Octopus first. At the airport MTR counter buy an On-Loan Octopus: HK$150, of which HK$50 is a deposit and HK$100 is yours to spend. Refund it at any MTR customer service center before you fly, less HK$11 if within 90 days of issue. On an iPhone the Octopus for Tourists app puts a card in Apple Wallet with a foreign Visa or Mastercard; Android visitors cannot, so buy the plastic.
The Star Ferry and the Peak. The ferry from Tsim Sha Tsui to Central is HK$4 or HK$5 on weekdays (lower or upper deck), HK$5.60 or HK$6.50 on weekends, until 11:30 p.m.; sit upstairs. The Peak Tram has run new cars since 2022 and still draws a line: minutes on a weekday morning, an hour and a half on a weekend afternoon. Walk-up fares rose in January 2026 to about HK$88 round trip on weekdays and HK$108 on weekends; a Sky Pass booked online for a fixed date, around HK$149, skips the ticket line. Or take bus 15 from Exchange Square to the top, 40 minutes, no line.
The Big Buddha. The Ngong Ping 360 cable car from Tung Chung runs 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on weekends, from about HK$295 round trip, more for the Crystal Cabin. The Buddha and Po Lin Monastery are free and close around 5:30 p.m. The cable car has maintenance days and stops in strong wind; bus 23 from Tung Chung is the fallback.
Typhoon signals. Signal 3 means strong wind (the cable car and some ferries stop); 8 means gales: the Observatory gives two hours’ notice, then offices, shops and schools shut, buses and ferries stop, and the MTR runs underground at longer intervals, the open-air lines stopping at 9 and 10. Black rain closes schools and floods bus routes while the MTR runs. The season is May to November, worst in August and September.
Airport and paying. The Airport Express is HK$120 on Octopus to Hong Kong station, HK$105 to Kowloon; the free hotel shuttles ended in 2020. At dim sum a tea charge of a few dollars a head is on the bill and the 10 percent service charge is the tip. Dai pai dong street kitchens and market stalls want cash, so carry HK$300. Macau and Shenzhen are separate immigration zones: bring your passport, Octopus works in neither, and Shenzhen needs whatever visa mainland China asks of you.
On the day. Put the Peak and the Buddha on separate mornings; Waystop’s hours check will flag the cable car placed after 6 p.m. If Signal 8 is announced, get back to the hotel before the MTR thins out and keep the next day loose.