- Important points
- Choosing wings
- Hotel or apartment
- Transport subtleties
- Nightingales are not fed with fables
- Useful details
- Perfect trip to Hong Kong
The city of Hong Kong and its adjacent territories are officially called the Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. But for the guests, Hong Kong appears rather as a giant melting pot, in which ancient traditions and dynamic modernity, oriental exoticism and western gloss, a distant past and a future future are mixed. Traveling to Hong Kong gives you the opportunity to enjoy an amazing city that represents a miniature model of our planet - big and different.
Important points
- If you have Russian citizenship and are flying to Hong Kong for tourist purposes or on a short-term business trip for a period not exceeding 14 days, you will not need a visa.
- Internet access in the vast majority of Hong Kong hotels is paid and expensive. To minimize your cellular costs, buy a SIM card from a local operator. The price of the issue is from $ 15.
- Traffic on Hong Kong streets is very heavy and left-handed. When crossing the road, do not forget to look first to the right and then to the left.
Choosing wings
The path to one of the largest financial centers in Asia is not a short one, and even a direct flight to Hong Kong takes about 10 hours:
- Aeroflot planes fly from the capital of Russia to Hong Kong several times a week. The price of the issue is from $ 470.
- The ubiquitous Turkish airlines offer flights with a connection in Istanbul. Tickets can be booked for about $ 370. Transfers on cheap flights are long, and sometimes you have to spend 6-8 hours at a Turkish airport.
- Emirates traditionally offer comfortable flights from Moscow to Hong Kong via Dubai. Their ticket prices start at $ 560, but if you keep track of the special offers of this airline, you can organize a trip to Hong Kong at a very low cost.
The airport is connected to the city center by the Aeroexpress line. The fare is from $ 27 on general terms or from $ 15 - with an Octopus transport card.
If you decide to get to Hong Kong from mainland China for a couple of days, buy train tickets from Beijing or a bus from Guangzhou. In the city of Shenzhen, you have to cross the border. The price of a ticket for the Beijing - Shenzhen train starts from $ 40, for an express train from Guangzhou to the border with Hong Kong - from $ 12. The bus will take you from Guangzhou for $ 15.
The Chinese consider the ferry, which connects Hong Kong with the mainland three times a week, to be a convenient means of transport. The crossing will cost $ 50, the journey will take about an hour.
Hotel or apartment
Hong Kong is a very expensive city, and spending the night even in a small "starless" hotel will significantly hit the budget of the budget traveler. Rooms in Hong Kong hotels are usually very small in size, if we are not talking about the "five" famous world chains. In addition to a bed and a small bathroom, the designers of Hong Kong hotels do not offer guests practically anything, and therefore even things often have to be placed on the windowsills.
The most budgetary option for settling is rooms in guest houses. The price per night in such a room starts at $ 30, and you only have a bed at your disposal. The price of a stay in a two-star hotel is from $ 90 and more, and for the opportunity to spend the night in a "three-ruble note" you will have to pay at least $ 160.
Prices peak during the period of international exhibitions, during the celebration of the Chinese New Year and just on weekends.
Do not forget about the deposit, which will almost certainly be "frozen" on your credit card when you check into a hotel in Hong Kong. The price of the issue is from $ 100. In order to avoid delays with its return, it is best to have cash for this purpose.
Transport subtleties
Car rental in Hong Kong is a risky undertaking. And the point is not only that left-hand traffic is not too familiar for the Russian car enthusiast. Hong Kong is a city of eternal traffic jams, and only a local resident can best understand the local road junctions.
Public transport is represented by metro and buses, funiculars and trams. The fare in the subway ranges from $ 0.5 to $ 3, depending on the zone in which the desired station is located. A city bus ticket will cost $ 0.50 if the route runs on free roads.
The cheapest form of public transport in the city is the tram. For one trip to a hundred-year-old Hong Kong landmark, you will have to spend only $ 0.30.
The islands of Lantau and Lamma are easily accessible by Star Ferry. For just $ 0, 3 and a few minutes you can not only be in the right place, but also enjoy the magnificent views of Hong Kong from the sea.
The Hong Kong universal travel card is called the Octopus Card. It costs approximately $ 23, of which $ 7 is the price of the card itself, refunded to the passenger upon its return.
Nightingales are not fed with fables
Hong Kong restaurants offer a huge selection of all possible cuisines of the world, but with a pronounced bias towards Chinese, which is quite natural. The prices for local food are very affordable, and for fans of oriental exoticism, the city will seem very friendly and suitable. But for gourmets accustomed to food of European quality, it will not be too easy, since restaurants of this level, although they are quite common, but the prices in them cannot be called humane.
The average bill for a dinner in an Italian restaurant, consisting of a salad and a plate of pasta, can "pull" $ 30 -40 $, and if you additionally order at least a glass of wine and dessert, its cost will at least double. But dinner at a Chinese street cafe will cost only $ 6-8.
A good way to save on food in Hong Kong is shopping mall food courts. If you do not pay attention to the noise and crush, in the local cafes you can have lunch or dinner for $ 10 -15 $, moreover, the visitor will be able to choose among the dishes of Mediterranean, Arabic, Chinese or Japanese cuisine.
Useful details
- Long transfers in Istanbul on the way to Hong Kong and the possibility of a visa-free visit to Turkey can be used if you spend the docking time on a sightseeing tour of the city. Turkish Airlines information counters usually offer free bus options for transit passengers.
- For the most important landmarks in Hong Kong, purchase the See Hong Kong Pass. The card is sold on the official website of the same name, costs about $ 140 for five days and allows you to visit the most famous places of the city for free or with a significant discount.
- Major sales in Hong Kong malls kick off a couple of weeks before Chinese New Year and July 1st.
- Laser show "Symphony of Lights" entered in the Guinness Book of Records starts daily at 20.00. The best views are from the Victoria Harbor promenade.
- It is worth going to Victoria Peak, where the famous observation deck is located, in the morning. After lunch, the Hong Kong harbor is often covered with fog and smog.
- The price of the trip on the old funicular to Victoria Peak is $ 4 one way and $ 6 for a round-trip ticket.
- All station names and information for passengers in the Hong Kong subway are sublated in English.
- There are toilets at every station on the Hong Kong subway.
Perfect trip to Hong Kong
Located in the subtropical zone, Hong Kong is especially good to visit in the first half of autumn. By September, the hot and humid period ends here and the thermometer columns are set in the afternoon at around + 24 ° С - + 26 ° С. When going on a trip in winter, you should bring a warm jacket. The air temperature in January can drop to + 10 ° С. In the absence of a heating system in the local hotels, the traveler may feel unusual discomfort.
