Keelung Train and Bus station

The two new terminals of the Taiwan Railway Administration are called South and North (nearest to the West berths 2-4). The lengthy trains are positioned on an underground track between both.  

There is still work going on in the new transit bus station complex behind the basic Kuo-Kuang bus station with its wave roof. In the future, most buses in the city and intercity buses should be located between both train terminals. 

At the moment (April 2023) Google Maps can not draw the shortest pedestrian crossing route.

You will see this after finishing your walk along the waterfront. Just be careful and watch out for scooters while crossing the road. 

See the photo album of the larger and most used South terminal here. 

Head for this one if your ship is at the East wharves. 

West 2-3-4 and beyond are very close to the small but easier North terminal, pictures are here. 

There is a sloping ramp down to the track level. Its modest elevator is easier to spot. 

In case of taking an NT 85-90 taxi ride to the train station, this terminal is easier to navigate and to be dropped off at, 

I always use this quieter one to get onto the same train in the last of 8-12 carriages.

This is a map displayed in both stations. Things have changed, and will keep doing so:

1. KuoKuang station moved to the right of the roundabout, see the photo. 

All their intercity buses leave from here. Other lines mentioned in my blog have stops along Gangxi street.

2. Keelung Station Visitor Information Center - such an official long description... moved to the right of the KuoKuang bus station on Gangxi street. It is in an old yellow brick building across from the OCAM museum.

This is where bus T99 tickets are sold and the tourist bus starts. Pick up maps of Keelung here.

Note that tourism info is often divided between a desk for Keelung and one for Taipei upon the arrival of your ship. The fact that the national Tourism Bureau does not ever cover both functions AND cruise lines are still confusing Keelung and Taipei can make you wonder....

As the white Hollywood-like sign on Huzi mountain says: You arrived in Keelung, a port for Taipei - a 50 minutes train ride or drive away from here.

Finding your way around the Keelung port

View Keelung Cruise Terminals in a larger map

I made this map to show you the basics around the port. Answers to questions everyone asks: the walking route to the train and bus station, the market ? You can now print out the directions for easy reference before you go, or ask me by email. Almost everything in Keelung is within a 3 to 4 block area, and not too far from the ship. 


You can reach Taipei by bus and train. There are bus routes to Taipei 101 and the National Palace Museum, all on Google maps.

You'll find separate icons for the nearby popular tourist spots: Zhongzheng Park and its Guanyin statue, the Miaokou Night Market Food Street (open almost 24 hours) and my recommended places to go shopping. Regular shops open at 11 am, close at 10 pm or later. The night market stalls are set up from 5 pm, in front of the regular shops in the streets.


Questions or anything you'd like to share with others ? Let me know.

View the Keelung Cruise Terminal in a larger Google map, check out the Kaohsiung Cruise Terminal page too.

Free WiFi at Keelung Cruise Terminals

When you arrive, you can enjoy the free Wifi coverage in the port on the East and West wharf areas, often the signal may reach your ship. It's simple, all you need is your email address to log in, no password. The Keelung Harbor Bureau is the easiest spot for your wireless reception.

Log in instructions

Having difficulty ?
There are also PC's at the second floor of the Keelung Cultural Center library for free use by passengers and crew. The white building is opposite the East Terminal. Please be considerate of those waiting their turn. 

Need to print a page ?
Then go across the road: second floor of the Keelung Cultural Center (open daily 0900-2000, Sunday till 1700) - then upstairs to the Keelung Library where PC's are connected to a laser printer, and for a few NT dollars you can have your hard copies.

And it is all in English - in other places in Taiwan you may need some help to log in using or getting through the Chinese menus. 

Hotspots

There are free "Keelung city WiFi hotspots" in public buildings (look for the green logo), such as the City Hall. Internet cafes are rare now, in their place you'll find high-speed PC Game halls. Many restaurants offer free wifi. Around the port try the nearby two Starbucks or some 7-11 stores.

Also, the intercity buses and trains often have wifi.

Keelung has a basic free wifi network called .1.Keelung.free but it is slow and only good for checking messages.

By far the best solution for tourists is the " ITaiwan " system with an I(heart)Taiwan logo for which you can sign up in advance. See this link for Keelung locations and instructions provided by the Ministry of Digital Affairs.

