I will be flying first class on Cathay Pacific from LAX to HKG(stopover) and finally Johannesburg. I will have about 15 hours stopover in Hong Kong. I figure that about 5-7 hours will be spend at the fabulous CX lounges. I will try to get a Cabana at the Wing Lounge to soak in the deep tub and refresh after my arrival. I would like to be back at HKG and in the Pier Lounge at least 4-5 hours before the departure that evening. I will try to get the quiet, personal day room there to relax before the long flight to South Africa. The day room and the Noodle Bar should be sufficient food/relaxation before the long flight. So, here is my question. Assuming I soak for about an hour or so after arrival, I will be free to venture out at about 10am. And since my later flight doesn't leave till 11:30pm I will have till about 6pm to enjoy Hong Kong. Also I will be back in Hong Kong 12 days later for a 7 day stay, so I don't need to catch everything during this short stopover.

What is the one thing you would do if you had 6 or so hours(I'm allowing about 2 hours to travel from and to the airport) in Hong Kong?

You are taking full AAdvantage of your FF miles, with enroute stopover, I am guessing. Flying about as far as you can fly, I think, it's really two long-hauls, isn't it? I wonder how many degrees of longitude.

I am researching for my first trip to HKG and I think the one thing to do would be to head to Victoria Peak, preferrably using the Star Ferry enroute.

Maybe you could head to downtown and stop people on the street to ask if they would like to hear about your fabulous 1st-class flight and the fabulous 1st-class lounge.

Are you sure you can get access to the lounge on arrival? I didn't think that is a possibility.

Hope you aren't expecting too much from the Cathay Lounge; I actually don't like it and miss the great one they had at the old airport. I think the new one is kind of soulless, with no real views and not that comfortable. I would recommend you try to book the bathtub and day room now if you can, so you won't be disappointed on arrival. If you have a boarding pass for the onward portion of your flight, you sould be able to get access to the lounge. There is also a Regal Hotel attached to the airport that might be your best bet if you really want to sleep and relax. Take a look at regalhotel.com.

OK as for an itinerary for 6 hours?. Let me assume you do not want to do any shopping, or that shopping is a minor adjunct to sight seeing. Get a good street map of Hong Kong and then go:

1. Take the Airport Express from the airport to the Hong Kong main station. Form here, take a taxi to the Peak Tram station. (You could walk but it is a bit confusing.) A taxi will take about 5-7 minutes and cost about $4. Once at the tram station, take the tram to the Peak and spend some time here admiring the view. A good walk that is flat and takes about an hour is the Luggard Road circuit that starts just behind the Peak Tram station and winds around the Peak ending back at the same place. You will get great views from here. After the walk, there are two good lunch options: Café Deco (in the Galleria shopping center, has great views) and the Peak Experience (across the street from the Peak Tram station, more colonial charm, but limited views and only of the back part of the island). There is also a Movenpick restaurant in the Peak Tram station that is OK. There are also some small coffee shops and ice cream shops.

2. Take the tram back down to the city and head west towards "Central", the Nathan Road/Queen's Road business district. You can walk (need a good map) or take a taxi, tell the driver to take you to Pedder Street. Stop in at Shanghai Tang (Pedder Street) for some interesting fashion-forward clothes and gifts (think hot pink silk Mao jackets), Fight your way through the throngs of people, great people-watching as well. then keep going down Queen's Road to the escalator; take the escalator to Hollywood Road and wander west towards the temple and the Cat Street/Ladder Street areas. You can turn around and go back to the escalator, getting off at Staunton Street to see some more interesting neighborhoods and a ton of restaurants and small shops. You can also take the escalator further up to the Peel Street area which has small markets and interesting neighborhoods.

3. If you still have time, stop for tea at the Mandarin hotel, or save tea for the Peninsula or the Intercontinental (below).

