Taiwan With Kids by Age: Toddler to Teen
Children’s stamina changes faster than any itinerary, so the useful question in Taiwan is how old yours are. The country is compact, clean and welcoming, and you can match almost every age to something short, cheap and easy to reach by rail.
Toddlers and pre-schoolers: short, free and seated
Little ones do best with outings that finish in an hour. At Fuxing Park in Beitou, the open-air geothermal foot baths are free, and the whole family can dangle their feet in warm water. Taipei Zoo is NT$100 for adults and NT$50 for students, and under-12s enter free. The giant panda pavilion is the star, and the grounds are big, so bring a stroller or a carrier.
At Taipei 101, children under 6 or under 115 cm are free, although the adult ticket is tiered and starts at NT$600 for the standard floors. The entrance is in the office tower. If your little one hates queues, the zoo is the better use of a morning. Wulai’s log cart is another easy win. It rolls 1.5 km through forest to an 80 m waterfall, daily from 08:00 to 17:00, except for maintenance on the first Tuesday of the month.
Primary school age: moving things and big animals
Between about six and eleven, children enjoy anything that moves. The Maokong Gondola leaves from beside Taipei Zoo and climbs to the tea hills, and the glass-bottomed Crystal Cabin is a favourite. Check fares with the operator, since they change. At Shifen, they can paint a paper lantern for NT$200 in one colour or NT$250 to NT$350 in several, then release it beside the tracks.
Further afield, the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium at Kenting has an 81 m tunnel with stingrays and reef sharks, open 09:00 to 18:00 with last entry at 17:00. Near Kaohsiung, the Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum is free and has a 108 m seated Buddha, but it is closed on Tuesdays. If you want a guided day, you can compare family tours on GetYourGuide .
Teenagers: effort, food and wheels
Older children like a goal. Elephant Mountain’s 600 stone steps end in a classic view of Taipei 101 and cost nothing. YouBike rental runs about NT$5 to NT$10 per 30 minutes with an EasyCard, and the riverside paths between Dadaocheng and Tamsui work well at sunset. Sun Moon Lake has a paved bikeway of about 30 km.
Food is its own activity. Night market bites such as braised pork rice, fried chicken cutlets and oyster omelettes run about NT$35 to NT$100, and boba milk tea is around NT$60 to NT$85. Cooking classes teach dumpling folding with 18 pleats, and pineapple cake baking suits a rainy afternoon.
Rules that catch families out
On the MRT, eating and drinking, water included, is fined NT$1,500 to NT$7,500, and that applies to children too. Pack snacks for the walk to the station and finish them outside the gates. Every foreign visitor, adults and children, fills in the free online arrival card at twac.immigration.gov.tw , up to 7 days before landing. During typhoon season, July to October, watch cwa.gov.tw and keep a zoo or museum day in reserve.
Verdict: under-sixes are happiest at the zoo and the foot baths, school-age children at the log cart and the aquarium tunnel, and teenagers on a bike or a hill. See also the 2-day plan and the day trips .