The Peak Hong Kong suggestions needed.
 

Hi there.
Some of my friends and me will be travelling to Hong Kong somewhere around April next year. It's our first time there. We're planning on visitting the peak hoping to catch the scenery of Hong Kong during the evening/night. I was thinking about heading up at around 3pm(Hong Kong time) and down about 8-9pm. Any suggestions on the best time to head up and down?

Read couple of blogs was saying the crowd/queue was insane there. Any thoughts?

You are going at the golden hour, afternoon for daylight and then into dusk and then night.

There is no way around it.

There are some unlit trails away from the "tourist viewing area" which are less crowded. Make sure you have trail map, a torch/flashlight a good walking shoes.
BTW pray for good weather on the day of your planned visit. If your schedule is flexible over a few days, plan the peak visit around the weather.

Also if you're planning to take the peak tram up then buy your tickets in advance as it will cut down on the waiting time. Also, If you buy a madam tussauds/peak tower combo you get put into the "fast track" line which will mean very little wait times.

I was looking at the peak website and didn't see a link for prepurchasing these types of tickets. Sorry if I am thick and just missed it. Do you have a link??

Thanks

The crowds and waiting are insane before sunset - you might want to consider a ride to the Peak on the 15 bus and take the railway down (if you want to experience it)....plus the bus goes through some very nice neighborhoods.

If you want adventure, take bus 15 down from the peak seated front row, upper level.

For the Madam Tussauds package, there is a counter right at the front on the left, you can buy the package and head straight into an express line. If you just want the peak tram ride, walk into a CTS office or there is a Grayline Tours desk at the MTR Station in Admiralty where you could buy the tickets in advance.

Once you get to the peak tram station with your tickets do not stand in the massive lines - walk to the front and you will see a seperate line for those already holding tickets. I saw a lot of people with tickets standing in the massive line to purchase tickets.

I would say going up in the tram and coming down on the 15 bus is the best combo. The lines coming down on the peak tram are also very long, and there is no priority - therefore you have to wait. The bus 15 has some great views coming down as well. To complete the experience, take the open top bus from the star ferry to get to the lower peak tram station, i think that bus is 15C.

You don't need to pre-purchase a Peak Tram ticket in order to skip the long ticket line. Just use an Octopus card with the appropriate amount of value on it. It can be a regular Octopus card, or even thr Tourist one with the Airport Express tickets on it as long as you've added cash value to it. Just go to the express line and scan your Octopus card at the turnstile. Since IMHO anyone visiting Hong Kong should have an Octopus card of some sort, it's completely unneccessary to wait in the Peak Ticket ticket line. Also, if you go back down on the Peak Tram on the same day, when you scan the same Octopus card on the way down, it will automatically give you the round-trip discount.

The tram is something to see, but personally I agree that the 15 bus is the more interesting way to go. Definitely upper level, first row if possible.

It is best done at night when there is less traffic on Stubb's Rd. :D:D:D
(No need to go to OceanPark)

Perhaps i was wrongly informed, but I was told in order to use the Octopus line, your octopus card needs to be "pre-registered" - so that they can identify you as a resident who lives along the peak tram line or as a frequent user. I was under the assumption that you can't just walk up with a regular octopus card and skip the line.

Happy to be corrected....

I've done so with both a regular Octopus and a Tourist one. But, there may be some confusion here. I think there is a special turnstile for those with pre-registered cards, and then there is the regular turnstile. Separate from that, there's a line to buy a ticket at the ticket window, before you get to the turnstile line. The regular or tourist Octopus cards may be usable only at the regular turnstile, but every time I've been there, there's been a line only at the ticket window and not at either turnstile. Maybe at some times of the day there's a turnstile line in addition to the ticket window line.

Thanks everyone for all the advice's and thoughts.
I'll be getting the tickets in advance. For both The tram and also Madam Tussauds.
We would really love to experience the tram and bus 15's route.
Oh. and Bus 15 front row upper level, check. It's been added to my to-do-list in HK. :D
I'll be getting a Octopus card too.
Umm.. I know this'll be a silly question, but where can i get the Tourist Octopus card other than HKIA? 7-11 perhaps?

Thanks in advance.
Cheers.

The Tourist Octopus card can be purchased only at Airport Express stations from the service desk. Assuming you'll take the AE from the airport upon arrival, you'd buy it either at the airport or at your arrival station in town before going through the exit turnstile. You can purchase it with a credit card or cash, but if you want to add cash value to it, it must be done with cash.

I wouldn't bother with the tram personally - you cant actually see that much from it. Get a cab or the 15 bus as mentioned, and as soon as you get off head for Lugard road. The whole walk will take you about 1 hour and the views are spectacular. It's also pretty quiet as the majority of mainland China tourists wont venture beyond the shopping centre at the tram station.