Hong Kong's MTR A Great Way To Tour The City's Sights & Sounds
For a convenient, reliable and safe means of transportation, visitors to Hong Kong are well catered for in the MTR. So too for that fact, are the hundreds of thousands of local residents who use the network daily. It beats sitting in traffic and for the city's commuters, it makes sense when it comes to getting to and from work.
It usually doesn't take long for visitors, too, to appreciate the sense in using the MTR to take in many of Hong Kong's attractions, shopping areas and tourist spots. There's also an Airport Express link connecting Hong KongInternationalAirport to Central via a 24 minute journey that also stops at Tsing Yi and Kowloon along the way. For added convenience, a free shuttle bus operates between major hotels and the Kowloon and Hong Kong stations.
Leave it to Hong Kong's transportation authorities to help visitors begin and conclude their stay in the right way.
Surely ranking among the better of the world's subway systems, Hong Kong's MTR is comfortable and cleanly kept. Trains typically run at intervals of a few minutes, throughout the day from around 6 am til 1 am.
A number of hotels and serviced apartments in Hong Kong actively promote the MTR to tourists. Properties like The Bay Bridge Serviced Apartments facing Tsing Ma Bridge in Tsuen Wan notes on its website that the MTR can deliver guests from the nearby Tsuen Wan station to Tsim Sha Tsui in 20 minutes and to Central in 30 minutes. Naturally, the property runs a free shuttle bus to the station.
Kowloon Shangri-La, Hong Kong's online fact sheet mentions how the property is ‘just minutes' from the MTR, while Hotel LKF by Rhombus in Lan Kwai Fong states on its website it is situated a ‘4-minute walk to the MTR Central Station'.
Hong Kong serviced apartments, hotels and other accommodation in Hong Kong situated convenient to the MTR network have this as an additional promotional angle for their marketing. In Thailand's capital of Bangkok, hotels situated along that city's BTS mass transit network - also known as the Skytrain - similarly promote the travel convenience this offers.
Rather than carrying a pocket full of fare change, there's the option of purchasing travel passes such as the TouristDayPass for HK$55 (HK$25 for children aged three to 11) which is good for unlimited travel over a 24 hour period. The pass is available only to tourists (non residents of Hong Kong) and is valid for one month from the date of issue.
On the MTR website there's the Journey Planner tool, a particularly handy creation for ‘out-of-towners' not familiar with the location of various attractions and locations they want to visit while in Hong Kong. An interactive MTR network map shows attractions and shops in the proximity of each station. The tool can be downloaded as a free iPhone, iPad and Android app
Also downloadable free from the site is the MTR Tourist app. Offering destination guides, travelling routes and details on hundreds of tourist spots, this too is aimed at helping visitors more easily plan their sightseeing - be it the next day's schedule from the air-conditioned comfort of their accommodation in Hong Kong, or on-the-go during the day.
The MTR website features three suggested one-day tour itineraries that centre on shopping, dining or heritage, structured around specific stations along the MTR network. The itineraries mention which station exits to use, a little piece of ‘sightseeing intelligence' that's more important than it sounds - take the wrong exit and it could mean walking a few city blocks to get back on track to the desired attraction or shopping centre.
It usually doesn't take long for visitors, too, to appreciate the sense in using the MTR to take in many of Hong Kong's attractions, shopping areas and tourist spots. There's also an Airport Express link connecting Hong KongInternationalAirport to Central via a 24 minute journey that also stops at Tsing Yi and Kowloon along the way. For added convenience, a free shuttle bus operates between major hotels and the Kowloon and Hong Kong stations.
Leave it to Hong Kong's transportation authorities to help visitors begin and conclude their stay in the right way.
Surely ranking among the better of the world's subway systems, Hong Kong's MTR is comfortable and cleanly kept. Trains typically run at intervals of a few minutes, throughout the day from around 6 am til 1 am.
A number of hotels and serviced apartments in Hong Kong actively promote the MTR to tourists. Properties like The Bay Bridge Serviced Apartments facing Tsing Ma Bridge in Tsuen Wan notes on its website that the MTR can deliver guests from the nearby Tsuen Wan station to Tsim Sha Tsui in 20 minutes and to Central in 30 minutes. Naturally, the property runs a free shuttle bus to the station.
Kowloon Shangri-La, Hong Kong's online fact sheet mentions how the property is ‘just minutes' from the MTR, while Hotel LKF by Rhombus in Lan Kwai Fong states on its website it is situated a ‘4-minute walk to the MTR Central Station'.
Hong Kong serviced apartments, hotels and other accommodation in Hong Kong situated convenient to the MTR network have this as an additional promotional angle for their marketing. In Thailand's capital of Bangkok, hotels situated along that city's BTS mass transit network - also known as the Skytrain - similarly promote the travel convenience this offers.
Rather than carrying a pocket full of fare change, there's the option of purchasing travel passes such as the TouristDayPass for HK$55 (HK$25 for children aged three to 11) which is good for unlimited travel over a 24 hour period. The pass is available only to tourists (non residents of Hong Kong) and is valid for one month from the date of issue.
On the MTR website there's the Journey Planner tool, a particularly handy creation for ‘out-of-towners' not familiar with the location of various attractions and locations they want to visit while in Hong Kong. An interactive MTR network map shows attractions and shops in the proximity of each station. The tool can be downloaded as a free iPhone, iPad and Android app
Also downloadable free from the site is the MTR Tourist app. Offering destination guides, travelling routes and details on hundreds of tourist spots, this too is aimed at helping visitors more easily plan their sightseeing - be it the next day's schedule from the air-conditioned comfort of their accommodation in Hong Kong, or on-the-go during the day.
The MTR website features three suggested one-day tour itineraries that centre on shopping, dining or heritage, structured around specific stations along the MTR network. The itineraries mention which station exits to use, a little piece of ‘sightseeing intelligence' that's more important than it sounds - take the wrong exit and it could mean walking a few city blocks to get back on track to the desired attraction or shopping centre.
