Chen May
The Taipei Astronomical Museum has undergone a major renovation. For just a small fee, you can hop aboard an interstellar spaceship to explore the solar system and greet aliens. There’s also the popular IG-worthy Nebula Wall, plus various interactive experiences that let kids learn while they play. After getting their stamps, they can come and go as they please — the fun is so engaging, kids don’t want to leave. It’s a highly recommended indoor family attraction in Taipei.
■ Address: No. 363, Jihe Rd., Shilin District, Taipei City
■ Phone: (02)2831-4551
■ Opening Hours: Sunday, Tuesday–Friday: 09:00–17:00; Saturday: 09:00–20:00 (Closed on Mondays)
■ Ticket Prices:
1. Exhibition Hall (Full price: NT$40 / Half price: NT$20) – Free for elementary school students and below.
2. Planetarium Theater (Full price: NT$100 / Half price: NT$50)
3. 3D Theater (Full price: NT$100 / Half price: NT$50)
4. Space Adventure (Full price: NT$70 / Half price: NT$35)
The Taipei Astronomical Museum has parking available right downstairs at the museum. (NT$15 per 30 minutes)
■ The 4th floor features Space Adventure and Space City.
■ The 3rd floor covers Galaxies, the Universe, Alien Life Exploration, Astronomical Observation, and Taiwan’s Astronomical Research.
■ The 2nd floor includes Earth-Moon-Sun, the Solar System, Stars, the Milky Way, and a Kids’ Zone.
■ The 1st floor showcases Universe Kaleidoscope, Earth, Space Exploration, and Astronomy Classrooms.
We only bought tickets for the Exhibition Hall and Space Adventure, which was enough to keep the kids entertained all day long.
Just go to the ticket vending machine to purchase your tickets. Both cash and EasyCard are accepted.
Space Adventure is NT$70 full price / NT$35 half price, and the Exhibition Hall is NT$40 full price / NT$20 half price. But kids under elementary school age get free entry to the Exhibition Hall.
The tickets are actually quite nice-looking too — worth collecting as souvenirs.
Since the Space Adventure where you ride the interstellar spaceship is on the 4th floor, we decided to start there (it takes about 12 minutes), then head down from the 3rd to the 1st floor to explore the Exhibition Hall. There’s an elevator that goes directly to the Space Adventure area.
We first passed by the spaceship, and the kids were filled with excitement.
Before we knew it, the staff called us to board – gotta be quick. Three of us fit in one spaceship, and it wasn’t cramped at all.
Before we could even settle in, the spaceship took off Upwards. There’s a panel in front that guides us through a tour of the entire solar system.
Besides showing us where we are, it also takes us close to planets like the Sun, Mars, Saturn, and Mercury.
This spaceship ride is super lively and vivid — not only does it spin and tilt from all kinds of angles, but it also stages tons of scenes like hitting meteorites, being sucked into a black hole, meeting aliens, spaceship malfunctions, and more. It’s a whirlwind of activity. At NT$70 for adults and NT$35 for kids, the ticket price is definitely worth it.
Oops, we accidentally landed in alien territory.
It felt like a movie scene. The aliens were even evolving in water. Near the end, some aliens jumped onto our spaceship and needed to be cleaned and purified — so fun and clever.
Honestly, taking photos while riding was a bit dizzying. But after the ride, there were still plenty of interactive activities related to the spaceship to enjoy.
Both kids and adults had a blast.
The cosmic adventure at the Taipei Astronomical Museum is absolutely worth visiting — the whole place has been renovated to be both new and fun! After getting off the bus, we played on a dance machine, shooting games, built a space station, remotely controlled a Mars rover, and more. We spent nearly half an hour in this section alone.
Then we took the stairs next to the fourth floor down to explore the exhibition area (both the first and fourth floors have entrances and exits). At the beginning, there were even robots that welcomed us in Taiwanese Hokkien and Mandarin.
As soon as we reached the first to third floors, we saw the eight major planets hanging in the air. Surprisingly, Niuniu was super excited — I had thought a girl might not be interested in this.
The third floor covers galaxies, the universe, the search for extraterrestrial life, astronomical observation, and astronomical research in Taiwan.
Niuniu moved the globe around, read the explanations, and seemed to understand it only halfway. On the third floor, you can scan QR codes with your phone to access audio guides for each section — very up-to-date, no need to rent headphones from the information desk anymore.
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We just had to touch every interactive exhibit — definitely worth the ticket price.
Dressing up as an alien.
Going further down to the second floor, there’s a wall that’s a popular IG check-in spot. It turns out stars die too — here you can see the life cycle of a star.
The second floor features the Sun-Earth-Moon system, the solar system, stars, the Milky Way, and a kids’ area. This is a diagram of the internal structure of the Sun.
Then we came across the children’s area of the Astronomical Museum. This section requires advance booking. We were lucky — there were still spots available that day, so we went right in!
The children’s area of the Astronomical Museum is a specially designed play space for elementary school students up to lower grades. Children under 7 must be accompanied by an adult. Before entering, you need to wear socks and sanitize your hands. The staff were very kind and even told Niuniu there were funhouse mirrors up ahead she could play with.
There are also kaleidoscopes, models of the homes of the eight planets, a constellation matching game, rockets, and other play equipment.
There’s also a children’s book corner and a building blocks area.
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Next, we headed to the first floor — Up!. The first floor features a cosmic kaleidoscope, Earth, space exploration, and an astronomy classroom.
In the space exploration area, volunteers serve as guides who give detailed introductions to lunar landing vehicles, gyro chairs, spacecraft cabins, and more.
Besides taking photos, you can also see what life inside a spacecraft is like. Niuniu even asked me why astronauts only eat cereal and biscuits? It was a great opportunity to explain it to her.
There’s also this rocket-shooting game — quite fun too.
If you get hungry while playing, you can stamp your hand and come back after eating. Before leaving, check out the gift shop for some small souvenirs to take home.
The Taipei Municipal Astronomical Educational Science Museum, the National Taiwan Science Education Center, and the Taipei Children’s Amusement Park are all located close to each other — perfect for planning a family-friendly one-day trip in Taipei!
[Xiao Niu’s Life Journey] Authorized reprint. Original source: [Taipei Municipal Astronomical Educational Science Museum (Taipei Astronomical Museum) — Spend just a little and ride a starry space capsule, play all day long!]