Yilan is one of the easiest family trips you can make from Taipei. The ride is short, the towns are flat, and many of the big sights are built with children in mind. Two things make it smoother: keep an indoor option up your sleeve for rainy days, and use taxis for the short hops between stations and sights.
Lanyang Museum
This is the rainy-day answer. The Lanyang Museum (蘭陽博物館) is the county museum at Wushi Harbor in Toucheng, and it has a separate Children's Archaeology Discovery Hall (兒童考古探索廳).
- Hours 09:00 to 17:00, ticket sales until 16:30; closed Wednesdays (open if a Wednesday is a public holiday)
- Entry Permanent exhibition NT$100; Children's Archaeology Discovery Hall NT$50; free for children under 6 or under 115 cm
- Getting there About 20 minutes' walk from Toucheng Station, or a county bus to the Lanyang Museum stop
National Center for Traditional Arts
The National Center for Traditional Arts (國立傳統藝術中心) covers 24 hectares on the Dongshan River in Wujie: streets built to look like a 1930s Taiwanese village, a craft exhibition hall and stage shows, with plenty of room for kids to run around in between. Give it half a day. → The Traditional Arts Center
Luodong Forestry Culture Park
The Luodong Forestry Culture Park (羅東林業文化園區) stands on the Japanese-era Luodong forestry office and its log pond. Today it's a park with exhibition halls, the old Zhulin Station and a children's play hall, the Forest Kids House (林場kids扣屋). The grounds are open 08:00 to 17:00 and need no booking. The halls open 09:00 to 12:00 and 13:30 to 17:00, and each closes two days a week. For the kids' hall, that's Mondays and Tuesdays, so don't plan it for the start of the week. → Luodong Forestry Culture Park · Luodong
Jimmy Park by Yilan Station
Right outside Yilan Station, the flying train in the Diu Diu Dang Forest and the life-size figures from Jimmy Liao's picture books in Jimmy Park are free, open all day, and the first stop we'd make with kids straight off the train. → Jimmy Park
The summer children's festival
The Yilan International Children's Folklore & Folkgame Festival (宜蘭國際童玩藝術節), the Yilan Children's Festival for short, fills the Dongshan River Water Park every summer with water slides, play areas and performances. In 2026 it ran from July 4 to August 16, 09:00 to 21:00, with child tickets at NT$200 on weekends and holidays and NT$100 on weekdays. Confirm the next festival's dates and tickets on the official festival site before you plan around it. Bring swimwear and a change of clothes: they'll get wet. → Festivals
Farms: scallions, deer and capybaras
Yilan's leisure farms (休閒農場) are where kids get muddy and feed animals. These are the three we'd pick for a family: one for pulling scallions, two for feeding deer and capybaras. All three are out in the countryside south and west of Luodong, with no train nearby, so plan on a taxi from Luodong Station, a hire car or a scooter (see renting scooters and cars). Pair one with an afternoon in Luodong and the night market, as in our two-day plan.
Sinbow Scallion Experience Farm, Sanxing (星寶蔥體驗農場)
The one to choose if your kids like getting their hands dirty. At Sinbow Scallion Experience Farm, a guide walks you through spray-free fields of Sanxing scallions (三星蔥), the township's famous crop. Kids pull and wash their own scallions, make a scallion pie (蔥派) to eat, then brush and feed the mini donkeys, goats and sika deer in the small farm. It takes about an hour to two hours, depending on the package.
- Sessions Every 30 minutes from 10:00 to 16:00, daily. Arrive 10 to 15 minutes early.
- Booking Groups under 10 can turn up and join the next session. On weekends and holidays, book online first: booked visitors go first, and walk-ups may wait. Groups of 20 or more book through the farm's LINE (@sinbow_farm).
- Entry Prices vary by package; see the farm's booking page. Everyone from age 5 needs a ticket. Children aged 2 to 4 pay a NT$50 cleaning fee, which you can spend on site, but it doesn't include the scallion pie. Each paying adult can bring one child under 5, and no more than two children under 12.
- Rain Sessions run in the rain and there's an indoor space, but the fields get muddy. Rain boots and bamboo hats are provided; bring spare clothes and socks for the kids.
