5 Best Apps for Travel to Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of the most unique cities in the World. Currently under the one country, two systems policy until 2047, the city is rich in culture and sights. Hongkongers enjoy a relatively high standard of living for the region and many more personal freedoms. All of which makes visiting Hong Kong as a tourist an exciting and expensive journey. While street food is cheap, public parks and museums are often free, the price of accommodations and other tourist attractions will be a huge change from the rest of Asia.
Luckily Hong Kong is also one of the few places in Asia where English is common and technology is everywhere. You can find hundreds of apps for all your needs, from Cantonese, Accommodations, Eating Out and getting around town. Many apps are specifically designed for tourists, like Toilet Rush, or Wi-Fi HK in our Honourable Mentions. So traveling in Hong Kong, while pricier, is as easy as it gets in Asia!
1. Cantonese Language Apps
I’ve featured quite a few language apps to date for other countries and am always looking for new ones with great features, phrasebooks, learning exercises and dictionaries. Nemo Apps are language phrasebooks and learning apps that I found pretty great. While the free version is fairly bare-bones, the full version includes over 1200+ audio clips and 40+ topics. You can set a daily target for words learned and run through short exercises which get collected into your statistics.
Cantonese is a notoriously difficult language to learn and if you are only going to Hong Kong, and not Guangzhou in Mainland China, then you can probably get away with just speaking English.
There is something fascinating about hearing the local Hongkongers speaking with a thick British accent, stronger than that of my own British family from Liverpool.
- Price: Free, Full Version $16.99 USD
- Alternatives: Learn Cantonese Daily, Simply Learn Cantonese (iOS), Learn Cantonese Phrasebook (iOS)
WAYGO Translator
Waygo is one of many Camera Translators Apps available in the App Store. But Waygo specializes in Asian scriptures: Chinese, Japanese and Korean.
Waygo allows you to hover your phone camera over Chinese text and it will automatically translate it into English. No need to try and type out the text using a Chinese keyboard. This is extremely useful for Menus, shop signs and directions.
While not a phrasebook or language learning app, Waygo is simple and easy to use when you need to translate text.
- Price: 10 Translations/Day for Free, or $9.99 US for Unlimited Chinese Translations
- Alternatives: Microsoft Translator
2. MTR Transit Apps
MTR Mobile is the official subway app for Hong Kong’s amazing transit network… So naturally is has a terrible rating on the app store. Funny. For this app, downloading the most recent app data is required, so you’ll need an internet connection initially.
There are dozens of MTR transit apps for Hong Kong available for download but MTR Mobile has the most information on lines, stations, buses, tickets etc… The live-schedule is listed in another app called MTR Next Train, but in all honesty you won’t have to wait long at the station 99% of the time so it’s not worth downloading. Departure times and station names are all posted in English in the subways and stations so getting around is easy.
Under “Tourist Info“, see “Attractions” for a list of all the attractions in Hong Kong. Press “Plan your journey” after you select a place to visit and set as either an origin or destination. It’s that easy!
There is also an app for the new High Speed Rail app between Hong Kong and the mainland cities.
Explore Hong Kong Metro
If you only want to check which station to make connections and easy route details I recommend downloading Explore Hong Kong Metro. The app is really easy to use and visually simple with color coded lines and little flags to point out where you should go.
Just press a station of departure and which one you want go to. The app finds the fastest way, highlighting any stations where you’ll need to change lines. The app uses GPS to find the nearest station to your current position.
Under “Street” you can see all the station exits which is surprisingly useful if you are in a hurry and don’t want to end up on the wrong side of a major highway when leaving the station. This is a simple app with few bells and whistles.
- Price: Free
3. Hostel Booking Apps
CTrip was recently re-branded as “Trip.com” in order to reach a global audience of travelers. CTrip is the English version of the Chinese App for hotel bookings in China. You can also book trains and flights through the App too!
The majority of tourists visiting Hong Kong are from Mainland China and Trip.com is their preferred booking app. Trip.com features a lot of deep discounts on hotels, hostels, guesthouses and other accommodations all around the world and is worth checking out to see if you can score a good deal for your stay!
- Price: In App Purchases for Hostel & Hotel Bookings
- Alternatives: Agoda, Booking.com
Hostelworld
Hostels in Hong Kong are quite expensive. I’d make an educated guess that only Singapore is more expensive for a bunk to sleep in South-Asia. I paid $18 USD per night during my stay but expect to pay up to $30 USD per night. Flying from North America or Japan, that’s quite cheap but many great hostels in Asia are $5 per night. So it’s a matter of perspective.
Hong Kong hostels are tiny, cramped and always full. Book early. Hostelworld is widely used with 102 listed to date.
