Keelung Cruise Port
Keelung, Taiwan ยท Asia
Cruise ships dock at West 3 Berth โ West Passenger Terminal (่ฅฟ3็ขผ้ ญ), Keelung.
Plan my port daysTwo city-centre terminals on opposite quays, Taiwan's best food market on the doorstep, and Taipei 45 minutes away by train. One of Asia's strongest DIY ports.
At a glance
Port summary
Keelung is one of the easiest ports in Asia to do independently, but the first question to answer is which quay you are on. Keelung's harbour is a narrow basin with the city wrapped around it, and the two passenger terminals face each other across the water. Big ships โ Quantum-class and anything over about 150,000 GT โ go to West 3, alongside the West Passenger Terminal, four minutes from Keelung railway station and the intercity bus terminal. Mid-size and smaller ships go to East 2, at the East Passenger Terminal on Zhongzheng Road, which is eight minutes' walk around the head of the harbour to the same station. Both berth alongside; Keelung never tenders. The generic advice that the port is four minutes from the station is only true for half of all passengers, so check your daily programme. The single best thing about Keelung is that Miaokou Night Market, Taiwan's most celebrated food market, is a ten-minute walk away and โ unlike Taipei's night markets โ most of its stalls are trading from around 11:00. You get the night-market experience without needing the night. Beyond the city, the day trips sort themselves into three tiers. Yehliu Geopark is the safest big trip: bus 862 or 790 from the bus terminal, 45 to 60 minutes each way, four hours round trip. Jiufen is the most rewarding, about an hour each way on bus 788, but watch the weekday gap in the return timetable between roughly 12:00 and 14:40. Taipei is 45 minutes by train from Keelung station for NT$62 and gets you Taipei 101, Longshan Temple and Ximending comfortably. Shifen and the Pingxi sky-lantern line take nearly two hours each way on an hourly branch line and are genuinely risky on a short call. Payment is the other thing to get right. Buy an EasyCard at any convenience store for NT$100: it is the only payment method that works on Keelung buses, the train to Taipei and the Taipei metro alike. Contactless bank cards were switched on at Taipei metro gates in July 2026, but they still do not work on buses, and Taiwan's domestic wallets such as LINE Pay and JKOPay need a local bank account. Night-market stalls are cash. Bring NT$1,000 to 2,000 per person and an umbrella, whatever the forecast โ Keelung is the wettest city in Taiwan and November is wetter than any month you have experienced in Europe.
Cruise docks
๐ข West 3 Berth โ West Passenger Terminal (่ฅฟ3็ขผ้ ญ)
Keelung's large-ship berth and the one to hope for. The West quays are dredged to 11 m against the East side's 9 m, so every Quantum-class ship, the MSC calls and most 150,000 GT-plus vessels tie up here, lying across W2, W3 and W4 as one continuous 544 m face. The West Passenger Terminal is alongside, and the north exit of Keelung railway station, the intercity bus terminal for Jiufen and Yehliu, and Guomen Plaza are all about four minutes' walk away. Miaokou Night Market is ten to fourteen minutes on foot.
๐ Latitude: 25.136264, Longitude: 121.742127
See dock on port map โ๐ข East 2 Berth โ East Passenger Terminal (ๆฑ2็ขผ้ ญ)
The mid-size and small-ship berth, used by Costa Serena and everything below it, and by the luxury and expedition fleet. It sits at No. 1 Zhongzheng Road on the east quay, immediately below the 2021 East Passenger Terminal and the old Harbour Building. It is eight minutes on foot around the head of the harbour to Keelung railway station's south exit and twelve to fifteen to the night market โ there is no pedestrian crossing over the basin, so you walk around it. The terminal itself is better equipped than the West one, with an ATM, a currency-exchange machine, a convenience store and a rooftop garden.
๐ Latitude: 25.131913, Longitude: 121.743429
See dock on port map โGetting to Keelung
From the cruise terminal to the city centre
Walking is the default in Keelung because the ship is in the city. From the West Passenger Terminal it is four minutes to the north exit of Keelung railway station and about ten to twelve minutes to Miaokou Night Market. From the East Passenger Terminal it is eight minutes round the head of the harbour to the station's south exit and roughly twelve to fifteen minutes to the market. There is no pedestrian shortcut across the basin, so if you are on the east quay you walk around it. Watch the scooters at the crossings on Zhongzheng and Zhongyi Roads.
๐ Straight out of either terminal onto the public street
The Taiwan Railway line to Taipei is the risk-managed way to reach the capital: about 40 to 50 minutes, NT$62, and a train every fifteen to twenty minutes, immune to the freeway traffic that snarls the coaches. Tap an EasyCard at the gate; express trains are charged at the local-train rate with a card. The same line reaches Ruifang in about thirty minutes for the Pingxi branch line to Shifen. Keelung is the terminus, so you always get a seat outbound.
