It sometimes feels like the rain never stops lashing down in Taipei, which can often put a dampener on your sightseeing plans.
I’ve attempted to add a wide variety of activities you could enjoy despite the rain, catering to different needs – from younger children to the more well-lived.
Stroll Around the Xinyi Shopping District
The Xinyi Shopping District is ideal for rainy days. With 14 shopping malls to chose from, most of these are connected by underground walkways or covered pathways, so you’re able to wander around and explore the vast area relatively uninhibited. You can also access the Taipei 101 observation deck from here, although the view on a rainy day won’t be great.
There are many places to keep kids entertained too, especially in the ATT for Fun mall, which has an arcade filled with games and cinema. There is also a cool VR ride of sorts found within the southern Breeze mall. Click my post below for more details.
Visit a Museum or Art Gallery
There are some excellent museums and art galleries found in Taipei. The ones I would recommend during long spells of rain are
- National Palace Museum – huge museum where you can easily spend a few hours, although it’s remote location may put some people off
- National Taiwan Museum – Two large buildings adjacent to each other with a mixture of exhibitions that will entertain both adults and children
- National Astronomical Museum – large building that’s great if you’re into science or have children. There’s also the Science Education Center right next door which is also great for kids
- The Fine Arts Museum is a large building with many fascinating works of art, both contemporary of ancient
- The Museum of Contemporary Arts has many modern exhibitions with an emphasis on multimedia exhibitions, sometimes with a strong political or cultural message
- Both the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall and Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall have many art galleries and a large museum in each
Click here to see all the museums I recommend
Click here to see all the places to see art
Go to the Movies
Taipei has dozens of Cinemas located throughout the city, including IMAX screens, some with seating that moves and vibrates, and others offering more luxurious viewing experiences.
If you have a preference for more art-house or independent movies, there are a handful of great little independent cinemas, or you could even catch some West-End theatre recordings at Vieshow.
See an Exhibition at a Cultural Park
Visit a park on a rainy day?? You must think I’m nuts, but bear with me! Both the Huashan 1914 Creative Park and the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park have many enclosed spaces including some with exhibitions related to art, pop-culture or design.
Both also have many artisan shops and cafes, and they each have great little independent cinemas. Additionally, Songshan has a huge tobacco factory building sometimes featuring major art exhibitions, and an Eslite building, which has an excellent food hall and many other cool craft shops.
Even though there are large indoor spaces in these parks, you will still need to venture outside sometimes.
Click here to read more about the Huashan 1914 Creative Park
Click here to read more about the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park
Try Some Virtual Reality
Taipei is at the forefront of modern social and technological trends, and has several places to explore some really cool virtual environments.
The Honhui Plaza VR Zone is the best of these, which is a huge building with an abundance of different VR experiences, including VR skiing and cycling, VR exploration, and games including those which simulate racing, war and fighting.
Klook.comThe i-Ride Taipei, found in the Xinyi Shopping district, isn’t exactly a VR ride, but an immersive experience in front of a large screen which simulates flying over either Taiwan or the USA.
Another nice virtual reality attraction is VIVELAND, which makes use of the VIVE headsets (Taiwan’s own HTC brand) and is found within the Guang Hua Digital Plaza (which in itself is a good place to visit in the rain).
Take a Dip in a Hot Spring in Xinbeitou
The beautiful Xinbeitou district, which is a 40 minute MRT ride from the centre of Taipei, is an area with a high amount of volcanic activity deep. As such, there are many places where you can relax in some thermal springs and not care about the rain for a while.
If you’re not keen on taking the plunge, you could try the Fuxing Hot Foot Spa, which is a covered area where you can take a free foot bath.
Alternatively, for just NT$40, you take take the plunge in the Millenium Hot Spring, a public outdoor hot spring where you can enjoy some of the natural benefits of soaking in some mineral-rich spring water.
If money isn’t an option, there are some excellent hot-spring hotels in the area where you can either stay the night, or simply sample one of their plush public or private hot spring baths.
Klook.com
Go for a Massage
There are literally hundreds of massage parlours in Taipei, ranging from the relatively cheap (NT$1,000 for 90 minutes) found in the Shilin Night Market to more high-end massages like those found at The Village Spa, with it’s unique Japanese-street-style interior decoration.
Klook.comVisit a Cool Shopping Mall
Aside from the Xinyi Shopping District, there are many other malls from in Taipei that offer up something a bit different. The best of these can be found in my post below.
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