Hong Kong is a great city to explore, but if you’ve got limited time on a layover, planning is key to enjoying your trip.
Q. Cathy
We’re travelling to Europe in next month and in an attempt to keep our costs down, have booked a flight with a long layover in Hong Kong – 20 hours to be exact. Obviously, we don’t want to hang around the airport for this time, but booking a hotel room also seems pointless. So, is it possible to venture into the city during this time? If so, what should we consider seeing and doing?
A. Long layovers can be fun, as long as you’re prepared, and Hong Kong is the perfect city to explore in a limited time. Although there is so much more to see than your available time will allow, great transport links and an abundance of organised day trips will make filling in the time easy.
Make use of the bag storage facility in Terminal 2, which is open 20 hours a day from 5:30 to 1:30. It will cost you HK$140 (approx. AUD$23) per bag per day, so pack wisely and don’t forget to take anything you may need throughout the day.
You can easily catch the Airport Express into Hong Kong; it only takes 24 minutes and costs about HK$100 (approx. AUD$17.60). Jump off at Kowloon and take a hop-on-hop-off tour operated by the Big Bus Company. A 24-hour ticket will cost you US$55 (approximately AUD$76) and will enable you to see as much of the city as possible in the time you have. Don’t forget to try some of Hong Kong’s many restaurants, which offer some of the best Chinese food you’ll ever taste.
If you’re unsure about going your own way in Hong Kong, Splendid Tours offers an airport transit tour, which takes about eight hours and, as the name suggests, includes a one-way transfer from the airport. This will then give you plenty of time to enjoy a leisurely meal, or stroll around your favourite part of the city, before heading back to the airport.
Remember to give yourself plenty of time to enjoy the services in the airport before the next leg of your flight. You can relax with a massage, take in one of the many exhibitions on offer, enjoy a surprisingly tasty meal at the food court, or even play nine holes of golf at the course just next to Terminal 2.
Hong Kong airport (bag storage details)
Hong Kong airport (airport express details)
Hong Kong airport (things to do)
