concordian

I will be spending 3 days in Hong Kong in June 2015 with my family(2 kids, 8 & 10). We are staying in Hyatt Regency TST.

I did some reading on FT/web and have some questions HK experts can answer:

1. I will have 2 suitcases + hand luggages(2) and I would think getting a taxi is better from Airport to hotel

2. I read about big lines for peak tickets, what is the best way to visit peak if I also want to visit big buddha(are there are combo tickets which cover all the main sites)

I may have more questions but thanks in advance for taking your time to read and comment.

Swiss Tony

1) I would agree with that.
2) The peak and the Big Buddha are on different islands.

For 2 - the queue only seems to be an issue at the base station of the Peak Tram. You can take a bus to the peak and it's quite a fun ride up the side of the mountain. Am sure others will be along with more comprehensive info but there's a service from Admiralty MTR which is the first stop across the harbour from TST.

If you have 3 days, plan your time carefully. What I would include...

1) Trip up the peak
2) Star Ferry
3) Hong Kong Museum of history
4) Trip to an outlying island. I like Lamma and the restaurants at Sok Kwu Wan & there's a nice walk if the weather behaves - http://www.discoverhongkong.com/comm...mma-island.pdf
5) Stanley - again take the bus from Central

My experience of combo tickets in HK is you end up with a bunch of things you don't want - I mean do you really want to go all the way to HK and visit Ripley's???

Anyway I have 3 days with my 3 kids (5, 8 & 10) in HK next summer so I'll watch the other comments on this thread with interest!

Letitride3c

IMO, the Big Buddha isn't a big deal and considering HKG's typical weather in June, hot & humid even on a cloud day - might be too much to take the kids along. Bring sunshades, umbrella & bottled water/stay hydrated as it is a long walk, pass the "village" of shops & then up those steep chairs (and back down) - check it out on Youtube first. Ocean Park & Disney might be better for the young ones.
As for the Peak, we took the air- conditioned bus in front of the Star Ferry in Central to go up the hill & saw more than the tram - and then, the public mini bus downhill - past LWF to connect to MTR subway, easy to do using the Octupus Cards.

dtsm

For three, economics of taxi makes perfect sense.

But the AE is pretty neat and the kids might enjoy the experience, even though the ride is relatively short duration. Just a thought?

And summer time weather is the pits, bring liquids to keep hydrated. Also, HK AC is blasted inside so temp differentials huge. Bring light sweater for indoors, seriously!

concordian

Sorry, what is AE? I don't have any fixed plans, everything depends on weather and kids interest levels. I may take Star Ferry, Visit Peak and check Avenue of the starts only.

Thanks for all your suggestions.

Need

AE is Airport Express. It is a train that takes you from the airport to the cities. I always took taxi from airport to hotel, but coming back I took AE. The reason is that when you buy the AE ticket back to airport, they have city checkin for luggage where you could drop off the checked luggage at the city and don't have to worry about them until you got back to the home airport! It is really nice when the the flight is late at night and you still have a full day to go around town.

If you do visit the Big Buddha, make sure you check the weather report before you go. If there is any wind at all, DO NOT go on the cable car. You could be stuck there for hours going up or coming back. I am speaking from experience.

Swiss Tony

You can do those three things in half a day. There's a bunch of resources on the discoverhongkong.com website that are quite good.

concordian

Less than 30 days for my trip and getting excited. How much money I would need to carry in HK Dollars? I am planning to withdraw money from ATM in the airport. Do Taxis take credit cards for payment? Do you think buying Octopus cards for 2.5 days will be worth?

Sorry for asking multiple questions but hoping HK local can answer.

ppp909

I was in HK for a week the week before last. You can get an Octopus which includes a return on the airport express. You get unlimited travel on the MTR for 3 consecutive days, but check that you will actually make use of it.
Getting an Octopus card is well worth it, regardless. It makes things so much easier and every mode of transport I used took them, which included metro, buses, tram, star ferry and outlying islands ferry. Plus the trip back to the airport.
Just remember to get your refund before you leave the station at the airport. I forgot :-(

tentseller

Taxis do not take credit cards for payment.

Octapus is also use as payment at many restaurants, coffee, 7-11 etc.

The card and balance on it does not expire so you or someone else can use it the next trip

rkkwan

For those taking the train to airport, one should get the Octopus refunded BEFORE the ride and use the cash to buy the train tickets, especially if traveling in group or two or more.

concordian

I read that Cathay Pacific sells 89HK$Tourist Octopus for HK$50 In-Flight and I am planning to buy 4 for our family.

I will take Taxi to the hotel but for return I will use Airport Express and 3 days in MTR.

rkkwan

Not sure what "$89 Tourist Octopus" you're talking about.

lmwong1977

I think from this ad: http://www.cathaypacific.com/dutyfre...l?locale=en_HK

From 1st April to 30th June, 2015, with any inflight purchases of HK$1,000 or more (net in a single transaction), passengers will be eligible to redeem any one of the below items:
• SmartGo SmartLock at HK$50 (retail value: HK$89)
• SmartGo SIM Holder at HK$50 (retail value: HK$69)
• Sold Tourist Octopus at HK$50 (card value: HK$ 39+ stored value amount: HK$50)

rkkwan

Not a bad deal to buy it and spend into the negatives, then toss/save it as a souvenir.

Does anyone know if one can get unused positive value back in form of cash at a service counter? If not, then it can potentially be a bad deal for tourists.