Taiwan is a fascinating country, with a culture that matches its geographical location, somewhere between China and Japan. Some things however, are uniquely Taiwanese – and you won’t experience them anywhere else in the world.
The food is a spin on southern Chinese, with delicious dumplings and other delights. There’s influence from Japanese culture too, seen in its architecture and love of quirky Japanese cartoon characters, and the Taiwanese well-mannered and helpful nature.
Experience the attractions below, though, and it strikes you that Taiwan really is a unique destination for a family holiday in Asia. Reason enough to bring the kids here on holiday, but there’s more: Taiwan is literally bursting its borders with kid-friendly attractions.
1. Explore a paper world at Carton King Creative Park - Taichung
Stroll past zebras, giraffes, elephants and toucans, as well as windmills, Big Ben and the Eiffel Tower at Carton King Creative Park. They’re all made from paper, of course! Carton King is a theme park where everything is made of paper. There’s a paper zoo as you walk in, paper versions of the Leaning Tower of Pisa and Big Ben.
Try making your own paper windmill, then dine in a restaurant also made of paper – even your chair and the pot that you cook your shabu shabu or hotpot-style veggies and meat in! The attraction is located in Taichung, an hour’s drive from the capital Taipei on the northern tip of Taiwan.
2. Make android friends at Sha Yang Ye Robot Wonderland - Taoyan
Learn how robots are made at this robot museum for kids in Taoyan. Not only do you get to learn the history (and future) of robots at this interactive museum, you also get to control them and play with them.
3. Get wet and wild at Lotus WakePark - Kaohsiung
Head to Lotus Wake Park to try your hand at wakeboarding. The man-made lagoon here is extremely pretty, surrounded by colourful temples – each dedicated to different gods – in order to balance the lake’s Feng Shui.
4. Spend a day at Leofoo Village Theme Park - Taipei
Hand-feed King Julian, the lemur, and his mates at Leofoo Village Theme Park, then drive around the safari-style zoo spotting rhinos, zebras and bison. Located on the outskirts of Taipei, the complex also includes a theme park and water park, so you’ll need a full day to explore.
5. Brave the rides at LIHPAO Resort Discovery Land - Taichung
Get that adrenalin pumping on the freaky broken track rollercoaster at LIHPAO Discovery World – the track tips over 90 degrees and leaves you hanging there before freefalling to meet the next track that loops a few loops. There are plenty of other thrill rides to enjoy at the theme park, as well as an adjacent water park.
6. Race go-karts at Suzuka Circuit Park - Kaohsiung
Go racing on Suzuka Circuit Park, the only Suzuka go-kart racetrack outside Japan – it feels like Formula One, if only for 15 minutes. Inside the entertainment and outlet complex there are all sorts of indoor sports to try out as well, including basketball, mini golf and baseball.
7. Visit the colourful Rainbow Village - Taichung
Something you’re unlikely to see anywhere else, Rainbow Village is a tiny tumble-down village, every inch of it painted in vibrant colours, even the doorsteps and footpaths leading out to the surrounding park. It’s one of the last of Chiang Kai Shek’s veteran housing projects, saved from demolition by its determined owner, who taught himself to paint and turned it into a tourist attraction.
8. Eat at Modern Toilet restaurant - Taipei
Prepare to sit on toilets, eat out of toilet-shaped bowls and sip out of urinals. Yep, in Taipei’s Xi Men shopping district you’ll find a toilet-themed restaurant where you can eat lunch from a toilet bowl. It’s actually been here for over 15 years – proof that gimmicks work? Well maybe that, and also, the food’s actually pretty good. Try the Thai green curry, served in a baby blue toilet bowl, or the chocolate icecream shaped like a…
9. Take in the view from Taipei 101 - Taipei City
Check out the view from the top of Taipei 101 – once the tallest building in the world, with the fastest elevator – and learn about the 660-tonne dampier that keeps the tower safe in high winds. Tickets can be purchased to ride up to the 89th floor observatory in just 37 seconds or walk out on the Skyline 460 platform a full 460 metres above the ground.
10. Try bubble tea where it originated
Learn how to make pearl milk tea in the tea house that started the worldwide craze for tea with boba: Chun Shui Tang Cultural Tea House.
11. Discover tribal culture at East Coast National Scenic Area
Head over to the Torik (Duli) Visitor Center for an immersive education in East Coast tribal culture. As well as staging cultural performances, the centre has activities for kids that include various local indigenous crafts, archery, and even how to fire a giant bamboo cannon.
12. Snorkel or dive the Green Island coral reefs
Green Island is famous for its fringing coral reefs and clear water. The bay, once fished out by local fishermen, is now a marine reserve perfect for snorkelling and diving – a testament to nature’s ability to bounce back. Large coral bommies are surrounded by clouds of fish, and in the nooks and crannies you can spot nudibranchs and moray eels, while banded sea snakes wind in and out of the colourful sea fans.
