Tamsui

First built by the Spanish in 1628 and rebuilt in stone by the Dutch, it is known as Hongmaocheng, fort of the red-haired foreigners. From the late 19th century to the 1970s it was the British consulate, so a red-brick consul's residence stands next to it.

A school founded in 1882 by the Canadian missionary George Mackay, named for Oxford County in Canada, whose people paid for it. Today it houses a modest exhibition on the Aletheia University campus. It is inside a working school, so keep quiet during classes.

Built under the Qing for the foreign official running the Tamsui customs, its white arcaded verandas gave it the name little White House. The garden behind looks over the river mouth to Guanyin Mountain. The joint ticket with Fort San Domingo covers it.

A gun battery Liu Mingchuan built in 1886 to hold the estuary after the Sino-French War. Over the main gate are four characters in his hand, naming it the lock of the northern gate. The barrack passages inside its thick earth walls stay cool in high summer.

A waterfront plaza by the Tamsui fishing harbour, where the white sail-shaped Lover's Bridge opened on Valentine's Day 2003. In the evening people line the bridge to watch the sun set over the sea. Arriving by boat from the old street pier adds a river ride.

An old shopping street running along the river from the MRT station, home to every Tamsui snack: a-gei, fish balls, iron eggs. Many sit on the riverside promenade at dusk facing Guanyin Mountain. On weekend afternoons it is too crowded to walk easily.

The crossing from the Tamsui pier to Bali on the far bank is a ten-minute boat ride. A long cycle path follows the Bali shore, with the Tamsui hillside facing you across the water. Transit cards work on board, so there is no separate ticket to buy.

Built in 1796, the oldest temple in Tamsui, dedicated to Mazu, protector of seafarers. Merchants and fishermen sailing from here paid for it, and their names are cut into its pillars and stone tablets. It sits halfway along the old street, an easy stop.

A red-brick Gothic church rebuilt in 1933 by Mackay's son, its pointed bell tower rising above the lane behind the old street. The interior can be seen only when no service is on. The lane in front is known as a spot where painters set up easels.

Home of Cloud Gate, Taiwan's leading contemporary dance company, opened in 2015 where a broadcasting station once stood. The wooded hill around it is open like a park, so people walk up even when there is no show. From the MRT station you need a bus.

A red-brick mansion a shipping merchant built on the hill in 1899, two storeys wrapped in arched verandas. Now a restaurant and cafe, its terrace faces the estuary and Guanyinshan. Narrow stone steps climb to the gate from the old street.

An archaeology museum on the Bali bank showing Iron Age finds of the Shihsanhang culture dug up nearby. Its slanted concrete building stands by the river beside the Bali riverside bike path. Cycling from the Bali ferry pier takes some 20 minutes.

The mountain across the river shaped like the reclining profile of Guanyin, present in every Tamsui sunset photo. From Lingyun Temple, steps lead to Yinghan Peak, the highest point, in an hour or so. The top sees both the estuary and the Taipei basin.

The bridge across the mouth of the Tamsui River linking Tamsui and Bali, opened in May 2026. It is an asymmetric cable-stayed bridge hung from one 200m mast, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. The single mast was chosen so it would not block the sunset view.

Volcanic rock on the Shimen coast grooved by waves into long channels, which in spring fill with mossy green algae and become green stripes. It shows best at low tide in April and May. Wet algae make the surface treacherous, so grippy soles matter.

A black-and-white striped octagonal lighthouse on the northernmost cape of Taiwan's main island. Wind presses the grass along the cape trail flat in one direction. At nearby Fuji fishing harbour, choose seafood in the market and upstairs restaurants cook it.