Longshan Park, Hsinchu 龍山公園

Location: google map

Pros: small, contained, there's a Family Mart near by

Cons: no bathrooms on site, no shade, might be hard to find parking

This is a cute little neighborhood park near Costco in Hsinchu. The playground structure is pretty big for the small park. If you get thirsty or need a potty break, there's a Family Mart about 2 min walk away. 

Hsinchu, Fantasy Island Discovery Paradise 奇幻島探索樂園

"Rope maze"

an employee helping my son with the slide

Location: inside Big City Mall, 7th floor. google map to Big City
Pros: clean, supervision by on site employees, good for rainy days
Cons: no parent seating available, a bit pricey for what it is. *they require you to have non-slip socks to play, which can be purchased at $30 each. (a totally ridiculous policy)
Age: no age limit, but I would suggest parents go in with kids under 5. (unless you have older siblings to watch them)

There are two parts to this facility: the "Rope Maze" and the "Discovery Zone" (that's my literal translation, maybe they have an actual English name?? :)). You have to buy tickets to each separately,  which I believe is $499 for each ticket and it gives you 3 hours. 3 hours is A LONG TIME.....my boys were done with it within an hr and a half. But I guess some parents are comfortable enough to leave their older children here for three hours while they go shopping somewhere else in the mall.

I would not recommend the Discovery zone, because your kid will have to wear a helmet/vest and be strapped on to a safety chord while walking on the beams. It might be worth it to try it once, but I definitely prefer my kids to run around freely.

Hsinchu, Guanxi Township 關西鎮

Ang Gu Noodles

grass jelly alley

egg cake

playground right by the parking lot

Location: here is the google map of the parking lot, and the eateries are few streets down

Parking: the above parking lot is free but extremely small.

Pros: few mins away from Leofoo village. A cheaper option to get food.

Cons: Nothing special...do not go unless you happen to be in the area.

The list of the places we went:

An Gu Noodle: the noodles were pretty sweet. I didn't like it too much. 

Grass Jelly Alley: if you like grass jelly, you'd love this place. Many different combos.

Cantonese egg cake: I'm sure you can get better in hong kong. We got some for kids and they loved it. the playground is right across from the stand

Guanxi, Leofoo Resort 六福莊

This is NOT photoshopped!! That is a lemur on my back!!

Entrance

lots of water! and an empty frig for you to use

animal grounds

Location: google map, right next to Leofoo Village. You CAN walk there but will take a little bit, driving is about 2 minutes.

Pros: close encounter with the animals (with luck), spacious rooms, close to Leofoo Village

Cons: expensive without a discount, paid activities are expensive, food is not that great

For better pictures and room descriptions, you can go to their website. First off, the room we stayed at was the Kenya Greenery Room. It was spacious with one queen sized bed downstairs, and two queen sized beds upstairs. What we loved about the room was that it's equipped with TWO showers, and TWO toilets! I would rate the quality as a 3.5 star hotel, it is clean and comfortable, but details are lacking. We were able to get the room at a discounted rate of NT$7999/night, usually it goes for at least NT$10000+/night. It is pretty expensive for what it is, but it would be great to have grandparents come a long and stay in the same room. 

kids breakfast buffet: NT$300ish + 10% (4 and up)/person - lots of selection but...it was not very good. Eggs were not warm.

adult dinner buffet: NT$900+10%/person - we didn't try because our guess was it would be not very tasty and expensive

Overall, I would say it's worth it to try it out once if you can find a good deal, and if your kids can enjoy Leofoo Village. 

Hsinchu, Miller Breakfast & Brunch

Location: google map

Pros: it opens early - everyday!!

Cons: it's basically a glorified taiwanese breakfast joint

Breakfast and brunch is sort of a big deal in our household, and we are always struggling to find places that open early (before 8am) on the weekends. This place is new, clean, and the food is decent. But their food is basically like any of those Taiwanese breakfast places you find on the street. A little bit better? Maybe. But the main difference is that you can sit down at a place that's furnished and air-conditioned while you eat your breakfast instead of sitting on a cheap metal chair. 

Hsinchu, Confucius Temple Park 孔廟旁小公園

Location: google map (Corner of Dongshan Street  & Shipin Rd.)

Pros: three different play structure, big open area on the side in front of the temple

Cons: hard to find parking on the weekends after 12pm

This is a nice playground to come especially if you want to stay into lunch to visit the market nearby on the weekends. But that is also why the parking is HORRIBLE in the afternoon. There is an underground parking garage on Shipin Rd, and street parking is also available. So come here early if you want to check it out, and hit the food stands after! :)

Hsinchu, 18 Peak Mountain 十八尖山

map of the area

parking lot

water station

random work out spots

Location: google map ( you will see lots of signs there once in the vicinity)
Pros: close to the city, easy to park, easy for kids, stroller friendly

Cons: for kids that are either young enough to sit in a stroller, or old enough to walk a lot

If you want to take a nice walk away from the city without driving too far, this is the place for you! What I love about this place is that you can either choose the trails with steps, or the ones without (meaning it is stroller friendly)! My 1st and 2nd grader had no problem walking here, but I think my 4 year old would not like it too much ;). There are also some shops by the parking lot that sell bakes sweet potatoes for $20 or so, pretty tasty!

