badatz

How would I get from the airport to the Big Buddah Monument and back?
How long should the trip take?
Thanks

rkkwan

Take a blue taxi (about 5 minutes) or the S1 bus (about 15 minutes) to the Tung Chung MTR station.

Take the NP360 cable car (25 minutes) or Bus #23 (about 45 minutes) to Ngong Ping, where Po Lin Monastery and the Big Buddha is.

RichardInSF

If the cable car is running!

Noodlesz

You can check if the cable car is running at the airport. Just ask the MTR customer service desk.

If it isn't you can take a bus or cab up. Just not as scenic, and a bit windy as the road goes up and down the mtn.

wandering_fred

Best of luck with the weather......

My next trip will be #4 in an attempt to get a clear view of the statue.
Trip #3 was partially clear.

Even Mrs WF was impressed with the cable car though.....
Great view of the airport

Happy wandering

Fred

oholz

Some more questions:

How much is a blue taxi from the airport to Ngong Ping/Big Buddha (oneway)?
How long will the ride take?

Will taxis be available at Ngong Ping for the way back?
Or can I have my driver wait for me?

rkkwan

It is about 28km from airport to Ngong Ping (used to be about 25, but they just opened a new section of Tung Chung Road to bypass a very narrow section). Firs 20km will cost HK$130 ($6.5/km). Last 8km $48 ($6/km). So, it's about $180.

It'll take about 45-50 minutes. Because the whole route is basically two-lane with no little passing, a taxi won't be much faster than a bus; but you avoid having to go to Tung Chung and to wait for the bus.

Whether there are taxis at Ngong Ping depends on time and day. If you don't see any taxis there, you can have the driver wait for you with the meter running, at $1.2/minute. [And since you will be over $130 already, the return trip will be a little cheaper ($6/km) if you keep the meter running.]

Having said all that, I have to say the NP360 cable car ride is pretty incredible, especially on a clear day with low/no smog. That is one main reason to go to Ngong Ping.

thursday

the trip by taxi is a LOT faster and a lot more comfortable than by bus. They climb the hill quicker, don't stop and the buses let faster traffic through.

You will find difficulty finding a blue taxi at the airport as often they are booked for returning crew to Tung Chung. But you can try your luck and wait at the blue taxi stand, if you're lucky you may get one in 10 mins. If you want to spend an extra $5 (surcharge) for calling a taxi, then PM me, I'll give you the number.

oholz

Thanks for the important pieces of information!

Using the cable car would be my first choice too. The problem is the very narrow timetable of my Hong Kong visit: I will be at the airport at 08:30 in the morning to start my Lantau trip; I have to be back at the airport around 11:00 am (some reserve for unexpected problems included) to catch my flight. As NP360 starts operating at 10 am that day, it makes no sense using it for the way up.

So my plan is as follows:
08:30 am - wait for/get blue taxi, drive to Ngong Ping
09:30 am - arrive at Ngong Ping, tour Po Lin Monastery for 30 minutes
10:00 am - Big Buddha opening, visit Big Buddha for 15 minutes
10:15 am - leave Ngong Ping by (waiting) blue taxi
11:00 am - arrive at airport again

Alternatively I could use the cable car for the way down to Tung Chung.

Any further proposals?

thursday

take the cable car down to Tung Chung. Much more pleasant. Then hop over to the S1 bus stop if you can't find blue taxis at their stand outside exit D of the MTR station.

SanDiego1K

We plan to stay at the Airport Marriott, then take their van to Tung Chung. From there, we want to take the cable car. Questions:

1. Is there a place to store our luggage at Tung Chung MTR or do we need to leave it at the Marriott?
2. There are remarks in this thread about the cable car not running due to wind. How often does that happen?
3. A friend recommends buying tickets in advance. He stood in line on a week day for 1 1/2 hours to buy his tickets. If we buy in advance, can we get them refunded if the cable car isn't running?
4. Their website for advanced purchase is currently down. Does anyone know if that has been ongoing or if it is likely to be up again in a day or two? The alternative is to download a form to fill out and email them. The form doesn't request a credit card number, so I'm a bit perplexed as to its helpfulness.

RichardInSF

Tung Chung, where the MTR stops, turns out to be an outlet shopping mall. And when I searched, I found that the outlet mall has a website, which among other things tells you about their lockers. Whether they are all regularly full or not is another story!

Take a look:

http://www.citygateoutlets.com.hk/se...s.aspx?lang=EN

On the day I was there, the cable car was not running, allegedly due to high winds, but that was soon after it opened and there were rumors that the real reason was mechanical failure. Hopefully if that's the problem, it's been fixed.

CanucksHKG

There are lockers of all sizes @ CityGate on the bottom floor.
You should be fine

While the cable car does close down from time to time...I would say chances are slim. Worse case, just take a bus or taxi up.

SanDiego1K

Thanks to all who helped me. We ended up leaving our luggage at the Marriott. We took their van to the Tung Chung subway station. The gondola operation is beyond it. We had been warned that lines could be long, went on a Sunday, so went at 9:30am. It was a breeze at that time. I purchased tickets for the glass enclosed gondola and the two movies that are shown in the tourist village at the top. After buying the tickets, there are two lines: one for the regular gondola cars and one for the glass enclosed one. The glass one is a shorter line. The ride was longer and more scenic than I anticipated. It crosses two stretches of water and makes two turns. When ascending, it's fun to look through the floor and see the path for hikers. It looks like an arduous hike, but there were a handful of folks ascending. For a stretch, you get a panoramic view of the airport and can watch jets landing and taking off. As you get near the top, you get a wonderful view of the Golden Buddha.

I had paid for the two movies shown in the village. One was a cartoon about monkeys, possibly suitable for a 1 year old. Skip it. I have done you a favor by telling you this. The other one is called something like "In the Steps of the Buddha". It's more tolerable, but can easily be skipped as well.

We repeated our glass gondola ride back to the start. This time we were the only two in the gondola. When we got back to the ticket office, the line must have been 1 to 2 hours long with people waiting to buy tickets and ascend. I strongly recommend going by 10am, at least on a weekend day.

It was a dreary day but I was still very taken with the view. I've meant to take this ride since it was opened, and am glad that I finally did so. I recommend it.

lmontebon

Hello,


I just want to ask if what is best way going to Buddha from airport because I will be in hongkong around 11pm and my next flight still at 4:55pm. Any idea how can I get to budhha the fastest way?

Thanks in advance....