Travelling to Taiwan is fun for all ages, but especially so for ‘kidults’ (adults who enjoy hobbies often associated with children).
This post may contain affiliate links to tours and hotels. These help us earn a small commission at no additional charge to you.
We’ve always classed ourselves as big kids when in Taiwan, as we love visiting Taipei geek shops, cute pop-ups at places like Huashan 1914 Creative Park and collecting Taiwan souvenir ink stamps.
From claw machines to pop culture photo booths, floating yacht supercars to Taipei’s cool King of Toys Plaza, here are twenty carefully curated Taiwan curated activities.
Taiwan checklist
We love using agoda.com (use the code TAIWANDERERS for a discount), expedia.com and booking.com for researching and booking all our hotels.
For booking tours, transfers and buying SIM cards/eSIMs we recommend Klook, Get Your Guide, Viator or KK Day.
For booking rental cars visit Discover Cars. For private drivers and taxis, check out our Transfer guide >
Find safe storage spaces across Taiwan with Bounce (and get 5% discount).
For more recommendations, check out our Taiwan travel booking resources page >
All set for Taiwan? Do one final check with our Taipei first timers guide and our packing list guide. Travelling with kids? Check out our Taipei For Kids eBook >
Take a ‘Spin’ in a sports car yacht
‘Water’ way to drive around Kaohsiung! We start our Taiwan kidult list with these sub-aquatic supercar yachts that are available to book on KKDay and float around the Love River Bay, near Pier 2 Art Center.
When we mentioned them in our Taiwan Travel Tips (TTT) Facebook group, they proved particularly popular.
One for the cool kids, Kaohsiung’s supercar boats would be driven by an adult but children are allowed and they can fit a fair sized family. They cost just over NT$4,000 to hire for an hour.
Pictured in the background is the impressive Kaohsiung Music Center plus a giant floating Chiikawa character, part of a previous Kaohsiung Winter Wonderful festival.
Book the Kaohsiung Yacht Supercar Experience >
More things to do in Kaohsiung >
Taiwan souvenir ink stamps
Collecting stamps around Taiwan’s various attractions and Metro stations is one of the most iconic things to do in Taiwan (and free!).
Possibly as a fun Taiwan souvenir for yourself, there are even special ink stamp books and notepads you can buy so you can keep your stamp collection safe, ready to take home.
There are lots of places where you can buy beautiful stamp books – popular locations in Taipei include one of the gift shops on the top floor of Red House in Ximending, Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall gift-shop plus the Taipei 101 gift-shop.
Alternatively you can purchase a stamp book on Amazon such as this one >
Read more about Taiwan ink stamp collecting in our guide >
Syntrend Creative Park
Taipei’s kidult center, Syntrend Creative Mall is currently Taipei’s trendiest mall full of tech, gaming pop-ups plus two floors dedicated to anime, manga and collectibles.
Syntrend is a digital paradise and even has several e-sports and VR center located across its 13 floors of shopping and services.
It also has a Taiwan branch of Lashinbang, Japan’s top second hand collectible store. Pop Mart and other top toy shops have branches here.
Check out our full guide to Syntrend Creative Park here >
King of Toys Plaza
A very cool collectibles discovery from our last Taipei trip, we stumbled upon the King of Toys Plaza 賓王商場 quite by chance in Taipei’s Datong district.
Located on the first floor of Binwang Mall (below the aging Hotel New Queen 2), this is a veritable variety of vintage toys, retro goods and old school collectibles.
From classic cereal box giveaways to McDonalds toys from various decades, this is such a cool place to walk around and browse around 20 or vintage Taipei toy shops in close proximity.
Here you can get your Godzilla geek on, Hello Kitty ET, Alien, Star Wars, WWE, Garfield and more. There is also an amazing vintage Coca Cola store with decade old Coke cans and bottles – some of those drinks don’t look so good!
Also in the basement, there is a trading card and gaming area (mainly male kidults) so do allow a couple of hours to explore, purchase and play!
Find Kings of Toys Plaza here >
Modern Toilet Restaurant for Kidults
This is certainly one of the more weird things to do in Taipei. The Modern Toilet themed restaurant is so popular, they are ‘flushed’ with success and children will love the crazy menu and sitting down on a toilet at the table.
