How to Get to Hong Kong: Airport Express, High-Speed Rail and MTR

Hong Kong is one of Asia's great aviation and rail crossroads, with seamless high-speed connections between its island airport, mainland China and Macau.

From Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) to the city

Hong Kong International Airport sits on Lantau's Chek Lap Kok island, roughly 34 kilometres west of Central. As soon as you exit the baggage hall into the arrivals concourse on the same level, no stairs or elevators required, you have three clean ways into town:

• Airport Express Train (fastest, 24 minutes to Central): departs every ten minutes directly across the arrivals hall, stopping at Tsing Yi, Kowloon Station and Hong Kong Station (connected underground to Central Station). Passengers flying with participating airlines can also drop bags and collect boarding passes in town at Hong Kong or Kowloon Station on the day of departure.
• Cityflyer and Long Win Airport Buses ("A" routes): comfortable double-decker coaches with luggage racks, USB ports and upper-deck views across the Tsing Ma suspension bridge. Route A21 runs right down Nathan Road through Mong Kok, Yau Ma Tei, Jordan and Tsim Sha Tsui, while A11 serves Sheung Wan, Central, Wan Chai, Causeway Bay and North Point.
• Colour-coded Taxis: red urban taxis serve all of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon; green New Territories taxis serve the northern New Territories; and blue Lantau taxis stay on Lantau Island.

High-speed trains at Hong Kong West Kowloon Station and Macau ferries

High-speed bullet trains from Shenzhen (fourteen minutes), Guangzhou, Xiamen, Shanghai and Beijing terminate at the sweeping grass-roofed Hong Kong West Kowloon Station (connected by footbridges to Austin and Kowloon MTR stations). Because the station uses a co-location border system, you clear both Hong Kong and Mainland China immigration under one roof before boarding; allow forty-five minutes before departure. High-speed catamarans operated by TurboJET and Cotai Water Jet link the Shun Tak Centre in Sheung Wan to Macau in roughly one hour, while 24-hour golden shuttle buses cross the 55-kilometre Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge from the port next to the airport. Read practical Octopus tips and compare hotel bases in where to stay.