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Somewhere in the marketing for this thing is a figure claiming the attractions inside a three-day pass are “worth” more than NT$8,400. That number is real in the sense that it adds up if you visit every single venue on the list, which nobody has ever done, on any holiday, in the history of tourism. So the question of whether the taipei fun pass worth it debate resolves in your favour has almost nothing to do with the face value and everything to do with a much duller question: what were you going to do that day anyway?
This guide does the arithmetic properly. What the pass actually is (there are two different products with confusingly similar names), what it costs, the four or five attractions that carry the whole economic case, the itineraries where it genuinely pays and the much larger number where it does not, and what to buy instead. Prices were checked in September 2026 and they move — treat everything below as the right order of magnitude and confirm the current figure before you buy.
First, which pass are we talking about?
This is where most confusion starts, and it is not the reader’s fault. Taipei sells two things with near-identical branding.
| Taipei Fun Pass — Unlimited | Taipei Pass / Transportation | |
|---|---|---|
| What it covers | MRT + city buses + tourist shuttles + single entry to 30-plus attractions | MRT + city buses only |
| Durations | 1, 2, 3 days | 1, 2, 3, 5 days |
| Rough price | NT$1,300 (1 day) rising to around NT$2,000+ (3 days) | A few hundred NT$ — check current pricing |
| Who it suits | Sprinters doing paid attractions back to back | Heavy riders who are not doing paid attractions |
| Our verdict | Pays back on a specific kind of day. Read on. | Rarely beats an EasyCard. Read on. |
Everything below is about the Unlimited version unless we say otherwise, because that is the one people mean and the one with the interesting maths. The official source, and the only place to trust on current pricing and the attraction list, is funpass.travel.taipei.
What is actually in it
Unlimited travel on the Taipei MRT, Taipei city buses, and the tourist shuttle routes — including the #716 Crown Northern Coastline shuttle, which is a genuinely useful one because it reaches the north coast beaches that are otherwise fiddly to get to.
Plus single entry to 30-plus attractions spread across Taipei City, New Taipei and Keelung. The ones that matter, by ticket value:
| Attraction | Normal price | Worth building a day around? |
|---|---|---|
| Taipei 101 Observatory | NT$600 | Yes — this is the pass’s engine |
| National Palace Museum | NT$350 | Yes, but it wants 3–4 hours |
| Maokong Gondola (return) | NT$240 | Yes, and it is on the same MRT line as the zoo |
| Yehliu Geopark | NT$120 | Only if you were already going north |
| Taipei Zoo | NT$60 | Great value, negligible pass value |
| Two dozen smaller museums and venues | NT$50–200 each | Individually marginal; collectively how the “NT$8,410” is built |
Look hard at that table, because it contains the whole argument. Taipei 101 is roughly half the realistic value of a one-day pass on its own. Everything else is topping up.
The arithmetic, done honestly
Take a one-day Unlimited pass at roughly NT$1,300. Here is a genuinely plausible, quite hard-working day:
- Taipei 101 Observatory — NT$600
- Maokong Gondola, return — NT$240
- Taipei Zoo — NT$60
- MRT and buses all day, generously — NT$150
- Total without a pass: about NT$1,050
That day loses you money. And it is not a lazy day — it is 101 plus a cable car plus a zoo, which is a lot of moving around. To get ahead you need to add the National Palace Museum, which is on the other side of the city and wants half a day of its own, and now you are running a schedule rather than having a holiday.
The day where it clearly wins looks like this:
- National Palace Museum — NT$350
- Taipei 101 Observatory — NT$600
- Maokong Gondola, return — NT$240
- Two smaller museums en route — NT$300
- Transport — NT$180
- Total without a pass: about NT$1,670
Now you are up by a few hundred NT$. That is the honest ceiling on a one-day pass for most people: a saving of two or three hundred NT$ in exchange for a day organised around extracting value from a card. Two or three hundred NT$ is a night market dinner for two.
Where the multi-day passes change the picture
The two- and three-day versions get more interesting, because the price does not scale linearly — a second day costs roughly NT$400 more, not another NT$1,300, and a third day less again. If you were always going to do 101, the Palace Museum, Maokong, the zoo and a couple of the New Taipei attractions across three consecutive days, the three-day Unlimited pass does genuinely come out ahead, and you stop thinking about single tickets entirely.
