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The definitive list · Keelung (Taipei)10 things to do in Keelung (Taipei)
Ranked by one question: if you had a single call here, what would you regret missing? Every entry carries the round-trip time from the berth.
Checked against official sources · updated · Takumi Yamada
Jiufen lantern town
Gold-rush lanes stacked on a sea cliff, red lanterns lighting the teahouses at dusk — the town that launched a thousand postcards. Weekday mornings dodge the crush.
Bus 788 ~40–55 min (taxi ~20 min)Full guide: JiufenMiaokou 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. Stalls run day and night.
~10 min walkFull guide: MiaokouYehliu Geopark
The Queen’s Head and a shoreline of mushroom rocks carved by wind and sea — geology doing sculpture. Pairs with Jiufen on every good tour loop. Open 08:00–17:00 (to 18:00 in summer); entry NT$120, or NT$60 for anyone 65 or over with ID, any nationality. It closes on typhoon days.
Taxi ~25 min (from ~NT$450) or bus 790Google Maps
North coast loop, guided
Jiufen, Shifen and Yehliu in one private 8–9 hour day with entry tickets included. The listing is written for Taipei hotel pickups and says nothing about ships, so it suits only calls of 11 hours or more, and only if the operator confirms in writing a pickup and return at the Keelung quay.
Taro balls above the sea
Warm, chewy taro and sweet-potato balls in a teahouse hanging over the coast — A-Gan-Yi ladles the famous bowl at the top of the stairs. The view does the rest.
Bus 788 to Jiufen ~40–55 min (taxi ~20 min)Google MapsZhongzheng Park & the Guanyin
The white goddess of mercy has watched Keelung’s harbor since 1969 — climb through the temple terraces for the full panorama of your ship below.
On foot uphillFull guide: Zhongzheng Park
Taipei, door to door
A private cruise-day tour of Taipei from the Keelung quay: Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, Taipei 101, lunch at Din Tai Fung, Longshan Temple and, time permitting, Dihua Street. The listing makes no promise about the return beyond timing stops to your departure, and its pickup list shows only the airport, so confirm the quay pickup in writing.
Xiao long bao class in Taipei
Pleat your own soup dumplings, then eat the evidence with pork thick soup and boba — the tastiest classroom in Taiwan, worth the train ride in.
~75 min door to door by train and MRTThe guided version · from US$65Lee Hu pastry, since 1882
Keelung’s own century-old bakery — pineapple cakes and curry pastries the locals queue for instead of the Taipei brands. Boxes are light, flat and cabin-proof. 90 Ren 3rd Road; hours are not published, phone 02-2422-3007.
Walk about 5–15 min, on the Miaokou blockGoogle MapsTaipei 101 & the city
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.
~75 min door to door by train and MRTGoogle Maps
