Taiwan Nightlife: Bars, Clubs, KTV and Late Nights by City

Taipei’s night-out zones sit along the MRT, so you can pick one and get there before the trains stop around midnight.

Xinyi. The district around Taipei 101 in Xinyi is where the big clubs and lounges are. The ATT 4 Fun and Neo19 buildings across from the tower stack clubs, bars and restaurants on top of each other, and Omni on Zhongxiao East Road is one of the city’s largest dance floors. Crowds are young Taiwanese, expats and visiting Japanese and Koreans; music is EDM and hip-hop. Things start after midnight. Nearest MRT: Taipei 101/World Trade Center or Taipei City Hall.

Da’an and East District. The lanes off Zhongxiao East Road sections 4 and Dunhua South Road in Da’an hold the cocktail bars that have put Taipei on Asian best-bar lists, along with whisky bars and small wine bars. This is the area for a quieter, better-made drink. Draft Land, which serves cocktails on tap, is a good first stop.

Shida and Gongguan. The university area around Shida Road and National Taiwan University has cheap bars, the Revolver pub on Roosevelt Road for live bands and pool, and The Wall live house in the basement near Gongguan station.

Zhongshan. The streets around Zhongshan and Shuanglian stations in Zhongshan mix hotel bars, craft-beer taprooms and Japanese-style izakayas. Linsen North Road, a few blocks east, is the hostess-bar strip known as Little Tokyo; skip it unless you know how those bills work.

Ximending. Ximending is a pedestrian shopping zone that stays busy until midnight. The bars behind the Red House are the centre of Taipei’s gay nightlife (see below), and Riverside Live House is nearby.

Club entry in Taipei runs NT$500-800 for men on Friday and Saturday, usually including one or two drinks, with free or cheaper entry for women on some nights. Bottle service is the norm at tables. Dress is smart-casual: no flip-flops, shorts or sportswear for men at the larger clubs, and a passport or ARC is checked at the door, so carry it. Weeknights are quiet except Wednesday ladies’ nights.

For a drink with a view, Ce La Vi on the roof of the Breeze Xinyi building faces Taipei 101, and Woobar in the W Taipei and the bars in the Taipei 101 tower itself are the classic hotel options. Expect NT$450-600 for a cocktail plus a 10% service charge, and book a window table at weekends.

Outside Taipei, clubbing is smaller. Taichung has a handful of clubs in the Xitun and West districts that fill with students on weekends, and Kaohsiung’s clubs cluster near the Love River and the Central Park area.

Karaoke in Taiwan means a private room for your group, not a stage in a bar. Party World (Cashbox) and Holiday KTV have big branches in every city, many open 24 hours, with rooms from small (4-6 people) to party size (20 or more). You pay for the room per hour, with prices rising after 6pm and peaking late on Friday and Saturday, plus a minimum food and drink spend per person and a 10% service charge. Split between a group, an evening of three hours with drinks and snacks usually comes to NT$400-900 a head; weekday afternoons are far cheaper.

The song systems have huge Mandarin, Taiwanese and Cantonese catalogues and a decent English, Japanese and Korean list. Order beer, fried snacks and fruit platters by phone or tablet from the room; at Party World the buffet is often included in the price. KTV is the standard way to celebrate birthdays and work events, so if you are invited, go. It is also the best wet-weather plan in typhoon season.

Taipei has one of the strongest independent music scenes in the Chinese-speaking world, centred on small “live houses”. The Wall near Gongguan, Revolver on Roosevelt Road, Riverside Live House near Ximending and Legacy Taipei inside the Huashan 1914 Creative Park host local indie, rock, metal and Mandopop acts several nights a week, with tickets from about NT$400 to NT$1,500. Jazz bars in Da’an and Zhongshan have nightly sets. For classical music and opera, the National Theater and Concert Hall on Liberty Square runs a full programme.

Taiwan was the first place in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage, in 2019, and Taipei is one of the region’s most welcoming cities for LGBTQ+ travellers. The open-air bars around the Red House Theater in Ximending are the heart of the scene, busy every night and especially at weekends, with drag nights at nearby clubs. Taiwan Pride, held in Taipei on the last Saturday of October, draws well over 100,000 people and is the biggest Pride march in East Asia. Kaohsiung and Taichung hold smaller Pride events in the autumn.

