How to Get Around Hong Kong
This blog post of How to Get Around Hong Kong is extremely important as renting a car or going everywhere by taxi are not even an option as the cost might be very expensive. It is also very big to explore, so going around with public transportation in Hong Kong is the most feasible way. Here’s we will reveal our secrets and favourite sites on how to get around Hong Kong. We’ll start from the easy ones.
How to Get Around Hong Kong
Octopus Card
No matter what public transportation you choose (MTR, Bus, Train, Tram — not for taxi or ferry), or even buying drinks on minimart, you can use Octopus Card. Buy at the airport or any of your first starting point. Fill in some credits and feel more free to explore without digging the money into your pocket every single time. This is a must on how to get around Hong Kong comfortably.
Airport Express Train
This is the easies, fastest, most expensive, most convenient way to get from / to the airport to / from the city in only 24 minutes. The maximum fare is HKD 100 per way per adult, depending on where you’ll stop. You can get cheaper price when buy for groups in the ticket counter (not ticket machine). This is recommended when you’re in a business trip, or catching a flight. When you are departing to catch the flight, you can also do the city-check-in in the station where you’ll depart, so you can drop your baggage there as well — no more dragging baggage all the way to the airport!
Taxi
Taxi is widely available everywhere with meter. Basic / minimum fare is HKD 22. It can be quite expensive if you go far, but convenient and affordable if you want to go to some points from bus / MTR stop.
Fasten your seat belt as the Hong Kong taxi drivers are quite..fast in driving :p
Ferry
It is one of the choice to explore Hong Kong from the sea. Star Ferry, one of the well-known company, will take a round trip from among Central, Wan Chai, Tsim Sha Tsui.
More details here: route, timetable, frequency, fare
MTR
MTR (Mass Transit Railway) is one of the best ways on how to get around Hong Kong. It covers most of the areas, but it might be tricky to find the suitable or closest station to your destination.
This is one of the useful sites I found for Hong Kong MTR Finder. You can find based on the station or attraction. It will show you even the closest Exit from MTR station to your destination, including the MTR transit stations and total fare.
Download Hong Kong MTR Map here.
Bus
Hong Kong is very big. Exploring by MTR itself mostly is not sufficient. Combining it with Bus is the best options on how to get around Hong Kong.
For bus, after researching for a while, here’s the best tool for Hong Kong Bus Route Finder. Choose “Point to Point Search” icon on the right of the slide in homepage.
Here, you can search based on MTR station, landmark, attraction, etc:
- Type your point into the “FROM” and “TO”
- Choose “Daytime” or “Overnight” when you travel
- Choose the interchange area it suggests, if any
Most recommended interchange: Central, Hong Kong Station, Admiralty. But any other will work. Just try. - Choose the bus combination suggested. It will show you the approximate distance from the departure and arrival point, you can also refer to the map on the right side. Choose the closest one with your points.
- Then once you click on the bus combination, it will show the details: green arrow is where you can get on, red arrow is where you can get off, including the fare and you can also see the whole timetable. Make sure it’s suitable to your time, as some buses only run on morning time.
- You can click on the green/red arrows, then it will show you the location of the bus stop on the map , including the photo so you can relate when you actually see it.
- OH, I LOVE THIS SITE! 🙂
Ding-ding Tram
If you explore mostly the city, using ding-ding tram is another cheapest option. With only HKD 2.3 per rider per person, you can go as far as you want within their route. This double-deck trams has soo many stops.
- Make sure you read their routes here.
- Please note that each route only go 1 way. So make sure you get into the right direction, e.g. Eastbound or Westbound.
- It can be very crowded during lunch break as well.
See Ding ding Tram official sites for more details.
Useful Tips on How to Get Around Hong Kong
- After I use above tools, I usually will match it with google map which also have MTR / bus stop signs on the map. You can find the way to or from your destination by choices of foot, bus, or MTR. Then I print-screen the map, and save it into my itinerary.
- Feel free to see the sample of our Hong Kong itinerary. This is how we organized the stored all information. Feel free to use your own. This is for sample / reference only. Information within this document might not necessarily to always be accurate.
- Most people in Central can speak English, though some may be resistant to talk to you if you cannot speak Mandarin or Cantonese.
- Many tourist information is available in every MTR station. They are very reliable if you want to ask for direction or anything.
Well, we did enjoy Hong Kong, and hope you will, too!
If you find this information is useful, then post it in your social media to get it documented correctly, or bookmark it, or share it! 🙂
