Taipei Zoo and Maokong Gondola: How to Plan the Day

Do the zoo first and the gondola second: Taipei Zoo is open from 9am to 5pm, while the Maokong Gondola runs until 9pm on weekdays and 10pm on holidays, so animals in the morning, a ride up from Taipei Zoo South Station in the afternoon and tea in Maokong at dusk fits the clock. It is also the order the zoo itself recommends, and it works on most days: the gondola is closed on most Mondays.

Getting there: zoo first or gondola first?

The day starts at one stop: take the MRT Wenshan-Neihu Line to Taipei Zoo Station. The gondola's own Taipei Zoo Station is a 350-metre walk along Xinguang Road from there.

What joins the two is Taipei Zoo South Station, one of the gondola's four passenger stations along with Taipei Zoo, Zhinan Temple and Maokong. It sits near the Wetland Park at the south of the zoo and works in both directions: you can walk through the zoo and board the gondola there, or ride the gondola to it and buy a zoo ticket to get in. The zoo's shuttle train serves it, but no train runs directly between the Shuttle Train Station and Zoo South Station, so you change at Bird World Station.

Featured location Taipei Zoo Taipei City, Taiwan SEAZAWAZAWAZA-WP The grounds cover 165 hectares, more than 90 of them developed. Two pandas, Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan, arrived from mainland China in 2008 as a gesture of unity.

Zoo first, then the gondola

This is the order Taipei Zoo suggests: after your visit, it recommends taking the Maokong Gondola to explore Maokong. It suits the clock too, because the zoo's last entry is at 4pm and the gondola keeps running into the evening, when Maokong's teahouses come into their own.

Arrive for the 9am opening and start with the four stops on the zoo's short route: the Formosan Animal Area, Koala House, Giant Panda House and Pangolin Dome. Then take the shuttle train up to Bird World Station for Bird World, the Penguin House and the Temperate Zone Animal Area, and finish with the shuttle to Zoo South Station and the gondola.

Gondola first, then the zoo

The gondola operator's own plan runs the other way: board at Taipei Zoo Station, get off at Taipei Zoo South Station, take the zoo's shuttle train to Bird World Station and make your way downhill through the zoo.

Keep an eye on the times. Zoo South Station's shuttle trains run from 9am, the last one leaves at 4pm, and the zoo's last entry is also 4pm. If you want Maokong as well, ride to the top in the morning and come back down to Zoo South after lunch. Summer is a good reason to do it this way round. Taipei's summers bring afternoon showers and thunderstorms, and the gondola stops whenever lightning strikes anywhere on the route. It restarts only after 30 minutes with no lightning in the warning area and a safety inspection, and Zoo South Station closes whenever the gondola does.

Getting back down from Maokong

The gondola's terminals are Taipei Zoo Station and Maokong Station, and you must get off at either end. To get back, ride all the way down to Taipei Zoo Station, 350 metres from the MRT. The full ride from Taipei Zoo Station to Maokong takes 17 to 37 minutes, depending on the system's speed. Gondola passengers can also switch to the Maokong Tour Bus for free on the same day.

What not to miss

At the zoo

Taipei Zoo is one of the largest zoos in Asia: 165 hectares, of which more than 90 are developed. Don't try to see all of it before a gondola ride. The zoo says so itself:

Taipei Zoo is very large, going through it all in one visit is hard work; also, there are many animals here, trying to see every exhibition in just one visit is very tiring.

The Formosan Animal Area, near the entrance, is the one to see if you are short of time. It shows animals native to Taiwan, including Formosan black bears, Formosan rock macaques, leopard cats and Taiwanese pangolins. The Chinese pangolin enclosure there is closed for repairs from 11 to 30 September 2026.

The Giant Panda House is home to Yuan Yuan, who turned 22 on 30 August 2026, and to Yuan Zai, the first panda cub born in Taiwan, in 2013. When Yuan Bao turned six on 28 June 2026, the zoo reported that she had followed Yuan Yuan and Yuan Zai into a pseudopregnancy, and it asked visitors to keep their voices down in the Giant Panda House. On the third Wednesday of each month, keepers run panda training sessions and talks there at 3pm.

