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)