The SPOT.ph Guide to Exploring Hong Kong by Train
Here's your four-day itinerary.
(SPOT.ph) Before Japan and Korea became top-of-mind travel destinations for Filipinos, Hong Kong was the go-to spot for a quick breather from the traffic-choked, fume-filled streets of our cities. For many of us, it was our initiation into first-world convenience and splendor. And if you're one of those who visit this country regularly, a trip is either laced with nostalgia or layered with a new memory. It always helps to explore Hong Kong in different kinds of ways, including a quick and convenient commute in and around the city through its fuss-free railway system.
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Hong Kong MTR Itinerary for Four Days
Hong Kong’s Mass Transit Railway is one of the world’s busiest and most dynamic railways. This highly efficient train system has a 10-line rapid transit network serving the urban areas of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories.
If Bangkok has the cute Rabbit card and Metro Manila has the rather spiritless beep card, Hong Kong has the versatile Octopus card. This reusable contactless stored value smart card can be used to make electronic payments via online or offline systems in Hong Kong, especially for transport and other retail transactions.
Interestingly, the Octopus card can be used for recording school attendance and permitting building access. It is also the world's second contactless smart card system after the Korean Upass.
Day 1: Victoria Peak and Northwest Hong Kong Island
The best intro spots to Hong Kong are the areas around Victoria Peak, including the neighborhoods on its slopes. A good jump-off point is the MTR Sheung Wan Station, where temples, quaint shops, and historic buildings are scattered nearby.
Within walking distance from the station is Connaught Road and the Western Market that’s located inside a handsome colonial building. You can head back a little bit towards Sheung Wan Station and have a sip of tea at Lam Kie Yuen Tea Co. or if you’re really hungry, you can have some red bean waffles and iced tea at the nearby Michelin-recommended Mammy Pancake.
History buffs can head up to Possession Street and look for the plaque that marks where the Union Jack flag was planted in 1841.
Quite near is Tai Ping Shan Street with its three rather lovely temples, one of which is the must-see Palace of Moon & Water Kwun Yum Temple, which is dedicated to Kwun Yum of a Thousand Arms, the Goddess of Compassion. Legend has it that Buddha gave her a thousand arms so she could lend a hand to everyone who needs it.
Find your way to Hollywood Road that’s lined with cafés, antique shops, and art galleries. Also on this road is one of Hong Kong’s oldest, most important, and most Instagrammable temples—Man Mo, so named because it’s in honor of Man, the god of literature, and Mo, the god of war. It seems to be perpetually enveloped in thick yet oddly comforting sandalwood smoke, due to the innumerable hanging incense coils. You can also try to have your fortune told.
Walk back towards Sheung Wan MTR, but take a quick detour first to Cat Street (a.k.a. Upper Lascar Row), your last stop in the area. If you love collecting trinkets and curios then this is the place to be where you can find posters of old Cantonese movies and other collectibles.
Once you’re at the MTR Sheung Wan Station, hop on a train headed to Chai Wan and get off after just one stop at the MTR Central Station, your gateway to Hong Kong’s famous Victoria Peak or simply The Peak. A few minutes on foot is the Peak Tram Lower Terminus Station, where you’ll need to board the 130-year-old Peak Tram, the fastest and most exhilarating way to reach the top, eight minutes give or take. Make sure to time your visit an hour or two before sunset so you can behold the sun setting on the horizon and see the skyline light up like a star-spangled sky.
We highly suggest going down The Peak at about 7 p.m. to make it just in time for the spectacular "A Symphony of Lights" across Victoria Harbour. Board the Star Ferry to the Tsim Sha Tsui East Promenade and wait for the light and sound show happening from 8 p.m. to 8:20 p.m.
Considered the world’s largest permanent laser light show projected from atop and on 40 or so skyscrapers, "A Symphony of Lights" has delighted locals and travelers since 2004 and admission has always been free. The musical score was performed by the esteemed Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and made use of traditional Chinese flutes and string bowed instruments.
Pro-tip: The best viewpoints are at the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront outside the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, the promenade at Golden Bauhinia Square in Wanchai, and aboard the Star Ferry in Victoria Harbour.
Looking for a more luxurious experience? A great place to watch the show while enjoying some drinks is at the 24-hour Lobby Lounge of the Intercontinental Hotel.
If you’re on a tighter budget, worry not as Tsim Sha Tsui is teeming with dining options from breakfast to midnight snacks, Cantonese to Japanese, Italian to French.
If you have yet to try Japan’s famous Ichiran ramen, you can check out their outpost in the area but brace yourself for a long queue. The famous Pierre Hermé dessert shop, where you can sample their signature decadent macarons, also has a branch in Tsim Tsha Tsui. Looking for something more local? Tak Fat Beef Balls along Haiphong Road is a great introduction to the wonderful but vanishing world of dai pa dong or traditional open-air food stalls. Don't miss out on ordering the beef ball noodles.
