Victoria Peak is a mountain located on Hong Kong Island’s western portion. The mountain in known locally as The Peak, and is also known as Mount Austin. It has an altitude of 1,811 feet or 552 m, making it the highest mountain on the island. Tai Mo Shan is considered the highest point within the Hong Kong Special Administration Region.

The summit of Victoria Peak is reserved for a radio telecommunications facility and is not open to the public. “The Peak” generally refers to the surrounding area of public parks and residential area, which serves as a prime tourist attraction, offering great views of Lamma Island, Lantau Island, Central Hong Kong, and Victoria Harbour.

The Peak regularly hosts more than 7 million visitors each and every year, making it one of Hong Kong’s major tourist draws. Upon the viewing deck are several coin operated telescopes that guests can use to view the entire landscape. Due to the abundance of visitors every year, two major shopping centers (the Peak Tower and the Peak Galleria) were constructed adjacent to one another.

The Peak Galleria incorporates the bus station which connects the green minibuses on the Peak with the Hong Kong public buses. The Peak Tower on the other hand, incorporates the Peak Tram, which is a cable railway that moves passengers from the Peak into the St. John’s Cathedral in Hong Kong’s Central district. The Peak can also be reached by taxi and private cars using the Peak Road, while others can reach the Peak from the Old Peak Road near the Zoological Botanical Gardens.

Located on the site of Mountain Lodge, which was the Governor’s old summer residence, Victoria Peak Garden is the summit’s closest publicly accessible point. The garden can be accessed by using the Victoria Gap, which is a steep climb of more than 150 m or 490 ft. up Mount Austin Road. The level loop along Lugard Road is another popular walking spot, as it provides really good views of Kowloon and Hong Kong’s Central District. The loop returns along Harlech Road, which covers the highest accessible points on the mountain.

On Victoria’s Peak there are several restaurants located in the two shopping centers. The Peak Lookout Restaurant however, is located in a more traditional building that once served as a residence for the engineers that worked on the Peak Tramway. This location was originally build in 1901 as a stop area for sedan chairs, but was later repurposed as a restaurant in 1947.

The Peak also serves as the hottest area for the countries super rich, where many of the homes and properties are considered the most expensive in the world.