Getting Around Hong Kong

The MTR is the backbone of the city. Ten heavy-rail lines and the Airport Express run from about 6am to between midnight and 1am, with trains every 2 to 4 minutes at peak times. Signs and announcements are in English and most stations are step-free.

• Island Line (blue): Kennedy Town to Chai Wan along the north shore, through Sai Ying Pun, Sheung Wan, Central, Admiralty, Wan Chai and Causeway Bay.
• Tsuen Wan Line (red): Central and Admiralty under the harbour to Tsim Sha Tsui, Jordan, Yau Ma Tei, Mong Kok and Sham Shui Po. The main tourist line in Kowloon.
• Tung Chung Line (orange): Hong Kong Station to Kowloon Station, Tsing Yi and Tung Chung, for the Ngong Ping cable car to the Big Buddha.
• East Rail Line (light blue): Admiralty to Hung Hom, Kowloon Tong, Sha Tin, Tai Po and the mainland border at Lo Wu or Lok Ma Chau. It has a First Class car at double fare.
• South Island Line (lime): Admiralty to Ocean Park, Wong Chuk Hang and Ap Lei Chau.
• Others: the Kwun Tong, Tseung Kwan O, Tuen Ma and Disneyland Resort lines, plus the Light Rail around Tuen Mun and Yuen Long.

Fares depend on distance and are lower with an Octopus card than with a single-journey ticket. As a guide, Central to Tsim Sha Tsui is about HK$12 to HK$13, Central to Mong Kok about HK$15 and Admiralty to the Lo Wu border about HK$45 to HK$55. Children aged 3 to 11 and seniors 65 and over pay roughly half. Eating and drinking are banned on the MTR, including water, and fines are enforced.

The Octopus card is the easiest way to pay for everything: the MTR, buses, trams, green minibuses, the Star Ferry and outlying-island ferries, the Peak Tram, many taxis, convenience stores, supermarkets, fast-food chains, vending machines and parking meters. Buy one at any MTR Customer Service Centre or the Airport Express counter; the standard adult card costs HK$150, which includes a HK$50 refundable deposit (check the current terms on the Octopus site). Top it up with cash at MTR add-value machines, at 7-Eleven and Circle K tills, or at the Customer Service Centre. When you leave, return the card at an MTR counter for the deposit and remaining balance, minus a small handling fee if you have had it for less than 90 days.

Most visitors now use Octopus on mobile instead. On an iPhone, open Wallet, tap +, choose Transit Card and add Octopus, then top it up with Apple Pay; many foreign Visa, Mastercard and Amex cards work, though some issuers decline. Express Transit means you tap the phone or watch at the gate without unlocking it. Android support depends on the phone model and wallet, so check the Octopus app before you rely on it.

The MTR, trams, Star Ferry and most bus companies also accept contactless bank cards and phone wallets (Visa, Mastercard, UnionPay) and QR codes from AlipayHK and WeChat Pay at the gates. That works for occasional rides, but you lose the Octopus-only fare discounts and interchange savings, and minibuses, small shops and many taxis still want Octopus or cash.

Hong Kong fares are so low that passes rarely pay off.

Do the sum for a typical sightseeing day: Central to Tsim Sha Tsui (HK$12), Tsim Sha Tsui to Mong Kok (HK$6), Mong Kok to Sham Shui Po (HK$6) and back to Central (HK$15) comes to under HK$40, well under the Tourist Day Pass price. It helps only on long days out to Tung Chung or Sha Tin and back.

Hong Kong International Airport is on an island off Lantau, 35 km from Central. The Airport Express reaches Hong Kong Station (under IFC in Central) in 24 minutes, Kowloon Station in about 21 and Tsing Yi in about 14, every 10 to 12 minutes from about 5:50am to just before 1am. One-way adult fares are about HK$120 to HK$130 to Hong Kong Station depending on the ticket, about HK$105 to HK$115 to Kowloon and HK$73 to HK$80 to Tsing Yi; tap the same Octopus at the airport gate and at your destination. Group tickets for two to four people and same-day or round-trip QR tickets on the MTR app reduce the cost per head.

In-Town Check-in is the Airport Express’s best trick: at Hong Kong and Kowloon stations you can check in and drop your bags for most airlines from 24 hours to 90 minutes before departure, then spend the day bag-free. You need an Airport Express ticket or an Octopus you will use on the train.

The cheaper option is the airport buses: Citybus and Long Win “A” routes run to Central and Causeway Bay (A11), Tsim Sha Tsui and Mong Kok (A21) and most districts for about HK$30 to HK$50, taking 45 to 75 minutes, with luggage racks and Wi-Fi. “N” night buses cover the hours when the trains stop. A taxi costs about HK$300 to HK$450 to Central or Tsim Sha Tsui, plus HK$6 per bag in the boot; red taxis serve the whole city from the airport rank.

Buses go where the MTR does not, especially the south side of Hong Kong Island and the country parks. KMB runs most routes in Kowloon and the New Territories, Citybus most on the Island and across the harbour. Fares run from about HK$4 to HK$50 by route; pay with Octopus, a contactless card on most buses, or exact cash (no change is given). The upper deck front seat of a double-decker is the cheapest sightseeing ride in Asia: try Citybus 6 or 6X from Exchange Square in Central over the hills to Stanley, or route 15 to the Peak.

