Hello,

I am planning to travel to Macau either via Guangzhou airport or Shenzhen airport. Does anyone know which is more convenient/cheaper/safer to get to Macau? By what mode of transport?

How much are the fares?

Thank you.

It sounds like you havent gottten your ticket yet, why don't you fly to Zhuhai? Its next to Macau,,,just like ShenZhen is next to HK.

You can take a ferry directly from the Shenzhen airport to Macau. I did that this spring. No problems; straight shot. Can't remember the exact fare, though I think it was 250 RMB or so. Took about an hour and a half.

If you fly to Guangzhou, you can take a bus from the airport to Zhuhai. Travel time about 3 hours; cost about 75 RMB. I did that earlier this week. The main advantage of Guangzhou is that there are more flights KMG to CAN than KMG to SZX.

Not many direct flights from Kunming to the Zhuhai airport, which makes it less useful, though very handy if your timing is right. These are also usually more expensive than flights to the big hub aiports like CAN and SZX. The airport is a long way from the Gongbei gate, but an airport bus can take you there for under 50 RMB.

Hello, thank you all so much for the suggestions....
I am not flying from KMG. I will be flying in from another city that has more flights and cheaper flights to CAN than SZN.
I read about the bus from CAN to Zhuhai. Is it safe? Do i need to take a ferry over to Macau from Zhuhai ? Is it crowded at the immigration point? I am a bit worried as I read so much about pickpockets etc at the customs and I have lots of luggage with me!
Is it really only RMB75? thats really cheap eh!

"Is it safe?" — Yes. As safe as any bus in China. Good super highway, not a twisting mountain road. One needs to always take pickpocket and petty theft precautions and be extra vigilant at crowded spots.

"Do I need to take a ferry over to Macau from Zhuhai?" — No. You line up and walk across at the Gongbei border gate. There is a way to take a short ferry between the two if you are keen on that, but it's much more trouble.

"Is it crowded at the immigration point?" — Yes and worse on weekends.

"Is the bus only 75 RMB?" — Yes. I took it earlier this week. Gave the lady a 100 and got a little small change back. Did not keep the receipt.

"I have lots of luggage with me." — Having lots of luggage makes things more difficult at every stage. At the Guangzhou airport there are plenty of free luggage carts, but you may want to hire a porter at the Zhuhai-Macau crossing point. Negotiate the price beforehand. Usually runs from 25 to 50 RMB. The porter stands in line with you and lugs your stuff on a dolly. He can also show you where to get a taxi or bus on the Macau side.

Thank you so much GBTEXDOC.
Hey, so you mentioned about the porter.
Does the porter go through the customs with me till i get to macau side if i were to hire him from Gongbei? Is that what ur saying??
that would be a great help eh........

Yes, that's what I meant: You hire the porter on the Gogbei side and he helps you all the way through China customs and Macau customs and then helps you find a bus or taxi when you emerge. I hired one two years ago when heavily loaded and it saved me lots of hassle. Prices may have gone up since then, but I still saw some porters working when I crossed yesterday.

Allow at least an hour for this land crossing; it may take almost two hours, worst case.

Not sure about your overall itenerary, but keep in mind that if you fly into Guangzhou or Shenzhen and want to just make a side trip to Macau before proceeding to your final destination, it's easy to leave some big suitcases at your arrival airport for several days. Safe and inexpensive. Beats hell out of lugging them around.

Thank you GBTEXDOC.
I have all my winter clothing with me and clothes for 4 months of traveling. So, my luggage wont be light. i'll be going to Hk after that so I have to have all my stuff with me.Thank you for the detailed info. I really appreciate it.So much! Thank yoU!

Macau has a small "international airport". If you haven't purchased your ticket & started your trip to Macau by now, you may want to consider a search for flights to Macau directly from Guangzhou or Shenzhen.

The Zhuhai Gongbei Port to Macau (though only a walk) is a mess and extremely time consuming because of the huge number of gamblers & migrant workers going through the Port on a daily basis. As I recall, there are no separate lines for foreigners. A single crossing can take more than 3 hours if the line to Macau is spilled out into the plaza outside the Zhuhai Gongbei Port building.

Macau to Hong Kong is simple via ferry (60 minutes) but the ferry terminal is on opposite ends of Macau from the Gongbei Port/Macau crossing. Be careful to make sure you go to the right ticket counter selling tickets for the HK-China Ferry Terminal (On the Kowloon peninsula side) or the HK-Macau Ferry Terminal (HK Island side). I believe there are 2 different ferry companies providing ferry service to different destinations in HK and the tickets are not subject to exchanges, changes or refunds. Choosing your HK destination before buying the right ticket will save you much time and trouble upon arrival in HK with all your luggage.