When my hostel in Guangzhou gave away my bed, they honored their guarantee and refunded my deposit and gave me $50 towards my future bookings… The original booking only cost me $12. Hostelworld really takes care of you which is why I use them.
The app focuses on hostels but also includes guesthouses. Of course, single private rooms are often available at both. Check out our 5 Hostel Essentials for Solo Travelers article to prepare fr your stay.
- Price: In-App Bookings
- Alternatives: Booking.com, Agoda.
4. Hong Kong Guides
Of all the apps on this list, I spent the most amount of time reviewing travel guides. To my dismay, there isn’t anything free that really meets all my needs as a traveler. There are a few great paid apps with itineraries, guides and more… but priced so high that i’d rather just buy a book and add it to my collection.
The best of the lot was My Guide, the Hong Kong tourism board’s app. You’ll find all the major attractions, e-coupons, events and downloadable maps and guides. Best of all is that they took the time to give a small synopsis of each major event and attractions.
You can save the recommended itineraries or search by neighborhood for sights to visit. A great description is included for each region and all the details; the address, phone number and website are included under each attraction.
- Price: Free
- Alternatives: Hong Kong Offline Map & City Guide, Tripwolf (iOS)
iM Guide
iM Guide is an audio guide for the museum exhibits in Hong Kong’s public museums:
The audio guides for each exhibit are made available when you scan the QR code and are connected to the iM Guide Wi-Fi at the museum. Enable Bluetooth as well. The app also includes information on the museums and access to the most recent newsletters. If you are a museum lover like myself, and can spend an entire day looking at the wonderful exhibits then it’s worth checking out. I spent a half day at The Museum of History, not included in this guide yet, but one of the many other great public museum in Hong Kong.
5. Essential Food Apps
The GULU is Hong Kong’s answer for getting a seat at the table of your favorite restaurant. The problem in Hong Kong is getting a reservation at one of the more popular restaurants. They call it “Queuing”, because waiting in line for an hour to simply get into a restaurant is not uncommon.
The GULU also helps restaurants fill empty seats by providing reservation and deep cash-discounts to hungry Hongkongers. As a tourist, you can choose to book directly through the app after registering an account, or simply use the app as a restaurant guide for what’s good nearby.
I used the app to scout out a great dumpling joint called Din Tai Fung (see photo). The address, phone number and price is included in the details, so choosing a place to eat is easy. Check out the Best Dumpling Eats in Hong Kong for other recommendations, or search “dumpling” in the GULU.
FoodTruck HK
Feel like eating some delicious street food in Hong Kong? Well get your phone out and find a foodtruck nearby! This app lists all the most popular foodtrucks in the city, their location and hours of operation.
Street food is a delightful treat in Hong Kong and part of the city’s rich history. Here is a great Youtube Video of some of most popular stalls and a list of the best street-eats. Foodtrucks have been introduced to bring the experience of street food to all the city’s best venues.
The Tourism Commission in Hong Kong introduced a program to sponsor foodtrucks throughout the city and has pledged to keep the program going until 2021. One of the most popular foodtrucks is “Pineapple Canteen” which specializes in a special pineapple bun.
Honourable Mentions
Toilet Rush
Toilet Rush is a great little app to have on hand in an emergency. The app does one thing, tells you where the nearest public bathroom is located, the hours it is open or if it is closed for maintenance. That’s it.
Hong Kong has great public facilities, something you shouldn’t expect to see in mainland China, at least not in my experience.
Travel “sickness” can strike at any time. Before you know it, you are shuffling towards the nearest bathroom with your toiletry bag already in hand. If you’ve never used a toilet in Asia before, check out our Squat Toilet Guide. Squat toilets are the most common toilet in Asia and all you are likely to find in public facilities.
Wi-Fi H.K
Wi-Fi Hong Kong is a different kind of Wi-Fi hotspot app. Where most hotspot apps rely on a single large cellular provider, Wi-Fi HK is more like a community based cooperative. The app allows you to find locations around the city with free Wi-Fi.
The app is designed for businessmen, travelers and residents who need to connect online. Everything is free or “free for a limited time”.
This app is very handy since there are hotspots all over the city. However if your internet needs are greater, I suggest picking up a SIM card for Hong Kong. They are relatively cheap and easy to buy.
- Price: Free
Hong Kong Department of Immigration
The Hong Kong Immigration Department App is not for everyone. Most travelers to Hong Kong don’t need a special Visa. As a Canadian and British citizens, all I do is arrive at the airport and get my passport stamped on arrival. Easy.
This app provides information on a lot of other immigration services, but the most useful is the boundary checkpoint wait time information. If you are planning to travel between Macao, Mainland China and Hong Kong, it may be worth checking out.
