In a couple months will be layover at HKG for the very first time! My flight arrives on a Tuesday at 11:35 AM and my onward connecting flight back to the USA leaves at 16:10. I will have no bags to pick up and will have my onward Boarding Pass to my destination. Is it possible/advisable to take the train to the HK, then the star ferry to tsim sai shui maybe take in the view for 20 minutes, taxi to Kowloon station and take AE back to the airport? That's all I want to do because I will be paranoid to make my flight and I do want to enjoy the airport and chill out a bit there before the flight ideally. Any advice would be appreciated!

It will be tight but if all you want to do is take in the view for 20 min you won't have a problem. If you take longer than 20 min then you'll be cutting it close.

Assuming you land at 11:35, you still have to go through immigration/customs. In an ideal situation, you'd be at the Airport station at 12:15. Assuming you time it correctly, you can take the Star Ferry from HK to Tsim Sha Tsui by 1 if you walk around a bit on the HK side. The Star Ferry is probably only a 5 minute ride these days after they moved the pier farther and farther out, shrinking Victoria Harbor. Walk around the pier/walk of stars and head to Jordan Station and hopefully back to HKG by 2-230.

Everything will be bang bang and leave you wishing you had a bit more time. If there are any delays though, you'll be sweating your next flight.

Agreed, u have time if you don't have too much trouble w/ immigration lines on the inbound. but that time there aren't many int'l flights arriving I don't think. In reality you only need to be back at the airport at 330pm since u already have bags checked and your boarding pass. security and immigration is efficient for departing flights. It's never taken more than 20 mins for me on a bad day.

The place I see the most potential for an issue is the taxi from the waterfront promenade in Tsim Sha Tsui to Kowloon Station. I'm sure one of the HK forum regulars that's in HK right now can provide some more in depth information but I would keep in mind that there's some major construction going on near Kowloon Station for the future terminal of the high speed rail line to connect Guangzhou & Hong Kong. Last time I did a quick exit out of the airport, it was the taxi to and from Kowloon Station that sucked up a lot more time than I had anticipated.

However, I agree that you should have enough time to do what you want to do.

Thank you so much for the information...if I get confirmation that it is indeed a bad move to cab it from TST to Kowloon Station time wise then I am more than happy just to cab it from the airport if that bypasses all the traffic. I'd rather save the $20/$30 obviously with taking the train over the cab but at the end of the day not a big deal if it means not sweating it out back to the airport.

One last question there are several exits to walk out of from Hong Kong Station to walk to the Central Pier to get the Star Ferry...What's the best one to use that would be the quickest to walk to?

Exits:
A1/A2: Two IFC

or

E1/E2: One IFC

or

F: IFC Mall

From the Tung Chung line MTR, I always get out at A2, and then cross the street. That's also the fastest and quickest exit for getting to the MO, Prince's Building, HSBC, etc via the pedestrian tunnel to Statue Square. Not too sure about getting out from the AE trains, but the Star Ferry is on the IFC2 side.

From TST, and option is to just take the Star Ferry back to Hong Kong and ride the AE from there. No need to worry about taxi, traffic, or wait for free shuttle.

Thanks for the info but why take the ferry back to HK and take the AE from there? Isn't that back tracking a bit since the ride from Kowloon Station is shorter to the airport. I guess it depends how far TST is to Kowloon Station which I am not sure of.

There's a taxi stand at Star Ferry, u should have no problems finding one in the afternoon since it's after lunch and before rush hour. Or catch one at the Intercontinental Hotel.

Don't think there'll be much traffic getting to KL Station around that time, but true there is construction, bad during rush hour, as always in TST.

Only because one may worry about traffic around TST (though as mentioned, usually not an issue), and that the Star Ferry is cheaper than a taxi.