretty fast so we booked our tickets online the night before. This turned out to be a huge timesaver.

We arrived at the cable car terminus around 9:15 and they let the line proceed in around 9:30. We bypassed the line for ticket purchases and headed downstairs to the taxi stand where they offer a left luggage service. It cost $80 HKD for each bag.

Back upstairs, with tickets in hand (we asked the concierge to print them), we walked directly to the queue for boarding the cable cars.

The first car took off at 10:00 and we were away.

The ride is absolutely stunning on a clear day. Clear by Hong Kong standards that is: there was still a bit of fog around the peaks.

The cable car dropped us off at a touristic village with a Hello Kitty theme. Like the good travelers we are we grabbed some Starbucks!

Past the village there are stands selling more authentic fare. We stopped there on the way out for lunch.

The mini hike up to the Big Buddha was quick but involved a long series of steps. The views are serene and we had fun watching the fog roll by and dissipate.

The ride back gave us one last view of Hong Kong, but before long we went from marveling at the scene below to laughing with the new friends we made in our shared cable car. They took the bus up to the top and said it offered great views of the mountain side.

They highly recommended it and lamented that the only downfall is that while the bus ticket cost a fraction of the cable car ticket, a one way cable car back down costs $130 HKD, effectively canceling any savings they hoped to get from taking the bus one way.

For a real budget option, you could take the bus only (about $34 roundtrip Monday-Saturdays) or hike the path (it’s free and there’s a hostel at the top) but you’d miss the fabulous views from the cable car.

I think next time I’d love to take the bus up to avoid the busy cable car terminal in the morning and ride the cable car down like our friends did.

Afterwards, we picked up our bags and hopped in a Lantau Island taxi (not the city bound ones) to the airport. We were so close it only took about 10 minutes and cost around $40 HKD. The cable car was a great last stop in Hong Kong.

Want to go? Here’s how to get there.