Star Ferry (天星小轮)

The Star Ferry (天星小輪, Tiānxīng Xiǎolún) has been crossing Victoria Harbour since 1888, and it remains the single best value in Hong Kong: the most photographed waterway in Asia for the price of a bus ticket. The green-and-white double-deckers are a working commuter service first, so the boat is usually half full of people with real commutes.

Highlights

The crossing itself - Central (Pier 7, beside the Star Ferry Clock Tower) to Tsim Sha Tsui, about 10 minutes at 30 km/h. The Kowloon side is the good side: upper deck, front of the boat, facing back toward the city.

The skyline - From the top deck at dusk you get the full Victoria Harbour line-up: the ICC on one side, the Bank of China Tower and HSBC building on Central, and the Kowloon towers lighting up in between. It is a different angle from the Peak, and closer.

A working piece of history - The original company operated a fixed-timber pier on the Kowloon side; that whole pier is preserved as a declared monument on the Avenue of Stars, which is where most visitors end up anyway.

Star Ferry at rush hour - Ride it at 8:00 AM on a weekday and you are sharing the deck with commuters who have made this crossing for thirty years. It is the most genuine ten minutes in the city.

Fares and practicalities

HK$4-5 ($0.60-0.65) per adult crossing, child (3-11) around half that, senior citizen roughly HK$2.30. Octopus is accepted; the cash fare is unchanged. Terminals run from Tsim Sha Tsui Pier to Star Ferry Pier on the Kowloon side, and on the Hong Kong Island side from Central Pier 7 to Wan Chai, with later services to Hung Hom. Boats every 10-15 minutes in peak, every 20 off-peak, from early morning until just before midnight.

Why it is worth 45 minutes of your day

Not the boat. The boat is a reason to stand at the harbour's edge in the middle of one of the densest, most expensive cities on earth and spend nothing. Take the ferry twice in one evening - Central to Tsim Sha Tsui at sunset, back an hour later once the lights are fully on. Total spend: about HK$10 ($1.30). No booking, no queue, no ticket.