Beitou
Sulphur springs on the northern edge of Taipei, a bathhouse of 1913 turned museum, a dormant volcano above, and the metro back to town in twenty minutes.
- Arrival
- Taoyuan International · TPE
- From Taipei
- About 20 minutes north by metro
- Private jets
- Business aviation terminal at Taoyuan
- Best time
- March to April · October to December
The city
Steam at the end of the line.
Beitou bathed long before Taipei reached it. A German sulphur trader opened the first hot-spring club here, and under Japanese rule the village became a recognised spa, with an inn fed by its springs and, from 1913, a public bathhouse that was then the largest in East Asia. Today the district sits at the top of the metro, and its baths range from public pools to rooms with a geothermal tub of their own.
The slopes of Yangmingshan rise straight behind the town, to the 1,120 metres of Qixing, a dormant volcano. Go in spring or late autumn: March and April before the plum rains, October to December once the typhoon season has passed, with afternoons of 21 to 28 °C.
- Beitou Hot Spring Museum The Hokuto public bathhouse of 1913, red brick and timber, opened as a museum in 1998.
- Thermal Valley A hot spring that steams in a hollow just above the town.
- Yangmingshan The national park behind Beitou, where fumaroles hiss and sulphur crystals form at Xiaoyoukeng.
Arriving
Land at Taoyuan, bathe by evening.
Taoyuan International is about 28 km from Beitou in a straight line. Songshan, inside Taipei, is about 9 km away and handles regional flights.
- Manila 1 h 55
- Seoul 2 h 15
- Tokyo 3 h 05
- Paris 12 h 55 long-range jet
- Los Angeles 14 h 20 long-range jet
When to go
March to April, and October to December.
Damp and subtropical, with no dry month. March and April, then October to December, bring afternoons of 21 to 28 °C, cool enough to make a hot bath a pleasure. The plum rains come in May and June, and August and September are the wettest months and the likeliest for typhoons.
- 19° J 94
- 20° F 102
- 23° M 108
- 26° A 101
- 30° M 225
- 33° J 235
- 35° J 214
- 34° A 237
- 32° S 237
- 28° O 163
- 25° N 89
- 21° D 97
Where to stay
A private spring in Beitou, or the city ten kilometres south.
Shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these hotels.
- Villa 32 Five rooms in a former private house, each with its own geothermal bath, and a cellar once counted among the finest in Taiwan.
-
Capella Taipei Two MICHELIN Keys for André Fu’s rooms high on Dunhua North Road, six of the suites with lap pools on their terraces.
-
Mandarin Oriental, Taipei Three hundred and three rooms in an Art Deco key, and Cantonese cooking with a star at Ya Ge.
Where to dine
Two stars on the road up the mountain.
From the MICHELIN Guide Taiwan 2026. None is in Beitou itself: all three are in neighbouring Shilin, at Tianmu or on the slopes of Yangmingshan.
- Restaurant 12 One Michelin star Modern $$$$ Yangmingshan, Shilin
- Golden Formosa One Michelin star Taiwanese $$ Tianmu, Shilin
- Yangming Spring MICHELIN Guide Vegetarian $$$ Yangmingshan, Shilin
Elsewhere in Taiwan
More reasons to come.
- Taipei The National Palace Museum, night markets, and the Taipei 101 tower.
- Jiufen A hillside village of teahouses above the sea.
- Taroko Gorge Marble cliffs cut by a river, near Hualien on the east coast.
- Sun Moon Lake A mountain lake of tea farms and temples.
- Tainan The old capital, its temples and its street food.
Flying to Beitou?
Choose how you arrive.
A Business or First Class seat on a scheduled airline, or an aircraft of your own. Tell us the date and how many are travelling, and we reply with one final price, our margin included.