Taiwan is an island which is part of the east Asia region that has a lot of Japanese influence due to colonialism. They are famous for night market. Night market cultural is so ingrain in them that there are variety shows and drama focusing on the life of night market.
This was my fourth trip. With 1 week of September school holiday, we took the opportunity to visit both Taichung and Taipei.
We took China Airlines this time round. If you want to have a review with China Airline, I’ll put the link here.
Taichung (台中) or Central of Taiwan was our first stop. They are famous for Alishan, one of their mountain famous for tea, Nantou for Cingjing Farm and Sun Moon Lake. Most first – timer who visit Taichung may not want to miss out Nantou for the beautiful outdoor activities. As such, most of us will usually place Taichung as a resting place before heading out to Nantou.
In this post I will be sharing our itinerary for both Taichung City and Taipei City. I will also add in top attractions for children.
We had visited Nantou many years ago, therefore I am sharing some hidden gems that is right smack in Taichung City. There are also very family friendly attractions.
Have a child crazy over trains just like Alfie? I’ll be sharing just the right attraction for them.
As for Taipei, we chose to go back to Maokong and Taipei Children’s Amusement Park. Maokong was a great respite from the heat and still equally charming.
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Table of Contents
- Itinerary
- How did we travel?
- Where did we stay?
- 921 Earthquake Museum Of Taiwan
- National Taiwan Museum of Comic
- Taichung Literature Museum
- Taichung Railway Cultural Park
- Taipei Children’s Amusement Park
- Maokong
- National Taiwan Museum
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Itinerary
How did we travel?
I remember many years ago, we had to take an airport transfer bus from outside the airport building.
Now, it’s very straight forward to dive into the city centre from Taoyuan Airport using their Airport Metro. With plenty of signages in both traditional Chinese and English, one will not get lost easily. While it is a little bit of a distance from the immigration to the metro, it is very easy to navigate your way there.
Airport Metro also use their EasyCard which is the same as their Taipei metro. This EasyCard can also be use for their city buses, intercity buses as well as their railway trains. The only transport which cannot use the card is their Highspeed Rail (HSR). That will need a credit card type of Easycard which maybe a little troublesome for tourist to apply with their bank.
For city like Taichung, most of their attractions are very near the railway station. Most of them are walking distance. Buses and taxis are also available. One can also book their ride through Uber for their taxis.
Where did we stay?
At Taichung, we stay just 5-10 minutes walking distance from their train station, Olah Poshtel.
Yes, with luggages and 2 kids on tow, it took us about 10 minutes to walk. Very near and very convenient.
An affordable hotel that cater for backpacker, they are very popular with family too. Whether you are a lone traveller, with a bunch of friends or family, there’s something for everyone at the hotel.
In Taipei, we stayed at Roader’s Hotel which is walking distance from Ximending Metro Station. While Roader’s do not cater free breakfast, they have a very fun cowboy theme.
At their front counter located at B1, it consist of a sitting area for people to dine and for digital nomads a much needed work space. They offer free snacks the entire day, movie screening and a few games stations.
Taichung Attractions
921 Earthquake Museum Of Taiwan
No. 192號, Xinsheng Rd, Wufeng District, Taichung City, Taiwan 413
Lying near 2 Tectonic plates, Taiwan, especially along the east coast, is very prone to earthquake.
In 1999, Nantou county in Taichung was hit by the Chi-Chi Earthquake. The very spot of this museum was an elementary school that was devastated by the quake. Following the rescue works, the government decided to convert this location into museum to commemorate and educate the puplic at the same time.
This museum consist both an indoor and outdoor area. They have preserve most of the devastation of the building and it’s very heartbroken to know the death counts from this disaster. The indoor section is rather interactive for both adults and kids alike as we learnt about how they use various techniques and technology to better the buildings in the region.
National Taiwan Museum of Comic
No. 33號, Linsen Rd, West District, Taichung City, Taiwan 403
Are you a fan of comic?
Apparently with deep- rooted Japanese culture in Taiwan, most people in the region grow up with Japanese Animations and subsequently created their own form of comics.
Opened in 2023, this museum is one of the latest attractions for both locals and tourists. The building was originally constructed for prison guards during the Japanese ruling era. On top of exhibitions, they have areas allowing people to read and rent comics.
