If you’re traveling to Hong Kong for 24 hours or spending 3 days in Hong Kong, these Hong Kong travel tips are essential to making your trip easier. Hong Kong can be overwhelming as a tourist and not knowing all of these Hong Kong travel tips can really add up. We put these tips together to help first-time visitors to Hong Kong make the most of their trip to this amazing city. Learn the best tips on how to get from the airport to the city, things to do in Hong Kong, local insider recommendations, and much more. After spending 10 days in Hong Kong we really fell in love with it. Here are our 8 Hong Kong travel tips!
1. TAKE THE AIRPORT EXPRESS
Getting to and from the Hong Kong International airport couldn’t be any easier. The Airport Express connects the airport to Kowloon and Hong Kong Island in under 24 minutes. Get on the train right at the airport after you pass customs & immigration. Tickets are available at the airport, but every time we went there was a long line. We opted to purchase our tickets online at Klook not only will you avoid that line, but there are 30% cheaper when you purchase them online. For about the same price Hong Kong Airport Express tickets can be purchased on Viator here, we’ve been using Viator for years and have always had good experiences.
2. GET AN OCTOPUS CARD
We really wish we would have gotten an Octopus card in Hong Kong, it would have made our lives in Hong Kong so much easier. An octopus card is basically like a prepaid debit card but it works all over Hong Kong. Instead, we were always fumbling with coins trying to MTR tickets for every journey. With an octopus card, you just scan your card over the reader and the payment is deducted from your prepaid stored value.
3. SPEND A DAY IN DISNEYLAND
Hong Kong Disneyland operates on a paper Fastpass system like Disneyland. You take your ticket to kiosks, scan it, and receive a paper Fastpass with a return time. You should be able to use Fastpass at all three rides it’s available for in a single day: Ironman Experience, Winnie the Pooh, and Hyperspace Mountain. If you want to ride all three rides, I suggest you Fastpass them in that order unless you have young kids (in that case prioritize Winnie the Pooh). You could probably ride some of these rides multiple times on most days, since like I said before, park crowds generally are low. As an aside, the Ironman Experience rules. Think a little bit of Soarin mixed in with a lot of Star Tours but Ironman flavored. Fun moments, exciting action, a little bit of humor – this ride is unique to Hong Kong Disneyland and definitely warrants your time.
4. HAVE FUN WITH A PHOTOSHOOT SESSION
Like many who travel, when he landed in Hong Kong his first instinct was to whip out his camera and start shooting. After all, the city lends itself to street photography, from the dense towers and intersections, to the islands, markets and old-school neighborhoods like Sham Shui Po.
6. STAY AT A CENTRAL HOTEL
There are 815 hotels on Agoda in Hong Kong picking the right one can be a challenge in itself. First, decide if you want to stay on Hong Kong Island or on the Kowloon side. We spent 4 nights on Hong Kong Island and 2 nights in Kowloon as there so many things to do in Kowloon we wanted to base ourselves on that side a few nights. On Hong Kong Island, we found staying in the area known as “Central” was the best. We stayed at The Pottinger Hotel which was only a few minutes walk to Central MTR station and nearby a bunch of great restaurants and unique things to do in Hong Kong. Over on the Kowloon side, we stayed at The Luxe Manor located right in the heart of Tsim Sha Tsu and only 5-minutes away from Tsim Sha Tsui MTR Station. We were able to walk to almost all the best things to do in Kowloon.
