Stopover in Hong Kong (9hr)
 

Will be on transit in Hong Kong for 9 hours. Will use 4hrs to check out the city. What are some good places to see.

So far I found this tour that will show us the following in 3hrs:

Lantau Link View Point & Visitor's Centre (Tsing Ma Bridge)
Tsimshatsui Promenade (Avenue of Stars)
Star Ferry ride (Victoria Harbour & Skyline)
Hollywood Road (Man Mo Temple and antique/curio shops)

Is that any good?

How bad is traffic?
How reliable is the Airport Express from HK Station to the Airport?

Not sure what's at the Launtau link, probably just a view of the city.

Avenue of Stars is really fun if you are familiar with the names of HK cinema. Many of the big stars have handprints there, and the view is really nice. If you were there at 8pm you will be able to check out the nightly laser show at the harbor.

Star ferry ride is historic, but it's just a ferry ride. The fumes are really smelly, and if the water is choppy you might get seasick ;)

Hollywood road is where there are a lot of neat antique shops. Man Mo temple is just a temple, so not really exciting unless you've never seen one before. I go there often, as my grandma-in-law is resting there. There are 2 sides - one for paying respects to family, and one for gods. Actually now that I think about it, the gods side is neat to see because there are a ridiculous amount of incense being burnt there. Like the biggest ones you'll ever see :lol

Airport Express is super reliable, and fast. You can get from the airport to downtown in under 40 mins.

I definitely wouldn't recommend a tour, just get a book, find the places you want to check out, and go yourself for a few hours. Try to at least get to The Peak if it's daytime, and you have time.

IMO you could take the train into Central, take the peak tram up, check out the view for a bit, go back down, take the MTR or tram to Sheung Wan to see Man Mo temple and Hollywood road. Take the MTR back to Tsim Sha Tsui to check out Avenue of Stars (or maybe take the Star Ferry from Central instead). Throw in some eating and shopping, and I'm pretty sure that's 4 hours right there probably.

If you price it out, it might be worth getting a $235 MTR day pass.

Between what time is your stopover? As Skinnypupp mentioned above, its best to visit the locations on your own. You wouldn't want to be caught up in Tsim Sha Tsui's rushhour / traffic jam. That would make day and night difference for connecting flights.

Going up the Peak would be recommended but keep in mind that would easily take up at least 1.5 hr of your time.

Skinnypupp mentioned a wrong day pass. That one's only good if you intend to cross bother to Shenzhen, China.

Here's a better link. It covers 2 Airport Express ride, and 3 days of unlimited travelling on the MTR system. Will cost you appx. $235 HKD.
A round trip Airport Express ticket would have cost you $160-180HKD already.

I land in HK at 7am. tour starts at 9:30am. Tour suppose to end at 12pm.
Will Tsim Sha Tsui have horrific traffic jam?

connecting flight is tat 3;30 - we want to be at airport by 1pm.

Ideally you won't be driving or taking any busses so traffic won't matter to you at all.

Land at 7am, be out of airport by 8am, be in town by 9am.. then you have 2-3 hours in town, leave at 11am or so, check into flight at noon or so...

I like the tour because it's guided and there will be a group of us. The tour company will take us on a bus and thats why I'm worried about traffic. Tour starts at 9;30 - the earliest option.

If you want to do a tour, then there's not much we can help you with. Good luck with your trip!

I just needed some local info on traffic / and feedback on places they are taking us. Please keep thread open for other potential posts re: traffic. You guys have answered all my questions, but i'm still not sold re: traffic conditions.

To be honest. That time frame you should just check out the peak and have brunch there. The MTR ride out from the airport to the city should entertain you on how HK feels like.

Other than that, HKG has a lot of shopping. Prices for high end stores should be identical to the city. Skip star ferries and the temple stuff. You won't have time. And I don't see how you can do the above in only 3 hours, especially in a bus.
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Thanks. will check out on info re: peak and post questions if i have any.

check your fb

TRDood has it right.

Focus on what you really want to do. High-end shopping can be saved for the airport as there are tons of boutiques in there anyways. You won't have time to travel back and forth, granted the MTR is very reliable. If you get caught in rush hour, you'll have to wait for a coupe of trains just because of the volume of people.