There are two toilet themed restaurants in Taipei, with a Modern Toilet branch near Shilin Night Market, plus Modern Toilet Ximending which reopened in 2024 after a lengthy closure (and everyone hates it when toilets are closed).
A meal at Modern Toilet is like no other, with food and drinks served in toilets. The poo shaped ice-cream (chocolate of course) is loved by kids and particularly memorable.
Read our guide to Taiwan’s Modern Toilet restaurant or other themed restaurants in Taiwan.
Taipei City Underground Mall
Beneath Taipei Main Station lies a geek heaven and a cornucopia of cute collectibles!
This huge Taipei shopping mall is the largest underground street in Taiwan with nearly 200 stores, and runs all the way from Taipei Main Station to Beimen MRT Station.
The mall is divided into three separate sections – cheap clothing, electronics and food.
The electronics part of the mall is known as the ‘Akihabara of Taipei’ and is an otaku lover’s paradise with many gaming, gashapon, arcades, manga, anime and kawaii stores! We recently spotted a new Pokemon Ga Ola arcade center in the mall too.
Donguri Republic (Taipei Studio Ghibli Store)
All aboard the ‘cat-bus’ in Taiwan! Donguri Republic is the official Studio Ghibli store chain, comprising around 10 stores in Taiwan, with mountains of Princess Mononoke merchandise, shedloads of Spirited Away souvenirs and tonnes of Totoro gifts.
Xinyi’s Donguri Republic / Studio Ghibli Taipei store is located on the top floor of Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Taipei Xinyi Place A8. This Xinyi Donguri Republic store even has a huge recreation of the My Neighbour Totoro cat bus which Taiwan kidults can pose with and even go inside!
Join our Facebook Taiwan Travel Tips (TTT) Group!
Need help with your Taiwan itinerary or have any questions? Head on over to the most fun and fastest growing Taiwan Facebook group with 195,000+ members and ask the experts!
Click here to join our group >
Or if you just want to see more of our Taiwan photos, follow our Taiwan Facebook page or our Taiwan Instagram account
Themed 7-Elevens in Taiwan
Taiwan is themed 7-Eleven heaven! We all know that Taiwan is famous for its sheer number of 7-Elevens, regularly frequented by tourists and locals alike.
There are currently around 7,000 7-Elevens in Taiwan – now that is a lot of slurpees and ready meals!
However, unique to Taiwan, there are tons of themed 7-Elevens with famous cartoon characters or well-loved brands.
From Hello Kitty 7-Eleven to Snoopy 7-11 (plus even an airplane themed 7-Eleven), here is our guide to the best themed 7-Elevens in Taipei plus the best themed 7-Elevens in Kaohsiung.
Huashan 1914 Creative Park – the best place for pop-up shops in Taipei
Taiwan’s best creative park (and most bustling), Huashan 1914 Creative Park in Taipei is packed full of permanent and pop-up shops and exhibitions, street performers plus food and drink places.
If you are looking for cute and Kawaii pop-up shops in Taipei, in recent months Huashan 1914 Creative Park has hosted everything from Hello Kitty shops to Snoopy pop-up stores, Chiikawa to Line Friends.
A former wine factory, Huashan 1914 Creative Park in Taipei’s Zhongzheng district is home to cute cafes, music theaters plus incredible crafts and unique souvenirs like Wooderful Life wooden toys.
Read our full Huashan 1914 Creative Park guide here >
Pokémon Center Taipei
Are you an adult Pokemon fan? Pay a visit to the Pokémen Center in Xinyi, located in Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Taipei Xinyi Place A11, one of Taipei’s best shopping malls.
Opened in December 2023, Taiwan’s biggest Pokémon Center in Taipei ( 寶可夢中心台北) is packed full of all your favorite Pokémon characters including exclusive Taiwan merchandise, trading card games, Pokémon Ga Ole machines plus Pokédex, Pokémon App Gallery and more.
You may sometimes need to queue for an entry ticket at weekends or when there is a limited edition release but on our last visit on a weekday, we got in straight away; it was busy enough but OK to navigate and get on the Pokémon Ga Ole arcade.
From all the cute merchandise to the awesome arcade machines, here is our guide to visiting the Pokémon Center Taipei in Xinyi >
Taiwan Claw Machines / Whatever Paradise Arcade
Taipei has loads of gaming centers and arcades and along with gachapon toy capsule machines, one of the most common sites is the UFO catchers (also known as claw machines in some countries).
