Hong Kong: where to stay, when to go, and how to get around

Overview

Hong Kong is dense, vertical and fast, split by Victoria Harbour into two halves that define almost every decision you’ll make: Hong Kong Island on the south side, steep and built up against the Peak, and the Kowloon peninsula on the north, flatter and more crowded. The harbour is the reference point — you’re either on one shore or the other, and crossing it (by MTR, by ferry, or by road tunnel) is a normal part of a day here. North of Kowloon the New Territories run to the mainland border, and the airport sits offshore on Lantau, west of the city.

It is a genuinely easy place to visit: transport is superb, English is widely used alongside Cantonese, and it is safe at any hour. It is also humid, loud and expensive — hotel rooms are small and dear by the standards of the region, and in high summer the weather alone can shape your itinerary. Come for the food and the sheer intensity of the place rather than for quiet.

Where to stay

The first choice is island or Kowloon, and it is a real choice, not just logistics. Hong Kong Island is where the money, the bars and the hills are; Kowloon is denser, cheaper, more local, and has the harbour view of the island skyline rather than being in it. The MTR and the Star Ferry link the two constantly, so neither cuts you off — but the character either side of the water is different, and that’s what you’re picking.

Central & Sheung Wan (Hong Kong Island)

The business core and the heart of the nightlife, on the island’s north shore. Lan Kwai Fong and SoHo — reached by the open-air Mid-Levels escalator — are the bar and restaurant districts, and the Peak Tram up to Victoria Peak leaves from just uphill. Sheung Wan, immediately west, is calmer, with old dried-seafood and medicine shops giving way to galleries and coffee. Stay here if you want to walk out into restaurants and bars and be at the centre of things. The trade-off is price and weekend noise: this is the most expensive area, rooms are tight, and the LKF streets are loud until very late.

Causeway Bay & Wan Chai (Hong Kong Island)

East along the north shore, this is the island’s shopping and eating engine — Causeway Bay is relentless retail and crowds; Wan Chai, between it and Central, mixes old wet markets and tenements with newer towers and a long-standing bar strip. Stay here if you want to be central but pay a little less than Central proper, and you want food and shops on the doorstep. The trade-off is crowds and constant activity: Causeway Bay pavements are shoulder-to-shoulder at weekends, and there’s little peace at street level.

Tsim Sha Tsui (Kowloon)

At the tip of Kowloon, directly across the water from the island, TST has the best skyline view in the city, the museums along the waterfront, and the Star Ferry pier for the short crossing to Central. Nathan Road runs north from here through the shopping grid. It holds everything from luxury harbourfront hotels to the famously cheap guesthouse warren of Chungking Mansions. Stay here for the view across the harbour and a wider range of room prices than the island offers. The trade-off is that it is heavily touristed and traffic- choked, and the cheapest rooms are genuinely small and basic.

Yau Ma Tei & Mong Kok (Kowloon)

North up the peninsula, this is Hong Kong at its most concentrated: neon, street markets (the night market, the flower and bird markets nearby), and some of the best cheap eating in the city. Stay here if you want the local, working, un-glossy Hong Kong and lower prices. The trade-off is density and noise — Mong Kok is one of the most crowded places you’ll ever stand, the streets are grubby in patches, and you’re a longer MTR ride or ferry from the island’s bars.

When to go

Autumn (late October to December) is the clear best window: warm, drier, with lower humidity and the reliable sunny days the city waits all year for. Winter (January– February) is cool and can be grey but is comfortable and quiet. Spring (March–May) is warming up and often damp, foggy and humid, with the harbour views frequently hazed out.

Summer (June–September) is hot, very humid and wet, and it overlaps typhoon season: tropical storms can shut the airport, transport and shops for a day or more when a high signal (the T8 and above) is raised. It’s worth watching the forecast if you travel then and building in slack. This period also runs into the busiest, wettest weeks — plan around it rather than assume a fixed schedule.

Getting there & around

From the airport on Lantau, the Airport Express is the fast way in — around 24 minutes to Hong Kong Station in Central, with a stop at Kowloon Station on the way; both connect to the wider MTR. A taxi is far slower and dearer for central destinations, though useful if your hotel is awkward for the rail link. Airport Express also runs a free shuttle bus from its stations to many hotels.

In the city, do not rent a car — parking is scarce and costly, traffic is heavy, and you will never need one. The MTR is fast, clean and reaches almost everywhere you’ll want to go. On Hong Kong Island’s north shore the century-old double-decker trams (“ding dings”) crawl east–west and are cheap and characterful for short hops. The Star Ferry across the harbour between Tsim Sha Tsui and Central is one of the genuine pleasures of the city and costs almost nothing — take it at least once at dusk. Buses and minibuses cover the hills and the outer areas the MTR misses.

Get an Octopus card on arrival: the stored-value card works on the MTR, ferries, trams, buses and in convenience stores, and it removes all the fumbling with fares. It’s the single most useful thing you can do in your first hour. For a day out, the ferries to the outlying islands — Lamma, Cheung Chau, Lantau — leave from the Central piers and get you to beaches, seafood villages and hiking in under an hour.

Practicalities

Hong Kong is very safe, including late at night and on public transport; ordinary city awareness is enough. Cards and mobile payment are accepted almost everywhere, but keep some cash for street-food stalls, dai pai dong (open-air food stalls) and the smallest shops.

The food is the reason many people come. Dim sum — the small steamed and fried plates taken with tea, the meal called yum cha — is best at breakfast and lunch, not dinner, and is meant to be shared. The other essential is the cha chaan teng, the Hong Kong diner serving milk tea, the pineapple bun (bo lo bao, which contains no pineapple), macaroni soup and egg tarts. Look also for roast meats — char siu pork and roast goose over rice — and wonton noodle soup. Seafood is the thing to eat on the outlying islands.

A few local notes. Tap water is safe to drink. Escalators and pavements move fast and stand- on-the-right is expected. Tipping is not really the custom, though better restaurants add a service charge to the bill. And the weather warning bears repeating: if a typhoon signal no. 8 goes up, shops, offices and transport shut down and you stay indoors until it’s lowered — check the signal before planning a day out in storm season.