4. If you still have time, head for the Star Ferry piers in Central, and take the ferry across to the mainland side. You are looking for a ferry to Tsim Sha Tsui, NOT Kowloon or other destinations. Go first class on the upper deck for about US$.50 or second class for about .30. Take in the billion dollar view of the harbor and skyscrapers. Once on the other side, stroll a bit along the esplanade on the harbor in front of the pink Arts Centre. You can have tea either in the lobby of the Intercontinental hotel about 2/3rds of the way down the Esplanade (great views) or walk back towards the Star Ferry and stop in for tea in the gorgeous while marble lobby of the Peninsula Hotel (elegant but no view). Either take the ferry back to Hong Kong and walk 3 blocks to the Airport Express station, or take a taxi to the Airport Express station in Kowloon. You could also take a taxi right to the airport from the Peninsula hotel or the Intercontinental, would cost about $45-50.

Dusk in Hong Kong is generally between 5:30 and 6:30 every day of the year. If you can arrange to be either on the Peak or on the Esplandade along the water on Tsim Sha Tsui at that hour, you will get a magical view as the sun sets and the lights of the city come up.

I would save Aberdeen, Stanley, shopping and other parts of the island and mainland for your return trip.

HKTraveler,

Since I'm in transit, I will be able to use the lounges. After all I'm flying out that day so they are departure lounges for me.

Cicerone,

Thanks for the great tips. I probably will not do all, but Peak, lunch, some people watching sounds great to me.
Just one question. You mantioned A lounge, which one are you talking about? or did you actually mean both?

We are flying business class from Toronto via Hong Kong to Cairns Australia. The stop over is 9 hours and we would really like to be able to get out of the airport if only for a few hours. A number of years ago we were in Hong Kong for a few days and did some of the sites.
I have a disability that makes things a little more difficult(I wear a foot brace and walk with a cane)It would be good to enjoy some fresh air ??, maybe a walk, at least for a short period. Not sure on our timing - would like to freshen up before the next leg of our journey. **In the original reply there was mention of making a early booking in the lounge to freshen up. Is this something we need to look into? Our last visit we flew economy and did not have access to the lounge
The information provided in the original replies is just a tad bit dated can some one review and advise the best options. We did not get to the Peak on our last visit.
Thanks

You don’t need a reservation to use an airline lounge. Whether you can make a booking to use the shower facilities in a lounge is another question, you might contact the airline to ask if this is possible or recommended. If it is, it would not hurt probably to make a booking, you can always change your mind later.

Make sure you already have your onward boarding pass for your next flight, if you don’t get this when you check-in for the flight to Hong Kong, you will have to get this when you land in Hong Kong, it is not hard to do, but may take a little time, so do this first as you don’t want to get caught up in lines on your return to the airport. This is done in the “transit/transfer” area of the airport which is <i>before</i> you would go through Immigration/Customs. For information on transit/transfer, and for locations of the airline lounges, see the airport website at hongkongairport.com. This also gives info on the luggage storage area where you can store your carrry ones (you could leave them in the lounge as well, they should be quite safe really).

Before I make reccos, can you tell me what time you are landing and departing, and the date of your trip. Both would affect my reccos (i.e., landing at 7 am would give you different options than landing at 10 pm). Time of year is also important, you may be landing on a public holiday when you want to avoid something or go see something.

Here are more details of our journey. October 6 we arrive into Hong Kong Terminal 1 at 2:15p.m and depart for Cairns at 11:30pm. I'm hoping we can leave the airport for at least a short period of time. I've gone online and taken a look at the Business Lounges they look much nicer than most I've been in.

Both the Wing and the Pier lounges are nice, but I don't think you would want to consider spending 5-7hrs. It's an airport lounge after all. Noodle bar is a nice touch, but why not go to downtown for a proper bowl of wonton noodles.

I'm not sure if they still have it or not, but I recall CX lounge has Elemis spa. I don't think you can book in advance (first-come first-serve), but it's a nice touch. Failing that, there are two places you can get foot/back massage (not complimentary, note they close by 9pm) but again you can find many spa/massage in Hk proper.

