Hong Kong International Airport to Wan Chai
About 36 km from HKG on Hong Kong Island; the A11 coach stops here, or ride the Airport Express to Hong Kong Station and take one MTR stop or a tram.
Wan Chai, Hong KongWiNG / Wikimedia, CC BY 3.0Wan Chai mixes convention halls and harbourfront towers with old wet markets, the Blue House and a long-standing bar strip — the island's east-Central crossover.
Every way to get there
Our verdict: for Wan Chai, a private transfer is the easiest door-to-door option (from €58). Travelling light on a budget? The bus is cheapest (from €5) but slower, with a change in the city.
What it costs for your group
The bus is charged per person, while a taxi or private transfer is one price for the whole car — so the more of you there are, the better door-to-door value looks.
| Group | Bus (per person) | Private transfer | Best value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo · 1 traveller | €5 | €58 | Bus |
| Couple · 2 travellers | €10 | €58 | Bus |
| Family of 4 · 4 travellers | €20 | €58 | Bus |
Which option should you choose?
| If your priority is… | Our pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest price | Bus | From €5, though slower with a change in the city. |
| Speed & comfort | Private transfer | Door-to-door, fixed price, a driver waiting for you. |
| A group of 3–4 | Transfer or taxi | One flat fare splits cheaper than several bus tickets. |
| A late-night arrival | Transfer or taxi | Both run 24/7 when buses and the tram have stopped. |
By transport mode
Bus / shuttle
HK$40 (~€5) and the route passes through Wan Chai along Hennessy Road near the Convention Centre. Cheap, scenic and drops you close to most hotels.
Where to catch it: A11 stand among the Hong Kong Island bays at the Ground Transportation Centre.
Best for solo & budget travellersTrain
HK$120 (~€14) to Hong Kong Station, then one Island line stop to Wan Chai or a slow harbour-view tram. Fastest when the tunnels are backed up.
Where to catch it: Airport Express platform below Arrivals, Terminal 1.
Best for budget travellers near a stationTaxi
Budget for HK$330-390 (~€38-45) with tolls. Straightforward door-to-door, though the convention-season crush around the harbourfront can slow the final approach.
Where to catch it: Red-taxi rank outside Arrivals; the red fleet handles all island destinations including Wan Chai.
Best for small groups in a hurryPrivate transfer
Fixed ~HK$520-700 with tolls. The round-the-clock availability is the reason to book ahead for very early or very late Wan Chai arrivals.
Where to catch it: The driver is there whatever the hour, so a red-eye landing still meets a waiting car rather than an empty taxi rank.
Best for families, groups & late arrivalsWan Chai & Hong Kong in photos
Buying tickets in Hong Kong
The simplest option is an Octopus card, a tap-to-pay card for the Airport Express, MTR, buses and shops; buy one at the airport (standard or a Tourist Octopus), or use Octopus on your phone. For the Airport Express itself you can also buy a Single or Smart ticket, or just tap a contactless Visa/Mastercard at the gate ("Ride First, Pay Later" charges the fare afterwards). If you plan several MTR days, the Airport Express Travel Pass bundles one or two Airport Express trips with three days of unlimited MTR.
Taxi scams & safety in Hong Kong
Hong Kong is low-scam for transport. The Airport Express and buses are fixed-fare, and red/green taxis at the official rank run on meter with a posted toll and luggage surcharge, so insist on the meter. Uber operates here for upfront pricing. Decline anyone inside the terminal offering a private car or a "cheaper" ride; use the marked taxi queue or Airport Express only, and confirm your red (urban) versus green (New Territories) taxi matches your destination.
Getting from HKG to Wan Chai
Wan Chai sits on the north shore of Hong Kong Island, the stretch between Central and Causeway Bay where the Convention and Exhibition Centre meets the older grid of Lockhart Road bars, the Blue House and a couple of surviving wet markets. If you are flying in for a trade fair at the harbourfront and a late night on the bar strip afterwards, the district is well connected but you will be arriving with a case of samples or a pull-along of catalogues, and that changes which route from Hong Kong International actually suits you. The airport is about 36 km away and the ride runs roughly 45 minutes on a clear road, so none of the options below is a marathon — the choice is really about luggage, timing and how much you want to spend.
The A11 coach past the Convention Centre
The Cityflyer A11 is the cheapest sensible way in and the one most delegates end up taking. It costs HK$40 (a little under €5), leaves from the Hong Kong Island bays at the Ground Transportation Centre, and runs every 20 to 25 minutes from around 06:10 until midnight. The reason it works for a Wan Chai trip specifically is the routing: the A11 crosses to the island and rolls along Hennessy Road, passing close to the Convention Centre and dropping within a short walk of most of the district's hotels. Allow about 70 minutes, since it stops along the way. The coach has a proper luggage rack downstairs, so a box of exhibition kit is not a problem — just position yourself where you can see it at the stops. Grab an upstairs front seat if it is free; the harbour crossing is the good part.
Airport Express, then one Island stop to Wan Chai
When the road tunnels back up — and during a big convention week they will — the train sidesteps the traffic. The Airport Express leaves from the platform directly below Arrivals in Terminal 1 and runs every 10 to 12 minutes. Ride it to Hong Kong Station for HK$120 (around €14), then it is one Island line stop to Wan Chai, or, if you have half an hour to spare and no heavy bags, a slow tram along the shore that gives you a first read of the district. Total time is about 35 minutes, the quickest option here. The catch is the change: Hong Kong Station to the Island line means a walk with your luggage, and if you are wheeling exhibition gear that transfer is the part to weigh against the direct coach. For a light overnight bag, though, this is the cleanest way to beat the tunnel queues.
Red taxis and the convention-season crush
A taxi is the point-to-point answer, and on Hong Kong Island you want the red urban fleet — they cover Wan Chai, and the rank is right outside Arrivals. Budget somewhere around HK$330 to HK$390 (about €38–45) once the tunnel tolls are added, for a run of roughly 42 minutes. It drops you at the hotel door with no hauling of cases, which is the whole point after a day of setup. The one thing to know is that when a major fair is on, the roads immediately around the harbourfront and the Convention Centre get congested, so the last few hundred metres can crawl even though the airport leg was fast. Have the hotel name written in Chinese on your phone; not every driver reads the English one.
Booking a car for a red-eye into Wan Chai
The single advantage of a pre-booked transfer for this district is that it does not care what time you land. Firms like Welcome Pickups or Klook run 24 hours, so a 2am touchdown after a delayed flight still meets a waiting car rather than a thinned-out taxi rank — useful if your fair schedule has you arriving on the last flight of the night. You pay for that certainty: expect a fixed fare of roughly HK$520 to HK$700 (about €58–80) with tolls, noticeably more than the metered red taxi. For a normal daytime arrival it is hard to justify over the cab. For a group splitting the cost, arriving in the small hours, or anyone who would rather not do the sums in a fourth currency before a morning presentation, the fixed price and the guaranteed car are what you are buying.
Put simply: take the A11 if you are counting dollars and can manage your own bags, ride the Airport Express when the tunnels are jammed and you are travelling light, flag a red taxi for a straightforward door drop by day, and book a car ahead only if you are landing at an awkward hour. Whichever you pick, if the night ends on Lockhart Road, the walk back to any Wan Chai hotel is short enough that you will not need any of them again until checkout.