The Koala House has shown koalas from Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary since the first two arrived in August 1999, and it is one of the zoo's most popular attractions.

In the Temperate Zone Animal Area, the red pandas Lele and Tiantian, from Shanghai Zoo, made their public debut on 29 July 2026. Their enclosure beside the Penguin House was renovated in 2026 with floor-to-ceiling glass in place of wire mesh, so children get a low, open view. African penguin chicks hatched in 2026 are appearing in a new indoor activity area just outside the Penguin House.

Other recent changes: the zoo's Malayan tapir Putri had a female calf on 17 August 2026, and the Asian elephants Yushin and Yukai have moved temporarily to the African Animal Area.

Up in Maokong

Maokong was once Taipei's biggest tea-growing area and is now known for its tea culture. Its name is probably derived from the civets once found in its valley. Maokong Station itself sits among tea plantations and is a good place for night views of Taipei.

Turn left out of the station and the Tea Promotion Center is about 15 minutes' walk away. It is open daily from 9am to 5pm, except Mondays, and its exhibition explains how Muzha Tieguanyin and Nangang Paochung teas are made, tasted, brewed and stored. To drink rather than read, the first-floor tea room of the Chang Naimiao Memorial Tea Museum serves Maokong Tieguanyin. The Circular Tea Trail from the station takes in century-old camphor trees, tea terraces, a potholed riverbed and the Sky Trail.

The zoo's own page on Maokong says its many teahouses are worth a visit by day or night. After dusk, coloured light bulbs are lit in front of every building, and people sit over tea and watch night fall. That is the payoff for doing the zoo first.

Tickets and saving money

Prices as of September 2026:

• Taipei Zoo: NT$100 general admission, or NT$50 for a discount ticket, which children aged 6-11 of any nationality qualify for. Children aged 0-5 get in free. Online ticketing is out of service, so pay on the day.
• Zoo shuttle train: NT$5 a ride.
• Maokong Gondola: NT$180 for a single journey in a regular cabin, or NT$300 for a One-Day Pass with unlimited rides. A crystal cabin costs NT$50 more per person per trip. Gondola discount tickets are for Taiwanese nationals only.

If you will ride the gondola up and back down, the One-Day Pass costs less than two single journeys. The gondola takes EasyCard, iPASS and iCASH stored-value cards. On July and August Saturdays the zoo sells a NT$60 night ticket from 4pm to 8pm and stays open until 9pm. However, areas outside the late opening, including the Pangolin Dome, the African Animal Area and Bird World, close at 5pm.

Best time to visit

Pick any day but Monday. The gondola is closed on Mondays except on national holidays and the first Monday of the month. On that first Monday the Giant Panda House is closed, under the zoo's Monday timetable, and the Tea Promotion Center is closed every Monday. The gondola also closes on Lunar New Year's Eve, and in 2026 the zoo closed on Chinese New Year's Eve (16 February) and from 22 June to 1 July.

Summer needs planning. Taipei's summers are long, very hot and humid, with occasional heavy rainstorms and typhoons, and the typhoon season runs from June to October. The zoo closes whenever the Taipei City Government announces a natural disaster such as a typhoon. Summer is also when the tiny insects the zoo calls "little black mosquitoes" are most active. The zoo advises long sleeves, long trousers, walking shoes, sunscreen and insect repellent.

In Maokong, tung trees blossom in April and May, and spring tea is picked in May and June. If you want a crystal cabin, with its transparent floor, they run Tuesday to Sunday, and you can book online before the day to avoid a long wait.

With kids and accessibility

Children aged 0-5 get into the zoo free and ride the gondola free with a ticketed adult, up to two children per adult. All 22 public restrooms at the zoo are equipped for disabled visitors and have nappy-changing tables. There are two nursing rooms, one at the Visitor Center and one at the shop by the Amphibian and Reptile House entrance. The First Aid Station near the main entrance has nappies, heat packs and hot water.

Prams, pushchairs and wheelchairs up to 140 x 70 x 170 cm can travel in the gondola cabins, locked in place, and every gondola station has a lift. Leave balloons, bicycles and scooters behind, because the zoo bans them, and pets too. On the gondola, you can't drink anything but water.