You'll need to show your passport to register at the Keelung Tourist Service Center at Gangxi street or at a Travel Service Center in some Taipei MRT metro stations, or at airports if you don't have a local mobile phone number. 

To buy a voice and data card for the day, it's best to go to the Chunghwa Telecom service counter in the building next to the Post Office. You'll need two pieces of ID.

Yehliu Geopark with Christine

Yehliu Geopark is on most travelers' list. The hoodoo rocks at Yehliu are bigger than other places along the Northeast coast, such as the Hoping island park in Keelung.
You can still walk around and almost touch the various rocks at Yehliu and take your picture with the Queen's Head.

Keelung's Yellow Duck adventure

Ever wondered why there are so many rubber ducks on sale in Keelung?

Here is your answer: for Chinese New Year 2014 some in city hall thought it was a great idea to have a giant rubber duck in port. Designed by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, these ducks had become popular in Southeast Asia. There already had been some trouble with strong winds in Kaohsiung, so they set about adjusting the flotation device to a locally made submerged barge. So far so good.

After one week the duck became quite smudged by the soot deposits of heavy fuel oil burned by ships - so they scrubbed down the duck. When the weather finally improved on December 31, 2013, my husband and I decided to come down from our mountain view of the port to go have a look for ourselves. Alas, on the taxi ride down to the Maritime Plaza the news spread quickly - the duck had split open and deflated. "Forgot to install a pressure vent" for the expanding air on a first sunny day... Sorry ! Bu Hao Yi Si as they love to say here when things go wrong, bowing profusely.

Life goes on: to spin out this grand theme, the city then installed a giant Yellow Chicken ashore. After all, the city's name was literally spelled "Chicken Cage" until the Qing empire changed the characters in 1875 to read "Prosperous Base"...

Looked too much like Hofman's borrowed bathtub idea ? No problem - mei wen ti: 沒問題 (Mei2 Wen4 Ti2) so we ended up with a "black chicken". Giant Inflatables are still a craze in Taiwan for any occasion, to make things ever so cute.

Caledonian Sky, Keelung 18th April 2013

From our apartment on the hills, this ship looked so small compared to the container vessels coming into port all day. So we took a closer look at the Caledonian Sky just before departure at 8 pm.

Finally a ship that doesn't dwarf our Harbor Bureau... Just over 100 British and German passengers were on board, enjoying a break in the rainy weather we've had for most of this month. Hope to see more of such specialty cruise ships of Noble Caledonia !

Costa Victoria in Keelung

Costa's growth in the region continues with a bigger ship based in East Asia. On the 5th of November the Costa Victoria paid a noon to midnight visit to our Keelung port on a 16 day Shanghai to Singapore cruise. I saw many European, North American and some Asian passengers on this trip at the popular spots around town: at the white Guanyin statue overlooking the port, and later in the night market.

Seeing the ship docked at berth East 3+4, it reminded me of an Alaska cruise on Norwegian Sky. Indeed, as its older sister ship the Costa Victoria has been retrofitted with two decks of outside balconies to look like it.

Look for more Costa Victoria and other ship and Taiwan tourism videos on my YouTube pages

Keelung Train Station

Past, Present and Future 

The Keelung to Taipei rail line was the first one in Taiwan and China. During the Japanese colonial period the system was expanded and typical stations added. Some of these Baroque style buildings are well preserved, as you can still see in Hsinchu and Taichung. Surviving the heavy war time bombardments, the Keelung station was replaced by the current 'modern' structure in the mid-1970's when so much of the city's heritage was demolished in the name of progress.

 

Now it is the turn of this building to disappear, and to redevelop the waterfront real estate. The front of the station just got a facelift, but at the platforms work is in progress to build huge foundations. The new station arrangement (under the three towers) will connect with the bus station, one that is now way too small and primitive, as well as a new cruise terminal. Great, but I'm afraid all this progress will limit most of the current wide harbor view - next time you visit on a cruise we'll be a mini Manhattan ?

Diamond Princess April 2008

Diamond Princess first visit to Taiwan

Diamond Princess, October 2008

Once more the 'Diamond Princess' visited Keelung. Some of the 2600 cruise passengers from Europe, The Americas and Asia took a seven hour shopping tour to Taipei 101 with me: "Taipei On Your Own" - from the shopping mall you'll have some time to see the city by yourself, with the use of a map.