- Address No. 7-5, Dongxing Road, Sanxing (三星鄉東興路7之5號). Free parking.
- Getting there No train nearby: taxi from Luodong Station. → Sanxing and Datong
Bambi Land, Dongshan (斑比山丘)
The easiest of the three to reach without a car, and the one for animal-mad toddlers. Bambi Land is a farm in Dongshan where you walk among sika deer and capybaras, with mini donkeys too. An adult ticket comes with a pack of feed. You can stay as long as you like on the day, and leave and come back with your hand stamp.
- Hours Weekdays 10:00 to 17:00; weekends and public holidays 09:00 to 17:00. Last entry 16:30. Changes, for example after a typhoon, go up on its Facebook page.
- Entry NT$200 with a pack of feed. NT$50 for over-65s and disability card holders with a companion (no feed). Free for children up to 5, with an adult. Cash, LINE Pay or card.
- Booking Not needed: tickets are sold at the gate every day, or online through its partner platforms. Groups of 25 or more message its Facebook page.
- With small children Strollers and wheelchairs can't go into the animal area. There's somewhere to leave them, so bring a baby carrier. No pets, no outside food, and no plastic ponchos in the animal area (the deer eat them); feeding goes on in the rain, so bring an umbrella. Coin lockers on site.
- Address No. 285, Xiahu Road, Dongshan (冬山鄉下湖路285號).
- Getting there TRA train to Luodong, walk to the Luodong Transfer Station, then 281 bus 281 to the Hengzun Road junction (橫圳路口) and walk about 750 m. Or a taxi from Luodong Station. → Luodong
Zhang Mei Ama's Farm, Sanxing (張美阿嬤農場)
The best known of the three, and the one with the most to do in one place. Zhang Mei Ama's Farm keeps capybaras, sika deer, Valais blacknose sheep and many more animals to feed, around a Japanese-style garden. Add a DIY class and kids make something from Sanxing produce, such as scallion pancakes, taro balls, hand-washed aiyu jelly or mochi, and there are vegetables to pick in the fields.
- Hours 09:00 to 17:00.
- Entry Animal area: NT$250 adults and children from 5, NT$200 for over-65s and disability card holders, NT$50 for children aged 2 to 4, free under 2. Tickets include a portion of feed, and adult tickets a snack. The DIY package (entry, feeding, a snack and one of the day's DIY classes) is NT$350, NT$300 concession, NT$50 for children aged 2 to 4. Children under 5 must be with a paying adult.
- Booking Tickets online through the farm's site. Book DIY classes ahead, online or on 0935-514-462.
- Address No. 161, Xingjianxi 1st Road Section 2, Sanxing (行健溪一路二段161號).
- Getting there Taxi from Luodong Station. → Sanxing and Datong
Good to know: since 2025 a second farm using the Zhang Mei name has opened nearby, and the original farm asks visitors to check the address before they navigate. Give your taxi driver the address above, not just the name.
Camps
For a longer stay, Camps.Asia keeps a verified list of kids' camps in Yilan.
Fares for children
- Trains: child tickets are half the adult fare (Taipei to Yilan on a Tze-Chiang train: NT$153 against NT$306). Book seats for the whole family early on weekends. → Train fares and booking
- Buses: the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle timetables list a half fare (半票) next to the full fare. Ask the driver or the ticket counter who qualifies. → Local buses
→ Plan your trip · Two days in Yilan · A rainy day in Yilan
Sources: Lanyang Museum, tickets and getting there; National Center for Traditional Arts; Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency, Luodong Forestry Culture Park; Yilan County Government, Jimmy Park; Taipei Times on Jimmy Park's opening; Liberty Times on the 2026 children's festival; Yilan International Children's Folklore & Folkgame Festival; Sinbow Scallion Experience Farm: farm experience and visitor Q&A; Bambi Land; Zhang Mei Ama's Farm and its ticket terms; NOWnews on the two Zhang Mei farms (January 2026); Taiwan Railway timetable and fares; Taiwan Tourist Shuttle fares. Checked November 2026.