Wulai is not the first attraction that comes to tourists’ minds when visiting Taipei City. In fact, it’s remained a local spot for many years.
A big reason why it’s not completely flooded with tourists is because it’s not as easy and convenient to get to. But even so, more and more tourists are visiting this hidden mountainous city by the river (and rightfully so).
If you’re thinking about visiting Wulai in New Taipei City, this is the guide for you. We took a one-day tour to the town and here’s exactly what we did.
RECOMMENDED: A Local’s Guide to Taipei
Table of Contents
Where is Wulai in Taipei?
Wulai is a small town that’s actually located in New Taipei City – the adjacent county to Taipei. It’s located in the mountains that border the southernmost part of New Taipei.
It’s the mountain district of the city and has an old-town feel with splendid scenery everywhere you go.
Despite its seclusive location, many tourists make the journey to see this river town for themselves. And, the infrastructure of the town shows it.
The trip can take a while but you’re not so far away from civilization that you feel out of place. There are plenty of clean bathrooms, reputable restaurants, tourist attracts and even convenience stores.
It’s the perfect place to visit with friends, a loved one and even with your family.
How to Get to Wulai From Taipei
Getting to Wulai may take a while from Taipei City, but it’s not overly complicated. Even tourists that don’t speak a lick of Mandarin will be able to make this trip.
First, you’ll want to get on the MRT Green Line and head towards Xindian.
Get off at the Xiandian MRT Station (the last station on the Green Line). It’s not a big MRT station, so there aren’t multiple exits that lead you in all directions. You’ll exit into an open area of the station.
Upon exiting the Xindian MRT Station, you’ll see a taxi line for cabs that go straight to Wulai. This is your best bet and the easiest way of getting there.
Fares for the ride to Wulai is predetermined and you’ll see a sign by the line that tells you how much. This price can change, but it should cost around $600 NTD.
Depending on when you leave (traffic hours, weekends, holidays, etc.) it can take you between 30 to 45 minutes to get to Wulai.
Getting to Wulai by Bus
If you don’t want to spend the money to take a taxi, you can always the bus. It’s a more cost-effective way of getting to Wulai for solo travelers.
However, if you’re going in a group of 4, it makes more sense to just take a cab.
To take the local bus to Wulai, you’ll want to still head over to Xindian MRT Station on the Green Line. Next to the taxi lines, you’ll see a bus stop. Wait there for Bus 849.
The bus will come roughly every 15 minutes and it takes a little bit longer to get to Wulai – roughly 45 minutes and even longer on weekends and rush hours.
Wulai will be the very last stop on Bus 849. So pick a seat next to the window and enjoy the amazing views up the mountain.
Things to Do in Wulai (1-day Trip)
We start our one-day trip at Xindian MRT Station. We arrived on a weekday at 10 AM and there was very little traffic and people in general. The line for the taxi to Wulai was minimal. So far, so great.
After packing 8 people into 2 taxi cars (perfect fit), we finally head out to Wulai. The scenery on the way is spectacular. You’ll pass by bridges, streams, mountains, forests and other stuff I don’t really get to see back in the States.
We finally arrive at the main village entrance of Wulai District after roughly 35 minutes of travel by car.
In this main area, theres a 7 Eleven nearby. So I recommend you stock up on water, snacks or anything you need. If it’s a sunny day, don’t forget to grab some sun screen!
Wulai Old Street
From there, you should take a stroll to the old town for some amazing scenery. What’s unique about this place is that a small river runs right through the town.
The entrance to the old street is right after the bridge overlooking the Wulai river. It’s a nice place to stop and take some photos because it’s really unique and you likely won’t find anything like this elsewhere.
The buildings are almost dangerously close to the water. So you can probably imagine how bad things may get during typhoon season or with flash floods.
Again, this is an aboriginal town and you’ll see a lot of imagery and designs that represent the indigenous Atayal tribe and people.