The catch is the word consecutive. The clock starts on first use and runs on calendar days, not 24-hour periods, so a pass activated at 4pm has burned a day for one attraction. Start it in the morning.
Who it is genuinely worth it for
First-timers on a short trip who want the greatest hits. If this is a three-day stop and your list is 101, the Palace Museum, Maokong and the zoo, the pass fits your plan rather than distorting it. Buy the three-day.
Families with children over six. Kids’ tickets are cheap and the zoo, the children’s amusement park and the science centres are all in the list, so a family doing three attraction-heavy days can do well — though check whether the child version of the pass is priced better than paying the child rates individually, because often it is not. Our Taipei with kids guide has the full list of what is actually good.
People who genuinely enjoy museums. The long tail of small venues — the Miniatures Museum, the Science Education Center, a dozen more — only produces value if you actually want to go inside two or three of them. If you do, the pass rewards you handsomely. If they were never on your list, ignore them entirely when doing the maths; a free ticket to somewhere you did not want to go is worth zero, not its face price.
Anyone doing a north coast day on the shuttle. The #716 coverage plus Yehliu entry plus the MRT to Danshui is a decent chunk of a one-day pass’s price, and that day is otherwise fiddly to ticket.
Who should not buy it
This is the longer list, which tells you something.
Anyone staying more than about five days. The rhythm of a longer trip is one big thing a day at most, with time for a market, a park, a coffee. That rhythm and this pass are structurally incompatible.
Food travellers. If your trip is night markets, breakfast shops, beef noodles and tea houses, almost nothing you want to do costs admission. Get an EasyCard and spend the difference on dinner. Our Taipei food guide is where that trip lives.
Hikers and day-trippers. Elephant Mountain is free. Yangmingshan is free. Jiufen is free to walk around. Most of what makes Taipei special costs nothing at the door.
Anyone who has already booked Taipei 101 separately. Remove the NT$600 and no version of this pass makes money.
Slow travellers, repeat visitors, and people who resent schedules. The pass is a commitment device. If being on a clock makes your holiday worse, that cost is real and it is not on the price list.
The Transportation-only pass, and why an EasyCard usually beats it
The separate transport pass exists for people who ride a great deal and pay for nothing. The trouble is that Taipei’s transport is very cheap.
A typical MRT journey costs NT$20–35. A city bus is around NT$15 a segment. An EasyCard pays the standard fare on each MRT ride, with an NT$8 discount when you transfer between metro and bus, and a heavy tourist day — six or seven journeys, some of them long — lands somewhere around NT$150–200. You would have to be riding the network almost continuously to beat a day pass, and if you are doing that, you are seeing stations rather than the city.
There is one genuine exception: a single day spent going a very long way and back, such as Taipei to Danshui to the north coast and home, where individual fares stack up fast. Even then, run the numbers rather than assuming.
For nearly everyone, the answer is an EasyCard. It works on the MRT, buses, YouBike, the Maokong Gondola, convenience stores, coin lockers and half the vending machines in Taiwan, it requires no decisions, and it does not expire.
Where and how to buy
Options, roughly in order of usefulness:
- Online resellers (Klook, KKday, GetYourGuide) — usually the cheapest, because the Unlimited pass is discounted there far more often than not. You collect a physical card or scan a voucher on arrival. If you are buying at all, look here first.
- The official site, funpass.travel.taipei — the authoritative list of what is included and the current price, which is worth checking even if you buy elsewhere.
- MRT information counters and visitor centres in Taipei — fine, and the least discounted.
- Taoyuan Airport — convenient on arrival, but do not buy a one-day pass at the airport on landing day. You will spend most of it getting to your hotel and sleeping.
Two mechanical details that catch people. The pass is single entry per attraction — you cannot go up 101 twice. And it activates on first use and expires at the end of the final calendar day, so a pass first tapped at 6pm on Tuesday is dead at midnight on Tuesday if it is a one-day.
What the pass does not cover
Worth knowing before you build a day around it, because several of these catch people out at the gate.
- The Taoyuan Airport MRT. A separate line with a separate fare — around NT$160 to Taipei Main. Neither pass touches it, so budget it as an extra on arrival and departure. Our airport to city guide covers the alternatives.
