Macau Casino Shuttle Buses

Macau is small, but its casinos are spread across two distinct areas: the historic peninsula, where MGM Macau, Wynn Macau, Grand Lisboa and Sands Macao sit, and the Cotai Strip, the reclaimed land between Taipa and Coloane where MGM Cotai, The Venetian Macao, Galaxy Macau and the other mega-resorts stand. The good news for visitors is that you rarely need to pay for transport between them. The casinos themselves run fleets of free shuttle buses, and they are the single easiest way to get from almost any entry point to almost any major resort.

This page walks through the MGM shuttle network in detail, then covers what the other operators run, so you can plan a day or a weekend without ever hailing a taxi.

MGM shuttle routes at a glance

MGM operates two properties in Macau. MGM MACAU sits on the peninsula waterfront, about 15 minutes by car from the airport, Taipa Ferry Terminal or the Border Gate¹. MGM COTAI sits on the Cotai Strip, only 5 minutes by car from Macau International Airport or Taipa Ferry Terminal, and about 15 minutes from the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal, the heliport or the Border Gate².

Five shuttle routes tie the two together:

All of it is free. MGM describes the service as a free shuttle bus for guests, running to both MGM MACAU and MGM COTAI³, and the same is true across the market: Macau's tourism office notes that at each entry port and at some tourist hotspots, you can board free shuttles arranged by the casinos⁴.

Border Gate to MGM MACAU: every 15 minutes

The Border Gate (Portas do Cerco) is the land crossing with mainland China, and it is the busiest entry point in Macau by a wide margin. Step out of the immigration hall and you will find rows of casino shuttle bays, each marked with the resort it serves.

The MGM MACAU shuttle runs from 9:00 in the morning to 11:30 at night, with a bus approximately every 15 minutes¹. The drive to the peninsula property takes about 15 minutes⁵, so even with a short wait you are usually at the casino within half an hour of clearing immigration.

If you are heading to Cotai rather than the peninsula, there is a separate Border Gate to MGM Cotai service, also running about every 15 minutes⁵. That is worth knowing: the two routes leave from the same border area but serve different ends of town, so check the destination on the bus before you board.

The free shuttle system at the borders is not an MGM peculiarity. Macau's official tourism guidance confirms that a number of the larger casinos offer a free direct shuttle bus service to and from border crossings⁴, so if MGM's timing does not suit you, a neighboring bay probably will.

Hengqin Port to MGM Cotai: every 20 minutes

Hengqin Port is the crossing to Zhuhai that connects directly by footbridge to the mainland side, and it has grown steadily as a way into Cotai without touching the peninsula at all. It is the natural entry point if you are staying at MGM Cotai, The Londoner Macao or Galaxy Macau.

The MGM shuttle between Hengqin Port and MGM COTAI runs from 9:00 AM to 11:30 PM, with a bus about every 20 minutes². The same schedule appears in MGM's Chinese-language pages, which also note the drive from the port is short⁵.

For comparison, Galaxy Macau runs its own Hengqin Port shuttle on a much longer schedule: to Galaxy from 9:00 AM all the way to 2:00 AM, with buses on average every 5 to 10 minutes and a drive of around 10 minutes⁶. So if you arrive at Hengqin late in the evening and the MGM bus has stopped for the night, the Galaxy shuttle may still be running, and from Galaxy it is a short hop across the Cotai Strip to MGM Cotai.

The Macau Tower loop between MGM MACAU and MGM Cotai

The most useful route for sightseers is the loop that connects MGM's two properties via Macau Tower. Buses run approximately every 10 to 15 minutes, and the shuttle only stops at the Macau Tower bus stop between 11:00 AM and 9:00 PM³. Outside those hours the bus runs direct between the two MGM resorts without the Tower stop.

This route is also the simplest way to move between the peninsula and Cotai if you are not near a border or terminal. MGM offers the free shuttle service between MGM Macau and MGM Cotai as a standing connection⁷, so you can treat it as a free inter-property transfer: play at MGM MACAU in the afternoon, ride the loop to the Tower for the view, and continue on to MGM Cotai for the evening.

Macau Tower itself is one of the city's best-known landmarks, with its observation deck and the famous bungee jump from the outer rim, so the loop doubles as a free tourist bus. Just remember the 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM window for the Tower stop³.

Airport and ferry terminal route

The fifth MGM route is the one most visitors from Hong Kong will use. It links MGM MACAU, the Macau Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal, Macau International Airport, Taipa Ferry Terminal and MGM COTAI, running from 9:00 AM to 9:45 PM with a bus approximately every 15 minutes¹. Note that the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal stop has been temporarily relocated to the Jai Alai entrance area², so follow signs to that entrance rather than the main terminal building.

