Inside Tainan A Local Field Guide

Things to do

Museums in Tainan

Tainan has more museums than most visitors expect: two national museums in the old town, a world-class private collection out by the high speed rail, and small museums of fossils, waterworks, literature and stars across the countryside. Here they all are, grouped by how far you'll travel.

Two things to know first. Most close one day a week, and it isn't always Monday: Chimei, the old waterworks, the fossil park and the city history museum close on Wednesdays. And many give free or cheaper entry to Tainan residents, so bring ID if you live here. Hours and entry below come from each museum's official site or Travel Tainan, the city's tourism site. Where we couldn't confirm them, we've said so: check before you go.

In the old town

Tainan Art Museum (臺南市美術館)

The city's art museum, in a 1931 Art Deco police station joined to new galleries.

  • Hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 18:00, Saturdays to 21:00; closed Mondays
  • Entry: NT$80; NT$160 joint ticket with MoMA Tainan

National Museum of Modern Art Tainan (臺南國家美術館)

The striking fractal-roofed former Building 2 of the art museum, run since January 2026 by the Ministry of Culture and focused on modern Taiwanese art from 1895 to the 1960s.

  • Hours: as the Tainan Art Museum
  • Entry: NT$160, including the Tainan Art Museum the same day; free for 18 and under

→ Tainan Art Museum and MoMA Tainan guide

National Museum of Taiwan Literature (國立臺灣文學館)

Taiwan's national literature museum, in the grand 1916 Tainan Prefectural Hall.

  • Hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 09:00 to 18:00; closed Mondays
  • Entry: free

Judicial Museum (司法博物館)

The former Tainan District Court, finished in 1914, with its courtroom, archive room and holding cells. Free guided tours in Mandarin run at 11:00 and 16:00, and roof catwalk tours at 10:00 and 15:00 (ten people each, sign up at the desk).

  • Hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 09:00 to 17:00; closed Mondays and major festivals
  • Entry: free

Tainan Museum of History (臺南市歷史館)

The city's own history museum, a short walk from the Koxinga Shrine, tracing Tainan through the centuries with artifacts and records. It opened in 2023 as the Tainan City Museum and has since been renamed.

  • Hours: 09:00 to 17:00; closed Wednesdays
  • Entry: paid; we couldn't confirm the current price, so check before you go

Smaller museums in the old town

Most of these sit in the Japanese-era civic core, and you can see several in a morning. → Japanese-era Tainan

Elsewhere in Tainan

Chimei Museum (奇美博物館), Rende

Our favorite museum in Taiwan: Western art, a famous violin collection, arms and armor, and natural history, in a palace-like building near the high speed rail station.

  • Hours: 09:30 to 17:30; closed Wednesdays
  • Entry: NT$200; special exhibitions extra

→ Chimei Museum guide

National Museum of Taiwan History (國立臺灣歷史博物館), Annan

The island's whole story, beside the wetlands of the old Taijiang Lagoon, with a children's hall and a history park. From Tainan Station, buses 18 and 105 take about an hour; a taxi is about 25 minutes.

  • Hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 09:00 to 17:00, last entry 16:30; closed Mondays
  • Entry: NT$100; NT$50 for students and children 6 to 11; free under 6

Ten Drum Cultural Village (十鼓仁糖文創園區), Rende

An old sugar factory turned drum-music park, with a drum show included in the ticket. It's next to Chimei.

  • Hours: weekdays 10:00 to 17:20; weekends 09:30 to 17:50
  • Entry: NT$509; NT$390 for Tainan residents

In Anping

  • Zeelandia Museum (熱蘭遮博物館): the story of the Dutch fort and its town, in an 1882 customs house at Anping Old Fort. Daily 08:30 to 17:30. NT$70, concession NT$35.
  • Te Yang warship museum (德陽艦園區): a destroyer decommissioned in 2009 and moored in Anping Harbor as a museum. Daily 09:00 to 18:00. Entry: check before you go.
  • Chu Jiu-ying Memorial Hall (朱玖瑩紀念館): a calligrapher's former home beside Tait & Co. Daily 08:30 to 17:30. NT$70, half price NT$35, free for Tainan residents.

→ Anping guide

Also in the city

  • Shueijiaoshe Cultural Park (水交社文化園區), South District: a military dependents' village kept as a museum park. Wednesday to Sunday, 09:00 to 12:00 and 13:00 to 17:00. Free.
  • Furniture Manufacturing Eco Museum (臺南家具產業博物館), Rende: Taiwan's furniture-making history. Tuesday to Saturday, 10:00 to 12:00 and 13:00 to 17:00, last entry 15:30. NT$150. Book ahead online or by phone.

