May 14, 2014, 6:17 pm
Last edit by: christep
HKG DO 2014 | 8-9 November
HKG Arrival Transport Guide
Proposed Activities
Friday 7 Nov
During the day HongKongHikers (in the person of christep who manages that group) will be running a not particularly hard social hike anyway, which visiting FTers are welcome to join.
Information for this hike can be found in post 201. Please PM christep or comment in this thread if you wish to join to confirm details of where to meet etc.
5pm - Morton's in TST - Pre-pre-Do drinks, with complimentary filet mignon sandwiches
7pm - IC (Salisbury Road) Lobby Lounge - Pre-Do drinks with excellent views of the harbour
Saturday 8 Nov
Option 1:
Day trip on Hong Kong Island
Yum cha at 9am at Metropol (across the road from Conrad), followed by taking the Peak Tram up to The Peak and a walk around Lugard Road for excellent views of Hong Kong. Quick lunch while still at The Peak, then head down into town for a private tram tour for a maximum of 35 guests. Price of the tram tour will depend on the number of people signing-up but will not be more than HK$200 (around £15 or US$25) per person. Payment will be taken on the day. The tour will finish by 4pm, giving attendee time to prepare for the Do dinner on Lamma Island.
Option 2:
8.15am - meet at Admiralty or TST for day hike in the North East New Territories.
We will walk along the very picturesque shore of the marine geopark, visit the old (and now largely deserted) Hakka village of Lai Chi Wo, and finish around the edge of Starling Inlet, overlooking the border and the eastern end of Shenzhen. We'll take lunch at a local rice & noodles place at the end of the hike. The total distance is about 15km (a little under 10 miles) and there's only one significant bit of hill climbing of about 180m (60 floors of a building). It should be doable by anyone with the fitness to walk at a reasonable pace for about 4 hours. No specialist gear is needed - just lightweight clothing (no denim/heavy cotton please), strong trainers/sneakers, a hat to keep the sun off (if we're lucky), and a small backpack to carry enough water for the hike and any other essentials (which would include a change of clothing if it's warm or wet). Here are three albums of photos taken by HongKongHikers members on this route (the wild boar having just been killed by (I assume) village dogs is unlikely to be repeated!). And here's a Garmin GPS trace of the route.
4.45pm - back at Admiralty
All
6.45pm - Meet at Central for ferry to Rainbow Restaurant on Lamma Island for dinner. (Ferry departs 7.00pm). Please don't be late, as you'll have to swim to catch up.
Sunday 9 Nov
Option 1:
9am - Day trip to Lantau Island. It's close to the airport so anyone flying out can easily head off as necessary. Hiking option will be available for those who are not flying out today. Details here.
Option 2:
Champagne Brunch at the IC HK Enjoy a leisurely Champagne brunch from 11:30-15:00 at the IC's Harbourside $782 (inc service charge). Pay on the day. I'm currently holding reservations for 10 diners and will reserve places on a first come first served basis from expressions of interest through the registration form (links to registration form are found at the top and bottom of this wiki post!). Review found here
1. TEX277
2. Economy Seat
3. percysmith
4. KIXman
5. Itsalongwaydown
6. TravelKane
7.
8.
9.
10.
After some discussion, the third option of a serious hike on Lantau has been canned since it seems that Andy's day trip is serious enough for everyone in terms of walking...
Monday
Awesom Andy will be a makeshift tour-guide taking requests from anyone interested.
Attendance
(Username, arrival date/flight, departure date/flight, hotel)
Confirmed
Awesom Andy Completed registration
TEX277 Completed registration
Oreck Completed registration
NHH Completed registration
Itsalongwaydown Completed registration
cjwong88 Completed registration
christep Completed registration
Economy Seat Completed registration
kirkwoodj Completed registration
Getiton Completed registration
smitty06 Completed registration
SumGai88 Completed registration
freqflyercoll Completed registration
TravelKane Completed registration
percysmith Completed registration
ColoradoGal Completed registration
nomadic.relief Completed registration
lowjhg
pfbloom Completed registration
GrjApp Completed registration
slickalick Completed registration
sneezyalex (Now HGHUA) Completed registration
ckpeter Completed registration
kaka Completed registration
timid_trnchcoat Completed registration
Travelingsmithy Completed registration
Arcanum Completed registration
EZEDoesIt Completed registration
KIXman Completed registration
johnwmaher (NOV 7/CX 505, NOV 10/CX 520, Hyatt Regency Tsim Sha Tsui)Completed registration
ellyse Completed registration
JohnK Completed registration
JohnK+1 Completed registration
Interested
penegal
centxwx
Melville
chchkiwi
dedehans
belinik
rstruthe
garykung
Belinik
tuapekastar
yul36
intuition
danang
TravellerOnline
jozdemir
deathscar
WillTravel (+1)
