Within two days of arriving in Taiwan for the first time, I was treated to a visit at a hot spring on Xingyi Rd by Shipai MRT. Clustered amongst a whole range of hot springs, this was a Japanese-style hot spring with separate male-female facilities. It was situated right next to a river and had a large hot pool for soaking, a warm pool with water jets for massage, an icy-cold pool for refreshment and a sauna room for the brave. All done in Japanese-style wood finish, you wash before and after getting into the pools, and of course no-one wears anything. Best of all, you pay around NT500, spend all the time you want in the hot springs, and then the money you paid is counted towards your food bill at the restaurant, which served the best san bei ji that I’ve eaten in Taiwan!
As you can imagine, I’ve been back since. Now with the weather slowly getting colder, I can’t wait to try some different places, and would love to hear about everyone else’s favourite hot springs and recommendations for this winter. I know that there are a whole host of hot springs around Beitou, Yangmingshan and Wulai, so would really be interested in hearing about them.
(will try and find the name of the afore-mentioned place on Xingyi Rd)
Its been a few years since iv been there , but I used to have 3 fav places to go on the road from yangmingshan to ginshan. Was so comfy, especially in winter when its pretty cold up there.
Lots of places. Tienlai on the back side of Yangmingshan on the way to Jinshan is fantastic. Probably the best outdoor facilties, with a great mountain view, around. The San Francisco Governers Hot Spring in Jinshan has excellent sea and mountain views from the segegated pools on the roof.
Jiaoshi has very good water in abundance. Cheap too, You can get a room with a tub for 2 hours for 600-800. They also have very nice public facilities (segregated). Only a short train ride from Taipei. You can walk to all the hotels from the train station.
The outdoor public pools at the Spring hotel in Beitou are good. Nice views.
I have just returned from the hot springs in Nanzhuang. Lovely red brick and wood design on the outdoor pools which are set next to a river. About a 1.5 hour drive. We had the place to ourselves after 7pm.
If you have a car there are lots of options within 2 hours. Some cool natural ones too.
Mucha Man - thanks for the tips, look forward to trying them out.
The hot spring that I mentioned before is called Chuang Tang. Address: No. 10, Lane 300, Xingyi Rd. We take the MRT to Shipai station and then take a bus or taxi up the hill.
Anyone knows/can reccommend a mixed/non-segregated male-female hot spring pool facility? I am showing a young couple around but they do not want to be separated from the rest of the group, either.
My sister’s coming in the fall and I’d like to take her to a nice place. So far I’ve only been to 水都 (Shuidu) in Beitou. They had a nice variety of water massage facilities and different kinds of pools in their public area, but the setting is not so nice and it was a bit over-crowded. I’d like some place more quiet and with an attractive natural setting. Which places do y’all like?
If you’ve got a car, I recommend Tienlai on the back of Yangmingshan. It has a nice resort setting (next to the national park) and you can combine your visit with hiking in the YMS national park. I haven’t been back in a few years so you might want to call and get an update on the place.
Tienlai is very nice as are the resorts in Tai’an, Miaoli County (about 2 hours driving).
Also the resort near Shitoushan in Nanzhuang is great and with its all red brick and wood design looks very traditional (though in fact it is completely modern). I like this place a lot. It’s set on the bend of an undeveloped river. Great atmosphere.
The springs near Sanxia are good too and you can combine with a walk in Manyueyuan Forest Reserve, filled with waterfalls, beautiful forests, and monkeys. dabangan.com.tw/
The landis hotel in Yangminshan is my favorite by far. Japanese style hotel with a great restaurant, and outdoor pool / gym and a 15 minute walk (or 5 min bus) to the start of yangminshan mountain trails. It is pricey though…
Whispering Pines is a historical place - Japanese style again… They have a hot spring in your room, they serve food to your room (you have your own dining table), food is good and you are walking distance to the Beitou 'Hells (something - sorry, mind blank…) It is a hot spring lake where the steam is just rising from the lake. It is a little hard to find but only a 5 minute walk from the train station. This place is very reasonably priced and you can spend the afternoon walking around the Beitou park, outdoor hot springs flow into the river (you can watch everyone putting their feet in…). There is also a public hot spring bath in the park.