๐ Keelung railway station, four minutes from the West Terminal and eight from the East Terminal
Almost every day trip starts here. Bus 788 runs to Jiufen and on to Jinguashi and Shuinandong for NT$30, roughly every twenty to forty minutes, taking fifty to sixty minutes. Buses 790 and 862 reach Yehliu in about forty-five minutes to an hour for around NT$30 to NT$45. Kuo-Kuang coach 1813 runs to Taipei Main Station East Gate 3 every ten to twenty minutes for NT$61 to NT$75, but it uses the freeway and can take well over an hour. Keelung city buses are a flat NT$15 a section. EasyCard everywhere; contactless bank cards are not accepted on any bus.
๐ Keelung Bus Station on Zhongshan 1st Road and the roadside stops beside the railway station
The Keelung meter runs NT$85 for the first 1.25 km then NT$5 per 200 m, with NT$20 added between 23:00 and 06:00. Reckon on NT$85 to NT$100 into the night market, NT$390 to NT$500 to Jiufen, NT$490 to NT$600 to Jinguashi and NT$765 to NT$900 to Taipei 101. Assume cash unless you book through the 55688, Uber or yoxi apps. A private car to Jiufen is quoted around NT$949 for up to eight people, which beats the meter for a group.
๐ Ranks outside both terminals and at the railway station; the tourist centre will call one
Two sightseeing services are worth knowing about but neither is dependable enough to build a day around. The Keelung double-decker hop-on-hop-off bus sells a dedicated NT$300 single-journey cruise ticket on production of your boarding pass, but it was suspended after a collision on 28 July 2026 and only resumed on 1 September 2026, and advance online booking is mandatory. The Taiwan Tourist Shuttle T99 coastal line, which links Baimiweng Fort, Miaokou, Zhengbin Fishing Harbour and Heping Island for a flat NT$15, runs on weekends and public holidays only from May to December and does not run at all from January to April.
๐ Keelung Intercity Bus Station, Platform 11, and the West Harbour Visitor Centre
Map & things to do
Money & payments
Buy an EasyCard and draw NT$2,000 to 3,000 in cash on arrival. Taiwan is a non-tipping country โ restaurants above a certain level add a 10 per cent service charge and nothing further is expected, and tipping at a night market or in a taxi will only cause confusion.
Things to do
Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall
Short stopโญ Highlight
A vast white memorial on a 240,000 sq m square, with the honour-guard drill now held outdoors
๐ Open 09:00 to 18:00; the drill display runs roughly hourly from 10:00 to 17:00 outdoors
Zhengbin Fishing Harbour Colour Houses
Short stop๐ถ Walk
A row of 1930s fishermen's houses repainted in sixteen colours and mirrored in still water
๐ Late afternoon, when the light hits the painted facades and the water is calm
Ocean Plaza and Guomen Plaza
Short stop๐ถ Walk
A timber deck built over the harbour with a giant KEELUNG sign, black kites wheeling overhead
๐ Any time; both are open around the clock and floodlit after dark
Jiufen Old Street
๐ถ Walk
Stacked teahouses, red lanterns and stepped stone alleys clinging to a mountainside above the sea
๐ Weekday mornings before 09:30 are transformatively less crowded than weekend afternoons
Miaokou Night Market
Short stop๐ Market
Two hundred numbered food stalls under yellow lanterns, and most of them open from about 11:00
๐ From 11:00 for most stalls; fully alive after 17:00 if your ship sails late
Kanzaiding Fish Market
Short stop๐ Market
A two-hundred-year-old shouted fish auction running midnight to dawn, five minutes from the ship
๐ Midnight to about 05:00 only, so this needs an overnight call or a very late sailing
Shifen Old Street and the Sky Lanterns
๐ฏ Activity
You write a wish on a paper lantern and release it from a railway track that still has trains on it
๐ Any time the branch line runs; the lantern shops open with the first trains
Amei Teahouse
๐ฝ๏ธ Restaurant
The wooden teahouse everyone photographs, and one of the few places you can sit down in Jiufen
๐ Weekdays 11:00 to 21:00, weekends from 10:00; expect a walk-in queue at busy times
Gold Museum, Jinguashi
๐๏ธ Museum
The old Japanese gold-mining settlement, a walk-in mine tunnel and a 220 kg gold bar you can touch
๐ Weekdays 09:30-17:00, weekends to 18:00; closed the first Monday of every month
National Palace Museum
๐๏ธ Museum
The greatest collection of Chinese imperial art anywhere, from the jadeite cabbage down
๐ Open 09:00 to 17:00 and CLOSED MONDAYS; last tickets 16:30
National Museum of Marine Science and Technology
๐๏ธ Museum
Taiwan's national marine museum in a converted power station, with a serious deep-sea gallery
๐ Tuesday to Sunday; closed Mondays, and the best indoor option in heavy rain
YM Oceanic Culture and Art Museum
Short stop๐๏ธ Museum