GrizShel
SQ421
moondog
***NEW*** Registration now open!
HKG Arrival Transport Guide
Proposed Activities
Friday 7 Nov
During the day HongKongHikers (in the person of christep who manages that group) will be running a not particularly hard social hike anyway, which visiting FTers are welcome to join.
Information for this hike can be found in post 201. Please PM christep or comment in this thread if you wish to join to confirm details of where to meet etc.
5pm - Morton's in TST - Pre-pre-Do drinks, with complimentary filet mignon sandwiches
7pm - IC (Salisbury Road) Lobby Lounge - Pre-Do drinks with excellent views of the harbour
Saturday 8 Nov
Option 1:
Day trip on Hong Kong Island
Yum cha at 9am at Metropol (across the road from Conrad), followed by taking the Peak Tram up to The Peak and a walk around Lugard Road for excellent views of Hong Kong. Quick lunch while still at The Peak, then head down into town for a private tram tour for a maximum of 35 guests. Price of the tram tour will depend on the number of people signing-up but will not be more than HK$200 (around £15 or US$25) per person. Payment will be taken on the day. The tour will finish by 4pm, giving attendee time to prepare for the Do dinner on Lamma Island.
Option 2:
8.15am - meet at Admiralty or TST for day hike in the North East New Territories.
We will walk along the very picturesque shore of the marine geopark, visit the old (and now largely deserted) Hakka village of Lai Chi Wo, and finish around the edge of Starling Inlet, overlooking the border and the eastern end of Shenzhen. We'll take lunch at a local rice & noodles place at the end of the hike. The total distance is about 15km (a little under 10 miles) and there's only one significant bit of hill climbing of about 180m (60 floors of a building). It should be doable by anyone with the fitness to walk at a reasonable pace for about 4 hours. No specialist gear is needed - just lightweight clothing (no denim/heavy cotton please), strong trainers/sneakers, a hat to keep the sun off (if we're lucky), and a small backpack to carry enough water for the hike and any other essentials (which would include a change of clothing if it's warm or wet). Here are three albums of photos taken by HongKongHikers members on this route (the wild boar having just been killed by (I assume) village dogs is unlikely to be repeated!). And here's a Garmin GPS trace of the route.
4.45pm - back at Admiralty
All
6.45pm - Meet at Central for ferry to Rainbow Restaurant on Lamma Island for dinner. (Ferry departs 7.00pm). Please don't be late, as you'll have to swim to catch up.
Sunday 9 Nov
Option 1:
9am - Day trip to Lantau Island. It's close to the airport so anyone flying out can easily head off as necessary. Hiking option will be available for those who are not flying out today. Details here.
Option 2:
Champagne Brunch at the IC HK Enjoy a leisurely Champagne brunch from 11:30-15:00 at the IC's Harbourside $782 (inc service charge). Pay on the day. I'm currently holding reservations for 10 diners and will reserve places on a first come first served basis from expressions of interest through the registration form (links to registration form are found at the top and bottom of this wiki post!). Review found here
1. TEX277
2. Economy Seat
3. percysmith
4. KIXman
5. Itsalongwaydown
6. TravelKane
7.
8.
9.
10.
After some discussion, the third option of a serious hike on Lantau has been canned since it seems that Andy's day trip is serious enough for everyone in terms of walking...
Monday
Awesom Andy will be a makeshift tour-guide taking requests from anyone interested.
