Despite being located just one hour from Taipei, the port city of Keelung in Taiwan is a less popular day-trip than Jiufen or Shifen. But, it is definitely worth at least one day of your Taiwan itinerary.
We only came to Keelung as we were taking a train from its station to our next destination. We had no real expectations and we found it to be a cool city that is under-rated as a tourist destination.
How To Get To Keelung From Jiufen
It couldn’t have been any easier to get to Keelung. We took a bus from the police station (map) and in less than an hour, we had arrived in the centre of Keelung. We had our first coffee in 3 days at ‘Purple Cattle’ (map) and set off to find our hotel. There are also trains that leave every 15 minutes or so from the capital city.
Where To Stay In Keelung
These are some of the best budget hostels in Keelung, according to user reviews. These are affiliate links to the Agoda web site. I found Agoda to be much better than booking.com in Southeast Asia. I receive a small amount for any bookings made through these links at no extra cost to you.
Yung Feng Hotel
As we were only staying in Keelung for one night, we decided to book a hotel instead of a dorm. ‘Yung Feng Hotel’ (map) was the cheapest available in the town centre. Some reviews were negative but the complaints were mainly about having to use the stairs and it being hard to find, not cleanliness.
As we walked towards our hotel location, we realised it was right in the centre of the Keelung night market. It was already lively, despite being early afternoon.
Keelung night market
We reached the hotel before check-in so we had to leave our bags in reception and do a bit of wandering before we were allowed access to our room. We came back a few hours later and we were given the keys to our room on the fifth floor.
There is no lift but reception is on the second floor and, as is often the case in Southeast Asia, there is no fourth floor. This meant we only had to climb two more floors. I’m not sure why so many people complained about there being no lift. If you are disabled, then surely this is something you would check before booking? I think people that made these complaints are just a bit lazy!
The room was small, but perfect for the night. The bed took up most of the room and the bathroom was as big as the room. The shower worked well and the WiFi was strong. Bizarrely, we had a whole drinking water machine in our room. There was also a fridge. Guests also have free access to a washing room and I took advantage of this and washed some smelly clothes.
For the price, this was a great place to stay in Keelung.
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We paid £21.77 for one night in a double room with en suite bathroom.
Click here To Stay At Yung Feng Hotel.
Things To Do In Keelung
We only had one night in Keelung as we were only using it as a stopoff before our next longer travel down the east coast.
Khóo Tsú-Song Old Mansion
We discovered that, near our hotel, was an old, abandoned mansion called ‘Khóo Tsú-song Old Mansion’ (map). The only access to it is by narrow streets that lead right up to the house. Along the way, we saw people preparing meals in their homes and one rather portly cat.
Fat cat in Keelung
The house has been unoccupied for over 30 years and is now in a state of disrepair. Tourists have been allowed to visit since 2014. The mansion offers good views over the city of Keelung.
Khóo Tsú-song Old Mansion, Keelung
Khóo Tsú-song Old Mansion, Keelung
Khóo Tsú-song Old Mansion, Keelung
Keelung Port
We then headed towards the port. The Keelung station is located near the port and we had to pick up tickets for our onward travels the next day.
Keelung Port
We were feeling hungry so we had some pastries before heading towards ‘Zhongzheng Park’ (map).
Zhongzheng Park
We climbed the steep stairs up to the park. The first place of interest we came across was the ‘Zhupu Altar’ (map). There is a ghost festival every year in the city and this place is at the heart of the festival. There is a small ghost museum on the ground floor but it was closed. Access to the upper floors of the temple is also denied due to safety. We had to settle for admiring its beauty from the outside.
Zhupu Altar, Keelung
We carried on exploring the park, which seemed to offer something of interest at every turn. We climbed some stairs, not knowing what to expect, when we came across the towering goddess.
Zhongzheng Park towering goddess
We explored this area, taking in the wonderful views over the city below.
Zhongzheng Park views
We then came across these amazing things.
Fun in Zhongzheng Park
The owner told us that they worked and were suitable for big kids. We just had to have a go.
Joanna’s highlight of the whole trip!
It was great fun! We drove them around the whole area around the towering goddess. When the ride ended, we headed towards the exit. It is a wonderful park, full of surprises at every turn and a great way to spend an hour or so.
Buddha in Zhongzheng Park, Keelung
We returned to our hotel to finally check in, shower and get ready to explore the night market.
Keelung Night Market
We had heard good things about the Keelung Night Market (map) and it was right on our doorstep. The streets were much more alive at night, with many people exploring the streets food stalls, both permanent and mobile.
Exploring Keelung night market
There was so much variety on offer. Most dishes were new to us and we wandered around completely baffled by most of the dishes on offer. We both went for the familiar grilled oyster mushrooms to start with and I then bought a ‘pepper meat pie’ which I had to wait 15 minutes for and was hotter than the sun. It was a difficult, but delicious choice of food. Our food choices were not very adventurous on this occasion but we were both satisfied.
Keelung Night Market Opening Times: 12 pm – 12 am, Mon – Sat. 8 am – 12 pm, Sun.
Pepper meat pie, Keelung
Ginseng Cafe
We left the market looking for a place to have a beer. This proved more difficult than we imagined. Luckily, Joanna had read about a place that ticked all the ‘quirky’ boxes and none of the ‘karaoke tv’ ones. ‘Ginseng Cafe’ (map) is not easy to find, even with the help of Google Maps. It is located above a restaurant called ‘Night 34th’. Find that and it is the door directly to the right.
What we found was a very chilled European-style bar, with soft jazz playing (there was a live music setup but there was none when we visited). It is a great place to have a drink and relax. It finished what had been a great day in Keelung.
Ginseng Cafe, Keelung
Keelung Coffee Shop
The next morning, we had just enough time to grab a coffee and a bite to eat at the lovely ‘Keelung Senki Coffee’ (map). The coffee was very good and they also had a lovely, friendly dog which is always nice.
Is Keelung Worth Visiting?
Keelung is not a big tourist town but there are definitely enough attractions in Keelung to keep you occupied for one or two nights. We had a great time here as we were not really expecting much. Taiwan was really impressing us so far!
