Beitou and Wulai Hot Springs: Public Baths, Thermal Valley and Bus 849

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Taipei has two hot-spring valleys you can reach with a metro card, and they feel nothing alike. Beitou (北投) is 28 minutes from Taipei Main Station (台北車站): a steaming volcanic valley, a free 1913 bathhouse turned museum, and a public outdoor bath that cost NT$60 before it closed for rebuilding. Wulai (烏來) is an Atayal mountain village in New Taipei, reached by MRT plus a winding bus, with an old street, a log cart, a cable car and a waterfall.

This guide gives you the prices, session times and closing days we verified in September 2026, the honest status of Beitou's public bath (mid-renovation), the exact MRT and bus 849 route to Wulai, and the difference between swimsuit baths and nude baths so nobody turns you away at the door.

Beitou in half a day: what is open and what it costs

Take the Tamsui-Xinyi Line (淡水信義線, the red line) from Taipei Main Station to Beitou (北投), walk across the platform to the one-stop Xinbeitou branch (新北投支線) and get off at Xinbeitou (新北投). Taipei Metro's fare finder gives NT$35 and about 28 minutes for the whole trip; Taipei Main Station to Beitou alone is NT$30 and about 22 minutes. Everything below is a walk from Xinbeitou station, up through Beitou Park along Zhongshan Road (中山路) and Guangming Road (光明路).

The public outdoor bath: closed until at least late September 2026

The Beitou Park Outdoor Hot Spring Bath (北投公園露天溫泉浴池), the terraced green-sulphur pool in Beitou Riverside Park (北投親水公園) that locals call Qianxi Tang (千禧湯), has been shut for a full rebuild since 24 January 2025. The Parks and Street Lights Office FAQ, updated on 29 July 2026, says the works are scheduled to finish on 26 September 2026. No reopening date and no new price list had been published when we checked, so if you visit in autumn 2026, read that FAQ page or call 02-2896-6939 first. Before it closed the bath ran six sessions a day, 05:30–07:30, 08:00–10:00, 10:30–13:00, 13:30–16:00, 16:30–19:00 and 19:30–22:00, with the pool emptied and cleaned in the gaps. Tickets were NT$60 for adults and NT$30 concession, and the 08:00 session was free for seniors aged 65 and over. Expect the prices to be reviewed after the rebuild. The rules were strict and will almost certainly come back: swimsuit and swim cap on, shower before you get in, and no beach shorts, casual or sports trousers, denim shorts, anything with pockets, or underwear in the water. The water is acidic green-sulphur spring (青磺泉), the rare kind Beitou is famous for, so rinse off afterwards.

Thermal Valley and the Hot Spring Museum, both free

Thermal Valley (地熱谷) is where that green-sulphur water comes out of the ground: a milky jade pool that steams all year, 98°C at the outlet and about 60–70°C elsewhere. The Beitou District Office opens it Tuesday to Sunday, 09:00–17:00, free of charge, and closes it every Monday plus Lunar New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. From Xinbeitou station follow Guangming Road (光明路) along the Beitou Creek (北投溪) to the top of the park. It is a boardwalk with viewing decks, not a bath. The Beitou Hot Spring Museum (北投溫泉博物館) is the 1913 Beitou Public Bathhouse, once the largest public bath in East Asia, restored as a free museum at No. 2 Zhongshan Road. Taipei's Department of Cultural Affairs lists it open Tuesday to Sunday 10:00–18:00 with last entry at 17:45, closed Mondays and on national holidays that fall on a weekday. It is about 5 minutes on foot from the station, and the tatami hall upstairs is the best free rest stop in the valley.

Private bathhouses and hotels: how to book a soak or a day trip

Around Xinbeitou you will find everything from plain neighbourhood bathhouses to resort hotels, and most sell a private room (湯屋) by the hour or day-use entry to their pools. Prices, time limits, tattoo policies and whether a pool is nude or swimsuit are decided by each venue, so treat any figure you read online as a starting point and confirm on the venue's own page. Weekday afternoons are the easiest time to walk in without a booking. A private room is the answer if you are travelling with someone of a different gender, want to bathe with children, or have a tattoo that a nude bath might refuse.

Etiquette: nude baths, swimsuit baths and tattoos

Taiwan mixes two bathing traditions, and the usual visitor mistake is packing for the wrong one. Nude baths (裸湯) are separated by gender, nothing goes into the water but you, and you wash at the shower stations first. Swimsuit baths (泳裝湯, often labelled SPA or outdoor pools) are mixed, and public pools like Beitou's require a real swimsuit plus a swim cap. In a private room you set your own rules.

• Shower before you get in. Beitou's public bath states it outright, and every nude bath expects it.
• Pack a swimsuit and a swim cap for any public or mixed pool. Beach shorts, T-shirts and anything with pockets are banned at Beitou's public bath.
• Tattoos: there is no citywide rule. Some venues refuse visible tattoos, some ask you to cover small ones, many do not care. Ask before you pay, or book a private room.
• Towels stay out of the water, long hair goes up, and phones stay in the locker.
• Keep soaks short in green-sulphur water and drink water between dips; it is a strong, acidic spring.
• Keep your voice down. Beitou's bathhouses are neighbourhood baths, not pool parties.

Getting to Wulai: MRT to Xindian, then bus 849

Wulai (烏來) sits in the mountains south of Taipei. From Taipei Main Station take the Tamsui-Xinyi Line one stop to Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall (中正紀念堂), change to the Songshan-Xindian Line (松山新店線, the green line) and ride to its terminus, Xindian (新店). The fare finder lists NT$30 and about 21 minutes. Outside the station, find the bus stop signed 捷運新店站(北新路) on Beixin Road (北新路): bus 849, run by Sindian Bus, climbs Xinwu Road (新烏路) through about 36 stops to the Wulai (烏來) terminus at the mouth of the old street.

