An easy day trip from Taipei city, half the fun of getting to Maokong in the hills is getting there – soar up into the sky on the Maokong Gondola and look back towards Taipei.
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Famous for its tea plantations, hillside temples and trails, Maokong is a fun place to explore for all ages – and when combined with Taipei Zoo (located next to the start of Maokong Gondola), it is one of the best things to do in Taipei with kids.
From the new 2025 Maokong gondola prices to where to enjoy Taiwanese tea for free, here is our guide to Maokong and the Maokong Gondola in Taipei.
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Taiwan checklist
We love using agoda.com and booking.com for researching and booking all our hotels, and Hostelworld for booking hostels.
For booking tours, transfers and SIM cards/eSIMs we recommend Get Your Guide, Viator, KK Day or Klook. You can also purchase eSIMs from Airalo.
For booking rental cars visit Discover Cars.
Taking the Maokong Gondola / how to get to Maokong
As well as the most scenic way to arrive, the Maokong Gondola is also our number 1 activity in Maokong.
Located at the end of the brown Wenhu Taipei Metro line (but more of a monorail), Taipei Zoo station is where you alight to get the Maokong Gondola. It is a short 2 to 3 minute walk away from the station.
You can choose between a standard cabin or crystal glass floor cabin. New for 2025, the glass floor cabins now cost NT$50 more than the standard cabins – the full price list is explained in the next section.
There are four stops on the Maokong Gondola – Taipei Zoo Station, Taipei Zoo South Station, Zhinan Temple Station and the final station in Maokong itself.
Incidentally, as we experienced during Lunar New Year in Taipei, the queue to board the Maokong Gondola can be quite long during weekends and public holidays, so an alternative would be to take a bus, or jump in a taxi.
Taiwanderers Tip – during the Lunar New Year holidays, instead of joining the long queues for to board the gondola, we took an Uber direct from our Taipei city hotel to Maokong. We then took the Maokong gondola back down as the queue was much smaller. The taxi was a bit more expensive than getting the gondola up (around NT$600), but we saved a lot of time.
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Maokong Gondola 2025 prices and fares
The 2025 Maokong Gondola fares have increased to NT$180 for a single ride, NT$300 for a one-day ticket, plus a new NT$50 surcharge for the crystal cabin / glass floor gondolas (which we’re surprised they previously didn’t charge extra for).
The new single price replaces the previous station-based pricing system – so you pay the same no matter where you get off.
The fare for local residents is NT$50 per ride and NT$100 for a one-day ticket.
The Maokong Gondola remains very cheap compared to other similar cable cars / gondolas around the world (especially given the distance).
You can pay for the Maokong Gondola using your EasyCard or with cash at the ticket machines – or book in advance with Klook >
Incidentally, most of the main Maokong attractions are within walking distance of the gondola but the bus network in Maokong is also very good with regular bus stops dotted around.
When we visited in January 2025, there were also lots of taxi drivers outside the top of Maokong Gondola touting to take people back down for NT$75 per person but you’d likely be sharing a taxi and waiting for it to fill up.
Taiwanderers Tip
Grab a Taiwan EasyCard as a convenient way to use buses and public transport in Taipei and across Taiwan. They can be easily topped up at stations and convenience stores.
Read more about how to use a Taiwan EasyCard, including how to top up >
Zhangshan Temple 樟山寺
For some (free) tea brews with amazing Taipei views, head on over to Maokong’s Zhangshan Temple 樟山寺.
This beautiful Buddhist temple offers worshippers and daytrippers free Taiwanese teas and a large terrace with panoramic views. You can see Taipei 101 and the city in the distance, along with a verdant vista!
Borrow a tea-cup from the cabinet (or bring your own flask), take time for tea then wash up your cup and return it afterwards. Incidentally, this is also useful as a free toilet stop in Maokong as there are not that many away from the gondola station.
Find Zhangshan Temple Maokong on Google Maps >
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Temple Rest Area 花月庭茶藝館/咖啡/輕食
A brief mention of the ‘rest area’ cafe next to the Zhangshan Temple – this was a popular pitstop for people hiking up and is an alternative to the free tea.
This compact but cute cafe has a small terrace with just enough room for two or three tables but the view is stunning.
We ordered a couple of drinks and enjoyed a quiet moment in Maokong. Snacks like tea eggs and sweet treats are available inside.
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Camphor Tree Trail 樟樹步道
There are many walks, hikes and trails in Maokong of varying degrees of difficulty. One of the easiest and most accessible is Maokong’s Camphor Tree Trail 樟樹步道 which connects Maokong town with Zhangshan temple and is part of the Taipei Grand Trail.
This section of the walk is relatively easy and cuts through several tea plantations and there are boardwalks plus a few resting spots with benches and picnic tables.
When we last visited Maokong in early 2025, a few plum / cherry blossoms were just starting to emerge along the Camphor Tree Trail 樟樹步道 and the pond area (complete with fake water bison) was a popular photo spot.
