Believe me, it’s a beautiful time spending Christmas in Macau.
The city of Macau is composed of two islands connected by a bridge. Cotai is the place where passengers from the ferry in Hong Kong dock. Cotai is also the island where a lot of casinos are located with picture perfect views of beautiful five-star hotels. The second Macau island is mainland Macau itself where you can see majority of Macau’s population. Most tourists travel here to get to know the Portuguese-inspired city.
The whole city is also known as “The Vegas of Asia” because of the huge number of grand and luxurious hotel casinos located here. I’ve covered some things to see and do when you’re planning to visit Macau.
- Largo do Senado (Senado Square)
This place is one of the main attractions of Macau since this public square leads to the Ruins of St. Paul (the most popular destination in the city). There are a lot of places to shop and buy souvenirs here.
The centerpiece of Senado Square during Christmas season
Christmas decors in its Plaza Square
One of the main buildings surrounding the plaza
2. St. Dominic’s Church
This Catholic church is at the center of the walkable streets of Largo do Senado and is actually quite popular because of its location. This church really stands out because of its vibrant color.
This church can be found near Senado Square
3. Rua de Sao Paulo Road
This street is a pasalubong destination because it sells cookies, egg tarts, meat and peanut-based pastries to bring home. The stores are even giving free samples to potential buyers. Try their egg puffs too, it’s Macau’s specialty.
They’re giving you a free taste of various cooked meat that they sell
Making almond cookies right on the spot
This is what I call a jam packed Christmas day crowd
4. Macau Tower Convention and Entertainment Center
This 338 m tower has an observation deck, a shopping center, restaurants and a movie theater. For thrill seekers, the tower offers bungy jumping, sky jump and sky walk.
What the tower looks like crossing the bridge going to Cotai
5. The Venetian
The Venetian is a place to see for its architectural beauty. It looks good on the outside but wait until you see the glamorous architecture inside. This place has a shopping center, restaurants, a grand canal and a casino.
Such beauty!
European architectural vibes of The Venetian
The dome as you enter the hotel
6. Symphony of Lights at Wynn Palace
The Symphony of Lights are showing every night every 20-30 minutes. It features a dancing water fountain and lights show. What I find awesome in this hotel is how their music (with or without the lights show) gets centralized whether you are inside or just outside of the hotel. Apart from the stunning flower themed hotel, good music follows you everywhere!
Wynn Place gives a free cable car ride going to their hotel.
Dancing water fountain at Wynn Palace
Grand and festive flower air balloons at the Wynn Palace lobby
Grand flower decoration
7. Grand Lisboa
This hotel is probably one of the first and grandest hotels in Macau. Compared to the other hotels I’ve seen, this structure of this hotel is unique and downright posh. You also have to see how Grand Lisboa looks like at night.
The street where Grand Lisboa Hotel and Casino can be found
The Bank of China (left) and Grand Lisboa (right)
8. Ruins of St. Paul
The most popular tourist destination will by far be The Ruins of St. Paul. This place dates back to the 17th century that covers a college and a Catholic Church. The whole area caught fires over the centuries and withstood storms leading to which remains today – the church’s facade.
The real name of this church is Mater Dei dedicated to St. Paul.
Still looks stunning at night
The view at the top of Ruins of St. Paul
From the Philippines, there is a direct flight going to Macau from Manila (via Philippine Airlines, Air Asia or Cebu Pacific) or when you’re in Hong Kong, you can ride a ferry from there to Hong Kong – Macau Ferry Terminal.