Attendance
(Username, arrival date/flight, departure date/flight, hotel)
Confirmed
Awesom Andy Completed registration
TEX277 Completed registration
Oreck Completed registration
NHH Completed registration
Itsalongwaydown Completed registration
cjwong88 Completed registration
christep Completed registration
Economy Seat Completed registration
kirkwoodj Completed registration
Getiton Completed registration
smitty06 Completed registration
SumGai88 Completed registration
freqflyercoll Completed registration
TravelKane Completed registration
percysmith Completed registration
ColoradoGal Completed registration
nomadic.relief Completed registration
lowjhg
pfbloom Completed registration
GrjApp Completed registration
slickalick Completed registration
sneezyalex (Now HGHUA) Completed registration
ckpeter Completed registration
kaka Completed registration
timid_trnchcoat Completed registration
Travelingsmithy Completed registration
Arcanum Completed registration
EZEDoesIt Completed registration
KIXman Completed registration
johnwmaher (NOV 7/CX 505, NOV 10/CX 520, Hyatt Regency Tsim Sha Tsui)Completed registration
ellyse Completed registration
JohnK Completed registration
JohnK+1 Completed registration
Interested
penegal
centxwx
Melville
chchkiwi
dedehans
belinik
rstruthe
garykung
Belinik
tuapekastar
yul36
intuition
danang
TravellerOnline
jozdemir
deathscar
WillTravel (+1)
GrizShel
SQ421
moondog
***NEW*** Registration now open!
HKG DO 2014 | 8-9 November
Oct 31, 2014, 11:05 am
#196
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: SYD
Programs: QF WP
Posts: 1,799
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.
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.
Oct 31, 2014, 12:08 pm
#197
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: EWR-SEA-IAD
Programs: UA 1P MM, AS MVP G*, SPG Gold, Hyatt Plat, IHG Plat, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Gold
Posts: 977
The trip in post #155 is not strenuous (may be with the exception of the 200-odd steps which we can individually choose to partake or otherwise). Apart from this, for the vast majority of the time, the route follows paved paths and is an easy walk with minimal gradients. It's designed to see a different side of HKG without much physical output and covers areas that are easily accessible.
The hike option that is being organised is designed take a step further out to areas not visited by tourists as regularly, and provides for an interesting alternative for those who have already been to the more mainstream areas via normal transportation.
The hike option that is being organised is designed take a step further out to areas not visited by tourists as regularly, and provides for an interesting alternative for those who have already been to the more mainstream areas via normal transportation.
For the hike, nothing too tough though. I'm not looking to scale any mountains lol.
And you know what? Count me in for Yum Cha and tram in the morning of Sat.
Oh btw: this is my new handle (from sneezyalex) lol.
Last edited by HGHUA; Oct 31, 2014 at 12:22 pm
Oct 31, 2014, 10:37 pm
#199
Suspended
Join Date: May 2006
Location: HKG
Programs: A3, TK *G; JL JGC; SPG,Hilton Gold
Posts: 9,952
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 6_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/536.26 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0 Mobile/10B142 Safari/8536.25)
Just shoot me a message- im based in hkg and wouldnt mind meeting up in the evenings
Originally Posted by GrjApp
I'll be arriving in HKG early in the week, if anybody is around and want to meet up pre-DO, just PM me.
Nov 1, 2014, 1:09 am
#201
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Hong Kong
Programs: None any more
Posts: 11,017
The details of the Friday hike which HongKongHikers is running are now online here. As you can see we will be going to Lamma Island, but unlike Saturday's dinner trip, which will just be a ferry to the restaurant, dinner and a ferry back, this hike will allow you to actually see some of the island.
The HKH people are meeting in Aberdeen at the ferry pier, but for FT HKG DO people I will meet you in Admiralty (outside exit C1 of Admiralty MTR at street level) at 09:40 PROMPT. This will give you a little extra time in Aberdeen to stroll along the waterfront, and have a quick look around the fish market before we get on the ferry to Lamma. This is a smaller wooden "kaito" style ferry, not like the bigger air-conned high-speed ones from Central.
The walk is about 10km in total, with two options for the amount of hill climbing (all hikes in HK involve hill climbing), and will take about 2.75 to 3 hours. We have the option of late lunch in Yung Shue Wan (the main village on Lamma, not Sok Kwu Wan where the DO dinner on the Saturday will be) before heading back to Central and hotels etc for a quick freshen up before the evening's events start.
I currently have the following interested in this hike: TravelKane, nomadic.relief, ckpeter, timid_trnchcoat, freqflyercoll, ellyse. I will PM them shortly to confirm attendance and the meeting point. If anyone else would like to join this Friday hike then please PM me.
