Hongkong in a week

Hong Kong is Special administrted area of China and consist of mainly

•  Kowloon, 
• Hong kong island and 
• New territories 
• 
  

Hong kong is one of the busiest and the developed metropolitan city in Asia in terms of trade, business, and tourism

Things before starting your journey

VISA:

Majority of the countries in the world do not need visa for Hongkong atleat for 30 days. The list is available at 

http://www.immd.gov.hk/eng/services/visas/visit-transit/visit-visa-entry-permit.html

If you do need visa then apply at least 2 months before your travel as the processing time can take 4 weeks minimum and application can be submitted to Chinese embassy or directly to the Hong kong Immigration office, I recommend to submit application at Chinese Embassy and the process is more smooth.

Travel Plan

My travel plan was simple, 

1- Reasonable hotel with breakfast in the Kowloon district

2- Street food and night markets

3- Hong kong Island

4- Victoria Peak

Flight

There are many flights to Hongkong, try to reach in the day time to easily access the public transport, Try to take front seats in flight to jump out early from plane and reach to immigration counters, the immigration counters are heavily crowded and fill the DATA FORM before reaching the immigration counter, otherwise you need to go back and fill the form and stand in quo again. There is no alternative for it. The immigration officer are kind and smiling and give you a small receipt with the stamp in your passport showing your last date of return from Hong kong.

Hotel

I like staying right at the center to walk in the night to markets and return without taking public transport. I prefer Kowloon and somewhere near stop JORDAN. I think that's a very nice area to stay near to center and still quiet place. There are many food options there, money exchange offices and easy to access any transport.

Airport to Hotel/Center

The public trasnport is quite good in Hong kong and personal cars are like luxury items. Most the people travel by buses or metro. After arriving at the airport you can take Bus or Train to Center.

OPTION 1:

Take airport express train, you can go to Kowloon or Hong kong Island and cost around 110HKD for one ride, little cheaper if you have OCTOPUS card. or a better option to take airport express travel pass,
1 Airport Express Ride with Unlimited MTR Rides for 3 days: HK$250

OPTION 2

I personally prefer option 2 to take a bus and reach at stop near your hotel, as carrying and transferring your luggage is easier with bus.

After coming out from the airport follow the signs and come out to the bus stop area, go to CITY FLYER company both and buy ticket the required bus ( it will be bus A21 or A22) one way ticket cost 39HKD and if you think to travel more in next days then buy the OCTOPUS card and charge the money in it. OR you can just pay the exact amount to the driver when entering bus( CHANGE is not returned so PAY exact)

The bus takes about 50 minutes to reach the Center( Tsim Sha Tsui  stop)

Night Markets

KOWLOON is famous for its night market and street food. KENT street or Lady market are popular night markets. where as eating on the streets of KENT market is a experience of its own. The city is expensive but still comparable to any other metropolitan city. 

Hong kong island

Hongkong island is accessible by MTR ( take metro from JORDAN stop) or just walk to harbour and then take ferry to the Hongkong island, its a cheap way to have a wonderful view of the harbor and visit to HK island. 

Victoria Peak

At Hongkong island the Victoria peak is a must visit advice. The public bus number 15 for the CENTRAL station goes directly to Victoria peak, take a evening time and reach near sunset and the view is breathtaking, the way back can be very crowded so either stop till the crowd goes back and have dinner and spend some time there or go quickly for the bus to come back to the central station. 

FOOD

The variety of food is huge and you can find almost all types of food, try the local street food near KENT market, the hygiene is level is not so good, but the atmosphere is great.

Local vendor at metro station

Other places

If you have time try to visit following places

Mong Kok

Ngong Ping and Tian Tan Big Buddha

Hongkong disney land

Lamma Island

Museums

Likes and Dislikes

        From my personal experience Hongkong is city where anyone can live easily, its blend of many nationalities, culture, customs,tradition and religion that hard to identify the locals, so makes it great metropolitan city. The city is quite safe ( at least I didnt feel any fear walking in day and late nights)

Personal dislikes from the city are

      Poor hygiene level and street food,fruits must be tried with strong stomach. The humidity in summer is extreme and hard to even walk in the streets. The hotels with basic facilities are even very expensive. Take your stomach medicines and antibiotics with you.

Enjoy you stay