Out of town

These are day-trip museums. Most are easiest by car or taxi, and several pair well together.

Museum of Archaeology, National Museum of Prehistory (南科考古館), Xinshi

Finds from more than 58 sites dug up during the building of the Southern Taiwan Science Park, some 5,000 years old.

  • Hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 09:00 to 17:00; closed Mondays
  • Entry: NT$80; NT$50 for students and children 6 to 11; free under 6

Tree Valley Life Science Museum (樹谷生活科學館), Xinshi

Travel Tainan calls it the city's largest natural history museum, with dinosaur skeletons and a woolly mammoth. Close to the archaeology museum.

Shan-Shang Garden and Old Waterworks Museum (臺南山上花園水道博物館), Shanshang

Tainan's Japanese-era waterworks, built from 1912 to 1922, now a national monument and museum in gardens.

  • Hours: 09:30 to 17:30, last entry 16:30; closed Wednesdays
  • Entry: NT$100, half price NT$50; the purification pond area is free

Zuojhen Fossil Park (臺南左鎮化石園區), Zuozhen

Taiwan's fossil museum, home to the Zuozhen Man skull and a restored ancient rhino skeleton.

  • Hours: 09:00 to 17:00, last entry 16:30; closed Wednesdays
  • Entry: NT$100; NT$70 students; NT$50 over 65 and children 6 to 11

Tainan Astronomical Education Area (南瀛天文館), Danei

An observatory with a 76cm telescope, an astronomy hall and a planetarium, with stargazing on Saturday evenings from 19:00 to 21:00.

  • Hours: 09:00 to 17:00. It has closed on Mondays, and the city plans to move that to Wednesdays in 2026, so check the day before you go
  • Entry: exhibition hall NT$80; planetarium shows NT$120 to NT$150; the observatory is free

Soulangh Cultural Park (蕭壠文化園區), Jiali

Arts spaces in the warehouses of a 1906 sugar factory.

  • Hours: Wednesday to Sunday, 09:00 to 17:00
  • Entry: free

Hatta Yoichi Memorial Park (八田與一紀念園區), Guantian

The restored houses of the engineer who built Wushantou Reservoir.

  • Hours: 09:00 to 17:00; closed Wednesdays
  • Entry: included in the Wushantou scenic area gate ticket, NT$100 (cash at the main gate; cheaper for over 65s and children). The Hatta house itself closes at 16:30 and when it rains

More small museums out of town

Closed for now: the Taiwan Salt Museum in Qigu has been shut for renovation since 2022. Press reports say it will reopen under a new name around the end of 2027; the Qigu Salt Mountain next to it is open. → Qigu day trip. The Tainan Children's Science Museum in Tainan Park closed in October 2025.

Sources

Hours and entry from each museum's official site: Chimei, Tainan Art Museum, MoMA Tainan, National Museum of Taiwan Literature, Judicial Museum, National Museum of Taiwan History, Ten Drum, Furniture museum, Museum of Archaeology, the old waterworks, Zuojhen Fossil Park, Tainan Astronomical Education Area, Soulangh and Wushantou scenic area. Opening days from the Tainan Cultural Affairs Bureau. Other hours from Travel Tainan and Tainan historic sites. Closures from the Southwest Coast National Scenic Area, the Liberty Times and ETtoday. Checked October 2026.

Good to know

Frequently asked

What is the best museum in Tainan?

The Chimei Museum is our favorite in all of Taiwan, with Western art, a famous violin collection, arms and armor, and natural history. In the old town, the Tainan Art Museum, the new National Museum of Modern Art Tainan and the free National Museum of Taiwan Literature are the highlights.

Which Tainan museums are free?

The National Museum of Taiwan Literature, the Judicial Museum, the Museum of Meteorology, Shueijiaoshe Cultural Park and Soulangh Cultural Park are free. Many paid museums are free or discounted for Tainan residents.

Are Tainan museums closed on Mondays?

Many are, but not all. Chimei, the old waterworks, the Zuojhen Fossil Park and the Tainan Museum of History close on Wednesdays instead. Check each museum before you go.

Which Tainan museums are good for kids?

Chimei's animal and fossil halls, the National Museum of Taiwan History's children's hall, the Zuojhen Fossil Park, the Tree Valley Life Science Museum and the planetarium at the Tainan Astronomical Education Area.