- Taiwan Railways. The TRA lines that reach Ruifang for Jiufen, and the Pingxi branch line for Shifen, are not included. Nor is the high speed rail.
- New Taipei and Keelung city buses beyond the specific tourist shuttle routes. The pass covers Taipei’s buses and the shuttles, not every local service you might board.
- The Skyline 460 open-air deck at Taipei 101, and most special exhibitions at the museums that are otherwise included.
- Taxis, Uber and YouBike. The last one surprises people because an EasyCard does unlock YouBike — a good reason to carry both if you buy a pass.
- Anything you eat. Which, in Taipei, is a large fraction of what you will spend. Our cost of a Taipei trip guide breaks down where the money actually goes.
The other passes you will be offered
Search for this pass and you will be shown four or five others alongside it. Briefly, so you can dismiss them with confidence:
Attraction bundles pairing Taipei 101 with a restaurant or an observation-deck-plus-meal deal. These are occasionally decent value if you wanted both halves. Usually you did not want the restaurant.
Day tours to Jiufen, Shifen and Yehliu sold as a “pass”. These are guided coach trips, not passes, and the comparison is with doing the same route on public transport for a fraction of the cost. Our day trips guide and the Jiufen and Yehliu pages cover doing it yourself, which is easy.
Airport transfer plus pass combinations. The convenience is real; the discount usually is not. Compare the parts before buying the bundle.
The unlimited-rides Maokong Gondola day pass at NT$200. This is a genuinely good deal in its own right if you plan to hop on and off at the stations along the ridge, and it makes the Fun Pass’s single gondola entry look thin. Worth knowing about even if you buy neither.
The general rule with all of them is the same as with the Fun Pass itself: work out what you were going to do, price that, and only then look at what is being bundled. Passes are sold on the assumption that you will do the comparison the other way round.
A three-day pass itinerary that actually works
If you have decided to buy, here is how to make the money back without hating the experience. It assumes a morning start each day and a base somewhere central — see where to stay in Taipei.
Day one — Xinyi and the tower
Start at the Taipei 101 Observatory at opening, before the haze and the queues. Come down, walk the Xinyi district, use the pass on a smaller museum in the afternoon, and finish at Raohe Night Market, which costs nothing and is the better half of the day.
Day two — Shilin and the collection
The National Palace Museum for the morning and early afternoon — do not rush it, it is the single best museum visit in Taiwan. Then down to Shilin Night Market in the evening, which is on the same MRT line.
Day three — the Brown Line
Take the MRT to Taipei Zoo station. The zoo and the Maokong Gondola share the station, so you can do both in a day: zoo in the morning, gondola up to the tea houses in the afternoon, tea and a view as it gets dark. This is the best-designed day in the whole pass.
Three days, four significant tickets, no rushing. That is the version where the pass earns its keep.
What we would skip
The one-day Unlimited pass. The hardest version to make pay. You need three paid attractions in a single day, and there are essentially only two in Taipei that are worth building a day around.
Buying it before you have an itinerary. The pass is a discount on a plan you already had, not a plan. Decide what you want to see, then check whether the card is cheaper.
Counting the face value. “Worth NT$8,410” is arithmetic on venues nobody visits in sequence. Count only the things you would have paid for anyway.
The Transportation-only pass, for most people. An EasyCard is cheaper, more flexible and works on more things.
Chasing attractions to justify the purchase. The single most common way this pass ruins a day. If you find yourself on a bus to a museum you have no interest in because it is “free”, the pass has already cost you more than it saved.
One use of the pass that many visitors miss is the north coast. The 716 Crown Northern Coast shuttle from Tamsui to Yehliu is covered, and the Unlimited version also includes the Juming Museum, one of the paid stops along the way. Pair them with Yehliu Geopark and a single day can do a lot of work for the pass — our guide to Taiwan’s north coast has the route and the seasonal timetable.
Related Taipei guides
- Taipei Travel Essentials: the pre-trip checklist
- The EasyCard: How It Works
- The Taipei MRT Guide
- Taipei 101 Observatory
- The National Palace Museum
- The Maokong Gondola
- Taipei Zoo
- Taipei on a Budget
- Free Things to Do in Taipei
- What a Taipei Trip Actually Costs
- How Many Days Do You Need in Taipei?
- Taipei with Kids
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Taipei Fun Pass worth it?