Minibuses (public light buses) carry 19 passengers. Green minibuses run fixed, numbered routes at fixed fares and take Octopus; green minibus 1 from Central to the Peak is quicker than the bus. Red minibuses have no fixed stops, take cash (some now take Octopus), run through the night between Mong Kok, Wan Chai and the New Territories, and stop wherever you ask. Shout “yau lok” (next stop, please) clearly before your stop. Seatbelts are compulsory.

Google Maps and Citymapper handle bus routes well; the KMB and Citybus apps show live arrivals.

Hong Kong Tramways, the “Ding Ding” double-deckers, run along the north shore of the Island from Kennedy Town to Shau Kei Wan, with a loop around Happy Valley. Board at the back, exit at the front and pay as you leave: HK$3.30 for adults, HK$1.60 for children and HK$1.50 for seniors, by Octopus, contactless card, QR code or exact coins. Trams run from about 5am to midnight. The upstairs front seats are a slow, cheap street-level tour.

The Star Ferry has crossed Victoria Harbour since 1888. The main route runs from Central Pier 7 to the Tsim Sha Tsui pier in about 9 minutes, every 6 to 12 minutes from 6:30am to 11:30pm; a second route links Wan Chai and Tsim Sha Tsui. Adults pay HK$5 upper deck or HK$4 lower deck on weekdays, and HK$6.50 or HK$5.60 at weekends and on public holidays.

The Peak Tram climbs from the Garden Road lower terminus in Central to the top of Victoria Peak in about 10 minutes. Since 29 December 2025 an adult single is HK$82 and a return HK$116, and combo tickets with the Sky Terrace 428 viewing deck cost HK$146 single and HK$182 return. Weekend and evening queues can reach an hour; go before 10am, or ride up on the tram and come down on bus 15 or green minibus 1.

Ferries to the outlying islands leave from the Central Ferry Piers, a short walk from Hong Kong Station:

• Pier 4: Lamma Island (Yung Shue Wan in about 25 to 35 minutes, Sok Kwu Wan in about 30 to 40).
• Pier 5: Cheung Chau, by fast ferry in about 35 minutes or ordinary ferry in about 55 to 60.
• Pier 6: Mui Wo on Lantau and Peng Chau, with fast and ordinary sailings.
• Pier 3: Discovery Bay on Lantau, around the clock.

Fares are roughly HK$15 to HK$30 on ordinary ferries and HK$25 to HK$50 on fast ferries, higher on Sundays and public holidays; pay by Octopus at the gate. Saturday and Sunday mornings are busy, and the last ferries back leave around 11pm to midnight. Smaller boats from Aberdeen go to Lamma’s Sok Kwu Wan and Po Toi, and the kaito ferries from Sai Kung serve the beaches and islands of the east.

Taxis are plentiful and cheaper than in most rich cities. The colour tells you where they can go:

Extras are HK$6 per bag in the boot and the tunnel tolls; on the cross-harbour tunnels the passenger also pays the driver’s return toll of HK$25. Central to Tsim Sha Tsui costs about HK$90 to HK$140 by taxi including tunnels. Drivers do not have to change HK$500 or HK$1,000 notes; many now take Octopus, cards or AlipayHK, but ask first. Have your destination written in Chinese. Some red taxis refuse cross-harbour trips at shift change; cross-harbour taxi ranks fix that.

Uber works in Hong Kong and is widely used, but private cars carrying passengers for hire without a permit are illegal, and the government is drafting rules to regulate it. The legal alternatives are booking licensed taxis through the HKTaxi app or the Uber Taxi option.

Mainland China and Macau are separate immigration zones, so bring your passport. To Shenzhen, the East Rail Line from Admiralty reaches Lo Wu in about 45 minutes (border open about 6:30am to midnight) and Lok Ma Chau for Futian in about the same time (6:30am to 10:30pm). The fastest option is the high-speed rail from West Kowloon Station to Futian in about 15 minutes and Shenzhen North in about 20, with Guangzhou South under an hour away; mainland immigration is inside West Kowloon, so arrive 45 minutes early. Book on the MTR high-speed rail site, the 12306 app or at the station. Check China’s visa rules for your passport: many European passports plus Australia and New Zealand now get visa-free entry, and others can use the 240-hour visa-free transit with a confirmed onward ticket to a third country.

To Macau, TurboJET ferries leave the Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal in Shun Tak Centre (Sheung Wan MTR exit D) for the Macau Outer Harbour roughly every 30 minutes in the day, taking about an hour; economy fares are about HK$175 to HK$220 depending on day and time. The alternative is the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge shuttle bus from the Hong Kong Port near the airport, every 5 to 10 minutes from 9am to midnight and every 15 to 30 minutes overnight, taking about 40 minutes across the bridge for roughly HK$65 to HK$70. It runs 24 hours and suits anyone coming straight from a flight.

Much of central Hong Kong is best on foot, if you accept the heat and the hills. The Central-Mid-Levels Escalator is a covered, 800-metre chain of escalators and moving walkways from Queen’s Road Central up to Conduit Road through SoHo; it runs downhill from about 6am to 10am and uphill from 10am to midnight. Central, Admiralty and Wan Chai are linked by miles of elevated walkways between malls and offices, which keep you out of the traffic and the rain.

Useful apps: MTR Mobile for journeys, fares and QR tickets; Citymapper or Google Maps for door-to-door routes including minibuses; KMB and Citybus for bus arrivals; HKeMobility, the government’s all-mode planner; HKTaxi for licensed cabs; and MyObservatory for weather warnings. Combine this with our Hong Kong itineraries for day-by-day routes.