Night markets are the backbone of a Taiwanese evening even when food is not the point. They open around 5pm, peak from 7pm to 10pm and wind down by midnight; a few stalls keep going until 1am. In Taipei, Raohe Street sits by Songshan station and Shilin by Jiantan station, and both have games stalls, claw machines and cheap clothes alongside the food. Taichung’s Fengjia market fills with students until late, Kaohsiung’s Liuhe Road is the easiest market in the south for visitors, and Tainan’s Garden Night Market runs only on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Keelung’s Miaokou market, 45 minutes from Taipei by train, and Wenhua Road in Chiayi are also good late options.

After the markets close, late eating moves to 24-hour soy-milk breakfast shops, hot-pot restaurants open until 3am or later, and the convenience stores, which sell hot meals, oden and beer around the clock. Drinking outside a convenience store is normal and legal: locals buy a few cans and sit at the tables out front, or take them down to the riverside parks along the Tamsui River. See the Taipei food guide for what to order at each Taipei market.

Tainan. The old capital has Taiwan’s most atmospheric bars, many inside restored Japanese-era houses and shophouses. Shennong Street, a lantern-lit lane of old wooden houses near the Confucius Temple area, has small bars and cafes that stay open late, and the cocktail bar TCRC (short for The Checkered Records Club) has been on Asia’s best-bar lists. The old forts and temples such as Fort Provintia are lit at night and make an easy walk between drinks.

Kaohsiung. The Love River is the city’s evening promenade, lined with riverside cafes and bars and with boats running in the evening. The Pier-2 Art Center, a warehouse district by the harbour, has bars, weekend markets and outdoor concerts. Kaohsiung is cheaper and slower than Taipei, and the late scene is beer and seafood stir-fry restaurants (re chao) rather than clubs.

Taichung. The West District around the Calligraphy Greenway and the Shenji New Village area has craft-beer bars and cafes, and the city has a decent club scene for its size. Taichung Park, a short walk from the main station, is the place for an evening stroll round the lake. Fengjia night market near Feng Chia University is the late-night hub.

Kenting and the islands. Kenting Street in Kenting National Park turns into a night market with beach bars every evening, busiest in summer and over long weekends. On Penghu, the Penghu International Fireworks Festival runs on many evenings from April to June.

• Drinking age: 18. Bars and clubs check ID.
• Sales hours: no restrictions. Convenience stores and supermarkets sell beer, wine and spirits 24 hours.
• Closing times: no national last call. Bars typically close between 1am and 3am, clubs between 4am and 5am.
• Drinking in public: legal in most places, including parks and outside convenience stores. It is banned on the MRT and inside stations, where eating and drinking anything carries fines from NT$1,500.
• Smoking: banned in most indoor public places, including restaurants, bars and KTVs. E-cigarettes and vapes are banned in Taiwan, and you can be fined for using them, so leave them at home.
• Drugs: penalties are severe. Cannabis is a Category 2 narcotic, and possession can lead to prison and deportation; trafficking harder drugs can carry life imprisonment or the death penalty. CBD products are also illegal.
• Drink-driving: the legal limit is very low (0.03% blood alcohol), with heavy fines, licence loss and possible prison. Do not ride a rented scooter after drinking.

Most bars add a 10% service charge, and tipping is not expected on top.

Taipei’s MRT runs from about 6am to midnight, with the last trains leaving central stations around midnight to 12.30am, so check the final departure for your line. After that, taxis are plentiful, metered and safe: yellow cabs can be flagged anywhere or booked through the 55688 Taiwan Taxi app, and a night surcharge applies late at night. Uber operates in Taipei, Taichung, Kaohsiung and other cities. Have your hotel’s address in Chinese on your phone, since many drivers speak little English. YouBike shared bikes run 24 hours, though cycling after drinking is not a good idea.

Taiwan is one of the safest places in Asia for a night out, including for solo women, and violent crime is rare. The main risks are inflated bills at hostess bars, where drinks for staff and table charges add up fast; drinks left unattended in busy clubs; and fights between drunk groups in Xinyi at closing time, which are uncommon. Watch for scooters when crossing roads at night, as traffic is the real danger.

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