There are some cool shops and food stalls on the “shopping street” in case you’re looking for a souvenir or didn’t get to eat breakfast.
It’s an interesting street to check out, but similar to some of the old streets that you’ll find in Taiwan. I wish we had more time to check this old street out, but we got there kind of late (almost 11 AM).
We knew we had a lot of things to check off our list for that day, so we decided to briefly stroll through and head over to our first stop and attraction.
Wulai Scenic Train
If your goal is to reach the Wulai Waterfall, which I highly recommend, you have two options of getting there. You can always walk there, but you can also take the Wulai Scenic Train.
Obviously, the latter is a much more interesting and fun way of getting to the waterfall. However, it does come with a price. It won’t cost you more than $50 NTD, and it’s so worth it.
This train is more like a trolley or mini train. It carries very few passengers and the train itself is quite small. That’s because this train was originally used as a means of timber (wood) transportation back in the early/mid 1900s.
After the Japanese government finished construction on a nearby highway, the use of the railways in this area became obsolete. All sections were dismantled except for this train.
Today, the Wulai Scenic Train doesn’t carry timber at all. Instead, it’s been transformed into a tourist attraction, carrying people to the terminus of the waterfall cable cars.
It’s a short journey. You’re traveling roughly 1.6 KM on the train. But if you’re traveling with kids, they will love this. And even adults (like us) enjoyed this a lot.
Getting to Wulai Scenic Train
To get to the the Wulai Train Station, you’ll need to go through Wulai Old Street first. Keep going walking down the path and cross through the bridge.
The bridge you’ll need to cross will look similar to the one you crossed to enter the old street. Across the road will be a set of wooden stairs. You’ll want to go up these stairs.
From there, follow the signs that direct you to the waiting line for the Wulai Train. If you’re going during peak season, then just follow where everyone else is going.
Wulai Waterfall (Cable Car)
After getting off the scenic train, you’re at the Wulai Waterfall Station. The walk to the Wulai Waterfall cable cars is short and shouldn’t take you more than 10 minutes.
You’ll see the waterfall and cable cars immediately – just head towards it. On your walk over, there will be restaurants, small eateries, shops and other interesting things to check out.
You can also find a few public bathrooms in this area if you need to take care of business. We stopped at one of the restaurants on the way to the cable cars to grab a quick bite.
Fortunately, we came when there were very little people. The line for the cars was short, but I can imagine it taking a while during holidays or on the weekend.
The price of taking the gondola ride was relatively pricey. It was about $200 NTD (give or take) for a round trip ride. Still, I would highly recommend taking this.
Cable cars looked relatively new so I presume it’s safe to ride. It’s worth noting that in 2015, a super-typhoon hit Wulai hard and really caused a ton of damage. As a result, the cable cars (along with other Wulai attractions) were closed for a couple years.
What’s cool is that the cable cars take you directly over Wulai Waterfall, or at least very very close. For the best view of the waterfall, you absolutely need to take this ride.
The scenery is on-par, if not better, than the lush green forest you see while taking the Taipei Zoo (Maokong) Gondola Ride. Unfortunately, it’s a much shorter ride.
Once you reach your final destination, you’re left in another tourist area where people can get more wonderful views of the waterfall and the city beneath the cliff.
We exited the station and went right – towards the waterfall to snap even more shots.
You’ll need to walk up a set of stairs to reach the main tourist area, called Yun Hsien Park. There are a few things you can do here, including taking a nice ride on a boat, or exploring various short hiking trails.
There are even more restrooms up here in case you need to use it. Plus, there are plenty of benches around if you just want to stop and catch your breath.
Honestly, there wasn’t much to do up here. It’s just a nice resting stop with some decent views of the surrounding area.
Canoe in Yun Hsien Park
As I mentioned, you can take a canoe ride above the waters that runs through the waterfall. Don’t worry, it’s an enclosed round-a-bout and you won’t ride off the waterfall. It’s really a man-made lake (or pond?).
