Must-see attractions in Taipei

  • Stairway at Dihua Street Market

    Dihua Street

    Taipei

    This former 'Centre Street' has long been known for its Chinese medicine shops, fabric market and lively Lunar New Year sundry market. It has attracted…

  • National Human Rights Museum

    Taipei

    This former detention centre, court and jail was where political prisoners were incarcerated and tried during the White Terror period (1947–87). The…

  • Chiang Kai-shek memorial hall

    Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

    Taipei

    This grandiose monument to authoritarian leader Chiang Kai-shek is a popular attraction and rightly so. It is a sobering feeling to stand in the massive…

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    Huashan 1914 Creative Park

    Taipei

    Borrowing from western urban-regeneration models, this early-20th-century wine factory has been restored as Taipei's most retro-chic venue. Remodelled…

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    Bao'an Temple

    Taipei

    Recipient of a Unesco Asia-Pacific Heritage Award for both its restoration and its revival of temple rites and festivities, Bao'an Temple (also called…

  • Hobe Fort

    Taipei

    About 1km beyond Fort San Domingo on Zhongzheng Rd is the turn-off for Hobe Fort, built in 1886 when then governor Liu Ming-Chuan was attempting to shore…

  • Treasure Hill

    Taipei

    Head down to the river from the Museum of Drinking Water, turn left, and you'll soon come across this charming art village. It was founded in the late…

  • National 2-28 Memorial Museum

    Taipei

    This graceful memorial to the victims of the 2-28 Incident is housed in a beautiful Japanese building dating back to 1931. The excellent permanent…

  • Oxford College

    Taipei

    Oxford College was the first western university in Taiwan and founded by Presbyterian missionary George Leslie Mackay. The original building, built in…

  • Guandu Temple

    Taipei

    Dating back to 1661, this gawdy, grand, massive multistorey temple (one of Taipei's oldest) is built right into the side of a mountain. In fact, a 100m…

  • Beitou Hot Spring Museum

    Taipei

    Built in 1913 as the Beitou Public Baths, this handsome building is a copy of the bathhouses in Shizuokaken Idouyama in Japan. It is also a good example…

  • Thermal Valley

    Taipei

    Throughout the Japanese era this geothermal valley was considered one of Taiwan's great scenic wonders. The area has been much altered since, so it isn't…

  • Ama Museum

    Taipei

    Set in a restored heritage house at the top end of Dihua St is this permanent exhibition showcasing the history of Taiwanese 'comfort women' – sex slaves…

  • Taipei Confucius Temple

    Taipei Confucius Temple

    Taipei

    Constructed by the famous Fujian craftsman Wang Yi-shun in the late 1920s, this temple is a beautiful example of Minnan-style architecture and of Taiwan's…

  • Land Bank Exhibition Hall

    Taipei

    Evolution is the theme at this museum, set in a 1930s former bank: evolution of life, evolution of money and banking, and evolution of the bank from the…

  • Maokong Gondola

    Taipei

    This 4km-long, 30-minute gondola ride is as much an attraction as a mode of transport. On clear days and nights the views across Taipei and up the lush…

  • Yinshan Temple

    Taipei

    This dainty two-hall temple was constructed in 1822 by Hakka immigrants from Guangdong province. The resident deity, the Dingguang Buddha (the guardian of…

  • Botanical Gardens

    Taipei

    An oasis in the city, this 8-hectare park has well-stocked greenhouses, literature- and Chinese-zodiac-themed gardens, a lotus pond and myriad lanes where…

  • Su Ho Paper Museum

    Taipei

    Fulfilling the lifelong dream of Taiwanese paper-maker Chen Su-ho, this stylish four-storey museum displays a working traditional paper mill and temporary…

  • Tamsui Cultural Park

    Taipei

    This handsome and serene collection of old brick warehouses, just behind Tamsui MRT on the riverside, was once the Shell Tamsui Warehouse: as in Royal…

  • Puji Temple

    Taipei

    This Japanese-style wooden temple was built in 1905 and is dedicated to Guanyin. It's home to a couple of nuns and is beautifully preserved. Check out the…

  • Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei

    Taipei

    Very bright, very modern, and often fun and very experimental art is showcased here. The long red-brick building dates back to the 1920s. It started life…

  • Longshan Temple

    Taipei

    Longshan Temple is one of five Longshans in Taipei, and as such is devoted to the Guanyin Buddha. Built in 1738 and then rebuilt in the 1850s, the temple…

  • Bitan Suspension Bridge

    Taipei

    This 200m-long bouncy pedestrian bridge was built by the Japanese in 1937. It offers a great vantage point from which to gaze towards the forested hills…

  • traditional building in a park in Taipei, taiwan

    2-28 Peace Memorial Park

    Taipei

    Established in 1908, this was the first urban public park in Taiwan built on European models. Known as Taihoku (Taipei) Park under the Japanese, then…

  • Architectural detail of the EXPO hall in Taipei

    Taipei Expo Park

    Taipei

    This expansive park covers three linked-up sections – stroll around or take a YouBike. It has a lively food court called Maji Square, and Eco Ark (a giant…

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    Da'an Forest Park

    Taipei

    This is Taipei’s Central Park, where the city comes to play. And play it does, from kids rollerblading to teens shooting hoops to old men engaged in…

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    Miniatures Museum of Taiwan

    Taipei

    Whimsical, wondrous and fantastically detailed are the creative works at this private museum located in the basement of a nondescript tower block. On…

  • Xiahai City God Temple

    Taipei

    This lively and well-loved temple on Dihua St was built in 1856 to house the City God statue that the losers in the Wanhua feud took as they fled upstream…

  • Zhinan Temple

    Taipei

    The serene and stately Zhinan Temple sits high above Wenshan District in a near feng shui–perfect perch: two rivers converge in the valley below, while…

  • Grass Mountain Chateau

    Yangmingshan National Park

    Built in 1920 and visited by Japanese Crown Prince Hirohito, this handsome building became Chiang Kai-shek's first residence in 1949. The chateau is now a…

  • 2-28 Memorial Museum

    Taipei

    Located inside 2-28 park, 2-28 Memorial Museum explains the background to the killings that were sparked by the 28 February 1947 incident and the…

  • National Taiwan Museum

    Taipei

    Established in 1908, Taiwan's first public museum has been in its present location in 2-28 Park since 1915. Reopened in 2017 after an upgrade, it has been…

  • Xingtian Temple

    Taipei

    This newish temple, established in just 1967, lacks that historical atmosphere but is an extremely busy and popular city temple. It's worth the trip to…

  • North Gate

    Taipei

    Comparisons with the Arc de Triomphe may be a bit exaggerated, but the russet-red, newly restored Qing-era North Gate is rather photogenic, especially…

  • Taiwan Contemporary Culture Lab

    Taipei

    This sprawling complex, formerly the Air Force Command Headquarters, was turned over to the Ministry of Culture in 2018 to develop as a space for young…

  • Taipei City Hakka Cultural Park

    Taipei

    This 4-hectare park is dedicated to the Hakka people. The grounds are modelled in part on a Hakka village – there's even a rice-paddy field. At the main…

  • Fort San Domingo

    Taipei

    Fort San Domingo is Tamsui's most famous sight. The original fort, built in 1628 during the Spanish occupation of Taiwan (1626–41), was dismantled by the…

  • Kishuan Forest of Literature

    Taipei

    This sleepy wooden lodge was built by a Japanese family in 1917 and was lovingly reconstructed after two fires in the 1990s almost destroyed it. Visitors…

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