Taiwan's shipping story inside a 1915 Osaka Shosen Kaisha building, one minute from the station
๐ Tuesday to Sunday 09:00 to 16:00, closed Mondays; the best wet-weather hour in Keelung
Keelung Fortress Command
Short stop๐๏ธ Museum
A restored Japanese modernist army headquarters with free exhibitions, a cafe and a shady garden
๐ Daily 10:00 to 20:00; free guided tours at 14:30 on weekdays, 11:00 and 14:30 at weekends
Zhongzheng Park and the Great Guanyin Statue
๐ธ Viewpoint
A 22.5 m white Guanyin you climb inside, looking out over the whole harbour through her eyes
๐ Daylight only for the statue interior; the park itself never closes
Huzaishan KEELUNG Landmark Park
๐ธ Viewpoint
Keelung's Hollywood-style hillside letters, with a viewing platform straight down onto your ship
๐ Late afternoon for the light; open around the clock and free
Baimiweng Fort and Keelung Lighthouse
๐ธ Viewpoint
Four open gun emplacements on the western headland with the best open-sea view in the city
๐ Late afternoon for the light; the site is unfenced and always open
Golden Waterfall and the Yin-Yang Sea
Short stop๐ธ Viewpoint
A rust-orange waterfall and a bay that turns half gold, both from a century of copper mining
๐ Any daylight hour; both are free roadside viewpoints with no gate and no ticket
Taipei 101 Observatory
๐ธ Viewpoint
Indoor decks on 88 and 89, an open-air deck on 91, and the giant tuned mass damper in between
๐ Open 10:00 to 21:00 daily; go on arrival to beat the afternoon coach groups
Heping Island Geopark
๐ฟ Nature
Twenty-million-year-old sandstone forms plus a natural seawater swimming pool cut into the rock
๐ May to October 08:00-19:00, November to April 08:00-18:00; pools shut 13:00-14:00
Yehliu Geopark and the Queen's Head
๐ฟ Nature
A 1.7 km sandstone cape of mushroom rocks that CNN once compared to the surface of Mars
๐ Open 08:00 to 17:00, later in summer; the Queen's Head queue is 5 to 10 minutes on weekdays
Shifen Waterfall
๐ฟ Nature
A twenty-metre curtain fall known as the Taiwanese Niagara, with rainbows in the spray
๐ June to September 09:00-18:00, October to May 09:00-17:00; last entry 30 minutes before
Keelung's Century-Old Pastry Shops
Short stop๐๏ธ Shopping
Li Hu has been baking curry pastries since 1882 and Lian Zhen's taro balls are a local cult
๐ Li Hu 09:00 to 21:00; Lian Zhen closes at 19:00 and its taro balls need eating the same day
Ximending
Short stop๐๏ธ Shopping
The Harajuku of Taipei: streetwear, street food and the 1908 octagonal Red House at its centre
๐ Shops open around 11:00 and the district gets busy from mid-afternoon
Weituohang Consignment Shop District
Short stop๐๏ธ Shopping
The lanes where 1950s sailors sold smuggled foreign goods, now full of independent cafes
๐ Late morning onwards; most cafes open from about 11:00 and many close Mondays
Ershawan Fort (Haimen Tianxian)
other
The National Historic Site fort built in 1840 to stop the Royal Navy entering Keelung harbour
๐ Any daylight hour, but check locally first: a trail renovation runs to about March 2027
Longshan Temple
Short stoptemple_shrine
A 1738 temple where Buddhist, Taoist and folk gods share one courtyard and the incense never stops
๐ Open 06:00 to 22:00 daily; late afternoon chanting is the atmospheric hour
Dianji Temple
Short stoptemple_shrine
The 1873 temple the night market grew up around, still smoking with incense between the food stalls
๐ Any time the market is running; it sits in the middle of it
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Plan my port days โFrequently asked questions
- Where does my cruise ship dock in Keelung?
- Your ship docks at one of the cruise terminals in Keelung, Taiwan. The specific berth is assigned by the port a few days before arrival.
- Can I walk from the cruise port into Keelung?
- Yes. Keelung is walkable from the cruise port โ many cruisers reach the city centre on foot.
- How do I get from the cruise port to Keelung centre?
- Typical options include On foot, Train, Local bus, Taxi, Other transport. Durations and costs are listed in the transport section above.
- How much time do I need in Keelung?
- Plan for at least 3 hours ashore to see Keelung independently and return to the ship with a safe buffer.
- What currency is used in Keelung and are cards accepted?
- Keelung uses the New Taiwan dollar. Carry some cash for markets, taxis, and smaller vendors โ cards aren't accepted everywhere.
- Is there Wi-Fi at the cruise port?
- Free Wi-Fi is available at the Keelung cruise terminal.
- When should I be back at the ship?
- Cruise lines usually require all passengers on board about 30 minutes before scheduled departure. Confirm the exact all-aboard time on your daily programme.
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