Waters up here are calm and makes for a peaceful canoe ride in a lovely scenic area. We decided to skip this, so I’m not 100% sure on the price. However, I assume it’s no more than a few hundred NTD.
To get here, you’ll need to walk up the stairs after arriving at the Wulai Waterfall Cable Car station. Once you’ve reached the top, this area is to your left. You cannot miss it.
If a boat ride is not your thing, there are other activities you can enjoy, most of which, revolve around the culture and traditions of the aboriginal tribe.
For example, there’s a fortune telling shop (we didn’t try this out, but it seemed fairly “popular”) and an area where you can hone your archery skills (we also decided to skip this). From what I hear, there’s even a paintball activity area.
People have called this an “amusement park” but it’s a little disappointing to be labeled as one. As long as you keep your expectations in check, it’s a fairly cool place to check out in Wulai District.
Neidong Forest Recreation Area
After heading back down from Yun Hsien Park via cable cars, we made our way out to the main street (Xinfu Road). From there, we tried walking to Neidong Forest Recreation Area.
We heard it’s a nice and easy hiking “trail” to see three tiers of waterfalls. The top being the most stunning and largest.
A local told us it was an easy and straightforward walk. And although it was simple, it was not a short walk as the road to Neidong Falls was a few miles long. If you’re traveling on a hot day, I highly suggest getting a taxi.
But if you’re adamant about traveling by foot, you can go onto Xinfu Road and walk south (turn left when facing the street). Just follow the river and you’ll get there (see picture below).
Eventually we just caught a taxi midway through our walk after checking Google Maps. We were pretty tired after a long day of travel and walking.
From the entrance of the Neidong Forest Recreation Park, it’ll take you between 20 to 30 minutes to reach the top and last waterfall. Of course, it all depends on how fast you go and how long you stop at each waterfall.
We were under the impression that it was an actual natural hike, but it wasn’t. It’s mainly made up of stairs and the flat areas are well-paved paths.
Unfortunately, it started to pour by the time we got to the park. We couldn’t really snap any good pictures of the waterfalls, but it just shows how quick the weather can change up here in the mountains.
At each waterfall, there will be a little outlook for you to get a better glimpse of the waterfall. The first one was not impressive at all, we strolled past that quickly. Plus, it was kind of far away so you couldn’t get a great look.
The second one was better, with a better outlook built for the waterfall. Finally, the last waterfall was as advertised, big and magnificent.
Overall, it was nice. Not as exciting as the Wulai Waterfall or the cable car ride, but it’s worth checking out if you have some time (or a lot of time for the walkers) to spare.
Wulai Hot Springs
By the time we finished the Neidong trail, it was getting late. And because it was pouring, it started to get cold without much sun. So it only made sense to check out the hot springs, right?
To get to the Wulai Public Hot Springs from Neidong Park, we had to go back towards the entrance of Wulai District (where the old street was).
It’s a much further away than the waterfall, so you should definitely take a taxi there. We went back on the main street and through some small mountainous roads on our way there.
The Wulai Hot Spring is a public hot spring. It’s really just an area by the town where the hot spring water spews out. Both locals and tourists hang out at these hot springs, chilling around the river.
This was especially nice because of the pouring rain that had turned into a light (but cold) drizzle. It was getting dark and we didn’t want to be stuck in the mountains, so we didn’t spend much time here.
However, I can see this being a really cool spot during the colder months of Taiwan. If I have the chance, I’m definitely coming back here to fully enjoy it.
From Wulai to Taipei
We were starving and it was getting dark. The rain was persistent, so we decided to leave at this point. To go from Wulai to Taipei, the best option is to take the taxi.
It’s possible to take the bus back to the city, but it can’t be a comfortable ride if you’re wet from all the water activities (and/or rain). We left around rush hour at 6 PM.
Big mistake. The traffic down the mountain was downright terrible. A 30-minute ride took us well over an hour to get back. In fact, it was probably closer to 1.5 hours.
So my recommendation would be to arrive early and leave earlier (than us).
