Things to do in Penghu
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Penghu
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
The sweet spot opens: monsoon easing, everything reopening, fireworks starting in early May.
Full summer: all boats running, hottest weather, and typhoon risk, most active July to September.
The hinge month: the northeast monsoon strengthens and cancellations and closures begin.
Brutal northeast monsoon: ferries frequently cancelled, many businesses closed, exposed coasts punishing.
What's on
- Penghu International Fireworks Festival Usually May to August, on set nights
Main venue Guanyinting in Magong, with extra island nights on Wangan, Qimei and Jibei.
- Mazu Birthday at Penghu Tianhou Temple 23rd day of the third lunar month
The Tianhou Temple is at its busiest for maritime pilgrimages and celebrations.
- Lantern Festival Begging for Turtles 15th day of the first lunar month
Temples build large rice turtles for the ritual, a distinctive Penghu Lantern Festival tradition.
Best things to do in Penghu
Penghu Tianhou Temple
Taiwan's oldest Mazu temple, in old Magong, and the spiritual centre of an archipelago that lived from the sea.
Central Old Street
Magong's oldest commercial street, where you buy brown sugar cake and try cactus ice between temple visits.
Duxing Tenth Village Cultural Park
A former military dependents village in Magong, now a quiet cultural park of preserved houses and exhibitions.
Erkan Village
Penghu's best preserved traditional settlement, lanes of coral stone houses with almond tea stalls and drying incense.
Tongliang Great Banyan
A huge banyan, said to be over 300 years old, whose roots shade the whole square in front of Baoan Temple.
Daguoye Columnar Basalt
A wall of tall, regular basalt columns on Xiyu, reflected in a pond after rain and lit best late in the day.
Twin Hearts Stone Weir
Two interlocking heart shaped stone fish traps on Qimei, the symbol of Penghu, best seen at low tide from above.
Penghu Living Museum
The main museum in Magong, covering fishing culture, stone weirs and the wind shaped daily life of the islands.
Where to stay in Penghu
Magong
everyone, the only sensible base
Every ferry, most restaurants and the Sheraton and Discovery Hotel are here, and the north route is a day ride away.
Shanshui
beach first budget trips
Hostels and minsu behind Shanshui Beach, south of Magong, trading town restaurants for mornings in the water.
Think twice about
- Outer islands as a base (Qimei, Wangan, Jibei)
A cancelled return boat can strand you overnight or longer, especially outside summer. Visit as day trips, sleep in Magong.
Best restaurants in Penghu
Lai Fu Seafood Restaurant
The splurge seafood dinner in Magong, live and just landed seafood cooked to order for a group sharing dishes.
Mercato Pizza
The non seafood relief pick near the Tianhou Temple, pizzas plus a prickly pear cactus drink guides single out.
Linhai Lou Restaurant
A well regarded harbour side seafood restaurant in Magong, strong on sea urchin, oyster and lobster dishes.
Fuyuan Snacks
Cheap, local, home style Penghu cooking in Magong, seafood fried rice, scallops and fried noodles in a family shop.
Outdoor things to do in Penghu
Shanshui Beach
Penghu's most popular swimming beach, a long curve of pale sand south of Magong with minsu behind it.
Aimen Beach
The water sports beach, with jet skis, banana boats, kayaks and paddleboards run by operators on the sand.
Lintou Beach
One of the longest white sand beaches in Penghu, next to Aimen but calmer, for swimming and walking.
Jibei Island
A day boat from Baisha to a long white sand spit and more stone weirs than anywhere else in Penghu.
Qimei Island
The south sea day trip for basalt cliffs, quiet village lanes and the Twin Hearts Stone Weir.
Wangan Island
The quieter south sea island, known for historic houses and green sea turtles nesting on protected beaches in summer.
Whale Cave
A sea eroded basalt arch on Xiaomen off Xiyu, hollowed by monsoon waves, with a small geology exhibition nearby.
Best hotels in Penghu
Four Points by Sheraton Penghu
Penghu's only true luxury hotel, a 331 room five star Marriott property in Magong with a pool and harbour rooms.
Discovery Hotel
A modern mid range Magong hotel with breakfast and an airport shuttle, at well below Sheraton prices.
Han's Hostel
The budget base with a beach attached, a hostel by Shanshui Beach praised for its service by Taiwan travel writers.
Is Penghu expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | NT$1,800 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | NT$3,500 a person |
| Splurge | NT$8,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Jibei Island: a few days ahead
- Qimei Island: a few days ahead
- Wangan Island: a few days ahead
- Four Points by Sheraton Penghu: weeks ahead
- Lai Fu Seafood Restaurant: a few days ahead
- Book Magong hotels, flights and island day boats weeks ahead for fireworks nights and summer weekends.
- Confirm the return sailing time when you land on any outer island; the last boat is a hard deadline.
Is Penghu safe?
- Crime levels are low; the main risks are typhoon weather and the water.
- Real Penghu risks are weather and water: typhoon swell, coral sand, basalt and strong sun with little shade.
- Emergency numbers: police 110, fire and ambulance 119, coastguard 118.
Penghu travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Arriving in winter, roughly October to March, expecting the summer islands; the northeast monsoon cancels boats and closes businesses.
- Booking a same day international connection after a Penghu ferry or flight in typhoon season.
- Ordering live seafood without confirming the price per weight before it is cooked.
Getting around Penghu: public transport and more
- Fly to Magong Airport from Taipei Songshan, Taichung, Chiayi, Tainan or Kaohsiung, about 30 to 55 minutes.
- Ferries run from Budai, about 80 to 90 minutes, and from Kaohsiung, about 4 to 5 hours, and both are weather cancelled.
- Inter island boats to Qimei and Wangan leave from Magong south sea harbour, and to Jibei from Baisha north sea harbour, mostly in season.
- A scooter needs a licence covering a 125cc bike; a car only licence or permit does not legally cover it, so use tours, buses or taxis instead.
Who Penghu suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | OK |
Make Penghu your trip
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