Kaohsiung in 3 Days: Pier-2, the Cijin Ferry, Lotus Pond, Night Markets and Fo Guang Shan

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Kaohsiung (高雄) needs a plan more than most Taiwanese cities. Its sights sit in three clusters far apart: the harbour warehouses and Cijin in the southwest, the temples of Lotus Pond in Zuoying next to the high speed rail station, and the Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum half an hour out of town by bus. Linking them takes a metro, a light rail, a ferry and a bus, and the wrong order means crossing the city twice. Here each cluster gets a day, in transport order: light rail and ferry, then the red metro line, then a bus from the HSR station, so you can take a train north straight after. Fares, times, hours and closing days were checked on the official sites in September 2026; prices are in New Taiwan dollars (NT$).

Before you fly: passports from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the EU, Japan and South Korea get 90 days visa-free, Singapore and Malaysia 30 days (check the Bureau of Consular Affairs list; passports need six months' validity and an onward ticket). Every visitor also files the free online Taiwan Arrival Card (TWAC) at twac.immigration.gov.tw within 7 days before arrival, counting the day you land. In Kaohsiung, an iPASS (一卡通) or EasyCard (悠遊卡) works on the metro, the light rail and the Cijin ferry; metro stations sell blank iPASS cards for NT$100.

Getting to Kaohsiung and getting around

From Taipei: high speed rail to Zuoying

Taiwan High Speed Rail (台灣高鐵) ends at Zuoying (左營) in the north of the city. The fastest trains from Taipei Main Station (台北車站) take 1 hour 34 minutes; a standard reserved seat is NT$1,490, non-reserved NT$1,445. HSR Zuoying shares a complex with TRA Xinzuoying and metro station R16 Zuoying, and the centre is one ride away: 13 minutes and NT$25 to Formosa Boulevard (美麗島).

From Kaohsiung International Airport

Kaohsiung International Airport (高雄國際機場) has its own metro station, R4 on the red line: exit 6 for the international terminal, exit 2 for the domestic one. Trains come every 4 to 6 minutes at peak times and no more than 8 minutes apart otherwise. Formosa Boulevard is 16 minutes away for NT$30, Kaohsiung Main Station (高雄車站) 18 minutes for NT$35, and HSR Zuoying 28 minutes for NT$50.

Metro, light rail and ferry: what to tap

The metro has a red line (north to south) and an orange line (east to west), crossing at Formosa Boulevard. An IC card pays the same fare as a single ticket, and the gates also take contactless Visa, Mastercard, JCB and UnionPay cards. No eating or drinking in stations. The circular light rail (環狀輕軌) now runs as a full loop from 06:30 to 22:30, every 10 minutes at peak times and 15 minutes otherwise. Fares go by distance, NT$20 to NT$35; the machines sell paper tickets valid for 120 minutes and take coins only. Tap cards on the platform reader before boarding and after alighting, and press the button to open the doors.

Is a pass worth it? KRTC's Kaohsiung Leyou pass (高雄樂遊套票), NT$690, gives 48 hours on the metro, light rail and buses, two ferry rides (Gushan to Cijin counts), the first 30 minutes of every YouBike 2.0 ride, and five attractions, among them a Love Boat cruise on the Love River and a Pier-2 exhibition. It is an e-ticket sold on KLOOK, KKday, ezTravel and ibon until 30 December 2026, activated in the MeNGo app, so you need a phone with data. This plan's rides cost well under NT$200 a day on a card: buy the pass for the attractions.

Read the full description

示意圖，非實際比例。高鐵從台北到左營最快 1 小時 34 分、標準車廂對號座 NT$1,490。第一天在港區：捷運美麗島站到哈瑪星站 6 分、NT$20；環狀輕軌 06:30 到 22:30、NT$20 到 35，駁二藝術特區在輕軌 C12、C13 站，駁二塔 NT$10；打狗英國領事館 NT$99、週三休館；鼓山輪渡站坐渡輪到旗津 5 到 10 分、NT$30，05:15 到 02:00。第二天在左營：左營站到生態園區站走到蓮池潭與龍虎塔，附近有台鐵左營（舊城）站與鳳山縣舊城；巨蛋站 1 號出口是瑞豐夜市，17:00 到 24:00、週一週三休；左營到美麗島 13 分、NT$25；美麗島站 1 號出口是六合夜市，17:00 到 02:00。第三天從高鐵左營站坐 E02 哈佛快線到佛陀紀念館約 35 分、NT$70，末班 18:30 從佛光山開、19:04 回到左營；或坐 E25 到旗山約 45 分、美濃約 1 小時。機場站到美麗島 16 分、NT$30。Schematic, not to scale. THSR Taipei to Zuoying in 1 h 34 min at NT$1,490. Day 1 on the harbour: Formosa Boulevard to Hamasen 6 min NT$20; circular light rail 06:30 to 22:30, NT$20 to 35, Pier-2 at C12 and C13, Pier-2 Tower NT$10; British Consulate NT$99, closed Wednesdays; ferry from Gushan to Cijin 5 to 10 min, NT$30, 05:15 to 02:00. Day 2 in Zuoying: Ecological District station for Lotus Pond, TRA Zuoying (Jiucheng) and the old city gates; Ruifeng Night Market at Kaohsiung Arena exit 1, 17:00 to 24:00, closed Mondays and Wednesdays; Zuoying to Formosa Boulevard 13 min NT$25; Liuhe Night Market at Formosa Boulevard exit 1, 17:00 to 02:00. Day 3 from HSR Zuoying: bus E02 to the Buddha Museum in about 35 min for NT$70, last bus 18:30 from Fo Guang Shan reaching Zuoying 19:04; or bus E25 to Qishan in about 45 min and Meinong in about an hour. Airport to Formosa Boulevard 16 min NT$30.