If arriving in the morning, I'd include dimsum for an early lunch. (I make sure to skip the breakfast/ brunch they serve on board). Also I'm literally addicted to mango and various fruits drinks/desserts at Hui Lau Shan (sp)--a chain with a branch on the arrival floor, as well as next to Chinese Craft Centre (nr Star ferry pier in Kowloon).

Great idea to have a massage, but it would be the last thing my SO would even consider. Really need to keep moving so my back won't freeze up
In the old days I would have been comfortable just heading off on the train downtown but now with the added mobility issues it adds some stress.

OK that is helpful. Oct 6 is the eve of a Buddhist religious holiday called Ching Yeung, which is one of the two grave sweeping festivals. So more on this below. Some general advice first. Assuming you arrive on time, and have or can quickly get your onward boarding passes, you have about 5 hours in Hong Kong. I would plan to depart for the airport <i>from</i> downtown Hong Kong by 9:30 pm or a little bit later, assuming you are taking the Airport Express Train or a taxi. (You have to go through Immigration again to leave Hong Kong, then security, and then depending on where your gate is located, may have to take a train out to the gate from the departure terminal, so that is why all in all I would allow at least 60 minutes from the time you arrive at the airport for all this; and it takes about half a hour by train or taxi to reach the airport from Hong Kong).

As I think I mentioned, there is a paid area where you can leave carry-on luggage, this may be easier than trying to find the lounges to store luggage, which are near the departure gates, and not near the arrival areas.

I guess the weather may be your first guide (generally should be OK in October, you are just about at the changeover to the really good, dry weather). It may be a little hazy with air pollution, but if it is clear, you may want to go to the Peak and/or take the Star Ferry across the harbour to see the view. You theoretically could do both, without much walking being involved. I would take the Airport Express Train to the Kowloon Station, then take a taxi (bus is possible, but taxi is just easier and much faster and about US$3) to the Star Ferry pier. Before getting on the ferry, walk along the esplanade waterfront and take in the view (you don’t have to walk very far to get a good view). Then take the ferry over (first class is upstairs, but you can get a fine view from second as well, and walking the plank into second class may be easier for you). Then once across the harbour, you can take the double-decker bus from the ferry pier over to the Peak Tram station (look for a browns his bus with an open top, to the right as you exit the Star Ferry pier on the Hong Kong side). This will take you directly to the Peak Tram station in a few minutes and you will get a little view of Central Hong Kong along the way. Take the tram up to the top and see the famous view; with your timing you should be arriving around dusk when it is really the most beautiful, IMO.

There are several places for dinner on the Peak ranging from the very good and expensive Pearl on the Peak, to the quite good Simpatico, to the perfectly fine if somewhat standard Caf&eacute; Deco (all have good views, the best are from Pearl on the Peak and Caf&eacute; Deco, but you must ask for a window view at Caf&eacute; Deco; Simpatico’s views are best from outdoor tables and are over the southside water and not the city), to the mid-price and quite nice Peak Lookout (no views but quite a nice terrace with some limited water views), to just coffee and a sandwich at Pacific Coffee Company (what a view!)

One caveat here is that your visit coincides with the Buddhist holiday of Ching Yeung. Traditionally, it is good luck to go to the hilltops on this day, and therefore, there may be a line for the Peak Tram. I have a feeling it may be OK going up, but may be bad going down; so if you find yourself at the top and facing a long line, you have two options to get down: (i) take the #15 bus, which has just as good a view really and about 1/3 the price, or (ii) take a taxi down to the Airport Express station which will cost about US$$12). For the way up, if you get to the bottom Peak Tram station, and the line looks long, consider a taxi, or the #15, which you can get by walking through Hong Kong Park to Pacific Place/Admiralty Shopping Centre (a taxi will be easier, there is also the #1 minibus, but personally for a tourist, you may have trouble finding one and flagging one down, they don’t have regular stops).