Bus 849 runs from 05:30 to 21:40 every day, weekdays and weekends alike, roughly every 15 to 20 minutes. Its fare zones are counted from Taipei, with buffer sections around Gongguan (公館) and around the Xindian MRT stop, so tap your EasyCard (悠遊卡) when you board and again when you get off and the reader charges the right number of sections; cash is accepted but drivers give no change. Check the e-bus site for the last departure from Wulai before you settle into a long soak.

Read the full description

上方：淡水信義線從台北車站到北投（NT$30、約 22 分），北投站轉新北投支線到新北投（全程 NT$35、約 28 分）；新北投站周邊有免費的溫泉博物館與地熱谷，公共露天溫泉整修中。下方：淡水信義線一站到中正紀念堂轉松山新店線到新店（NT$30、約 21 分），再轉 849 公車（虛線，05:30 至 21:40，每 15 至 20 分一班）到烏來；烏來有老街、約 1.6 公里的台車與雲仙樂園纜車。Top: the red Tamsui-Xinyi Line from Taipei Main Station to Beitou (NT$30, about 22 minutes) and the Xinbeitou branch to Xinbeitou (NT$35, about 28 minutes in total), with the free Hot Spring Museum and Thermal Valley nearby and the public outdoor bath under renovation. Bottom: one stop to Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, the green Songshan-Xindian Line to Xindian (NT$30, about 21 minutes), then bus 849 (dashed, 05:30 to 21:40, every 15 to 20 minutes) to Wulai, where the old street, the 1.6 km log cart and the Yun Hsien cable car are.

In Wulai: old street, log cart, cable car and the waterfall

Wulai Old Street (烏來老街) is the cluster of shops along Wulai Street (烏來街), Waterfall Road (瀑布路) and the ring road, open 10:00–17:00 Monday to Friday and 10:00–18:00 at weekends according to New Taipei's tourism site. The food is Atayal mountain fare: charcoal-grilled wild boar, hot-spring eggs, shell-ginger rice, bamboo-tube rice and dishes seasoned with maqaw (馬告), a lemony mountain pepper, plus millet wine and millet mochi to take home. From the old street cross the Lansheng Bridge (覽勝大橋) to the Wulai Scenic Log Cart (烏來觀光台車), a former logging railway that shuttles visitors about 1.6 km along the gorge to Waterfall Station. New Taipei lists weekday hours of 08:00–17:00, extended to 09:00–18:00 in July and August; fares and weekend hours are posted at the ticket window. Wulai Waterfall (烏來瀑布) is free, never closes, and is the biggest drop in northern Taiwan; you can also walk the 1.6 km along Waterfall Road and keep the cart for the way back.

Across the river from the waterfall, the Wulai Aerial Cable Car (烏來空中纜車), Taiwan's first passenger cable car, opened in 1967, lifts you to Yun Hsien Resort (雲仙樂園). The operator's price list, updated 1 July 2026, charges NT$250 on weekdays and NT$300 on weekends and holidays for a standard ticket, NT$230 for students and children aged 3 to 11, NT$150 for visitors aged 65 and over, and nothing for children up to 3 with ID. The cable car runs 09:00–17:00 on weekdays and 09:00–17:30 on weekends and holidays, and it stops in bad weather, so ride it early. Wulai's hot-spring hotels line the river below the old street; day-use prices and rules are set by each hotel.

A sample day, and when to go

1. 08:30 Arrive at Xinbeitou. Thermal Valley opens at 09:00; go before the tour groups.
2. 10:00 Hot Spring Museum, then a private hot-spring room or hotel day-use before lunch.
3. 13:00 Back to Taipei Main Station (about 28 min), red line one stop and green line to Xindian (about 21 min), then bus 849 up to Wulai.
4. 15:00 Wulai: old-street snacks, log cart to the waterfall, cable car if it is still running (weekday last ride 17:00).
5. Evening: soak in a Wulai hotel or ride back down; the 849 timetable runs until 21:40.

Hot-spring high season is November to March, when Beitou's weekend queues are longest and a weekday visit pays off. Wulai's cherry-blossom festival runs from February to April and fills the 849 on weekends. Typhoon season, July to September, can close mountain roads and the cable car at short notice, so check the day before.

Entry, payment and language for international visitors

Visa: citizens of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, EU countries, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and other listed countries enter visa-free for 90 days; Singapore and Malaysia get 30 days, Thailand and the Philippines 14 days. Your passport normally needs at least six months' validity on arrival and you need an onward ticket; the authoritative list is the Bureau of Consular Affairs (BOCA) visa-exempt page. Arrival card: since 1 October 2025 the paper card has been replaced by the online Taiwan Arrival Card (TWAC). It is free, filed within the 7 days before you land, one form per person including children, on the official site twac.immigration.gov.tw; anyone without a device can complete it on a tablet at the immigration hall. Nobody should ask you to pay for it.

Money: hot springs are a cash-first corner of Taipei. The public bath, small bathhouses and the old street want NT$ notes and coins; hotels and resorts are where cards work. Load an EasyCard (悠遊卡) for every MRT and bus leg in this guide, including the 849. As a rough feel when we checked, NT$60 is about US$2 and NT$300 about US$10; rates move, so treat that as orientation, not a quote. Language: MRT stations and the museum are signed in Chinese and English, but bathhouse counters often are not. Three words solve most of it: 湯屋 (private room), 裸湯 (nude bath) and 泳裝 (swimsuit).

Taipei destination guide on Mokaair

Taipei MRT and EasyCard guide

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