We’d seen Kaohsiung’s Whatever Paradise, a cool claw machine and utopian UFO catcher arcade on TikTok so knew we just had to visit to see what all the fuss was about.
It is a great example of Taiwan claw machines, perfect for kidults like us who want to win prizes with their skills.
Set up by famous YouTuber Brother RU, this claw machine place almost feels like a mini Pop Mart with loads of blind boxes and toys on display which can be won when exchanged for tickets.
You might like – Our monthly guides to all the best Taiwan festivals and events >
Pop Mart Ximen, Taiwan’s flagship Pop Mart for Kidults
Famous for their cute collectibles and blind-boxes, Pop Mart’s Ximen branch is their flagship store and their third in Taiwan (and great if you are looking for Labubus in Taipei)* – it is likely of interest to teens and kidults.
One of Ximending’s newest attractions and a cool collectible toy shop in Taipei, Pop Mart Ximen spans four floors and even has an exhibition space, VIP lounge and recording studio (not to mention thousands of blind boxes and collectibles).
When Pop Mart Ximen first opened,people queued around the block to get in and check out all the exclusive merchandise and opening offers plus see the magnificent MEGA SPACE MOLLY showcase.
Even the Pop Mart Ximen building looks the part, with vintage movie theater vibes inside and out. Check out our ultimate guide to Pop Mart flagship store in Taipei >
MRT Karaoke Booths
It is party time in Taipei with these MRT station karaoke booths. How about a little song after traipsing around Taipei all day. There are karaoke booths at many MRT stations like Gongguan (popular with students) and even at Taoyuan Airport MRT stations.
These small, private booths have a colossal catalog of songs and they are soundproofed so you croon to your heart’s content as commuters go by.
These unusual Taipei karaoke booths are quite reasonable costing NT$40 for 6 minutes, NT$100 for 15 minutes or party hard with 60 minutes of karaoke for NT$320 – prices correct as of summer 2026.
Keelung hot dog bus stop / themed bus stop
Located a short train / bus journey from Taipei – Keelung Zhengbin Fishing Harbour is a popular photo shoot spot with an American diner / hot-dog themed bus stop.
This particular Keelung bus-stop is covered in American diner style graphics and is a homage to the hotdog. There are several other themed bus stops in Keelung to encourage tourism and raise money through sponsorship.
In case you are wondering, the hotdog themed bus stop in Zhengbin Fishing Harbor is actually sponsored by Taiwan Farm Industry Co and shows different cuts of meat.
More things to do in Keelung >
Kaohsiung Station goes Kawaii
So train stations aren’t normally tourist attractions but at Kaohsiung Station, there is a basement area bulging with kidult shops.
There is a huge Anime, Manga and Japanese store collection across two of Kaohsiung station’s basement floors, which includes a huge branch of Japanese collectibles store Animate, a maid cafe (more for adults / older teens) plus gashapons galore.
Formosa Express Sanrio themed train for Kidults
The Sanrio Train has arrived in Taiwan! Launched in January 2025 and replacing the previous Taiwan Disney train, the first Sanrio themed train in Taiwan runs four days a week between Taipei, Hualien, Taichung, Kaohsiung and Chiayi plus many other stops.
With eight Sanrio character themed carriages (including a karaoke car!) plus drinks, activities and food included, this is one of the best value ways to get around Taiwan with lots of Sanrio-themed fun along the way.
From a Kuromi carriage to My Melody, Pompompurin to Cinnamoroll and Hangyodon, many of your favourite characters featured on the Taiwan Sanrio train – enjoy ‘free beers’, amazing sunset views and a Sanrio bento box (‘bian dang’) dinner as part of our ticket price.
Read our Taiwan Formosa Sanrio Express guide >
Pineapple Cake making class
Try a 2 hour pineapple cake making class at the Kuo Yuan Ye Museum of Cake and Pastry in the Shilin neighbourhood – it feels like doing home economics classes back at school!
When the cakes are ready, you get to wrap them and place them in a gift box, whilst enjoying tea and snacks. This is a really fun family activity and you can book the experience on Klook >
At $NT640 per person (£15 / $20USD) or just NT$720 for an adult and child, we thought this was great value for money and your homemade pineapple cakes are a great souvenir to take home.