If the weather is bad, you can take the Airport Express Train to the Hong Kong station and walk around the IFC Mall (a tad boring, but it is inside and there are several good restaurants, try Red (http://www.pure-red.com/) or Harlans (http://www.harlans-ifc.com/serv_menus.php) or Lumiere/Cuisine Cuisine (http://www.lumiere.hk/, or any of the restaurants in the Four Seasons; you can also access the Mid-levels escalator from there which is covered and you can see a little bit of Hong Kong – but you have to walk back down, as the escalator only goes up). Or take the Airport Express train to the Kowloon side, and you can walk around the huge Elements mall there (the better restaurants are on the top outside piazza area, so on a rainy day may not be so atmospheric); or from there is it a quick taxi over to either the excellent Hong Kong History Museum http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/History/en/aboutus.php, or the Museum or Art http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/Art...ro/eintro.html (the latter is next door to the Intercontinental Hotel and across the street from the Peninsula, and you could have a late lunch or tea at either, they have a good gift shop for Asian art books and music).

Cicerone,
Wow, thanks for all the help. One of my greatest fears is not making it back in time.
We could do with a good guide for a few hours who speaks the language and can get us back on time.
I'm going to map out the route so that I have some comfort in where were are going. We will have special assistance leaving the aircraft so hopefully they can direct me to the transit/transfer and luggage storage area.
Thanks all for your input
Calex

As you are getting special arrival treatment, you could ask that they get you a golf cart to DRIVE you to the transfer area and/or to Immigration, unless your gate is quite near your transfer area or Immigration. Hong Kong airport s very large, and if you are at gates 33-80, you will have to take the underground train to reach the Immigration area and the airport exist (and possibly your transfer area if you need to get your onward boarding pass, transfer areas are assigned by airline). The airport has golf carts which whisk people around; you can usually hire these (something like HK$70 to take you to your gate), but you usually can’t find them at arrivals, you have to arrange for them before hand. If you get special access because of your walking difficulties, I would definitely ask about getting a cart to take you to transit/transfer (if you need a boarding pass) and then to Immigration). If you want to use a cart for the return, you can usually find them for hire just after Immigration/security, or ask around. You may not have to pay for this with your speical arrangements.

You are probably arriving too late to do any of the bus tours; I don’t normally recco them anyway as most of what you want to see needs to be seen from places like the Esplanade, the Peak or the Star Ferry, where the buses don’t go. But take a look at http://www.discoverhongkong.com/usa/index.jsp for information. You could also to take a self-guided walking tour, go to the website for the Hong Kong tourist association at http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/...ks/index.jhtml. The Conservancy Association Centre for Heritage of Hong Kong gives walking tours of the street markets in Graham Street and the historic area of Central and Western Districts on Hong Kong Island. I have not taken them, so can’t comment on their quality, but for US$12-15 per person for a 2- 3 hour tour, you won’t really be wasting much money (and you can leave if the tour is not good). I understand that the tours are in English, but you might want to check. See http://www.cache.org.hk/ for info, and send them an e-mail to determine the dates/times of the tours, as the website is not so helpful. While the market areas in Central are very interesting, note that they would involve a good bit of uphill walking in narrow lanes.

The only guide I know of personally is the excellent Jason Wordie (see www.jasonswalks.com), he gives walking tours. He is pricey, but worth it. He could probably tailor something with less walking to suit you. However, I would stress that you really do not need a guide to see the major tourist sites, Jason Wordie is just very good for history and background, but to take the Star Ferry, the Peak Tram, walk the Esplanade etc, you do not need a guide at all.

Language is not at all an issue, all signage is in English, and the level of spoken English here is generally very good, I would not have any concerns on that point at all.

I'm going to spend some time looking into all your recommendations. When we wondered Hong Kong in the past we didn't have a time frame and could wonder at will. Cicerone thanks for your assistance. Have been in contact with the Regal Hotel and if the weather doesn't behave we will have a second plan - they have offered a very good rate for room and use of pool. One way or the other we will make the most of our short stay.
thx