Maokong’s Lupin flower trail was also in full bloom when we visited in late January, part of the ‘Camphor Tree Trail Flower Carnival’. The Maokong yellow lupins emerge in patches of grass between tea plantations and along the Camphor Tree Trail in January and February.
Try this – Pinglin and Maokong Tea Culture Day Tour from Taipei with Klook >
Make time for tea
Maokong is famous for its tea trails – like Taipei’s very own version of the Shizhuo Tea trails near Alishan, you’ll see lots of tea houses along the main roads, some of which have terraces looking out over the tea fields like 六季香茶坊 tea-room (map).
The highest concentration of tea shops can be found about a 10 minute walk south of the Maokong gondola station along Lane 38 including Mountain Tea House 貓空 山中茶-景觀餐廳 (map), Found Your Tea (map) and the Big Tea Pot (map).
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Journey Cafe
Sadly, the spot we chose to enjoy tea and coffee doesn’t appear to have a Google listing or map reference so we will have to let the pictures speak for themselves – the name translates as Journey Cafe.
Operated out of a small kiosk in a small garden, we chose this alfresco coffee shop and tea house purely based on the cool views and colorful chairs. It was so chilled and we just sat with our hot drinks in hand, looking out towards Taipei 101 and the city.
It is places like this that make Maokong so magical and a nice way to just escape the hustle and bustle of downtown Taipei for a few hours.
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Maokong green tea ice-cream
A tasty AND very Instagrammable snack, Maokong green tea ice cream served with cat shaped biscuits is a fun thing to try – although in hot weather, these soft serve desserts literally melt in seconds.
We got our Maokong ice-cream from 貓空暘臺 MaoKong Yang Tai (map) which is about a 30 second walk from the top Maokong gondola station.
Whilst it isn’t Miyahara quality, these are n-’ice’ treats to cool down with and their are usually several flavours to choose from including green tea, oolong tea and vanilla costing around NT$90 a cone or NT$100 for a sundae.
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Maokong Tea Museum / Taipei Tea Promotion Center 台北市鐵觀音包種茶研發推廣中心
Yes, another opportunity to unwind and drink some free tea in Maokong – anyone would think we just ate and drank in Maokong (which is actually kind of true)…
The Taipei Tea Promotion Center is located in an old tea factory offering tours (Mandarin only) plus an overview of the tea making process – there is a small exhibition detailing the history of Maokong as Taipei’s tea capital.
Please note the tea promotion center is closed on Mondays (like many Taipei attractions and museums).
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Food and Drink / Restaurants
As well as all the Maokong tea houses, there are a few food and drink options along the way.
If you just fancy some takeaway food, there is a small food court a few yards away from the Maokong Gondola Station (plus a Hi-Life convenience store in the gondola station itself).
The food court isn’t the best but you’ll find staple snacks and Taiwanese treats like stinky tofu for NT$60, a pot of fishballs for NT$60 and traditional pancakes for NT$80 (and yes, like the altitude, the prices are a bit high).
One regular recommendation from our Taiwan Travel Tips (TTT) Facebook group members is to book a sunset table at Maokong’s Longmen Restaurant (map) which has an amazing terrace with panoramic views. Some say the service is so-so and it is bit touristy, but all is overridden by the sunset vista.
Check out this CCTea-MRT Taipei Zoo Station-Maokong Skyline Restaurant or Maolan-Maokong Skyline Restaurant.
Zhinan Temple Station 指南宮
If you are taking the gondola, one of the stops along the way is Zhinan Temple (you’ll find lots of beautiful places of worship and shrines in and around Maokong).
Located on Taipei’s ‘Monkey mountain’ (Houshan), this traditional Taoist temple looks out over the valley and construction began in the 1880s.
Given it is built on the side of a mountain, it is a huge and impressive structure and a short walk from the Zhinan Temple gondola station.
That said, Zhinan Temple is also famous for is 1,200 steps so another way to see it is to the bus up and then walk the famous steps.
The temple is home to various relics honoring a dozen or so deities plus attracts lots of stray cats – on a clear day, you can see Taipei 101 and the cityscape behind too.
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Taipei Zoo
A good Taipei kids activity to combine with the Maokong Gondola, Taipei Zoo is located just a short walk from the base gondola station plus it is so cheap to visit with the family (around NTD$100 – approx £2.40 or $3 USD) – it is even home to pandas big and small!
It is a ‘paw-some’ thing to do in Taipei with kids and there are lots of animals to see, from polar bears to elephants, tigers to monkeys but obviously the star of the zoo is the pandas, who are kept in an enclosure (plus have a huge outdoor area).
Book your Taipei Zoo tickets in advance with Klook or book a Taipei Zoo and Maokong Gondola combined tour.
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Maokong Tours and Taipei Tea Tours
Hopefully we’ve given you a good insight of how to get to Maokong and a nice half day Maokong itinerary. However if you are short on time or would just rather visit with a local expert, check out these Maokong tours:
Sip & Savor: Maokong Tea and Shenkeng Tofu private day tour >
From Taipei: Pinglin tea culture and Maokong guided day tour >
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