With 20+ theme parks in Taiwan, Leofoo Village (六福村 or Liufu Cun) has for many years been the most famous, not to mention the country’s first major theme park. It started out as a zoo/safari, then expanded to include a huge amusement park.
While it’s starting to look a little dated compared to some of the newer amusement parks that have popped up in recent years, and the themes (Arabian, Polynesian, etc.) are straight out of a 1980s amusement park, Leofoo is still considered the classic Taiwan theme park.
Part of the appeal of Leofoo Village is that it’s an easy day trip from Taipei. Another is that Leofoo is huge – they say it’s the largest theme park in Taiwan, at 100+ hectares, but others also make the claim. You can easily spend a full day exploring its four themed areas, a night in its safari hotel, and another day at its outdoor waterpark.
I’ve been to Leofoo twice – once as assignment to write this article for Travel in Taiwan Magazine and more recently with my two kids (see other kid-friendly places in Taiwan here).
Below I’ll tell you everything you need to know for planning an awesome day trip to Leofoo Village.
Quick Links and Tips
- I high recommend the Leofoo Day Pass on Klook or KKday with return bus ride from Taipei
- Leofoo Village official site: https://www.leofoovillage.com.tw/
- Leofoo Village is very quiet on weekdays and can be absolutely packed on weekends and school holidays.
- Try catching one of the daily performances when you visit. See the times and locations here (Mondays and Tuesdays usually have the fewest).
- To find any ride I mention below, go to this map, type in the English name, then click the magnifying glass (search button). Here’s another map showing every ride on site.
- You’ll need a full day for Leofoo Village. It’s the best theme park within easy reach of Taipei and much larger and better than Taipei Children’s Amusement Park in the city, which is aimed at younger kids.
- Book your overnight stay at Leofoo Guanshi Resort here on Booking or Agoda.
- Read my guide to Hsinchu, where Leofoo is located.
How to Buy Discount Tickets for Leofoo Village
Do you like to save money? Then book your Leofoo Village tickets in advance! These deals will save you hundreds of TWD compared to going yourself and buying a ticket at the door.
Buy the Leofoo Village Day Pass on Klook or KKday, with options that include a round-trip minibus transfer from Taipei (these are a great deal!) The pass includes unlimited rides at attractions at Leofoo.
On the Klook deal, you’ll need to scroll down to the “transportation packages”. Note that if you choose the one with transportation from Songshan Airport, Zhongxiao Dunhua, or Jing’an MRT, it’s quite a bit cheaper than the one from Taipei Main Station or Ximending.
That’s because you’ll be riding on public bus 5350 (see schedule), while the Taipei Main and Ximending deal is a special shuttle bus for Klook/KKday ticket holders only.
When we went, I chose the cheaper deal and got on the bus at this bus stop around the corner from Jing’an MRT station on the orange line. When boarding the bus, just show the Klook voucher to the driver. Don’t try to scan the QR code like I did (it was embarrassing…)
On the way to Leofoo, the bus will make a stop at Longtan Bus Station. There, you will need to get off the bus, go inside, and show your Klook voucher and passport (required) to the staff. They will give you your return bus ticket and Leofoo entrance ticket. Then get back on the same bus.
The process for the Taipei Main & Ximending shuttle is different, so make sure to read the “package details” on Klook. The bus will only go if there’s enough passengers booked – another reason I prefer the Songshan/Zhongxiao Dunhua/Jing’an option.
Note that the above deals are meant for foreign travelers only. Taiwanese citizens and ARC holders cannot use them. They’ll want to see your passport with most recent entry stamp as proof.
There are a few other options on Klook and KKday, like this deal which includes Leofoo Village AND Window on World theme park, this Leofoo Village safari in a rhino bus, and this stay at Lakeshore Hotel + Leofoo ticket.
Getting to Leofoo Village on Your Own
Leofoo Village is 50 kilometers southwest of Taipei City in Hsinchu County, right on its border with Taoyuan City (where Taoyuan International Airport is located).
If you didn’t purchase a deal that includes a transfer to the amusement park (which I highly recommend, see the previous section), it’s still easy enough to get there on your own.
Shuttle Bus
The park offers a free shuttle bus on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays from Taoyuan High Speed Rail Station. You need to make a reservation at least two days before your visit. The ride takes about 30 minutes, so you can get from Taipei to Leofoo in less than an hour.
Here are the shuttle bus departure times and reservation line.
You can purchase discount HSR tickets here on Klook or KKday. When purchasing, follow the steps in my HSR booking guide to correctly reserve your seats.
By Regular Bus
From Taipei, you can take bus 5350 from Songshan Airport Station right in front of the airport terminal. The bus comes every 20 minutes and the ride takes 60 to 90 minutes. For a shorter bus ride, board the bus at Jing’an MRT, as I described in the previous section.
Just swipe your EasyCard (buy on Klook / read my EasyCard guide). If you bought the Klook or KKday pass with transportation on this bus, you only need to show the driver your Klook/KKday voucher.
From Taichung or other cities further south in Taiwan, your best option is to take the HSR to Hsinchu Station then take Hsinchu Country Tour Bus 02 (weekends and holidays only, only one departure and one return per day), or to Taoyuan Station then take the free shuttle bus on weekends and holidays.
Alternatively, you can take bus 9012 from Taichung Bus Station or Chaoma Station to Longtan Station and take a bus or taxi from there (about 10 minutes).
