Transit - 9 hours @ Hong Kong

[Kim F]

My wife will be transitting through Hong kong for 9 hours. Strangely, she has no real interests in airports and flying. :confused: Any suggestions for how she should spend her time? I note there is a Transit City Tour but it leaves at 9:30 am and she arrives at 11:00.

[Andrew P]

catch airport train to Kowloon, buy a day pass, then shop shop shop!!!

train trip takes 21 minutes, so can be shopping within one hour of landing, and can shop till 90 minutes before departure

[Stephen B]

You're not married are you Andrew?!

[Ryan N]

Take the tram to The Peak, then the bus back down to Central, then the Star Ferry across Victoria Harbour to Tsim Sha Tsui, and walk along the harbour foreshores.

[Brian Noldt]

At the airport pick up a copy of Hong Kong Visitor's Kit. This lists a lot of attractions and tells you how to get to them.
As Andrew said, catch the Airport Express to Kowloon (21 minutes HK$90) or to Central (24 minutes HK$100) trains run every 12 minutes.
Buy an Octopus card (www.hong-kong-travel.org/Octopus.asp) for information about which one to buy. I believe that there is a HK$8 admin fee if you refund it under 3 months. This card can be used on all kinds of transport except Red Top mini buses.
Central is on Hong Kong Island, where you can catch a tram for HK$2. It takes about one and a half hours to go from one end of the island to the other. They are quite slow. You can also catch a ferry to one of the islands or across Victoria Harbour.
You can also ride the MTR, but you don't see the country side until you get out from the city a bit. Don't go to Lo Wu (by MTR) as when you get off the train (you must) the only place to go is into China and you will need a visa to do so.

Brian.

[Steve Crook]

We had exactly this situation on November 1st when flying from Sydney to Paris. I was a bit interested to see if HK immigration would say anything but absolutely no questions asked for the 3 of us. We bought a return airport express ticket to the Central station at the railway ticket counter which I seem to recall was situated just before you actually get out into the public arrivals hall - next to a tourist info counter. Before getting on the train we put the bulk of our handluggage into storage at the airport (when you come out into the public arrivals hall, the storage office is to the right as you look towards the railway staion. It is right at the edge of the terminal just under some escalators. There was a fee payable on pickup but I can't remember how much it was - pretty good value though).
We tossed up whether to go into the city or to Lantau. As my sister had never been to HK we elected for the city and the Peak experience. The tourist counter person had advised that we could get a bus from just near a pier adjacent to the railway station; you walk across an elevated walkway to get there. Sorry, can't remember the bus number, but it had an "A" after the numerals. There were quite a few people waiting and it turned out you needed the exact fare when getting on the bus (the Octopus card may have overcome that issue but we elected not to get one). So we hopped in a cab. When we got to the Peak tram terminal the queue to get on was H-U-G-E....it was a Sunday - "maids day off" so everybody was there for an outing. Not having hours to spare to queue up we hopped another cab. At the Peak, we paid to go up to the elevated lookout which was fabulous. But the crowds were enormous.
Again, the queue to get on the tram to come down was enormous so we elected to grab another cab. As you walk down to the road from the lookout complex, the cab rank is under a building around a curve in the road to the left - it's also a bus station. The cabs were easy as, metered and cheap.
We were going to get a ferry across to Kowloon then the train back to the airport from there, but there was an interesting park just near the Central station which was full of people enjoying a balmy Sunday evening. By that stage we were feeling the effects of almost no sleep the night before so we elected to walk around there then get the train back to the airport. We already had our boarding passes for the onward leg via web check in, so it was back to the airport and straight through customs (etc).
All in all a GREAT way to break up the journey!! I think I bought the train tickets with a credit card and got $A50 worth of local currency (foreign exchange and ATM also just before you go out into public arrivals hall). With the cabs, various entrance fees and something to eat for the 3 of us I think I still had about $A7 left in wallet. Enjoy!!!