Day 1: Pier-2, Hamasen and the ferry to Cijin

Start at the Pier-2 Art Center (駁二藝術特區), harbour warehouses dating back to the Japanese era, now galleries, design shops, a bookshop and a cinema, with the light rail running past (C12 Dayi Pier-2 and C13 Penglai Pier-2). The halls open 10:00 to 18:00 Monday to Thursday and to 20:00 Friday to Sunday; exhibitions cost extra (NT$80 for one, says the tourism bureau). Climb the Pier-2 Tower (駁二塔), NT$10 in coins, for the view of the harbour and the Great Harbor Bridge (大港橋). The Dayi (大義) warehouses hold studios and a weekend craft market.

Ride on to Hamasen (哈瑪星), the old harbour-railway quarter, named after the Japanese reading of 濱線, the shore line. Old tracks fill the Hamasen Railway Cultural Park (哈瑪星鐵道文化園區), and a few streets inland the red-brick Wude Hall (武德殿), a martial arts hall from 1924, opens 10:00 to 18:00 Tuesday to Sunday, free. On the headland above the harbour mouth, the Former British Consulate at Takao (打狗英國領事館文化園區) looks straight down on the port: NT$99, 10:00 to 19:00, from 09:00 at weekends and on public holidays, last entry 18:30, closed on Wednesdays.

Then cross to Cijin (旗津), the long, narrow sandbar on the far side of the harbour. Ferries leave the Gushan Ferry Station (鼓山輪渡站), a short walk from Hamasen, from 05:15 until 02:00, every 6 to 15 minutes in the daytime, and the crossing takes 5 to 10 minutes. Adults pay NT$30 by EasyCard, iPASS or icash, or in coins, since the counter gives no change. From the pier, walk to the Cijin Tianhou Temple (旗津天后宮) and the seafood restaurants of Miaoqian Road (廟前路), then climb to the white octagonal Cihou Lighthouse (旗後燈塔), built in 1883, for the view back over the city. The Star Tunnel (旗津星空隧道) cuts through the hill to the seafront, and YouBike 2.0 docks dot the island. Eat dinner there: the ferry runs late.

Day 2: Lotus Pond, the old city gates and a night market

Take the red line to Ecological District (生態園區, R15), or a TRA local train to Zuoying (Jiucheng) Station (左營(舊城)站), and walk to Lotus Pond (蓮池潭). The seven-storey Dragon and Tiger Pagodas (龍虎塔), built in 1976, stand in the water at the end of a zigzag bridge. Custom says you enter through the dragon's mouth and leave through the tiger's, turning bad luck into good; the top floors look over the whole lake. Next door are the Spring and Autumn Pavilions (春秋閣) of 1953, and on the shore the Confucius Temple (孔廟), Taiwan's largest. Walk the lakeside path in the morning, before the heat.

Then walk to the Old City of Fengshan County (鳳山縣舊城), the first county seat under Qing rule and now a national monument. Three gates survive: the North Gate (拱辰門) with door gods carved beside it, the East Gate (鳳儀門) still joined to a long run of wall, and the South Gate (啟文門) marooned at a road junction, all built of coral stone from nearby Mount Chai (柴山). Lunch in the old town, then rest before the night market.

Choose the night market by the weekday. Ruifeng Night Market (瑞豐夜市), the local favourite with over a thousand stalls, is at exit 1 of Kaohsiung Arena station (巨蛋, R14), open 17:00 to midnight, closed on Mondays and Wednesdays. Liuhe Night Market (六合夜市), trading since the 1950s, takes over Liuhe 2nd Road every evening from 17:00 to 02:00, right outside exit 1 of Formosa Boulevard; try the seafood congee, salt-steamed shrimp and mullet gizzards. Bring small notes, and see the Dome of Light (光之穹頂) inside Formosa Boulevard station.

Day 3: Fo Guang Shan, or Qishan and Meinong

Day 3 starts at HSR Zuoying, your exit point. Kaohsiung Bus E02, the Harvard Express (哈佛快線), takes National Freeway 10 to the Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum (佛陀紀念館) and the Fo Guang Shan monastery (佛光山) next to it, about 35 minutes for NT$70. The first bus leaves Zuoying at 08:00 and reaches the museum at 08:31; there are 13 departures on weekdays and 17 at weekends. The last bus back leaves the monastery at 18:30 and the museum at 18:33, reaching Zuoying at 19:04.

Entry to the Buddha Museum is free. It opens 09:00 to 18:00 on Monday and Wednesday to Friday; at weekends the front hall stays open to 19:00 and the main hall to 18:00; it is closed every Tuesday. An avenue lined with eight pagodas leads to the main hall and the giant bronze Buddha behind it. A shuttle links museum and monastery from 09:00 to 17:00, hourly on weekdays and half-hourly at weekends; the museum's vegetarian restaurants cover lunch.

Not into temples, or it is a Tuesday? Take Kaohsiung Bus E25 from HSR Zuoying into the hills. Buses leave at 50 minutes past most hours from 08:50, reach the Qishan bus station (旗山轉運站) in about 45 minutes and Meinong (美濃) in about an hour; the last bus back leaves Meinong at 20:15. Qishan (旗山) is an old banana town with a street of red-brick Baroque-style shopfronts; Meinong is a Hakka farming town known for hand-painted oil-paper umbrellas (油紙傘).

Three days at a glance

Kaohsiung on Mokaair: hotels, transport and things to do

Where to eat in Kaohsiung: the Mokaair food directory

Taiwan HSR and TRA tickets: fares, early-bird discounts and passes

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