Day 2: Ocean Park and Mong Kok
Make sure you’ve had a big breakfast before heading out of your hotel on Day 2 as you're in for a tiring itinerary at Hong Kong’s beloved Ocean Park. Despite the stiff competition brought on by Hong Kong Disneyland, it remains the locals’ favorite because it keeps on expanding, always offering visitors something new and exciting. Plus, it's easily accessible by train through its own Ocean Park Station on the MTR South Island Line.
You can spend almost your whole day there, with its numerous rides, shows, and nature-inspired sections and exhibits, some even featuring wobbly and pudgy penguins, pandas, and a dizzying number of marine creatures. It’s not named Ocean Park for nothing.
Must-not-miss are the iconic cable car ride, a marine-themed funicular train called the Ocean Express, and the highly photogenic Old Hong Kong with its detailed replicas of old buildings and communities. There's also the Grand Aquarium, Ocean Park’s crown jewel which boasts the world’s largest aquarium dome and is home to about 5,000 sea creatures from over 400 species.
After a day of thrilling rides and animal watching, you can cap your day with a visit to the night market in Mong Kok, arguably Hong Kong’s busiest. It's accessible through the MTR Mong Kok Station, which you can reach from MTR Ocean Park Station by getting off at Admiralty Station and changing to the red line.
Mong Kok is the best place to buy affordable souvenirs and clothes with its mile-long stretch of tiangge that sells everything from sexy lingerie to goldfish. You won’t run out of "I Love HK" T-shirt designs there to bring back home to your family.
Feeling the pangs of hunger? Grab some dinner at Good Hope Noodle, a Michelin-recommended 40-year-old shop loved by many locals for its egg noodles, wontons, and congee.
Day 3: Hong Kong Disneyland
Since it first opened its gates in 2005, this theme park has been Hong Kong’s top tourist draw. Despite being more compact than most other Disney parks, HK’s own is not short on attractions and activities.
We suggest spending the whole day at Hong Kong Disneyland to fully enjoy its seven zones: Main Street USA, Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, Adventureland, Toy Story Land, Mystic Point, and Grizzly Gulch.
Like other Disneylands, there's a daily parade on Main Street at 3:30 p.m. (check the website for any changes), and a music and light parade punctuated by the much-awaited fireworks display by Sleeping Beauty's Castle every night at 8 p.m.
No visit to any Disney theme park is complete without a photo or selfie with your favorite character. You can see Winnie the Pooh and Eeyore or Mickey and Minnie and other popular characters roaming around or waiting for photo ops in a designated section. Make sure your phone is adequately charged.
Despite being located on an island, it’s a jiffy getting to Hong Kong Disneyland, which is linked by rail with the MTR through the Sunny Bay Station on the Tung Chung Line. All you need is to cross to the opposite platform to board a train to the Disneyland Resort Station. Travel time takes only about 20 to 25 minutes from Central Hong Kong.
Day 4: Tsim Sha Tsui
What better way to end your four-day holiday in Hong Kong than by exploring Tsim Sha Tsui or TST, Kowloon’s pulsating, ever-frenzied district?
Wake up early, take the MTR to East Tsim Sha Tsui Station on the Tuen Ma Line (not to be confused with the more popular MTR Tsim Sha Tsui station on the Tsuen Wan line), then take a stroll along the scenic Tsim Sha Tsui East Promenade. This corner of Kowloon, with its panoramic view of Victoria Harbor with Hong Kong Island’s iconic skyline as backdrop, is nothing short of postcard-perfect.
Start your stroll at the former KCR Clock Tower and the Star Ferry Concourse. From there, you’ll pass by the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and the Hong Kong Museum of Art and the Avenue of the Stars. Don’t miss Hong Kong’s bronze statue tribute to kung fu icon Bruce Lee.
If you love art and have time to spare, spend an hour or two at the Museum of Art which has seven galleries featuring an excellent selection of Chinese fine art and artifacts as well as contemporary Hong Kong art.
After you’ve soaked in the beauty of the harbor view, head to Nathan Road, Hong Kong’s answer to Singapore’s equally consumerist Orchard Road. As you make your way to this lively stretch of malls, electronics shops, restaurants, and cafés, you’ll walk past one of the world’s grandest hotels: the timeless Peninsula Hong Kong.
Walk further and you’ll pass by another recognizable, but far less chic structure, Chungking Mansions. This one-of-a-kind high-rise building complex seems like a breathing, living creature, awake 24/7, and holding within its ramshackle walls everything from budget (sometimes seedy) accommodations to the most obscure currencies. Every visitor to Hong Kong must visit this place at least once.
If you’ve got an afternoon or evening flight, you can burn your last few or several hours in Hong Kong without even noticing it on Nathan Road and its dizzying interior streets. Need to buy more pasalubong? Still have some shopping money? Craving yummy food? Tsim Sha Tsui and its network of establishments have everything a traveler can think of. It’s a great place for just walking around and people-watching, too.
Don’t worry about missing your flight as going to the airport is as convenient as can be through the Airport Express, which whisks you from Central Hong Kong to the Hong Kong International Airport in approximately 27 minutes.
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