Fancy Hot Spring Experience in Taipei? Check out Beitou Hot Spring Town
Beitou Hot Spring is another of my favourite day trip from Taipei city, apart from the previous day trip to Yehliu, Jinguashi, Jiufen, Shifen, Keelung (full review here). Taiwan’s landscape is quite similar to Japan, filled with volcanoes and natural hot spring all around the island. Beitou Hot Spring is a natural hot spring recreation area easily accessible by Taipei Metro, reachable within an hour from Taipei downtown.
So Big Teddy and I went for a day trip to Beitou Hot Spring by taking the Red Taipei Metro line to Beitou Station, then at Beitou Station we had to transfer to the Pink Taipei Metro line to the Xinbeitou station which is only 1 station away. From Xinbeitou Station, all the attractions and hot spring sites are all within walking distance.
1st Attraction: Beitou Public Library (台北市立图书馆(北投分馆))
This beautiful architecture is renowned for its green and sustainable features. Being the 1st green library in Taiwan opened in 2006, Beitou Public Library offers not just architectural uniqueness, but also more than 20,000 English and Chinese literatures for visitors to read at their leisure. Although we admired the building from the outside, we didn’t check out the inside this time around.
2nd Attraction: Beitou Hot Spring Museum (北投温泉博物馆)
Built in 1912 by the Japanese, Beitou Hot Spring Museum used to be the Beitou Public Bathhouse, the largest bathhouse in East Asia in that time. This European and Japanese influenced building has been converted into a museum to showcase the interesting history of Beitou, which the hot spring culture is the core of this town.
Entrance was free so we had a stroll in this museum, which was very interesting with the combination of Japanese and European bathhouse influences in it. The main hot spring pool at the lower floor was the main area for the male guests to mingle and socialise back in those days. There were few galleries showcasing the history and some collections over the years from this hot spring town.
Beitou Hot Spring Museum Official Website here.
Beitou Hot Spring Museum Address: No. 2, Zhongshan Road, Beitou District, Taipei City
Opening Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Tuesday–Sunday);
Closed on Mondays and national holidays (open if the national holiday falls on a weekend)
3rd Attraction: Thermal Valley (地热谷)
This is the iconic landmark of Beitou, also known as the Hell Valley. Thermal Valley is the source of hot spring water in the entire Beitou area, supply the stream of hot spring water to the public bath houses and all the hot spring hotels. This jade coloured pool is a hot spring crater that constantly boiling at hot temperature from 80 – 100 degrees Celsius. You could boil an egg in there but don’t ever try to swim in it. Thermal Valley is so hot that we were sweating the entire time we were there. The whole place was like an open air sauna. Furthermore, the strong rotten egg smells from the sulfur is not too pleasant to stay around long but we did had fun making a Facebook Live video telling the whole world how smelly this place was.
Fun fact: The mineral composition of this rare green sulfur spring waters can only be found in two locations in the world, here in Beitou and in Akita, Japan.
4th Attraction: Hot Spring Bath at Spa Spring Resort (水都北投温泉会馆)
After the Thermal Valley, we decided to continue to chill in Beitou Hot Spring at the Spa Spring Resort and paid NTD1,380 (≈USD46) for a 2 hours use of a private room with a big Jacuzzi hot spring tub. The room was basic but clean, and we have all the privacy to ourselves to enjoy the hot spring water in the nice big tub.
Official website of Spa Spring Resort here.
Address of Spa Spring Resort: No.238, Guangming Rd., Beitou Dist., Taipei City 112, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
Tel :+886 2 2897 9060
Once we were done with our hot spring bath, we were ready to return to Taipei city. It was a nice and relaxing way to spend a day in this picturesque town. It’s not everyday we get to experience natural hot spring so I was glad that we visited Beitou Hot Spring during our trip to Taipei. If you’re looking for something different to do in Taipei, try this day trip to Beitou Hot Spring. Definitely top things to do in Taipei! If you’re looking for other things to do in Taipei, do check out what to do in Taipei for 3 days here.
If you’re looking for accommodation recommendation do check out best hostels in Taipei and some fun facts & tips about living in Taiwan.
Check out my previous post on another day trip idea from Taipei to Yehliu, Jinguashi, Jiufen, Shifen, Keelung here.
Check out my previous post on Beitou Hot Spring Museum here.
Check out my other posts on Taipei here.
Do follow my adventures on Facebook here and Instagram here.
6 comments
I kind of want to hop on a plane now and go! Plus that bed looks so nice! 🙂 Great post!
What a fun day trip! I loooove hot springs, so this sounds like a great relaxing day. The thermal valley is crazy! Can’t believe how hot it must be. Incredible natural phenomenon.
I have never been to Taipei but now I would love to go! This sound like a great day trip!
Private spring tub for the day? Yes please! I had no idea Taiwan had this!
Your post reminded me so much of the day trip my hubby and I had back in 2014! We loved the Beitou Public Library. It is such a beautiful green architecture!
I love the idea of a green library and the architecture is beautiful. A book and hot springs sounds like an ideal day.