HKG Arrival Transportation Guide
While some are regular visitors to HKG (or even living there!), the below may be useful for those who do not frequent HKG as regularly.
Ok, so you have now arrived at HKG airport, and you want to get into the main parts of town. How would you do it?
1. Airport Express Train (MTR)
One of the fastest way, with free transfers to other lines if an octopus card is used. There are also
free shuttles to various hotels from Kowloon and Hong Kong stations. Travel time on the train is roughly 20-30 mins.
This is one of the best ways to head out from the airport if budget is not a concern. One-way trip to Kowloon station is $90, and Hong Kong station is $100. Discounts are available if you purchase group tickets from the manned counters, with discounts for 2, 3, or 4 pax. Note that discounts are NOT available from the machines or with octopus cards. Trains depart frequently from the airport stations, linked to both the departure and arrival halls. Simply follow the signs at the airport, they cannot be missed.
2. Bus
The next best way is taking the airport express buses, with a few routes going to different areas of the city. While they can take up to an hour to reach your destination, it can be a good alternative if your hotel is close to one of the stops. Note that you need to have exact change if you are planning to pay by cash, so an octopus card might be a worthwhile investment.
Generally, the most useful routes for visitors are:
A11 to North Point on Hong Kong Island for $40,
A21 to Hung Hom (via Nathan Road) in Kowloon for $33.
They can be quite popular, as the costs are significantly lower than the MTR.
Cheaper still, the "external" buses (starting with the letter E instead of A) will also get you to the destination, although with a significant time penalty and it's generally not recommended.
Please note that buses can be affected by traffic and the regular protest marches/Occupy movements.
3. Taxi
An urban "red" taxi will cost roughly $300 to Hong Kong Island, and $250 to Kowloon. Costs and travel times will vary depending on traffic. Depending on your hotel location, it is possible that the MTR would be quicker and cheaper even if you have 2 or 3 pax.
4. Cheapskate (my personal favourite) - best done with an octopus card.
If budget is paramount, this can be an excellent option. While you would be out there with the masses of the Hong Kong public, generally speaking, the time required would not be much more than the express buses.
The local bus stops are at the ends of the terminal, so instead of following the normal signs, you should do one of the following.
1. Walk all the way to the right hand side of the arrival hall, ignoring the signs, and then out of the terminal to the foot bridge. There are a set of elevators and escalators to take you to the ground. Continuing on in the same direction, you will reach the bus stop for bus S1 and S56.
2. If you're near the Starbucks at the left side of the terminal, there is a stand-alone elevator. Take this to the bottom level, exit the building, and the bus stop for S1 is right in front of you. The stop for S56 is about 5m to the right, but the sign is obscured from this direction.
Both S1 and S56 will take you to Tung Chung station. S56 will provide a quicker trip, with either costing $3.50.
Once you have reach Tung Chung, walk into the dark areas of the bus terminal, and then through a corridor. It then opens up to an open area, with a shopping mall entrance to your left, and the Tung Chung MTR station straight ahead. From here, the train will stop at all of the stops (plus a few more) used by the astronomically priced Airport Express trains, but you would only be paying a tiny portion of that price.
There are also a couple of useful interchange stations. At Lai King, it connects to the red line just across the platform. This is a rather crowded line as it takes in the busiest areas of Kowloon. Nam Cheong is another interchange station, although it's probably not as useful for visitors.
For those going to Hong Kong Island, it's best to stay on the train from Tung Chung all the way to the end, although there is a 5 mins walk transferring to another train at Hong Kong/Central station.
The best thing about this option is the price - using an octopus card, it costs a total of just less than $20 to Kowloon, and a few more dollars for Hong Kong Island.