Hi gang,

Brand spanking new here and I'm excited to see such a mature and solid forum in place. I'm from Southern California and we have our own version of this kind of forum so if someone is headed that way feel free to reach out and I can provide some support guidance and direction.

I have a two part question.

This will be the first time I'm in Hong Kong as an adult (last to I was here I was with parents..) so I'm curious to do some exploring. I'm staying at an airbnb near soho. I'm wondering what the best/normal way to get to the places I'm reading about that seem a bit further north (Kowloon, mong kok). Should I take a taxi (and if so how much should I pay), take the subway, bus, etc. Also, is there a website that shows times for the public transit or do they just run all the time? Not really familiar with HK transit so any help there would be great.

Secondly, do I even need to go up there? Or would staying on the island be good enough? In some ways I'm asking if it's worth the effort to go north or if it's really just an easy hop skip and jump away.

Thanks all in advance!

Welcome to hk, I suggest you take the mtr (subway), 10-15 min and easy to do. worth the effort to explore, you've flown 15 hrs to get here, whats an extra 15 minutes to explore more options?

Going to the Kowloon side is a must for a new visitor.  AS mentioned above, it is just a couple of subway stops from HK island.

My first time in HK I deliberately got lost.  I had my trusty map - but the method I ended up with was get off at a MTR (Subway) station and just start walking.  Some of the alleys and places that you find just by wandering aimlessly are fantastic.

And then when its was time to finish, just find a cab and ask to be taken to the MTR station.

Hong Kong is very safe, so there is no risk in just exploring.  Pick a couple of walk-ups (always have alternates) as target destinations, and get out there and discover the city.

If you already arrive at Hong Kong. You should explore macau. It's the heaven in Eastern Asia.

Visit rio / 18 spa.