Taipei With Kids
What Taipei with kids really looks like, from a family that plans these trips for a living.
Nicole Damiano, ASTA Verified Travel Advisor with FG Luxury Travel
Is Taipei worth it with kids?
Yes. Clean, safe, friendly and delicious, with a perfect metro, hot springs and a gondola, it is one of the easiest and most fun cities in Asia for kids.
How many days?
Three to four days plus the Jiufen day. Longer if you are pairing it with the rest of Taiwan or a trip to Japan.
Do we need to book anything ahead?
Almost nothing needs booking far ahead. Buy Taipei 101 tickets online to skip lines, and just show up for the markets and the hot springs. The city runs on the day.
Do we need a car?
No. The metro is spotless and covers the city, the gondola and trains reach the hills, and an EasyCard pays for all of it. A car is no help here.
When should we go?
October through December and March through May for the mild, dry weather. Summers are hot, humid and the typhoon season, so aim for spring or autumn.
Asia’s Easiest, Friendliest City
Taipei might be the easiest big city in Asia for a family, and hardly anyone puts it on the list. It is clean, safe, wonderfully friendly, and the food is a nightly adventure, and it sits between green mountains and the sea with hot springs on the metro line.
You get one of the tallest towers in the world with a giant gold ball swinging inside it, night markets where dinner is a treasure hunt, natural hot springs a short train from downtown, a gondola over tea hills, and a mountain town from a Studio Ghibli daydream an hour away. It is warm, cheap and welcoming.
Getting Around
You will not need a car. The Taipei Metro is spotless, cheap, simple and everywhere, and the buses and the gondola fill the gaps. Get an EasyCard at the airport and tap it for the metro, the buses, the gondola and even a snack. It is one of the great transit systems for families.
Neighborhoods worth basing in
Xinyi & Taipei 101
The gleaming modern district around Taipei 101, with the mall, the observatory and the big night market nearby, right on the metro. A convenient, easy base in the heart of the new city.
Ximending & the Old City
The buzzy old shopping and street food quarter, walkable, full of life and cheap eats, close to the temples and the metro. A lively, central base with the best snacks at your door.
Beitou
The hot spring valley in the green hills at the north end of the metro line, calmer and cooler, with public and private hot spring baths. A gentle, restful base a short train from the center.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei
A polished five star on the city’s grand avenue with a beautiful pool and calm, the splurge that makes an easy city even easier. A real treat with the metro at the door.
Hotel Proverbs Taipei
A stylish, playful design hotel in the old city with a rooftop pool and character, warm and family friendly. Well priced for what it is and the one I point most families to.
CityInn Hotel
Clean, simple and cheap right by a metro station in the old town, an easy base for a family exploring the markets and the temples. It does the job and puts you in the middle of it.
The Three I Build Every Taipei Trip Around
Taipei 101 and the Night Markets
Taipei 101 was once the tallest building on earth, and the ride up is a thrill, along with the giant golden damper ball that keeps it steady in earthquakes and typhoons, which kids find fascinating. At its feet and across the city, the night markets are the real event, Shilin and Raohe and Ningxia, where dinner is a walk past a hundred stalls. Ride the tower at dusk, then eat your way through a market.
The Beitou Hot Springs
Beitou is a hot spring valley at the end of a metro line, where a steaming green stream runs through a park and public and private baths let you soak in the mineral water. It is a lovely, easy afternoon, and there are family friendly baths and a fun little museum. A short train and you are in the mountains.
The Maokong Gondola and the Tea Hills
The Maokong Gondola swings up over the tea hills on the southern edge of the city to a village of teahouses and temples with views back over Taipei. Ride up, let the kids look for the zoo below, have a snack among the tea gardens, and ride back down. An easy, gentle half day out.
Family Time, Built In: Taipei With Kids
Taipei asks almost nothing of a family and gives a lot back. A perfect metro, friendly people, safe streets, warm weather, hot springs, a gondola, and food everywhere. Do a tower and a market, a hot spring afternoon and a gondola morning, and everyone is happy.
The harbor ferry to the beach
Sunday fish market
Paddle boats on the the river
Planten un Blomen
the Beitou hot springs plaza
PARK & DOWNTIME PICK
Da’an Forest Park in the middle of the city, big, green and shady with playgrounds, a pond and space to run, is the easy reset. Come in the late afternoon, let the kids loose, and watch Taipei relax around you.
Five Things To Eat In Taipei
Xiao long bao
Beef noodle soup
Bubble tea
Scallion pancake
Mango shaved iceNicole’s Perspective
A warm, easy city between mountains and sea
I taught social studies for eight years, and Taipei tells the layered story of Taiwan beautifully. Indigenous roots, Chinese heritage, a Japanese era and a modern democracy all sit side by side, and the National Palace Museum holds one of the greatest collections of Chinese art in the world. A morning there gives a fun trip real depth.
I have planned and priced a lot of Asia for families, and Taipei is the one I recommend to nervous first timers who want somewhere easy. It is safe, friendly, cheap and endlessly interesting, and it pairs well with Japan across the water. When a family wants an easy, delicious first taste of Asia, this is the one.
The Day Trip: Jiufen and the Coast
Jiufen is a former gold mining town clinging to a mountain above the sea, a maze of lantern lit lanes, teahouses and stalls that feels like stepping into a story. Pair it with the strange rock formations of the Yehliu geopark on the coast, go on a weekday to beat the crowds, and make a full, lovely day of it an hour from the city.
Things I Would Tell A Friend Before They Booked
How Many Days
Three to four full days covers Taipei well, plus the Jiufen day. That is Taipei as a real stop and an easy first city in Asia.
Day one, Taipei 101 at dusk and a night market for dinner. Day two, the old town temples, the National Palace Museum, and a second night market.
Day three, a hot spring afternoon in Beitou and the Maokong gondola. Day four, the trip out to Jiufen and the coast.
If all you have is a night in transit, ride Taipei 101 at dusk and eat your way through one night market, and call it a strong taste.
Taipei With Kids, Answered
Is Taipei worth it with kids?
Yes. Clean, safe, friendly and delicious, with a perfect metro, hot springs and a gondola, it is one of the easiest and most fun cities in Asia for kids.
How many days?
Three to four days plus the Jiufen day. Longer if you are pairing it with the rest of Taiwan or a trip to Japan.
Do we need to book anything ahead?
Almost nothing needs booking far ahead. Buy Taipei 101 tickets online to skip lines, and just show up for the markets and the hot springs. The city runs on the day.
Do we need a car?
No. The metro is spotless and covers the city, the gondola and trains reach the hills, and an EasyCard pays for all of it. A car is no help here.
When should we go?
October through December and March through May for the mild, dry weather. Summers are hot, humid and the typhoon season, so aim for spring or autumn.
Ready To Put Taipei On The Calendar
Send me your dates and your kids’ ages and I will tell you the three days that cover Taipei, and if Jiufen or the rest of Taiwan is worth adding.
Keep exploring from Taipei
Nearby cities, the country, the whole region.
Click any card to open that page
Zoom out
All of Taiwan
All of Asia