The historic centre of Macau is compact, and most of the sights and attractions are easily reached on foot. Other attractions, such as Macau Tower, A-Ma Temple, Guia Hill and Coloane and Taipa islands are more dispersed and require jumping on a bus or hailing a taxi: both of which are cheap, readily available and efficient.

The MGTO offices at the airport and on Senado Square provide the useful Bus Routes of Macau route listing and city map. City buses are operated by the state-owned Transmac company (tel: 2827 1122; website: www.transmac.com.mo), with a number of smaller colectivos minibuses operated by Transportes Colectivos de Macau (tel: 2885 0060; website: www.tcm.gov.mo). These operators also run frequent buses to and from the adjacent islands of Taipa, Coloane, and the Cotail Strip, all of which are accessed via a road bridge across the bay.

For faster travel, hail a cab, with your directions written in Chinese characters to show the driver. Taxis are plentiful, safe and metered, and can be flagged down throughout the city. Calling a cab company should only be attempted by guests who speak fluent Cantonese, as little English will be spoken. There are yellow (tel: 2851 9519) and black (tel: 2893 9939) taxis.

Car rental is offered by Avis (office is at the car park of the Mandarin Oriental hotel (tel: 2833 6789; website: www.avismcu.ctm.net), and Happy Mokes (tel: 2843 9393).

Cyclists are almost never seen in Macau, as the integrated road network becomes more congested and hazardous. A limited number of tricycle rickshaws, however, do ferry tourists around the historic old city sights. They can be hired opposite the Grand Lisboa casino on Avenida de Amizade (150 patacas per hour).