[D Chan]

Ryan's suggestion is pretty good if you are tight on time. Shopping will eat up your time quickly so you are better off sightseeing. It will be a bit of a mad dash around the city but the public transport is pretty good so you'll make it back to the Airport easy. I think you'll get the most of it from the limited time.

Definitely recommend catching the Airport Express (despite the price) - fastest way to and from Airport. Try to get around on the MTR where possible. Personally I think planning your trip around the MTR is the best idea and will ensure you get to places as fast as you can. Some places to visit (quickly) are
- tsim sha tsui (star ferry, harbour foreshore area, avenue of the stars for a magnificent view of the habour)
- mongkok (shopping - lots of shops, people, markets, mall etc.)
- central mid-levels
- causeway bay
All MTR accessible.

The peak is better on a clearer day and not that good if there's fog or smog. There are directions on the net on how to get to the closest MTR station and walk to the peak tram station (definitely should catch the peak tram up)

FYI the 'A' bus are the Airport buses. The buses to the airport have either an 'A' or 'E' designation.

And yes, if you happen to be there on the Sunday there will be tens of thousands of maids everywhere.

Re: the Octopus card you can use it almost everywhere. All public transports except cabs + 7 eleven, McDonalds, vending machines..

[Ryan N]

You can try the travel planner at discoverhongkong.com for ideas.

http://www.discoverhongkong.com/planner/eng/

[Robert S]

We bought a return airport express ticket to the Central station at the railway ticket counter which I seem to recall was situated just before you actually get out into the public arrivals hall - next to a tourist info counter ... The tourist counter person had advised that we could get a bus from just near a pier adjacent to the railway station; you walk across an elevated walkway to get there. Sorry, can't remember the bus number, but it had an "A" after the numerals. There were quite a few people waiting and it turned out you needed the exact fare when getting on the bus (the Octopus card may have overcome that issue but we elected not to get one).

The MTR ticket counter is in the public arrivals hall, after you've cleared the last of the formalities and yes you need exact fares on HK buses or, better still, an Octopus card. If you're getting any kind of public transport in HK other than taxis, you don't stop to ask the question "Do I need an Octopus card?" because the answer is simply yes. Buy it, use it, done deal.

The bus terminus is adjacent to the terminal - you don't cross the bridge to the Airport Express, rather you go down the ramp, take a left as soon as you leave the terminal and keep walking down until you get to the buses. Just follow the signs to the Ground Transportation Centre.

If it's still daylight, the Airbus services (http://www.hongkongairport.com/eng/transport/to-from-airport/bus.html) are an awesome (and cheap) way to arrive - just grab a seat on the upper deck and enjoy the view, however they are relatively slow - for a transit I'd be inclined to suggest just getting the Airport Express into town and spend the time there.

[Kim F]

brilliant responses guys - wish I was going !

[Steve Crook]

Robert, your reply prompted another memory from my transit through HKG. Thereare in fact at least 2 counters where you can buy train tickets as we ended up using both of them. The first, the one we initially used, was in this funny "no man's land" zone after you clear customs and immigration where there are various service counters. There is a transport counter, a tourist information counter and various money outlets. Once you move past all these then you actually find yourself out in the actual public arrivals hall where meeters and greeters wait. I was a bit confused by this at first. Once out in the main arrivals hall then there is another transport counter where you can buy transport tickets (between where you emerge into the hall and the train station). Everything is very easy to find. My sister managed to lose the train ticket we bought at the first counter so we also sampled the service at the second - both very friendly and helpful.

[Ryan N]

Could the first counter you saw relate to cross boundary bus and ferry services to China?

[Andrew P]

The bus terminus is adjacent to the terminal - you don't cross the bridge to the Airport Express, rather you go down the ramp, take a left as soon as you leave the terminal and keep walking down until you get to the buses. Just follow the signs to the Ground Transportation Centre.

if you arrive on CX, it is take a right not a left; in fact the entrance to the ramp is dead center in the arrivals hall

quicker is to take the lift to the car park, and then cut across to the bus stop, but do this if you only know the way.

also you can buy train tickets on the platform itself, normally the queue is even less there

CX sell train tickets in-flight, but not the day pass, save HK$20 this way

an Octopus card for a day visit only is not worth the hassle IMHO

[Robert S]

The first, the one we initially used, was in this funny "no man's land" zone after you clear customs and immigration where there are various service counters. There is a transport counter, a tourist information counter and various money outlets. Once you move past all these then you actually find yourself out in the actual public arrivals hall where meeters and greeters wait.

