2.06.2010

Travel tips for Hong Kong


So I've been to Hong Kong a few times and wanted to pass on my tips for traveling to and in Hong Kong. I hope this helps you plan your trip. If it does or if you have any suggests, please feel free to leave a comment at the bottom for me.

Use the trolleys - It’s a fun, convenient and cheap way to travel around Hong Kong. Let it be part of how you travel around.

Stay anywhere (this is specifically for Hong Kong Island) - Don’t worry about the prime places downtown which can be WAY more expensive than comparable locations that are a little ways away from the downtown area. With all the conveniences of public transportation (taxis, buses, subways, and trolleys) it makes no sense to have to be downtown and spending tons of money for it. Save the money for doing some fun things or eating out and instead stay somewhere a little ways away from downtown.

Visit the sites I wrote about - You can view them here.

Fly to Shenzhen instead of Hong Kong (if coming from mainland China) - This is only advice for those coming from Mainland China. It saves you a lot of money to fly to Shenzhen (or Guangzhou) and then take a bus to Hong Kong (which from Shenzhen is only one hour and only costs about $15 a person). When flying directly into Hong Kong you can expect to spend a lot more.

Use a baby backpack - Not a stroller if you can avoid it, because there are so many stairs and getting in and out of taxis can be a little exhausting.

Grab a hotel business card - You might wonder why you would do this, so I will tell you, you do this so that each time you climb into a taxi you can show them where you’re staying and the taxi driver will know exactly where to take you.

Use my bartering tips when shopping - You can read them here.

Money exchange - Find a place with a good exchange rate, because they’re not all the same. You can try; the airport, your hotel, and street vendors. Again, they’re not all the same rate, but you can save yourself a little money by trying a couple locations to see what the best rate is.

Power and outlet converters - OK so as I’m writing this my computer is about to die, because I can’t charge it in the unique outlets found in Hong Kong. So next time I will make sure to bring an outlet converter.

Outlet converters at the hotel front desk - So in relation to the tip above this one I tracked down an outlet converter at my Hotel’s front desk, so if you forget your converter (like I did) ask the hotel front desk… maybe you’ll find one!

Baby crib to use - So traveling with a toddler isn’t ever easy, but something I found out recently (and far too late in life) is that many hotels have cribs that you can use. How nice is that!? So instead of lugging your own around, you can instead simply call ahead and have the front desk reserve one for you.

Explore! - Some of the best things we found on our trip came simply because we put the map down and just walked the streets looking for interesting things. So get out there and make your own adventure!

Enjoy this day,
Matt

For a list of restaurants in Hong Kong click here.

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi! Great tips. I will take note of these when I visit HK. I have a question, though. What are trolleys? The only trolleys that I could think of are shopping carts and travel luggage carts. I can't imagine trolleys as a means of transportation.

Pearl
(http://takeadetour.net/)

Heather said...

I'm not sure what other people call them, but I mean the street cable car type thingy... does that help? I don't feel like it will. Thanks for the encouragement.