11 Incredible Things to Do in Tainan, Taiwan

For anyone with a love for local food, getting out of Taipei and heading to the southern city is a must, a trip that even local Taiwanese often make when missing some of Tainan's delicious food scene. Tainan is where many famous Taiwanese foods and dishes first originated, it's often seen as the 'foodie capital' of Taiwan, as new foods and ingredients traveled through the old capital.

Tainan is famous for its noodles known as danzai mian or Ta-a noodles but also offers plenty of famous foods such as coffin toast, beef soup, milkfish congee, shrimp rolls and more. There's plenty of delicious things to eat in Tainan to keep your appetite alive.

Take a Tainan Food Tour

Anping

The historic district of Tainan, Anping was where the Dutch first settled at while colonizing Taiwan. The imposing Fort Zeelandia, built in 1634, once covered much of the area, nowadays just a few walls and a tower are standing as evidence of the ancient capital. Nevertheless the ruined settlement and overgrown nature make for a beautiful place to explore.

There's plenty of places to explore in Anping apart from just the old fort, Anping is also famous for shrimp rolls, one of Tainan's most famous foods.

Anping Treehouse

There's plenty of places to explore in Anping apart from just the old fort, such as the Anping Treehouse, an old warehouse that's long since been taken over by a huge banyan tree. It's a popular spot in Tainan for Instagram photographers due to the unique scenery there.

Chimei Museum

From the outside, this spectacular museum looks like somewhere you'd find in the old cities of Europe and not Taiwan. Holding a huge private art collection, the world's largest violin collection along with some fascinating ancient weapons, fossils and sculptures, this unique landmark of Tainan is one of the most important museums in Taiwan.

Described as "one of the world's most surprising art collections" the Chimei Museum is a private collection established in 1992 by Shi Wen-long of Chi Mei Corporation, one of Taiwan's most prominent businessmen.

Note that Chimei Museum is right next to Tainan Airport, just a five minute drive away or 25 minutes to walk there. It's also not too far from the HSR station, the train going from HSR Tainan to Tainan Station passes by it (Baoan Station).

Chihkan Tower

Once one of the oldest buildings in Tainan when it was known as Fort Provintia, built by Dutch in 1653, it was destroyed by a number of earthquakes and rebuilt during the Qing Dynasty into its current state.

Garden Night Market (Hua Yuan Night Market)

The largest of several night markets in Tainan, at its busiest Hua Yuan Night Market is home to around 400 vendors and stalls. Apart from the classic Taiwanese street eats, you'll also find vendors selling clothes, accessories and gaming stalls. Classic eats like fried chicken cutlets (jipai), stinky tofu and Taiwanese sausage are all delicious here.

Hua Yuan Night Market is only open on Thursday, Saturdays and Sundays. It alternates days open with Da Dong, so you won't be able to go to both on the same day.

Taijiang National Park

One of nine beautiful national parks in Taiwan, Taijiang National Park is mostly within Tainan City, a coastal area just north of Anping. Most of the park is a mix of wetlands and mangrove forests, particularly known for the Sicao Green Tunnel, a photogenic canopy of mangrove trees that forms a 'roof' over the river.

Tainan Train Station

Right at the center of Tainan City, the area around Tainan train station offers plenty of things to do, making it the perfect area to find a hotel in Tainan. A short walk from the station is the beautiful Tainan Park, slightly further and you can get to Chihkan Tower, the historic Shennong Street and Hayashi Department Store.

Note that the high-speed rail station (Tainan HSR station) is quite far out of Tainan, even further than Tainan Airport. It's connected to Shalun station and takes about 25 minutes by train to get there from the city.

Salt Mountain and Salt Fields

This huge mountain of salt is a remnant of Tainan's 300-year-old salt producing industry, which slowly died out with the low cost of salt imports. The unique white-covered mountain is now a famous tourist attraction in Tainan along with the salt fields which make a beautiful spot to view the sunset as the sun shines off the salt pools. There's also a museum there that explains the history of Tainan's salt industry along with art installations.

Guanziling Hot Springs

This small mountain resort town is one of the most famous hot spring areas on the island for its unique properties. The muddy waters here are particularly famous for their healing properties and said to work wonders for your skin. In fact Guanziling is one of only three similar hot springs in the world, the other two being in Kagoshima, Japan and Italy.

Despite being part of Tainan City, Guanziling is quite far north from the city area. To get to Guanziling Hot Springs, take the train to TRA Sinying Station and then get a bus to the town.

Wushantou Reservoir Scenic Area

Formed by a dam built during Taiwan's Japanese colonial period, Wushantou is now a beautiful scenic area outside of Tainan's main city area. You can rent a boat to explore the lake by the water along with taking one of the many hiking trails around the area. It's the perfect place to visit in Tainan for those who want to escape to the surrounding countryside of the area.

How to Get to Tainan City

By high-speed train: as mentioned before, take the train to HSR Tainan and then transfer to a local train at Shalun Station. The journey usually takes about 25 minutes to Tainan Station in the city center.

Tainan Airport is just a 20 minute drive from the center of the city and linked up by regular bus services. There are currently a few flights to Tainan Airport from Vietnam, Osaka, Kinmen and Penghu.

It's also possible to get to Tainan from Kaohsiung Airport which has more flights, although not quite as convenient, it takes about 50 minutes to drive. There is a direct bus from Kaohsiung Airport to Tainan City (Tainan Express Line) that takes just over an hour, however it is currently suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

From Taipei to Tainan

Take a high speed train from Taipei Main Station to HSR Tainan Station and then transfer to a local train at Shalun Station. The high speed train from Taipei to Tainan takes just over two hours. Taking the slower TRA train takes double the time (four hours) but will take you directly to Tainan Station.

There are currently no flights from Taipei to Tainan, so the high speed train is the fastest route.