Read more about our experience at this pineapple making class >
Check out these other Taipei cooking classes on Klook >
Mikan
If you love Taiwan cats, Kaohsiung is the place to be – it has several famous station cats, perhaps the most famous of which is Mikan 蜜柑.
Mikan has a huge social following, her own range of cute kitty merchandise and makes monthly appearances at Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Kaohsiung Metro station where Taiwan kidults turn up to Mikan at ‘work’ (more often the kitty is sleeping)!
A stray cat adopted by Kaohsiung station staff, Mikan the cat’s fanbase is growing all the time and hundreds flock to the station every time she appears (often in costume).
The station is even cat-themed, plus a bakery next door sells cat shaped steamed buns. There are Mikan souvenir ink stamps too at Ciaotou Sugar Refinery station plus a dedicated Mikan souvenir shop at Xinzuoying Station.
Find out more about Mikan and other famous Taiwan cats.
Go Taipei manhole cover spotting
The streets of Taipei are adorned with colorful Taiwanese manhole covers – there is even a dedicated map you can follow.
From cherry blossom manholes in Shilin to classic Taipei 101 manhole cover designs, get spotting some of these sublime sewer covers. And you can even buy miniature manhole versions now from Taipei gift shops to use as cool coasters.
There are 24 different Taipei Taiwan manhole cover designs spread across a dozen Taipei city districts – read our guide here >
Taipei Maid Cafes
‘Maid’ in Taipei, not Japan. The popular Japanese trend of maid cafes and cosplay cafes are now creeping into Taiwan including Yumemi Maid Cafe in Gongguan and one at Syntrend Mall in Taipei’s Zhongzheng District.
At Taiwan’s maid cafes, you usually get to eat themed food whilst the maids sing, dance and draw cartoon characters. Food for thought!
Korean Style Photo Booths for Kidults
One of the newest things to do in Ximending which seems to have cropped up a lot in the last few years are Korean photo booths – you can even find Taiwan’s first subway themed photo booth which opened in 2024.
In recent years, these photo booth stores have popped up in lots of vacant Ximending buildings that closed down during the COVID pandemic. On our last count, there were around 20 or so Korean photo booth shops in Ximending including Cut Cut, Snapshot and Kr4cut.
We recently visited Taiwan’s very first subway style photo booth located at Plan B Studio in Ximending. It has several themed photo areas including a laundry, tunnel and elevator sets, costing from NT$300 for four images.
Shen’ao Rail Bike
Taiwan’s first rail bike with a view of the sea and mountains, the Shen’ao Rail Bike is a fun way to explore the Northern Taiwan coast between Badouzi and Shen’ao.
Along a 1.3km stretch of coastline track along a former coal-mining route, jump into a colorful rail-bike buggy, look out to sea and pedal slowly between two stations.
There is even an ocean-themed tunnel of lights (very trippy!) along the way to keep you entertained – read our ultimate guide to the Shen’ao Rail Bike in Northern Taiwan >
We would recommend booking your Shen’ao Rail Bike tickets in advance with KKDay as it is a simple booking process plus the Rail Bike sells out in advance for some trips.
Collect cool and cute EasyCards
If you are planning to use public transport in Taiwan, make sure you buy an EasyCard or iPass and read this simple guide about how to use them and top it up >
Best of all, there are lots of cute and cartoon EasyCard designs that kids will love – we got Doraemon EasyCards at Taoyuan airport when we last arrived in Taiwan but there are so many different colorful designs, including some 3D miniatures.
Note that children under 6 can ride for free on the Kaohsiung MRT and public transport system.
Check out our guide to the 40 cutest EasyCard designs in Taiwan here >
Bugcat Capoo
Bugcat Capoo 貓貓蟲咖波 is one of the most popular Taiwanese cartoon characters. A cute cross between a blue cat and a bug, created by Taiwan illustrator Yara 亞拉.
There are lots of fun Bugcat Capoo things to do in Taiwan including the Bugcat Capoo gift store (map) in Taichung, in addition to a new Bugcat House gift store (map) in Ximending, Taipei.
Plus there is a Bugcat Capoo themed 7-Eleven in Taipei and another themed 7-Eleven Bugcat store in Kaohsiung.
Found our Taiwan Kidult activities article helpful?
Did you enjoy our kidult Taiwan activities article? Let us know in the comments or by sharing it on social media.
You can follow Taiwanderers on:
Instagram
Facebook
TikTok
YouTube
Pinterest
