Things to do in Kinmen
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Kinmen
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Spring is mild with green fields and April to May blue tears, but fog closes the airport often; build a buffer day.
Summer is hot and humid with signed beach swimming and bee eaters, in typhoon season when flights can cancel.
Autumn is the best season: clear skies, golden sorghum, cormorants returning from October and festival season.
Winter is windy and grey on exposed coasts, with peak cormorants, empty sights and the lowest prices.
What's on
- Kinmen Marathon January, dates vary by year
The island road marathon, held in January in recent years; check Kinmen Travel for the year of travel.
- Jinning Oyster and Wheat Culture Festival April, dates vary by year
Spring festival for Kinmen oyster beds and wheat fields in Jinning Township.
- Wudao City God Parade May, dates vary by year
One of Kinmen great religious processions, held in late spring in recent listings.
- Bo Bing Mid-Autumn Dice Game Mid-Autumn Festival, September or October by lunar calendar
Kinmen mooncake dice game played across the island for Mid-Autumn Festival.
- Lieyu Taro Festival October, dates vary by year
Lieyu township festival for its taro harvest, held in October in past listings.
- Kinmen Tunnel Music Festival October to November, dates vary by year
Concerts inside Zhaishan Tunnel in autumn in past editions; dates move, so check Kinmen Travel.
Best things to do in Kinmen
Guningtou Battle Museum
Memorial museum for the 1949 battle at Guningtou, with tanks outside and bullet marked houses in nearby Beishan village.
August 23 Artillery Battle Museum
Memorial to the 44 day bombardment from 23 August 1958, with the names of 587 dead servicemen carved by the entrance.
Zhaishan Tunnel
A granite tunnel with a 360 metre A shaped waterway built to shelter supply boats from bombardment, completed in 1966.
Beishan Broadcasting Wall
A 1967 concrete wall of 48 loudspeakers that broadcast music and messages toward Xiamen, now a sober Cold War relic.
Mashan Broadcasting and Observation Station
Former front line post at Kinmen closest point to mainland China, about 2.3 km away, with binoculars to the coast opposite.
Shanhou Folk Culture Village
Kinmen best preserved Minnan settlement, 16 Fujian houses plus hall and school completed in 1900 for the Wang family.
Deyue Tower
The 1931 tower landmark of Shuitou Village, raised in part as a lookout against pirates above Minnan and Western houses.
Kinmen Military Headquarters of Qing Dynasty
A Ming origin courtyard complex that served as the Qing garrison headquarters, showing Kinmen was a military town for centuries.
Where to stay in Kinmen
Jincheng
food, transport and first trip base
Walk to Mofan Street, the Qing headquarters, porridge and noodle shops, with buses and rentals at Jincheng station.
Shuitou, Jincheng
historic house stays
Minnan houses and Western mansions in a quiet village near Deyue Tower, Shuitou Pier and the south coast.
Jinmencheng, Jincheng
quiet guesthouse base
Old walled town lanes south of the centre, handy for Zhaishan Tunnel, Gugang Lake and Chenggong Beach.
Jinhu, Tai Lake
full service hotel comfort
The lakeside hotel district by Tai Lake, near Shanwai station, the August 23 museum and the east side sights.
Best restaurants in Kinmen
Yong Chun Guangdong Zhou
Jincheng breakfast institution for Guangdong congee with fried dough sticks, near Kinmen Old Street, best taken early.
Liang Jin Farm
Kinmen own cattle served as beef noodles and kaoliang lees beef dishes, a cheap signature bowl with fuller sets above it.
Jin Xu Yuan Restaurant
A popular Jincheng family restaurant for xiao long bao and a long braised pork bun, the reliable mid range sit down meal.
Tak Kee Seafood Restaurant
Mid band seafood by Kinmen Old Street, where the order is the day catch, oysters and clams, with prices confirmed first.
A Table
A small French restaurant in Jincheng at the top local price band, the one true splurge dinner and an honest outlier.
Best bars in Kinmen
Vent Bar
A small bar known for measured kaoliang cocktails by a Kinmen native, including drinks referencing the island history.
Outdoor things to do in Kinmen
Mount Taiwu
Kinmen highest hill at 253 metres, climbed past Haiyin Temple to the Wu Wang Zai Ju inscription and island wide views.
Ci Lake
A salt lake and wetlands where thousands of great cormorants roost at dusk from October to late March.
Chenggong Beach
An accessible sandy beach below the Chen Jing-lan House and a spring blue tears spot, for shore walks first, swimming only as signed.
Houhu Seashore Park
A developed northwest coast park for evening walks and sunset views to Lieyu and Xiamen, and blue tears after dark in spring.
Jiangong Islet
A tiny Koxinga topped islet reached on foot over a stone causeway only at low tide, for about an hour either side of low water.
Shaxi Fort
A former coastal fort at the westernmost tip of Lieyu, with boardwalks and views to Dadan Island, Erdan Island and Xiamen.
Island cycling loop
A rented bicycle day on flat village loops, Jincheng to Shuitou or Jinsha around Shanhou, where guesthouse bikes are not free.
Best hotels in Kinmen
Everrich Golden Lake Hotel
Kinmen flagship 276 room hotel on Tai Lake, the top of the local market, full service but not a boutique luxury resort.
Grace Kinmen B&B
A highly rated small guesthouse in historic Shuitou Village near Deyue Tower, with breakfast and bicycle rental.
Kinmen Courtyard
A well reviewed guesthouse in old Jinmencheng, well placed for Zhaishan Tunnel, Gugang Lake and the south coast.
WD Kuixing Backpacker Hostel
The budget hostel most often named in Kinmen cheap stay listings, walkable to Mofan Street and Jincheng food streets.
Is Kinmen expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | NT$1,800 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | NT$3,500 a person |
| Splurge | NT$7,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Everrich Golden Lake Hotel: a few days ahead
- Grace Kinmen B&B: a few days ahead
- A Table: a few days ahead
- Book domestic flights, the Golden Lake Hotel, Shuitou guesthouses and A Table ahead in peak and festival periods.
- Build a buffer day in spring, when fog closes Kinmen airport often, and keep the last night flexible.
Is Kinmen safe?
- Crime is extremely low in Kinmen; typhoon season is the main weather risk.
- Obey all military signs, never photograph restricted installations, and never enter marked or fenced shore defences.
- Swim only where signed and supervised on the day; demining finished in 2013 but tides, currents and defences remain.
- Emergency numbers: police 110, fire and ambulance 119, coastguard 118.
Kinmen travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Planning to day trip to Xiamen on the Shuitou ferry on a foreign passport without confirmed eligibility and a valid China visa.
- Booking an unprotected onward international flight on the same day as a Kinmen departure.
- Ordering market price seafood without confirming the price per dish first.
Getting around Kinmen: public transport and more
- Fly about one hour from Taipei Songshan to Kinmen Shangyi Airport; there is no ferry to Taiwan main island.
- Rent a car for families or bad weather, a bicycle for village clusters, and use buses from Jincheng and Shanwai stations otherwise.
- Reach Lieyu by the Kinmen Bridge by road or by the short Shuitou to Jiugong ferry.
Who Kinmen suits
| Solo travellers | Great |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Kinmen your trip
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