On the way back to the city, the weather completely flipped. While it was gloomy and raining up in the mountains, by the time we reached the bottom, it was sunny once again. Weather is crazy in Taipei.
And for reference, we went during July.
Host Spring Hotels Near Wulai
Though we don’t suggest staying in Wulai, they do have plenty of accommodations up there if you want to spend more than a day in New Taipei’s mountainous district.
The good news is that accommodation in Wulai is not too expensive. Even for hotels that offer hot springs directly in the hotel, it’s reasonably priced.
It’s certainly cheaper than staying in Beitou for their hot springs (where to stay in Taipei?). And if your trip to Taiwan was all about hot springs, we wouldn’t blame you if you choose Wulai over Beitou.
Yufuin Hot Spring
Yufuin is one of the best bang for the buck hotels if you’re looking for hot springs during your stay in Wulai. As advertised, hot springs are accessible directly from the hotel.
What’s cool about this hotel is that it’s located next to the river where the public springs are. The views are simply incredible. What’s more relaxing than this view while bathing in your private hot spring bath?
Rooms are nice and clean. But more importantly, it’s in a good location. It’ll only take you a few minutes to walk to the Wulai Old Street.
Wulai Karuizawa Inn
The Wulai Karuizawa Inn is a fantastic budget hotel that sits in the heart of Wulai. Though they don’t offer any rooms with private hot springs, they do have public hot springs for guests.
It’s simple and clean. Nothing too special, but it’s a great deal if you want to save some money while visiting the multitude of attractions in this district.
This hotel is located right next to the main bridge in Wulai, so it’s easy to get to any attraction you’d want to visit on your trip.
Wulai Townhouse
Despite being called a “townhouse,” the Wulai Townhouse Hotel is indeed a hotel – with hot springs too! Just like the other recommended hotels, the views from this hotel are amazing.
The location is also very good. It’s walking distance to popular attractions such as the Wulai Old Street, Wulai Scenic Train and Public Hot Springs.
Service is good and rooms are decent for the price. Wulai Townhouse offers both private in-room hot spring baths and public hot springs for guests. A great option for budget travelers!
Recommendation for Visiting Wulai
Staying in Wulai is great if you want to fully experience this beautiful mountainous district. However, I recommend staying in Xindian instead.
Xindian is much closer to the city and there’s the Xindian MRT Station that connects to virtually anywhere you’ll want to go in both Taipei and New Taipei City.
For convenience alone, Xindian is a great option. It’s just a short (depending when you go) 30 minute taxi-ride away! It’s perfect if you only plan to do a day trip to Wulai.
Another downside is that these hotels and hostels will not have private hot springs like the ones in Wulai. With that said, here are some great hotels near Xindian for easy access to Wulai District.
Bitan Hotel
This budget hotel is in a great location. It’s relatively close to Xindian MRT Station. As a matter of fact, it’s just a quick 10 minute walk away from the Xindian station. It’s perfect if you’re planning a day trip to Wulai.
Rooms are nice and clean, and the bathroom is large. Overall, it looks like one of the newer hotels in this area.
For early-risers, there’s a breakfast buffet inside the hotel. I haven’t tried it myself but the reviews say it’s pretty good. You can have a choice between western and Chinese breakfast, too.
Lake Hotel
Lake Hotel is another fantastic choice if you plan to stay in Xindian for your Wulai trip. This hotel looks fancy, but doesn’t come with the fancy price tag.
It’s also really close to Xindian MRT Station and will take you roughly 10 minutes to walk there. Rooms are pretty big for Taipei hotels and furnishing seems new.
If you’re planning on making a trip to Wulai, definitely consider staying at the Lake Hotel in Bitan, New Taipei City.
Other Taipei Attractions:
- Elephant Mountain Trail
- Taipei 101 Observatory
- Daan Forest Park
- Taipei Zoo & Gondola
- Chiang Kai-shek Memorial
- Dahu Park in Taipei