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Itineraries

Ready-made food days

Pick a route, or build your own in the city. Further out? Jump to the day trips.

In the city

Each route keeps walking short and times the stops around opening hours.

01

Late morning to late afternoon · about 6 hours · Best Wed–Sun

Yancheng Old Town

Yancheng was Kaohsiung's busiest district when the harbour boomed, and many of its food stalls date from that time. Start with breakfast in a covered market and work towards the harbour by way of duck rice and old-style sweets.

  1. 10:00Dagouding Milkfish Rice Noodle Soup
  2. 10:45A-Mian Mochi
  3. 11:15Cheng's Noodles
  4. 12:15Ya Rou Zhen (Duck Zhen)
  5. 15:00Li Family Tangyuan Soup
  6. 16:00Grandma's Marble Soda Mixed Tea
02

Full day · about 9 hours · Best Tue–Sun

Hamasen to Cijin by Ferry

Start in Hamasen, the old harbour quarter, with three family stalls that each sell one or two things. After a morning at Sizihwan, cross on the ferry and end with a seafood dinner at the quiet southern end of Cijin.

  1. 09:00Hamasen Wa-Gui Zhi
  2. 10:00Hamasen Lu's Shantou Noodles
  3. 12:30Hamasen Black Marlin Fish Ball King
  4. 17:30Haibin Seafood
03

Morning · about 4 hours · Best Wed–Sat

A Kaohsiung Breakfast Crawl

Kaohsiung's breakfast shops open early and many close by lunch. This walk goes from soup dumplings and braised pork rice to papaya milk and gua bao, all within about two kilometres.

  1. 07:00Hsing Long Ju
  2. 08:15Cianjin Braised Pork Rice
  3. 09:15Kaohsiung Milk King
  4. 10:15Chun Lan Gua Bao
04

Evening · about 5 hours · Any day

Kaohsiung After Dark

Start with noodles and grilled oden at the Sanmin Street market stalls, which have been there since the 1960s. Then cool off with shaved ice and walk along the Love River to a tea counter that never closes.

  1. 18:00A-Wan Yi Noodles
  2. 18:45Liao Family Oden
  3. 19:45Huang Family Tapioca Ice
  4. 22:00Lao Chiang Black Tea Milk

History walks

Slower routes that pair the old forts, temples and lanes with the food that grew up around them.

01

Full day · about 9 hours · Best Tue, Thu–Sun

Old Takao: the Consulate, Hamasen and the Cathedral

This walk follows Takao from the treaty-port years to the Japanese-era harbour town. Have breakfast in Hamasen and climb to the British consulate. After fish balls by Daitian Temple, cross Yancheng to the Love River and the church the Spanish Dominicans founded in 1859.

  1. 08:30Hamasen Wa-Gui Zhi
  2. 12:00Hamasen Black Marlin Fish Ball King
  3. 14:45Hsiao Ti Coffee
  4. 17:30NIU LAO DA (Zihciang 2nd Road)
02

Morning to early afternoon · about 6 hours · Best Tue–Sun

Zuoying: Lotus Pond, the Old City Wall and the Military Villages

Zuoying was the first seat of Fongshan County under the Qing, and after 1949 it became the navy's home and a district of military villages. Start with a village-style breakfast and walk the stone gates of the old city and the temples of Lotus Pond. A former officers' village comes next, then lunch near Kaohsiung Arena.

  1. 08:00Kuan Lai Shun Breakfast
  2. 13:00Hung Chi Rice Shop

Day trips

Towns outside Kaohsiung worth a train or bus ride. Each one says how to get there; check the official timetable before you go.

01

Day trip · Morning to mid-afternoon · about 6 hours · Best Tue–Sun

Up the Red Line to Ciaotou and Gangshan

Two Bib Gourmand rice shops face each other on one street in Ciaotou, five minutes from the MRT. Walk around the old sugar refinery, then ride to the end of the line for Gangshan's goat.

  1. 09:30Ciao Zai Tou Huang's Braised Pork Rice (Ciaotou)
  2. 10:15Liao Chi Migao
  3. 13:00Joes (Gangshan)
02

Day trip · Full day · about 8 hours · Best Wed–Fri, Sun

Cishan and Meinong by Bus

Cishan was a banana-shipping town and Meinong a Hakka farming town, and both are about an hour inland by bus. Eat pork offal noodles and pan-fried meatballs in Cishan in the morning, then have a farmhouse lunch on the way to Meinong.

  1. 09:30Hsiu Ming
  2. 10:30Wu Chi Meatballs
  3. 12:15Ibu Kitchen