The HKH people are meeting in Aberdeen at the ferry pier, but for FT HKG DO people I will meet you in Admiralty (outside exit C1 of Admiralty MTR at street level) at 09:40 PROMPT. This will give you a little extra time in Aberdeen to stroll along the waterfront, and have a quick look around the fish market before we get on the ferry to Lamma. This is a smaller wooden "kaito" style ferry, not like the bigger air-conned high-speed ones from Central.
The walk is about 10km in total, with two options for the amount of hill climbing (all hikes in HK involve hill climbing), and will take about 2.75 to 3 hours. We have the option of late lunch in Yung Shue Wan (the main village on Lamma, not Sok Kwu Wan where the DO dinner on the Saturday will be) before heading back to Central and hotels etc for a quick freshen up before the evening's events start.
I currently have the following interested in this hike: TravelKane, nomadic.relief, ckpeter, timid_trnchcoat, freqflyercoll, ellyse. I will PM them shortly to confirm attendance and the meeting point. If anyone else would like to join this Friday hike then please PM me.
Last edited by christep; Nov 5, 2014 at 10:36 pm
Nov 1, 2014, 8:52 am
#202
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: SYD
Programs: QF WP
Posts: 1,799
The booking for the Saturday DO Dinner has been confirmed at Rainbow Restaurant. The 7pm ferry departs from Central Pier 9 and Tsim Sha Tsui Pier 5 (near the clock tower).
The ferry is free of charge. The booking is under the name of "Flyertalk", confirmation number A816, in the (unlikely) case that you get asked.
The website is here, which has a link to some of the meun items and set menus for references.
The ferry is free of charge. The booking is under the name of "Flyertalk", confirmation number A816, in the (unlikely) case that you get asked.
The website is here, which has a link to some of the meun items and set menus for references.
Nov 1, 2014, 9:39 am
#203
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Homeless
Programs: Marriott Titanium / HH Diamond / Hyatt Explorist
Posts: 287
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.
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.
Thanks for the info Andy very useful to me as this will be my first time in HK
Nov 1, 2014, 8:39 pm
#205
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Join Date: Aug 2010
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Nov 2, 2014, 3:57 am
#206
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Shanghai (PVG/SHA)
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Just registered... not sure about my date of departure as I may leave abruptly if I get a work trip... but otherwise should be leaving on 11th.
Nov 2, 2014, 5:50 am
#207
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Location: HKG
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I shall have a friend who would tag along if I'm coming for the Sunday Brunch if that's fine? I've added her to the wiki already if the list isnt already full by now (let me know if otherwise).
I'm also just curious - is any of us staying in the IC? that's quite a few points to be taken if we can bill this to a room!points only for Americas IC... oops.
Last edited by kaka; Nov 2, 2014 at 5:57 am
Nov 2, 2014, 7:41 am
#208
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Nov 2, 2014, 5:37 pm
#209
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As we are all starting to prepare to arrive into HKG, the latest official weather forecasts can be found here.
In summary based on the forecasts as I typed this, there may be a few showers on Friday, but no rain is expected on other days. Temperatures are around the mid 20's Celsius/mid 70's Fahrenheit. There will be a 20 knots wind blowing though, easing towards the later part of the weekend, so perhaps a light jacket would be useful to reduce the wind chill.
In summary based on the forecasts as I typed this, there may be a few showers on Friday, but no rain is expected on other days. Temperatures are around the mid 20's Celsius/mid 70's Fahrenheit. There will be a 20 knots wind blowing though, easing towards the later part of the weekend, so perhaps a light jacket would be useful to reduce the wind chill.
Nov 2, 2014, 6:31 pm
#210
Join Date: Jun 2011
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As we are all starting to prepare to arrive into HKG, the latest official weather forecasts can be found here.
In summary based on the forecasts as I typed this, there may be a few showers on Friday, but no rain is expected on other days. Temperatures are around the mid 20's Celsius/mid 70's Fahrenheit. There will be a 20 knots wind blowing though, easing towards the later part of the weekend, so perhaps a light jacket would be useful to reduce the wind chill.
In summary based on the forecasts as I typed this, there may be a few showers on Friday, but no rain is expected on other days. Temperatures are around the mid 20's Celsius/mid 70's Fahrenheit. There will be a 20 knots wind blowing though, easing towards the later part of the weekend, so perhaps a light jacket would be useful to reduce the wind chill.