Ah yes... I know that area that you're talking about - either I didn't realise there was an MTR outlet there or I've forgotten because it was closed when I was there or something, I've always passed straight through that section. I've always just used the round island ticket counter just outside in the public area.

if you arrive on CX, it is take a right not a left; in fact the entrance to the ramp is dead center in the arrivals hall

The left turn I referred to is when you go down that one ramp, although looking into it now, according to this map (http://www.hongkongairport.com/eng/img/transport/map/map_parking_lrg.jpg), it looks like they have relocated the bus terminus since I was last there two years ago. It used to be just to the north of the front of T1, between there and carpark 4. Now it looks like it may be beneath the southern end of the Airport Express station, so I've got no idea how they are directing people now.

an Octopus card for a day visit only is not worth the hassle IMHO

If you're only using the Airport Express it is pointless, but if you're using other public transport in HK, even for only a few trips, then I have to disagree with you - IMO not getting an Octopus card is much more hassle than getting one. You're essentially stopping just once to buy a ticket and then any further travel is sorted for the day, no extra time buying MTR or Star Ferry tickets or trying to have exact fares for the buses etc. (and you have to know what the exact fare is in the first place) If you want to refund any remaining balance on return to the airport, this is a fairly painless and quick process - doesn't take any longer than buying the card in the first place, which itself doesn't take any longer than it takes to buy any train ticket.

[Ryan N]

You'll be surprised how quickly the credit runs out on the Octopus card. I used to top it up with $100 each time and it ran out in a day on some occasions. That was just on public transport.

[Craig Sandford]

I was a bit interested to see if HK immigration would say anything but absolutely no questions asked for the 3 of us.

Day business trips are quite common in Asia, so there normally isn't any problems. Most Aussies don't think of it, as we live in a much larger country. Just think of it in terms of a day trip to Melbourne or Brisbane from Sydney. If you are flying on cheap fares, it's cheaper to fly home than to stay in a hotel in some cases. My shortest visit to HK was for 3.5 hours for a meeting when travelling between Sydney and Taipei - except for one time when I missed the airport direct ferry from Macau, so had to go via the ferry terminal on HK Island. I think that was 50 minutes between immigration stamps.

All the suggestions of what to do have been good. For a half day trip, I have previously suggested to friends: Airport Express to Hong Kong (Central), follow the escalators up to the mid levels (with breaks if you see something interesting), walk across to the Botanic Gardens and onto the Peak Tram, bus from the peak to Stanley Markets for a look around, bus then to North Point, tram to Wan Chai, Star Ferry to Tsim Sha Tsui, walk up Nathan Road, until you've had a enough (but I recommend as far as Monkok, a taxi to Kowloon Station for the Airport Express back to the airport.

The only variation I'd recommend for you would be catch a ferry from North Point to Hung Hom so you get closer to the old Kai Tak airport. Then catch a taxi to Nathan Road (as the buses are more confusing around here), and finish as above

I would recommend getting the Octopus card if you want to have a good look around. You can always hand the card over with unused credit to someone else.

[Kim F]

Thanks again for all suggestions. The foul weather in Europe had the final say with flight cancellations and re routing, she finally came back more directly via QF6, though we have no idea which continent her luggage is in :(.

However, this was her first international J class experience on Qantas, Lufthansa & Austrian airlines (the later being shorthaul between Frankfurt & Vienna). The Qantas product was worlds apart from Lufthansa, particularly with staff attitude - well done Qantas- and we are pretty sure it was nothing to do with Qantas that her luggage is elsewhere - At one stage at Vienna airport, my wife was told that according to the system, she had departed for Frankfurt some hours before.