Taipei is home to countless tourist attractions and museums, but with so many to see and many travelers only staying in the capital for a few short days, it’s nearly impossible to visit them all. With that in mind here are some of the best museums in Taiwan‘s wonderful capital city.
The first and most important stop on any visitor’s travel itinerary should be the National Palace Museum. This award-winning museum has over 700,000 Chinese Imperial artifacts and is one of the largest collections of its type in the world.
It’s located in Shilin in a wonderfully lush setting and features a beautiful garden park. The vast majority of the artifacts originally came from the Forbidden City in Beijing, moving to Taiwan along with the Republic of China government during the Chinese Civil War.
The Museum of Fine Arts is ideally located in the Taipei Expo Park. Visitors can enjoy walks through the park, floral exhibitions, and an outdoor covered food court. The museum itself is home to some of Taiwan’s best fine art pieces, and although the national museum is located in Taichung, the Taipei branch is still an interesting place to visit.
Aside from the permanent exhibits, there are temporary exhibitions throughout the year. Visitors should check the museum website first to see what’s on.
Set at the entrance to one of Taiwan’s most famous parks, 228 Peace Park, National Taiwan Museum exhibits some of the country’s most interesting historical artifacts. From aboriginal tribes to local traditions and cultures, visitors to this museum will learn practically everything they need to know about Taiwan.
Included in the ticket price is admission to the Land Bank wing located just across the street in a former bank building. Here, there are wildlife and dinosaur exhibitions, and visitors can even check out the bank’s old vault and counting rooms.
For something a little different there’s the Miniatures Museum of Taipei which when it first opened in 1997 was the first of its kind in Asia. The owners created a world of miniature palaces, temples, castles, and tiny replicas of some of the world’s most famous buildings.
It’s located in the city center and is an easy walk from Songjiang Nanjing MRT station. While not the typical museum tourists frequent, it’s an interesting way to spend a few hours.
This is a small museum which is an alternative option to the Fine Arts Museum just a short MRT ride away. Located near Taipei Main Station, this museum is home to some intriguing modern art and charges a minimal entrance fee.
The temporary art exhibitions aren’t always to everyone’s tastes, but the permanent exhibits are sure to pique the curiosity of any tourist.
Facing the Presidential Palace in what was once the Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party) headquarters, Evergreen’s Maritime Museum is an ideal stop for those with an interest in seafaring vessels of any kind.
There are models and replicas of both Evergreen’s vast fleet and Taiwan’s and other countries’ naval forces. One entire floor is dedicated to the great ships throughout history and features incredibly crafted wooden models. There’s also a simulator room where visitors can try their hand at steering a ship into port.
Located in Wanhua, the oldest neighborhood of the city, Bopiliao is a step back in time to the days when Taipei was a city of dusty streets and old red brick houses. The entire street is part of the museum and is pedestrianised. This makes it a nice place to walk in and around the old buildings which the museum has restored to their original condition.
The main museum building holds many interesting local artifacts such as a bicycle taxi and traditional Taiwanese children’s toys which visitors can play with in the courtyard. There’s even a fully restored schoolroom with desks and pictures on the walls.