As the entire museum consist of many little Japanese houses, you will find yourself weaving in and out of both indoor and outdoor compound. I enjoyed the experience especially the beautifully pruned garden outside have a calming effect despite the September heat.
Taichung Literature Museum
No. 38號, Lequn St, West District, Taichung City, Taiwan 403
The literature museum is dedicated to famous Taiwanese poets and writers. This permanent exhibition space showcase the history of the literature developments, display famous poems on the wall and have beautiful landscape on the outside.
The building of the museum were previously prison guards’ hostel from the Japanese ruling era. On top of adult literature, they also offer a range of children’s books. They converted 1 of the building into something cute and with crawling structure for the kids to play that is filled with kids books.
Taichung Railway Cultural Park
Have a child who love trains very much? The old Taichung Railway station was turned into a cultural park. The iconic Japanese-style station was very well-preserved. They also preserved 2-3 old trains and convert them into shops and cafes. In one of them, you can even buy a toy train and play on their tracks.
The outer area was converted into a weekend market. You can find little stalls selling all sorts of handcraft and artwork by the youths. This is the place where you can find unique, one of a kind souvenirs to bring back home.
Taipei Attractions
Taipei Children’s Amusement Park
No. 55號, Section 5, Chengde Rd, Shilin District, Taipei City, Taiwan 11169
If I can use a sentence to describe this place, it would be,
This is by far the cheapest amusement park I’ve ever encountered.
I’m not kidding you. At NT$30 (SGD1.20, USD 0.93) per ride, it is also very affordable for their locals. The amusement park also offer full day unlimited pass at NT 200 (SGD 8, USD 6.19).
Most theme parks will always burn a deep hole into parents’ pocket. But not this one. Parents can easily entertain the kids the entire day with just this attractions. When the weather gets too hot, head indoor.
They have 2 arcade on the first floor that is fully air-con. On the second floor, there are also a wide variety of food, and an indoor playground. While it’s not very big, the playground can easily entertain younger kids for 1-2 hours.
Maokong
Maokong 猫空 literally means Cat Empty. It is situated at Wenshan district, right next to Taipei Zoo. Most first timer may pair the Zoo and Maokong together.
As the zoo opens at 9am, it is possible for early riser to visit 2 at the same time. Spend 4 to 6 hours at the zoo with your lunch taken there, then taking the Taipei Zoo gondola up to Maokong,
You can take a short hike, watch the sunset and enjoy the lush greenery before ending the night with dinner at one of the tea house, before heading your way down on the gondola.
If you are not keen on visiting the Zoo, you can take a mid morning hike at the hill to view the tea plantation. Walk about 15-20 minutes you’ll reach the Tea Promotion Centre which is free to enter. Inside, you can find out more about the history and region on tea planting and tea drinking culture.
After which, you can head out to the many teahouse for lunch that litter the outer streets. As Maokong is a tea plantation region, the selling point of all the eatery and restaurants is tea. Here, you can find unique tea-infused cuisine. The heavy usage of tea in every dish may not be suitable for every children.
There are also ice cream shop that sells tea – infused flavours when the weather gets too hot. Even if you are not going in a meal, you can order a pot of tea and enjoy the views and read a book or chill.
National Taiwan Museum
No. 2, Xiangyang Rd, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, Taiwan 100
Want to see some dinosaurs? Head down to National Taiwan Museum.
This museum consist of 2 different buildings across the road of each other. Inside the main building, they have special exhibitions on the first floor from time to time. The exhibits are rather interactive and interesting for children.
I particularly like the exhibits which showcase the animals living in Taiwan and their natural habitat. The animals are life-size and really realistic.
On the Natural History Branch, there are life size dinosaurs’ skeletons which are part of their permanent exhibitions. As the building used to be their central bank, there’s still an existing vault for us to explore and exhibits on their bank.
It’s not everyday we will have a chance to visit a vault in real life. Step inside and think about the amount of money you can place.
Credit – All photos are taken by hubby
That’s all for this post and thank you for reading through the 7 Kids-friendly attractions in Taiwan.
Which is your favourite attractions and which do you intend to visit on your trip to Taiwan? If you any questions, do comment in the section below. If you like this article, share on your social media and tag me on Facebook or Instagram.
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