Only on a specific kind of day: three or more paid attractions, started in the morning, with Taipei 101 among them. On that day you save two or three hundred NT$. On a food, hiking or slow-travel trip it loses money, because most of what makes Taipei good is free at the door.
How much does the Taipei Fun Pass cost?
The Unlimited version is priced by the day, and the three-day pass costs more than the one- and two-day ones. Prices move and online resellers discount heavily, so check funpass.travel.taipei and a reseller before buying.
What is included in the Taipei Fun Pass?
Unlimited MRT, Taipei city buses and tourist shuttle routes including the #716 north coast service, plus single entry to more than 30 attractions across Taipei, New Taipei and Keelung — Taipei 101 Observatory, the National Palace Museum, the Maokong Gondola, Taipei Zoo and Yehliu Geopark being the ones with real value.
What is the difference between the Taipei Fun Pass and the Taipei Pass?
The Fun Pass Unlimited bundles transport with attraction entry. The Taipei Pass (Tourism Passport) is transport only — MRT and city buses — and comes in 1, 2, 3 and 5-day versions. They are separate products with confusingly similar names.
Is the Taipei Fun Pass better than an EasyCard?
For most visitors, no. An EasyCard works on the MRT, buses, YouBike, the gondola, convenience stores and lockers, gives you fare and transfer discounts, never expires and requires no planning. The Fun Pass only wins when you are doing several paid attractions in a compressed period.
When does the Taipei Fun Pass start and expire?
It activates on first use and runs to the end of the final calendar day, not for a rolling 24 hours. Activating it in the afternoon wastes most of a day, so start in the morning.
Can I visit the same attraction twice with the pass?
No. It is single entry per attraction. Going up Taipei 101 for both a day view and a night view means buying the second ticket.
Where is the cheapest place to buy a Taipei Fun Pass?
Online resellers such as Klook, KKday and GetYourGuide are almost always below list price. The official site is the authoritative source for what is included; MRT counters and the airport sell it at full price.
Is the Taipei Fun Pass worth it for families?
Sometimes. The zoo, the children’s amusement park and the science centres are all included, and three attraction-heavy days can work well. Check the child pass price against the individual child admissions first, because children’s tickets in Taipei are cheap enough that the pass often does not pay for a child.
Does the Taipei Fun Pass include Taipei 101?
Yes, single entry to the indoor observatory at NT$600 face value. It does not include the Skyline 460 open-air deck upgrade, which is a separate reservation-only ticket at NT$3,000.
Does the pass cover the airport MRT?
No. The Taoyuan Airport MRT is a separate line with a separate fare of around NT$160 to Taipei Main. Do not plan on the pass carrying you in from the airport.
Does the Fun Pass work for day trips outside Taipei?
Partly. It covers New Taipei and Keelung attractions, including Yehliu Geopark, and the tourist shuttles that reach the north coast. It does not cover Taiwan Railways to Jiufen or Pingxi, and it does not cover the high speed rail.
Is there a Taipei Fun Pass that includes the north coast?
The Unlimited pass covers the #716 Crown Northern Coastline shuttle and Yehliu Geopark entry, which together make a north coast day one of the better uses of a one-day pass.
How many attractions do I need to visit to break even?
Three, and one of them has to be Taipei 101. Two attractions plus transport will not reach the price of a one-day Unlimited pass unless both are among the most expensive on the list.
The Bottom Line
The Taipei Fun Pass is not a scam and it is not a bargain. It is a modest discount available to people whose plans happen to match its shape: three or more paid attractions in a compressed period, morning starts, Taipei 101 included. Buy the three-day version if that is genuinely your trip, start it early, and use it on 101, the Palace Museum and the Maokong–zoo day.
For everyone else — which is most people — buy an EasyCard, book Taipei 101 separately if you want to go up, and let the rest of the city do what it does best, which is be extraordinary for free. The pass sells you access to Taipei’s paid attractions. The trouble is that the paid attractions are not really why anyone falls for this city.
Photo Credits
The National Palace Museum: Chinese New Year decorations on National Palace Museum (Taipei) 20130221 by 美國之音 張永泰, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
The tuned mass damper inside the Taipei 101 observatory: TW 台灣 Taiwan 台北101觀景台 Taipei City 101 Observatory interior August 2019 IX2 14 by Hangz Leundra Rumma, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.