Are you thinking about a trip to Taipei in Taiwan anytime soon? Yangmingshan and Beitou are two places well worth visiting. In this blog post, I’ll share my experience. Keep reading to find out how I made it to Yangmingshan and Beitou Hot Springs on the same day. Both are located just outside of the city centre and they’re easily accessible from downtown. I’ll be honest, there was a typhoon when I visited so don’t expect instagrammable photos from this post but you’ll hopefully be back to make it to both locations.
Getting There:
From downtown to Yangmingshan
Take the red line to Beitou and transfer to the extended line of Xinbeitou. Take bus 230 from Daye Road on the half hour. It’s up a sloped hill. You’ll pass Beitou National Museum along the way if you want to stop there. I arrived at the final stop for Yangmingshan and walked up towards the visitor centre. The staff recommended against going up any further due to the typhoon and the place was empty, except for a couple trying to retrieve a phone.
I went back towards the stop I was at and walked around the nearby park and saw some men outside relaxing at a hot spring. There was a trail up to Mt. Shamao for 1.2km. It was steep and a little slippery due to the rain. The view at the top was nice but I couldn’t see everything due to the clouds. It reminded me of a wet and windy day back home. There is another trail for 1km downwards and this is where the trip on your shoes will be tested. I wore normal Nike runners and slipped a few times.
From Yangmingshan to Beitou
Once I got back to the main road, I got the bus back down to the town centre of Beitou. I had to walk back a little bit for about 800m but I got to see the plum garden, thermal valley and I entered Beitou Public Hot Spring for 30NTD. I got this rate because I was able to prove that I was a teacher! Just bring some form of ID or something school related with your name on it.
There is also Taipei Public Library Beitou Branch which structurally looks very cool but I didn’t enter inside. Also, you need to wear a specific bathing suit and a cap for entering the colder pools. There’s a locker for 20NTD that you can rent but it’s small so any big bag you have won’t fit. The hottest spring is between 40-45 degrees. My body wasn’t used to the temperatures so I rotated around them all for two loops.
Heading Back Downtown:
Once I cleaned myself up and left, I got the subway back downtown and got beef noodles in YongKang Street. It may not seem like much but it all added up throughout the day. You can definitely see Yangmingshan and Beitou yourself for far less than what some tours cost, but you have to plan it out well (I didn’t) and be up early. I headed there at about 11am and it was almost 7pm by the time I was leaving to go back downtown.
While the weather wasn’t great, it was still a great day trip and I felt like I still got to see quite a bit. If you end up taking this trip or if you did it before, I would love to hear how you got on.
Thanks for reading my post. If you liked this, you may enjoy some more which I have linked below.
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