The geography makes this route quick in both directions. MGM COTAI is only 5 minutes by car from the airport or Taipa Ferry Terminal², while MGM MACAU is about 5 minutes by car from the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal or the heliport³, and about 15 minutes from the airport, Taipa Ferry Terminal or the Border Gate¹.

Other operators run parallel services from the same terminals. StarWorld's shuttle from the Macau Ferry Terminal to the hotel runs 9:30 AM to 10:00 PM, on average every 10 to 20 minutes, with a drive of around 35 minutes⁸. Galaxy's shuttle from Taipa Ferry Terminal runs to Galaxy from 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM and back from 10:15 AM to 8:45 PM, on average every 35 minutes for a drive of around 20 minutes⁶. Smaller properties join in too: the Rio Hotel & Casino has run a free shuttle to and from the Border Gate and the Macau Outer Ferry Terminal⁹, and the Grandview Hotel Casino offered free buses linking the hotel with the Border Gate, the Macau-Hong Kong Ferry Terminal and the Taipa Pac On Ferry Terminal¹⁰.

What the other casino operators run

MGM is one of six concessionaires, and every one of them runs shuttles, because free buses are how Macau moves its visitors. A quick survey:

• Galaxy Macau: Border Gate shuttles to Galaxy from 9:00 AM to 11:30 PM and back from 9:15 AM to 11:15 PM, on average every 15 to 40 minutes for a drive of around 20 minutes; Taipa Ferry Terminal service as above; and the long-running Hengqin Port route until 2:00 AM⁶.
• Wynn Macau: reachable by car, taxi, public transport or the resort's own shuttle bus, which runs between the resort and Macau's major border crossings and popular locations¹¹.
• StarWorld: ferry terminal service every 10 to 20 minutes through the evening⁸, plus shuttles to Galaxy Macau from StarWorld, Broadway Macau and the Border Gate between 9:00 AM and 11:30 PM⁶.
• SJM Resorts: complimentary shuttle bus service from various entry ports and prime locations in Macau, covering properties including Hotel Lisboa in the Central District and the Grand Lisboa Palace resort¹².

The practical effect is that the shuttle bays at the Border Gate, the ferry terminals and the airport work like a free public transport network run by the casinos. If one operator's timetable does not fit yours, walk a few bays down and another will. And since the big Cotai resorts sit next to one another, a shuttle to any of them puts you within a short walk of City of Dreams Macau, Studio City Macau or The Parisian Macao.

The casinos never close, but the buses do

One thing that catches visitors out: Macau's casinos are open around the clock. The gaming concessions require a concessionaire to open its casinos twenty-four hours, without interruption, every day of the year¹³, and legal commentary on the sector confirms casinos are open 24/7, with suspension possible only in exceptional cases at the request of the chief executive¹⁴. Even the slot lounges outside the main floors tend to run all day, usually with 24-hour coffee shops and dining service attached¹⁵.

The shuttle buses are not on the same schedule. Every MGM route finishes between 9:45 PM and 11:30 PM¹, and most other operators stop around midnight, with Galaxy's Hengqin route until 2:00 AM being the notable exception⁶. So if you plan to gamble late, plan your ride home late too: after the last shuttle, your options are a taxi, a ride-hail, or Macau's public buses.

The casinos can close in extraordinary circumstances, though it is rare.

Riding the bus: what to expect

Boarding is simple. The buses are coach-style vehicles marked with the resort's name, they leave from clearly signed bays at each border, terminal and airport, and there is no fare and no ticket³. You simply queue and get on. During peak hours, such as weekend evenings at the Border Gate or ferry arrivals from Hong Kong, queues can be long and a bus can fill up, in which case you wait for the next one, 15 or 20 minutes later depending on the route.

Dress and entry rules for the casinos themselves are covered on our casino entry rules page, but the buses have none: they are ordinary coaches, and you can board with luggage, shopping bags or children in tow. During the 2020 health measures, face masks were required on the gaming floor, on the bus and in taxis, with temperature checks and health declarations at the doors¹⁶; those specific rules have since been relaxed, but it shows how quickly conditions at the door can change, so a quick check of the operator's site before a visit never hurts.

A sensible pattern for a first visit: arrive at whichever border or terminal suits your origin, take the free shuttle to your hotel or the nearest resort, and use the inter-property loops, like the MGM Macau, Macau Tower, MGM Cotai route³, to move between the peninsula and Cotai during the day. Save taxis for the late night, when the free fleet has gone home and the casinos are still dealing.