How to Get Around Hong Kong

Get an Octopus card immediately. It works on the MTR, buses, trams, ferries, and in convenience stores and many shops. It is the single most useful thing to acquire on arrival.

The MTR is fast, clean, cheap and reaches nearly everywhere including the airport and the border. The Star Ferry across the harbour costs a few dollars and is the best value view in the city.

The trams on Hong Kong Island — double-decker, slow, flat fare — are transport rather than a tourist ride, and the top deck is the best way to see the north shore.

Taxis are metered, plentiful and colour-coded by area: red for urban, green for the New Territories, blue for Lantau. Many drivers speak limited English; having the destination written in Chinese helps.

Ferries reach the outlying islands from Central and are inexpensive public transport.