Taking private tours in Hong Kong will someday cease due to the excellent transportation Hong Kong provides. Along with Switzerland, Hong Kong is a benchmark for other countries in providing its citizens and tourists carefree travel with one of the best transportation infrastructures in the world. Hong Kong scores high on these points – ease of travel within the whole city; well connected with trains, ferries, buses, trams and taxis, which zip a person across city with the help of new engineering marvels cropping up every year in the city. Clean, comfortable, safe and affordable travel is a hallmark of Hong Kong's public transportation. “First impression is the last impression,” which is aptly defined by Hong Kong's Airport – known as Chek Lap Kok Airport. Hong Kong's true “travel experience” starts from here, which is considered one of the most efficient travel hubs in the world offering passengers a fruitful entry and exit, catering to all needs a human can think off. Getting to the city and around the city is just made easier by various modes of transportation, which cover all three 3 regions of Hong Kong: Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories that borders Shenzhen, China. Trains – MTR Network, Airport Express, Light Rail, and Inter City rail 1) MTR – Mass Transit Railway, is not only about trains, it's an experience in itself. Well equipped stations are often mistaken for a 5-star hotel, which could give SBB of Switzerland a run for their money. Building such an efficient transportation infrastructure and maintaining it over the years is nothing less then a achievement. MTR covers all major hubs of Hong Kong with cleary marked signs of MTR with entry and exit points in nearly every corner of the city. MTR has a network of 10 lines : i) Island, Tsuen Wan, Kwun Tong, Tseung Kwan O, Tung Chung, West Rail, East Rail, Ma On Shan; ii) A special Disney train to take visitors to Disneyland Resort from Sunny Bay station; iii) Airport Express – is a high tech super fast train which whisks off passengers from the airport to the city in couple of minutes consisting of just 5 stations. At these designated stations within the city, passengers can even check-in their baggage while departing. b) Light Rail – Light Rail System runs between Yuen Long and Tuen Mun in the New Territories and this train connects to all MTR stations. c) Inter-city train serves Mainland China route – Beijing, Shanghai etc … 2) Buses There are five different types of bus companies working in Hong Kong. The main ones which cover the three regions of Hong Kong are: a) Kowloon Motor Bus – which cover Kowloon and New Territories b) New World First Bus and City Bus – which cover Hong Kong Island and Airport Routes c) Trams – These bus runs through the heart of Hong Kong island giving a first hand experience of the hubbub in this route as well as servicing the locals. 3) Taxis There are plenty of Taxis, if you don't want to tax yourself, taxis can be hailed on road or available on call. All taxis can go to the airport, but from airport, taxis are allowed to enter designated parts of the city as per the taxi color. a) Red taxis - operate mostly in whole of Hong Kong city except Tung Chung road ( Big Buddha Disney side ) b) Green taxis mainly are for New Territories c) Blue taxis operate only on Lantau Island – Airport side. 4) Ferries There are two types of ferries including “cruise ships.” a) Star ferry – These ferries ply between the main nubs of Hong Kong for locals as well as the tourist – Kowloon, Hung Hom, Hong Kong island. This is mostly popular with the tourist to see the cityscapes when traveling between these hubs. This is a “must do” ride. b) First Ferry – which takes you to outlying islands of Hong Kong and Macao. In this, there are fast and slow ferries, as per the ticket price. 5) Walk Due to lack of space, Hong Kong has literally created a twin city underneath its main city which has helped the citizens and tourist move all over the city freely despite of being a tourist destination. If necessary, a person with the help of an MTR map, which comes with the train ticket, can reach point A to B without seeing the sky, with underground walkways long enough to connect with another part of the city. Ticketing system for transportation within the city: A) Octopus card – This is a “pay as you go” card for citizens as well as tourist with good discounts and lot of benefits. With this card you can pay in shops or for transportation. This card works on all modes of transportation.One can buy this card online or off the counter. B) Airport Express Tourist Card – This card is for tourist only with three days of unlimited travel on MTR train network, Light Rail and few other modes of transportation like selected buses, ferries etc. Depending which Airport Express card you buy, 1 or 2 rides are free on Airport Express Trains. This pass can be bought online or off the counter. For individual Airport Express rides, one can buy tickets at the counter. Hong Kong, which is so famous for sightseeing, shopping, eating makes it just more safer and comfortable for you to travel using their public transport, especially with your family in tow. BM
