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:
Wulai Old Street: Roughly 10 AM to 8 PM 
Cable Car and Yun Hsien Amusement Park Entrance: 9 AM to 4:30 PM
You can book tickets to the gondola and to Yun Hsien theme park on Klook here or KKday here. 
Neidong Waterfall: 8 AM to 5 PM.
You can book tickets to Neidong Forest Recreation Area on KKday here or Klook here. 

Price:
Wulai Old Street: Free
Cable Car and Yun Hsien Amusement Park Entrance: 220 NT per person
You can book tickets to the gondola and to Yun Hsien theme park on Klook here or KKday here. 
Neidong Waterfall: 65 NT per person. You can book tickets on KKday here or Klook here. 
Hot Spring Bath: 300-500 NT. You can look for hot spring bath experiences on Klook here or KKday here. 
 
Delicacies:
​Wilde Boar meat, hot spring eggs, rice steamed in bamboo, among others. 

Hotels in Wulai:
There are many hot spring hotels in Wulai that have a hot spring tub right in the room.
We have stayed at and recommend Wulai SungLyu Hot Spring Resort, which is a hot spring resort with great views just above Wulai Old Street. You can book on Booking.com here, Agoda here, Hotels.com here, TripAdvisor here, Trip.com here, Klook here, Kayak here, or Expedia here. 
Looking for a hotel? We recommend booking through Booking.com here, which provides the best quality selection of accommodation in Taiwan.
Find out where to stay in our Taiwan hotels guide or search for the best hotel deals in Taiwan here.​
 
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. You can purchase a discount easy card to use on a bus to Wulai on Klook here or KKday here. ​You can also book a Taipei travel pass on Klook here. 
By Car/Scooter: 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. 
If you are looking for car rentals, you can also search Qeeq here, Klook here, or  KKday here. You can also check out our car rental guide here.  
Looking for scooter rental in Taipei? You can search on Klook here or KKday here to search for options. You can also check out our scooter rental guide here. 
By Taxi: You can take short rides for about 150 NT, or hire a Taxi for a day for around 150 USD on Klook here.
By Bicycle: Cycling is the best way to enjoy Taiwan's landscapes if you have the time and energy. Looking for bicycle rentals in Taiwan? You can use Taiwan's many Youbike sharing stations, or search for rentals on KKday here, and search for tours on Klook here. You can also check out our Taiwan cycling guide here. You can also book a Sunset Riverside Bike Ride and Historical Tour, 4 Hour Cycling in Taipei, Ultimate 8-Hour Cycling City Tour, or Taipei City Bike Tour with Night Market Experience on TripAdvisor here. 
For more information, check out our Taiwan transportation guide here. 

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 coal mines nearby. 

You can also book a ticket on the Wulai Train on Klook here.

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

You can also book tickets to the gondola and to Yun Hsien theme park on Klook here or KKday 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.
We stayed at and recommend Wulai SungLyu Hot Spring Resort, which is a hot spring resort with great views just above Wulai Old Street. You can book on Booking.com here, Agoda here, Hotels.com here, TripAdvisor here, Trip.com here, Klook here, Kayak here, or Expedia here. 
Looking for a hotel? We recommend booking through Booking.com here, which provides the best quality selection of accommodation in Taiwan.
Find out where to stay in our Taiwan hotels guide or search for the best hotel deals in Taiwan here.

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

You can book a Taiwan Wulai Aboriginal Tribe afternoon Tour on TripAdvisor here. 
​You can also book a tour of Wulai on KKday here.  
You can also book a ticket on the Wulai Train on Klook here, or a river tracing experience in Wulai on Klook here, or SUP paddleboarding experience in Wulai on KKday here, hot spring baths on Klook here or KKday here, on or tickets to the gondola and to Yun Hsien theme park on Klook here or KKday here.  

Check out our guide to Taipei’s Old Streets here. 

​Check out our guide to Taipei’s Waterfalls here.

Check out our Taipei hiking and trails guide here. 

​Check out our guide to the best day trips from Taipei here. 

Also be sure to check out our guide to Taipei here. 

You can also check out our full travel guide to Taiwan here. 

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