Currency exchange in Tung Chung
I will be staying in Tung Chung for 2 nights to visit Lantau island and Disneyland and then will head towards HK Island. How card friendly is HK today (Lantau island especially) and I wanted to know if there are any currency exchange centres with good rates around. I would like to skip those at the airport. Any suggestions would help. Thanks!
The tourist things are reasonably credit card friendly. Smaller eateries in, for example, Tai O a little less so.
The best way to get HK$ is to use your ATM card from your bank, not to exchange currency. There are ATMs in the arrivals hall at the airport, in all MTR stations, and many other places (yes, even one in Tai O village). Stick to ATMs from recognised banks (HSBC, Bank of China, Citibank, Standard Chartered, Hang Seng, etc and there will be no charge from the local bank for withdrawing cash.
Thank you.
Note that Hong Kong is so small there is no reason to stay in Tung Chung for Lantau or Disneyland - a taxi ride from Tung Chung to Disney is maybe 15 mins shorter than from Kowloon. Also if exploring Lantau from Tung Chung you miss out on the chance to take the Mui Wo - Central ferry, which takes about as long as would a taxi from Tung Chung to Mui Wo.
Best currency exchange rates can be found at Chungking Mansions in Tsim Sha Tsui and around World Wide House in Central (bout are about 40 mins on the MTR from Tung Chung - that's how small Hong Kong really is). ATMs are of course everywhere; that's the most convenient option.
I don't know if Indian banks charge a high fee for foreign ATM withdrawals? Ask and find out.
Otherwise, I don't know if there are "local" foreign currency exchange places in Tung Chung. A search using Google Map didn't come up with anything. Once you get into the city proper, there are many of such places. I have no idea whether Chungking Mansion gives the best rates. The rates are clearly listed at the booth so pick one that makes sense. Note that major foreign currency, especially USD, is more likely to give you a good rate.
Thanks for the suggestions.
