All ferries from Hong Kong Island dock at Mui Wo (“Plum Cove”), also known as Silvermine Bay. This is the least interesting place on Lantau, but it’s an important bus terminus, with some pleasant accommodation and restaurants, and also marks the eastern end of the Lantau Trail.

Lantau’s best short hike (3hr) is northeast from Mui Wo over the hills, via a Trappist monastery, to Discovery Bay.

Head along the seafront Tung Wan Tau Road to the end, cross the bridge over the river and follow the sandy bay round to the right. A signpost eventually points up some steps onto the bare hills, with some excellent views along the way over to Hong Kong Island. The Trappist monastery is not open to the public, so follow the road past it downhill to a signposted path towards Discovery Bay. This New Town is a too-perfect copy of idealized middle-American suburbia, with happy blonde families zipping about in golf carts, and very few Chinese faces. The main attraction is a 24-hour hydrofoil back to Central ($27; 30min); there are also buses to the rest of the island.