Hsinchu County, Neiwan Old Street and Lavender Forest 內灣老街 & 薰衣草森林

Neiwan Old Street

by the restaurant

Add caption

great view!

Location: 

Neiwan train station: you can take the Neiman Line all the way to the end, all the eateries and shops are right outside of the train station. For more train information, click here.

Lavender Forest: (opens at 10am on weekends) Right outside of the train station, there are cabs hanging out that will take you up to Lavender Forest for around $250~$300 (I forgot the exact price) one way. (takes about 20 mins)You can ask them for a card, and give them a call when you want to leave and they will come pick you up.

Pros: Taking the train to the old street was fun with the kids. The view at Lavender Forest was simply breathtaking. The restaurant is not so bad either. It is clean and well-maintained. Stroller-friendly.

Cons: After visiting many "old streets" in Taiwan, this one is no different. 

We drove from Zhubei to Zhuzong Station, parked our car there, and took the train all the way to Neiwan Station. The whole train ride will take a good 40 mins or so. The kids got a little restless at the end, but they enjoyed being on the train. We took a pretty early train and timed it so we can be at Lavender Forest right when it opens to avoid crowds. We strolled around, had lunch at the restaurant there around 11am, and headed back down to Neiwan Old street around 12pm. *Heading back to the city from Neiwan Station - when we were heading back around 2pm, there was a lot more people on the train and I could see that there is definitely a possibility of not having seats on the train! So head to the station a bit earlier for your train to be in line would be wise. Having no seats with kids for 40 mins would NOT be fun! :)

Hsinchu, Hsinchu Zoo 新竹動物園

ticket vending machine

peacock

tigers and bears separated by a wall

Location: google map location

Parking: on Shipin Rd. by the stadium or street parking along Shipin Rd. or Gongyuan Rd.

Pros: cheap and cute. sandpit by the children's animals area with shade

Cons: it's a small zoo, hard to find parking on the weekends

We have tried to visit this park twice on the weekends but ultimately left because we couldn't find parking!!! That's how ridiculous it gets sometimes. During winter break, I took my older two boys here on a weekday morning at 9am and it was perfectly empty. You purchase tickets through this machine for $20 each. I would say it's perfect for kids of all ages, because it's small enough yet you do get to see some interesting animals. I would say the ones we liked the most were the tigers, orangutan, pelicans, peacocks, and monkeys. There is also a sandpit that you can spend some time there after seeing all the animals.

Hsinchu, McDonald's with a playground! 麥當勞

Location: google map location

Parking: right across the street

Pros: a playground in McDonald's, in Taiwan!!!

Cons: it's a fairly busy McDonald's

Ever since we drove past it some time last year, my boys had been begging me to take them here (I know right? *eyeroll). I had been reluctant because 1) I have a McDonalds 5 mins away from our house and this one is at least 15 mins away, and 2) I could not figure out where I can park for this one!! Anyway, one day I just decided to drive us there and figure it out when we get there, and what do you know! There IS a parking lot right across the street! Nothing special to say about this, it's a playground in McDonald's. probably a bit cleaner than your average Mcd playground in the states. ;)

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.

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

Hsinchu, Jinshan Park 金山公園

Location: google map location (the park itself cannot be found on google map, this sends you to the 7-11 right across from the park)

This is a tiny park located in the Jinshan neighborhood in Science Park. Parking is horrendous here, you would either have to park at the school across the street (IBSH), or in the alley by the police station. Either way, there is nothing exciting about this park. Maybe the only plus is that there's a lot of food/drink places around that you can buy something and come here and eat on a nice day.

Hsinchu, Zhongyang park 新竹中央公園

Location: google map location, at the intersection of zhongyang rd. and 122.

Parking: street parking around the park, or there is a parking garage right across from the park under the bridge on 122.

Pros: sand pits! stone slides! two play structures! metal cube climbers! Hi-Life near by if you need a snack/drink.

Cons: no bathroom on site. busy streets near by with lots of traffic.

This is a newly revamped park that is definitely worth a visit. Even during the week, it always has a good number of kids there playing. And don't even think about it on the weekends......YES the park is fun, but the main reason it's popular is because it's a Pokemon Go hot spot. You will see lots of parents on their phones while letting the kids go wild.

There is also a good steamed bun place right across from the park. But be VERY careful when you try to cross the street there since there is no traffic light. Cars tend to be zooming by in that neighborhood also.