The ferry crossing to the island can be a bit rough, depending on the weather, but it’s worth the trip to experience the island’s pretty seaside village and clear turquoise water.
13. Treat the kids at Miyahara Ice Cream & Confectionery - Taichung
For cake and ice cream in Taichung City, head to the multi-storey Miyahara cake shop and café, housed in an old Chinese medicine dispensary, then to their ice cream parlour, a converted bank where the kids can eat their amazing ice cream sundaes at the old teller counters.
14. Learn about pineapple growing in Kaohsiung
In Kaohsiung, a 2.5-hour drive from Taichung, families can learn all about pineapple agriculture. Taiwan is famous for its pineapples (more so than Queensland it would appear) and even more so for its pineapple cakes. Visit the Taiwan Pineapple Museum, located in an old cannery, for a surprisingly hands-on experience; kids can draw their own designs to create pineapple can labels and sample the region’s famous pineapple jams, teas and baked goods.
15. The Pier-2 Art Center
In the centre of Kaosiung, a complex of old warehouses has been converted into the Pier-2 Art Center. There are studios and creative outlets of all sorts here, everything from jewellery and watercolours, to sculpture and illustrated ‘zines.
16. Discover Taiwanese tea culture in Maokong
For a day of tea and cake, hop on the Maokong Gondola and head into the hills behind Taipei city. Here you can learn all about tea: how it’s grown, how it’s correctly brewed and how it should be poured. Enjoy tea-infused noodles and dumplings at the Dragon Inn high in the hills, looking out over tea plantations with views of Taipei City in the far distance.
17. Delve into regional history at Lanyang Museum
Learn about Taiwan’s natural, physical and cultural history at Lanyang Museum in Yilan. The east coast of Taiwan has the country’s largest populations of indigenous peoples, and museums and interpretive centres through the region is a great place to learn about the East Coast tribes, whose history dates back 5500 years before Han Chinese settlement.
18. Cycle along Taiwan's East Coast
A paved cycle path runs the entire length of the East Coast, circumnavigating the entire island of Taiwan and attracting thousands of cyclists each year. An easier option for families is to cycle some of the Taitung bike trails that wind through fields of rice. The cycle paths here are famous locally because they appear in a couple of television commercials! It’s an incredibly pretty valley, full of bright green rice fields near harvest time against a backdrop of dark, rugged-looking mountains that disappear into the clouds.
19. Visit the flagship Eslite bookstore - Taipei City
Eslite is the name of Taiwan’s largest chain of bookstores, founded by book-lover and culture vulture Robert Wu in 1989. The Eslite bookstore franchise has expanded significantly, with 38 branches in Taiwan and several overseas.
The flagship Dunnan, Taipei store has become one of the city’s most popular tourist attractions; open 24 hours a day, it allows customers to settle in and read for as long as they like before purchasing. The Dunnan branch is open 24 hours and allows customers to settle in and read for as long as they like before purchasing.
It’s likely the success of this concept inspired Wu to take it one step further, with the opening of the luxurious Eslite hotel. Next door, the Eslite Spectrum shopping mall provides four floors of eating, tea sipping and browsing its wide range of books, music, fashion, arts and crafts and gourmet produce.
20. Wander through Songshan Cultural & Creative Park - Taipei City
Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, a former tobacco factory which operated between 1937 and 1998, is now home to a cooperative of artists and craftsmen. It’s a fascinating precinct to walk through, to watch artists at work in their studios, maybe catch a TEDX-style seminar in one of the lecture theatres, stroll through galleries and window-shop in the cooperative retail outlet.
Where to stay in Taiwan with kids
Eslite Hotel - Taipei City
Walking into the lounge area of Eslite Hotel is like walking into a private library crossed with an art gallery. On your left, floor to ceiling books cover the entire wall, with a sliding ladder to reach the higher shelves. All books are available for guests to borrow and read during their stay. Other walls are adorned with artworks, and sculptures are placed here and there in between designer furniture.
The suites also have a selection of books to read, as well as expansive living and sleeping areas, large ensuite bathroom, and most rooms with a balcony overlooking the greenery of Songshan Cultural and Creative Park.
The Red Dot Hotel - Taichung
Stay in a hotel where you can slide to reception. Taiwan has plenty of quirky boutique hotels and at The Red Dot Hotel you can skip the elevator and slide down two storeys to reception on your way out to explore the city.
Hotel Royal Chiao Hsi - Yilan
Located in the onsen (spa) town of Yilan, the Hotel Royal Chiao Hsi is impressive. Guests are welcomed into an expansive, high-ceilinged lobby; to the left, an art gallery and library, and beyond that a bar, with floor-to-ceiling windows that look out onto the green valley below. Rooms and suites each have a private onsen.
Updated by Dan Campbell on 2 May 2025.
Opening image: Colourful art in the Taichung Rainbow Village. © Jisun Han/Unsplash
