Taiwan Attractions: Tickets and Timing
Pay for the ones that earn it
Taiwan’s best-known attractions are cheap by international standards, but the details change what you pay: tiers, concessions, entrance doors and closing days. Here are the ticketed sights worth planning around, in rough order of price.
National Palace Museum, Taipei
The museum holds nearly 700,000 imperial Chinese artefacts, including the Jadeite Cabbage and the Meat-Shaped Stone. Adult admission is NT$350 and the concession fare is about NT$150. Hours are 09:00 to 17:00 with the last ticket at 16:30. Check the weekly closing day on the museum’s official site before you go, and give it half a day.
Taipei 101 observatory
Ticketing is tiered. The standard NT$600 ticket covers the 88th, 89th and 91st floors, and the 101st-floor tier and other upgrades cost more. The entrance and ticket counter are on the first floor of the office tower, so follow the signs there rather than the shopping mall doors. Inside, the giant tuned mass damper, a steel sphere weighing 660 tonnes, is the real show. Children under 6 or under 115 cm enter free. Tiers and times are listed on the Taipei 101 site .
Beitou, hot spring valley
The 1913 Beitou Hot Spring Museum occupies a former Japanese public bathhouse, and the steaming Geothermal Valley is a short walk away. The public Millennium Hot Spring next door costs NT$40 to NT$60, with swimwear mandatory.
Taipei Zoo and the gondola
Adult admission is NT$100 and students pay NT$50, with the giant panda pavilion the main draw. The Maokong Gondola leaves from beside the zoo for the tea hills.
Kenting aquarium
The National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium in Kenting is open 09:00 to 18:00, with last entry at 17:00. Its 81 m transparent tunnel passes rays and reef sharks overhead. Details are on the aquarium’s official site .
Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum, Kaohsiung
Entry is free. A 108 m seated bronze Buddha sits among eight pagoda towers, and the grounds hold relic halls and meditation spaces. It opens 09:00 to 18:00 on weekdays and until 19:00 at weekends, and is closed on Tuesdays.
Yehliu Geopark
The coastal rock formations north of Taipei include the Queen’s Head, the best-known of the sandstone formations.
Booking tips
Tickets for Taipei 101 and the guided day tours can be compared at GetYourGuide , which helps when you want a fixed time slot. The museums and the aquarium are simple to buy at the door. Verdict: the National Palace Museum is the single best-value ticket in the country, and the Buddha museum is the best free one.
Easy add-ons
Two cheap extras pair well with the headline tickets. At Wulai, a vintage narrow-gauge log cart carries visitors 1.5 km to an 80 m waterfall, daily from 08:00 to 17:00, with maintenance on the first Tuesday of the month. At Sun Moon Lake, boat hops cost about NT$100 each and a full circuit around NT$300, stopping near Wenwu Temple. Both are easy to add to a Taipei or Taichung base, and neither needs a booking in advance.
If your dates are fixed, the 3-day itinerary shows how to pair Taipei attractions without doubling back. Tip: arrive at the Palace Museum at opening and head straight for the Jadeite Cabbage before tour groups fill the gallery.