As the morning begins to brighten over the Muzha hillside, the king penguins in the Penguin House are already showing you the golden orange on their throats. Taipei Zoo’s Penguin House is not large, but its rhythm is easy to read.
The two penguins most worth watching here right now are king penguins and African penguins. King penguins are tall, steady, almost formally dressed, and they sway slowly when they walk. African penguins are African penguins: smaller, donkey-like in voice, and more broken-up in movement.
Taipei Zoo’s public information from 2021 notes that 9:30 to 10:30 in the morning is often when African penguins are easiest to see swimming and bathing. If penguins are your main reason for coming, it is best to enter as soon as the zoo opens.
Access is friendly. Take the MRT Wenhu Line to Taipei Zoo Station and the entrance is close by; buses also cover the area well.
The zoo is open during the day from 09:00 to 17:00, entry stops at 16:00, and animal exhibits run until 16:30. The Penguin House is closed for cleaning on the second Monday of each month. Before leaving, check the official opening-hours page, especially around holiday make-up days or summer night-opening announcements.
Tickets are easy to understand. The official 2026 price is NT$100 for a full adult ticket, NT$60 for Taipei residents, NT$50 for concession tickets, NT$70 per person for groups of 30 or more, and NT$5 for the visitor train.
The zoo itself is large.
The Penguin House is in the Temperate Zone. If you are visiting with older family members or children, planning the visitor train and a sensible route together will be much easier than trying to force a full walk through the whole zoo.
If you want to compare Taiwan’s penguin places in one sweep, Taipei Zoo sits well alongside Xpark in Taoyuan Qingpu and the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium in Checheng.
When I Went
I went on a weekday morning. There were not many people in the Penguin House, which made it easier to observe. The African penguins were much noisier than I expected. A few chased each other around, and the calls really did sound like donkeys, ringing clearly from the inside of the glass.
The king penguins were completely different.
They stood there like pillars, steady enough that I could not stop watching. I stayed in their area for a long time, just waiting for one to turn its head or take a step forward, and I could feel myself slowly relaxing.
Penchan Says
If you ask me what to do first when watching penguins at a zoo, my answer is usually simple: do not rush to take photos. Watch them standing first. Then wait for one to suddenly jump into the water, and the whole room wakes up at once. The slowness of king penguins and the noise of African penguins, held in the same morning, feel like two entirely different seas.
FAQ
Which two penguin species can you see at Taipei Zoo's Penguin House?
The article focuses on king penguins and African penguins. African penguins are smaller and have a braying call that sounds like a donkey.
What time is best for seeing penguins at Taipei Zoo?
Based on public information from 2021 cited in the article, 9:30 to 10:30 is often a good window for seeing African penguins swim and bathe.
How should I think about Taipei Zoo's access and tickets?
Take the MRT Wenhu Line to Taipei Zoo Station. The article lists the 2026 full adult ticket as NT$100, with Taipei resident adult tickets at NT$60.
