Hsinchu, Beipu Cold Spring 北埔冷泉

bridge to the cold spring

sausages, tea eggs, beer, swimming supplies

bridge

as always, lots of warning signs around (which people ignore)

to the right is the "pool"

Location: google map location

Pros: unique

Cons: looks kind of dirty. not stroller friendly. no food onsite. (I am not counting the one sausage stand)

It received 4.1 stars on google map! I would say it is totally overrated. If you live close enough, it might be worth the drive just to check it out. Personally I would probably not go back again in a long time. If you want to go play in the water, go to the beach!!

Is the water clean?

Although there is a billboard explaining why the color is muddy. Basically it's some natural component of the cold spring that makes it look this way, not that it is really dirty. But I still did not let my kids go into the "pool". I did let hubby take the boys to the waterfall to walk around a bit. But be VERY careful, I would recommend your child to be age 5 and up.

Taipei, MaoKong Gondola 貓空纜車

Entrance

"Crystal Cabin"

Transportation: take MRT brown line to Taipei Zoo station, follow signs for MaoKong Gondola (about 5 min walk).

Parking: there's a parking garage next to the zoo here.
Pros: great scenery. fun for kids. food at MaoKong available.
Cons: there is nothing to "play", no playgrounds. you can find restrooms easily. will not be easy to travel with a stroller (but doable?)

gondola route (4 stops: Taipei Zoo, Taipei Zoo South, Zhinan Temple, and MaoKong)

There are two types of cabins: regular and crystal. Both cost the same, and usually the crystal (clear bottom) one has a longer wait. We went on a Saturday morning around 9:30am, and the wait was not too bad. The only difference is the max occupancy for the crystal cabin is 5, and the regular is 8.

We first took the gondola to Zhinan Temple. It's beautiful and there are many parts to it.  It does take some walking to get from one palace to another. Even if you just stay at one palace by the station, I think it's worth checking it out.

you can even donate money with your ATM card!! lol

beautiful view from the temple

I guess you can hike it from the bottom as well....

The last station MaoKong: Honestly there is not much to do up there (with kids). But we timed it where we could visit the temple first, and then head up to MaoKong for lunch. It was surprisingly NOT busy on a Saturday, and we did not have to wait for a table at a restaurant. There are food stalls (nothing special) along the alleys also. The restaurant we visited was Yuan Xu Yuan Teahouse, which was decent but nothing spectacular. The only unique would be the tea-flavored soft-serve at this tea house. Other than lunch and ice cream, we spent less than 10 mins up here.

there are better pictures of this area, but this one shows the food stands down the alley

Our little trip: around 9:30am~1pm.  (we took awhile at the temple, then had lunch at MaoKong)

Hsinchu, Kidsburgh - Dorothy's Home 騎士堡- 桃樂絲的家

Location: The building next to Big City/SOGO (2F)  google map location

** can be tricky to find. If you park at Big City, you would have to go across the skybridge on the 3rd floor of SOGO, and take the elevator to get to the 2nd floor to the entrance.

Pros: clean, many employees around to supervise/help
Cons: smaller than the Taipei Kidsburgh. one-time tickets are pricy.

First off, let's talk about the ticket price. An one-time ticket for ages 1 and up is a whopping NT$750, and NT$150 for each accompanying parent!! (If your child is under 3, one parent may enter for free) I would definitely recommend buying the package, you can look at the prices here. There are many different options, so make sure you do the math! :)

Anyways, we went on a Saturday morning at 11am (when it opens), and surprisingly it was not crowded at all!! My plan was to stay for an hour, eat lunch, and then come back to play some more (we had until 2:30pm to come back), but they were having so much fun that we ended up leaving at around 1pm to eat lunch!

Below is the list of different areas in the facility:

Toddler Area (a smaller ball pit, some puzzles and games on the wall)
Pretend Play area (lots of girls were there, my boys did not go in AT ALL)
Room with a doll house and a play kitchen (toddler friendly)
Train table
Fishing area
Car riding room
Cannon foam ball area (my boys spent 90% the time there)
Huge ball pit with slides (connected to cannon ball area)
Blue giant foam blocks area
Balloon area

Miaoli, Four Ways Farm 四方牧場

Very industrial looking

where you buy tickets during the week. (there's a gift shop and a few video games)

the only activity available

THERE IS NOTHING!!!

Location:google map location

Hours: M-F 9:00-18:00, Sat/Sun 8:00-18:00

Pros: feeding baby cows, camping grounds, picnic tables with large grassy area

Cons: looks old and run-down, nothing to do during the week.

Tickets are NT$60 for ages 3 and up, so it's relatively inexpensive. The ticket includes a snack (choose from a bottle of milk or a milk custard). We went on a Thursday morning around 10am, and I think by 10:30 we were ready to leave. The long slide you've read about on some blog? It's been closed since 2014 (I should've checked the date). Other than feeding the baby cows ($20 for a bottle), there was NOTHING to do. And I have to say, the feeding area could definitely use some cleaning. Yes, there are two huge grassy areas and picnic tables that are great for letting the kids go wild, but you wouldn't really drive all the way to Miaoli just for that. Maybe it is more fun on the weekends if there are more kids around??? I'd say, buy the milk at Oranger Mart, you can skip this place. 

Taipei, Zhonghua Park 中華公園

Location: google map location (closest MRT station: Taipei Arena Station)

Pros: monkey bars, big open space, lots of benches, 7-11 & coffee shops near by

Cons: no restrooms on site

We discovered this park while heading to a restaurant in this neighborhood. It is bigger than your usual neighborhood parks in Taipei, and it has monkey bars! It also has a big open space next to the playground for riding bikes/tag/running around. One side of the park is open toward a busy road (Jiangkang Rd.), but not so close where you need to worry the kids might accidentally kick a ball over. The rest is relatively fenced in. The park is great if you need to watch multiple kids at one time. There are also two good restaurants near by: Dian Shui Lou 點水樓 and Zhen Fu Ji 真福記 - I would recommend spending some time at this park before getting some yummy food!! 

Taipei, Guang Fu Elementary 光復國小

Location: google map location (right next to Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall)
Pros: lots of climbing structures, close to 7-11/restaurants
Cons: There should be bathrooms around, but we couldn't find any....

If your little ones have more energy to burn after visiting the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, you can jump right next door to this elementary school! My boys never get tired of climbing, so this was especially fun for them. There is also a normal playground structure further inside of the elementary (nothing special but will still be fun for preschoolers).

Zhubei, Bo Ai Elementary 博愛國小

Location: google map location, No. 72, Guangming 6th Rd, Zhubei City, Hsinchu County

Parking: street parking available around the neighborhood

Pros: Not crowded. monkey bars.

Cons: nothing really!

All of the public schools in Taiwan are open to public on the weekends or during the week before and after school hours. This is one of the things I love about being here - you have free access to basketball courts, track, and playground in your neighborhood! We were here for a soccer practice, and we discovered that they have a pretty fun playground with monkey bars!