1 / 7Taipei 101 & the cityPhoto: 4300streetcar / CC BY 4.0
Tap a photo to see it large. 7 photographs, every one credited.
Checked against official sources · updated · Takumi Yamada
The bamboo-shoot tower, Elephant Mountain’s skyline steps, and MRT ease — the DIY capital day for confident travelers. Local trains from Keelung station run two or three an hour and take about 40–55 minutes (NT$62). The observatory is open 10:00–21:00, NT$600; senior discounts need a Taiwan ID.
- This needs 9 hr, so it only fits an 11-hour call or longer. On a shorter one it will cost you the ship, not the view.
- It is a view, so it is weather. Check the morning sky before you commit the hours.
Why Taipei 101 & the city is famous
Taipei 101 was the tallest building in the world from 2004 to 2010, and it is shaped as eight stacked sections because eight is auspicious. Its damper, a 660-tonne steel ball hung near the top against typhoons and earthquakes, is visible to visitors, which almost no other tower allows.
Where the 9 hr goes
Counted from the moment you step off the gangway, about 30 minutes after the ship arrives. The hour before all-aboard is not in this bar; it is already set aside.
75 minutes each way is the measured figure for ~75 min door to door by train and mrt, not the optimistic one. If your ship is late, cut the 6 hr 30 min in the middle. Never cut the hour at the end.
Routes that already include it
Each one is a finished day timed from the official timetables, with this stop in it. Read the route rather than assembling it yourself.
What to put beside it
Each of these still lands you back aboard with the hour to spare.
See · ~5h round tripJiufen lantern town
Gold-rush lanes stacked on a sea cliff, red lanterns lighting the teahouses at dusk — the town that launched a thousand postcards.
See the detail
Eat · ~1.5h, walkableMiaokou Night Market crawl
Taiwan’s street-food canon ten minutes from the gangway — crab thick soup, one-bite sausages, the "nutritious sandwich" fried to order.
See the detail
See · ~5hYehliu Geopark
The Queen’s Head and a shoreline of mushroom rocks carved by wind and sea — geology doing sculpture.
See the detail