There is a place called SPARTY up north in Bali - it is right next (actually adjoining) a water park. It has scented hot springs, pools of different temperatures and scents, a bar, food court, all in all amazing. Pricey at about $10,000 from memory
The International Hotel in Yangminshan sucks. Food is gross and you feel like you have just entered a hospital…
Wulai - there are many places, take your pick. Spring Hotel has a famous French restaurant and is probably the most expensive, the Landis is right next door and is very nice with your own outdoor bathtub courtyard- you can look up at the sky. Wulai also has public hot springs on the river and a public sauna. If you bring a tshirt and shorts (wouldn’t advise ladies to wear a bikini), the locals love for you to join them. You can jump from the sauna to the hot springs, into the freezing river. At the top of the cable car at Wulai you also have a 70’s style amusement park. The German Beer Garden and the archery while semi-drunk makes the trip worthwhile…
Tianlai’s nice (and you pay for that). And for a peaceful view be sure to stop in one of the two small tubs overlooking the valley. (I think they call them “lovers’ pools” or something like that.) They’re between the two main outside areas.
But you don’t need a car to get there. I took a coach bus to Tianlai a few months ago. You can catch it by the entrance to Mingchuan University, opposite Jiantan MRT station and a little bit north. It takes about an hour and costs around NT$120. And the section through Yangming Shan has nice views of the mountains.
Spring (I think that’s the name) in Xin Beitou, up the hill and near the end of the road through the park, isn’t bad. Again, a bit pricey. Tianlai’s selection of pools is much larger.
If you go to Xin Beitou, be sure to stop off at the library. If only lots more places in Taiwan had such architecture…
I often went to Onsen in Japan and would also like to go to some around Taipei. I went to the outdoor one (露天溫泉) in Xin-Beitou, but I didn’t go to another ones yet, so I don’t know anything better. I always hear that there are hotels, but I don’t want that.
What I am looking for is these kind of extremely relaxing Onsen which are found in Japan. As an example: hyotan-onsen.com/ or ryusenjinoyu.com/index2.htm
(sorry, pages only in Japanese)
They offer e.g. multiple baths, Television which you can watch while you lie in the water, electro shockers, sand baths, relaxing on the hot stone floor (岩盤浴), lying on the tatami mat afterwards and watching TV, massage and so on. And they cost only 500-700 Yen (about 170-240 NTD)!
The outdoor pool in Xinbeitou - well, it has these pools, but thats about it (and the cold showers…). And I think, if I go into a hotel, I also only got a single room with a small pool, but I would rather like these public hot springs (preferably inside so that it is warmer).
Are there any of them available around Taipei? Best would be if it is not too expensive (more or less the Japanese price would be ok for me)
Thanks!
came across this nicely written blog about things in Taiwan. and this one had a write up about a luxury japanese hotspring hotel to be built in peitou. A bit I dont understand is what exactly are these 70 strong young taiwanese women supposed to provide in the way of “highly personalized service”. Are we talking about prostitution or just draw the gentlemans bath here? 24,000nt a nite at the cheapest?
remember when peitou had japanese style hotels with young taiwanese women providing highly personalized service? I was too young for that then but it was famous for such service for a long time.
There used to be a place (about 10 years ago) up Xin Beitou that was a restaurant/hot spring where you could pay for individual private baths. And the restaurant was great, had an outdoor patio so you could snack in the cool night air after a long session in the bath. Japanese style, I think, but could be wrong.
I’m a Canadian visiting my girlfriend in Taipei (near Dazhi MRT station) and im here for 3 months, going back in mid august. I would like to take my girlfriend out to a hot spring for a weekend (sleep over saturday, leave sunday) and im looking for recommendation for some hot springs near Taipei - within 1-2h by bus/train.
Im looking for something private, as a quick forum search shows that most public/shared hot springs aren’t very sanitary. Does anyone have any recommendation for hot springs? Besides private, and not a far distance away from Taipei, not very expensive would be a great bonus.
