12 Places to Chill out and Read a Book in Hong Kong

This cozy coffee shop in Centraloccupies two floors and has a gelato counter that serves delectable frozen desserts. The best seats are the velvety blue armchairs along the back wall on the bottom floor, which are perfect for sinking into with a good book.

Hong Kong’s most famous park is packed during the weekends, but spacious and quiet on weekday afternoons. Settle down at a bench, or better yet, spread a towel or picnic cloth on the Central Lawn under a clear spring sky.

Yes, the promenade is packed with selfie-taking tourists during the summer, but outside of the peak tourist season, it’s easy to stake out a spot by Hong Kong’s most iconic waterfront. It can get chilly this close to the water, so be sure to bring a light cardigan or jacket.

Hipster coffeechain Coffee Academics has branches all over the city, but the Wan Chai Road outlet (not to be confused with the Johnston Road branch, also in Wan Chai) is by far the quietest.

If you’re the type of person needs deathly silence in order to read, the 12-storey Central Library in Causeway Bay offers plenty of seating space and over two million print and non-print materials for you to browse.

With man-made waterfalls, fountains, lily ponds, botanical gardens and an aviary, Hong Kong Park is a charming oasis in the middle of a concrete jungle. It’s a beautiful and relaxing place to settle down and get some reading done.

Perched on the 14th floor of Hysan Place, this spacious Japanese yoshoku-style café gets plenty of natural light and friendly but unobtrusive staff who don’t mind if all you order is a rose latte. If you need some food to keep you going, the soups, snacks and lunch sets are delicious and great value for money.

The West Kowloon Cultural District is a major arts and culture site located on the harborfront of West Kowloon, right next to Tsim Sha Tsui. Although parts of the district are still under construction, there’s a significant amount of lawn and park space that’s already open to the public.

This tranquil 33-acre park in Tsim Sha Tsui is designed in the style of traditional Chinese gardens. It’s the perfect place to lose yourself in a good book amongst flowers, birds and ponds.

Located on Mount Austin Road, close to the Peak Tower, this park is rarely ever crowded and boasts a unique vantage point with a sweeping view of the whole city. Settle on a park bench or if you prefer, bring something to spread on the grass.

Right by Sai Kung’s waterfront and close to the entrance to Hoi Pong Street, there are some public benches under the shade of trees where you can sit and look at the boats and junks bobbing by the pier — the perfect place to while away a quiet afternoon.

This 49,000 sq ft branch of the Taiwanese bookstore Eslite has a special section where customers can sit and read — which is a rarity for Hong Kong, where bookstores tend not to have any seating. Eslite’s Causeway Bay store has a reading area too, but we think this one is just a tad bigger and nicer.