Wulai Old Street 烏來老街

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Wulai has become a major tourist attraction, partly because of its close proximity to Taipei. It has museums, waterfalls, a gondola, a train, an old street night market, and most of all hot springs. It has an old Japanese era coal mining railroad track which has been restored with a working train. In addition there are hikes, wildlife, and endless mountain scenery to explore.
 
Background:
Wulai was originally an Atayal aborigine village, its name meaning hot and poisonous. There has always been natural hot springs in Wulai, but much of that water has been channeled into hotels and public bathhouses. The free hot springs stood at the bottom of the hill next to the river, and was a collection of used hot spring water from the hotels and paid hot springs above. In its prime, it boasted the largest free outdoor hot springs in Taiwan. Recently the District of Wulai in New Taipei has become a major tourist attraction, partly because of its close proximity to Taipei. It has museums, waterfalls, a gondola, a train, an old street night market, and most of all hot springs. The main delicacies on the old street are Taiwan ingenuous foods such as wild boar meat and rice steamed in bamboo. 
 
Hours:
Roughly 10 AM to 8 PM 

Price:
Free
 
Delicacies:
​Wilde Boar meat, hot spring eggs, rice steamed in bamboo, among others. 
 
How to get there：
By Bus: From central Taipei, take bus 849 to Wulai Old Street. The trips takes about an hour and a half.
By Car: From Taipei, take provincial highway 9甲 to Wulai. There is a large paid parking garage in front of the old street. You may also be able to find free parking up the mountain. 
 
Map:
Please see below of the places covered in this blog:

Our Journey:

I have been to Wulai twice, once in 2016 and once in 2020. The first time I went camping up the mountain and the second time I stayed at a hot spring hotel. Both times were fun and I highly recommend visiting. 

Check out our drone video above for an overview of the area.

Or check out the 360 degree spherical panorama above for the northern part of the old street. 

Or check out the 360 degree spherical panorama above for a view on top of the old street. 

In 2015 Typhoon Soudelor wreaked havoc to the town and destroyed many hot springs. Due to this and sanitation concerns, New Taipei City decided to shut down the hot springs, and gave the owners until April 2017 to tear it down. When the owners did not comply, New Taipei took the matter in their own hands and tore down the springs in May 2017. This was a sad time for me, and I wrote a blog about it here. However, there are still free public hot springs near the river on the south side of the bridge. See below for details. 

The best place to park is at the parking garage near the old street. On weekends and holidays, expect to pay over 100 NT to park here for a day. 

View of the begining of the old stret at the parking lot. 

There is a small bridge that connects the paring lot to the old street. 

See above for a gallery of photos of the north side of the old street. The main theme here is aboriginal culture and fried snacks. 

Wulai Ayatal Museum 烏來泰雅民族博物館

Right on the old street on the north side is the Ayatal museum. It is worth a trip

See above more photos of the museum's main floor. 

See above for photos of the second floor. 

Map of the old street in front of the museum. 

View of the south side of the old street, with the new bridge in the background. 

Some ice cream from the old street. 

Sausages and wild boar meat.

See above for more photos of the south side of the old street. 

You can also walk along the side of the old street near the river. It is a nice walk but there are no shops over there. 

Lansheng Great Bridge 攬勝大橋

A new bridge across the river was built after we visited in 2016. It includes a glass floor that lets you see down to the river below. 

Looking south from the bridge, you can see people making makeshift hot springs on the river side. This is the child of the original Wulai Public Hot Springs health hazard. 

Across the bridge, you can take the small train to Wulai Waterfall, for only 50 NT. Or you can walk, because the length of the track is only 1.5 KM. This train used to transport coal from the caol mines nearby. 

You can then see great views of Wulai Waterfall. For our full blog on Wulai Waterfall, click here. 

Across the river there are more shops and restaurants, but not as concentrated on the old street itself. See above for more photos. 

Wulai Suspension Bridge 烏來吊橋

Circling back, there is also a suspension bridge on the north side of the old street that offers some great views of the surrounding area. See above for more photos. 

And you can see more aerial photos of the area above. 

On the mountain to the west are tons of hot spring hotels that you can stay in. There is also a small parking lot on the mountain. There are more photos in the gallery above. 

Our second stay at the hot spring hotel was nice. We had our own hot spring to ourselves and took two days to relax.

For our full blog on Wulai Waterfall, click here. ​

Thanks for reading and be sure to stay tuned for more blogs on Wulai to come. 

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