Heads up before anything else: Beitou’s famous NT$60 public bath (the Millennium Hot Spring) has been closed for renovation since January 2025, and most guides haven’t noticed. Construction is scheduled to wrap in late July 2026, with reopening details still unannounced. The good news: Thermal Valley is open and free, the Hot Spring Museum is open and free, and private baths from NT$400 to full luxury are running as normal. Beitou is still the easiest hot-spring day in Taiwan; it just costs a little more than the old advice says.
Beitou is the hot-spring town that Taipei swallowed. It sits at the end of a one-stop MRT branch line, which means you can go from downtown to sulfur steam in about half an hour with an EasyCard and no planning. That convenience is the whole pitch, and it holds up.
Status checked July 19, 2026. The Millennium Bath closure is the item to re-verify if you’re reading this later; we update this page when it reopens.
Getting there
Take the red Tamsui-Xinyi MRT line to Beitou station, then cross the platform to the pink Xinbeitou branch — a single-stop shuttle that runs every 6-8 minutes and takes about three minutes, often in hot-spring-themed cars. Everything below is walkable from Xinbeitou station, uphill at a gentle grade.
How a Beitou half-day works
The classic route is a slow walk up the hot-spring valley, with each stop a few minutes past the last:
- Beitou Hot Spring Museum (free, Tue-Sun 10:00-18:00, closed Mondays). The restored 1913 Japanese-era bathhouse explains why this valley matters, and the building is the best photo in Beitou.
- Beitou Public Library branch next door, a wooden green-building landmark worth ten minutes even if you don’t read Chinese.
- Thermal Valley (free, Tue-Sun 09:00-17:00, closed Mondays). The source itself: a jade-green pool steaming at near-boiling, five minutes further up. The steam is the show; there’s no soaking here.
- Your bath. Pick from the ladder below and end the walk in the water.
Picking your bath, July 2026 edition
With the public Millennium Bath closed, these are the working options:
| Tier | Where | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Budget private | Longnice Hotel | NT$400-600 per room | Old-school private soaking rooms, noon-6pm, cash-and-towel simplicity |
| Mid public | SweetMe Hot Spring Resort | NT$500 weekday / NT$600 weekend | Proper public pools, swimsuit required |
| Mid private | SweetMe | NT$1,000-1,300 for two | Private room, no swimsuit logistics |
| Luxury | Radium Kagaya | NT$1,200 +10% weekday / NT$1,500 +10% weekend | Japanese-style nude, gender-separated baths, open 7am-11pm |
Know the dress codes before you commit: outdoor public pools require swimsuits (and usually swim caps for pools with lap sections), Kagaya’s public baths are nude and gender-separated in the Japanese style, and private rooms are your own business. Tattoos are generally a non-issue in Beitou, unlike in parts of Japan.
One more thing the closure changed: the surviving baths absorb the crowd that used to fill the public pool, so weekend afternoons run fuller than old reviews suggest. A weekday visit, or a weekend morning, buys back the calm.
When Beitou is the right pick
Beitou is the answer when you want a hot-spring experience without committing a whole itinerary day to it: after a Yangmingshan morning via bus 230, as the easy half of a rainy day, or paired with Tamsui’s riverfront on the same MRT line for the classic low-effort combination. It’s also the most mobility-friendly of Taipei’s day trips: paved, gentle, and step-free from the station to most bathhouses.
Winter is peak Beitou for obvious reasons. A cold, drizzly Taipei day is the best possible Beitou day.
FAQ
Is the Beitou public hot spring open?
No. The Millennium Bath (the famous NT$60 outdoor public pool) has been closed for renovation since January 2025. Construction is scheduled to finish in late July 2026, and the reopening date, prices and session rules haven’t been announced. We’ll update this page when they are.
How much does a Beitou hot spring cost right now?
Free if steam and history are enough (Thermal Valley and the museum cost nothing). Otherwise NT$400-600 gets a budget private room or a mid-tier public pool, and around NT$1,300-1,650 buys the luxury Japanese-style experience at Kagaya on a weekend.
Do I need a swimsuit in Beitou?
For outdoor public pools, yes. Kagaya’s public baths are nude and gender-separated. Private rooms need nothing but a towel, which venues provide or rent.
Is Thermal Valley worth it?
Yes, and it’s free. It’s a five-minute walk past the museum, open Tue-Sun 09:00-17:00. You can’t soak in it (it’s near boiling), but the steaming green pool makes it very clear that this whole valley sits on a live volcano.
Can I do Beitou and Tamsui in one day?
Easily; they share the red MRT line. Beitou for the museum, valley and a bath through midday, then Tamsui for the riverfront and sunset. It’s the lowest-stress full day in the Taipei playbook.
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Prices, schedules and closures change. If you spot something stale, email us and we’ll check it.