From Taoyuan City, you can take bus 5636 from Zhongli train station to Leofoo Village.
The Four Themed Areas at Leofoo Village
If you come by bus, you will get dropped right at the main entrance of Leofoo Village. Just inside, you can pick up a physical park map from the Visitor’s Center, and you’ll notice the Leofoo Waterpark to your left.
The entrance path leads west to a large, circular Central Plaza with a water fountain. Water fountain shows take place every hour on the hour, best in the evening (weekends only) when they are lit up. You or your kids can play in the water to cool off, if you want!
From this circular plaza, paths branch out to each of the four themes area of the park. The four areas are also connected from within, so you won’t have to come back to the Central Plaza after each one.
I suggest to go left first then do a clockwise tour through the four areas as follows:
Wild West (美國大西部)
Leofoo Village’s Wild West (turn left from the Central Plaza) is themed on an American frontier town in the late 1800s.
Expect old-timey General Stores, swinging saloon gates, and a chance to dress up like a cowboy in the Billy the Kid Photoshop.
The main street of this area sometimes has fun street parades, which I got to see the first time I visited. Make sure to check the calendar of show times for special events like this.
Wild West is home to my favorite (and I would say the scariest) ride at Leofoo Village: the Screaming Condor (笑傲飛鷹).
For serious amusement park nerds, this is a “steel launched inverted shuttle roller coaster”, inverted meaning it’s bottomless, so your legs hang out from the bottom.
The roller coaster roars 100 km/hr up and down two 56-meter spikes, one of them twisting. Take a ride if you dare – I thought it was awesome!
Here’s a video I took which shows the ride shooting out from the ground:
Another noteworthy ride in Wild West is Grand Canyon Rapids, a water ride on which you float through rapids and get sprayed by water guns. Yet another is Old Oil Well, for those who can handle going totally upside down.
You can also kill zombies virtually at Final Showdown at Tombstone VR. See the full list of rides in Wild West here.
For food, there are set meals at Fuji Kitchen (福記小廚), sandwiches at Elite Deli, and steaks at El Dorado Saloon (美國大西部牛排館).
There are also burgers stamped with Leofoo Village’s mascot or shaped like aliens at Burger House (炸雞店).
Also at Burger House, check out the enormous TWD 1499 burger which has a whole roasted chicken on it. See the picture below I shot years ago, but the newer ones look like giant black aliens!
You can buy some fun and cute souvenirs at the Indian Exchanges and Uncle Sam’s Grocery Store, which looks like an old general store.
From the Wild West area, you can connect through to the South Pacific without returning to the Central Plaza.
South Pacific (南太平洋)
Continuing along, the South Pacific area is Polynesian-themed, complete with a volcano surrounded by water.
Volcano Adventure (火山歷險) takes riders through it, culminating with a 3-story plunge down the slope. And yes, the South Pacific has dinosaurs, because why not? Jurassic Park influence, I guess…
Volcano Adventure was our favorite ride on the day I went with my kids. There’s an awesome view of the whole theme park from the top.
We got soaking wet on the ride. Luckily, you can pay TWD 100 to stand inside a huge blow drying machine after!
The other not-to-be-missed ride in this area is Big Raging God (大怒神, formerly Pagoda’s Revenge), where you’ll drop 53 meters from the head of a baboon.
If the ride line is too long (which happened the first time I visited), I was able to do a VR version of it next door. The second time I visited, I didn’t see this, but we were there on a very slow weekday.
Younger kids or any dinosaur lovers will enjoy The Lost World, which is a tree house they can run through with tons of dinos.
If you don’t mind getting seasick, then hop on the Giant Tsunami.
The Tiki Garden is also worth a stroll; watch for real, live toucans! See the full list of rides in South Pacific here.
Undersea Restaurant (Haidi Restaurant or 海底餐廳) is kid-friendly, while there are usually some decent food stalls in this area, too.
Arabian Palace (阿拉伯皇宮)
Next up, Arabian Palace is an Aladdin-esque world with the park’s most impressive architecture.
You’ll find more rides here, including a 360-degree roller coaster called Wheel of Wind and Fire (風火輪).
Also watch for Anubis’ Judgment (阿努比斯的審判), which is a laser maze. My kids and I had some confusion about how to play the first time we did this. You’ll need to have a team of (I think) 2-3 people.
Then you’ll choose a difficulty level (don’t do easy – it was too easy for us). At starting time, you need to go all at once and try to touch the different numbers in the room, in ascending order, without getting hit by any lasers.
While you’re doing it, other groups will be watching you on a tv screen (see pic below).
Arabian Palace also has Happy and Honey’s 5D Theater (5D哈比哈妮大冒險‧魔宮奪寶), a moving ride in front of a digital screen.
At the end, we got to throw digital fireballs at a 3-headed dragon. The show is about once every hour and the times of the next show are posted.
For younger kids, there’s a Carousel and a Flying Horse ride. See the full list of rides in Arabian Palace here.
Head to Oasis Restaurant (綠洲餐廳 or “Luzhou Restaurant”) for a curry fix in an Arabian setting (because curry is from Arabia, right?)
The street performers we saw in the Arabian Kingdom (no scheduled time, they just randomly walk around at busy times) were particularly talented.
African Tribe (非洲部落)
Last but not least is the African Tribe (or African Safari) section, which features over 1000 animals belonging to 70 different species.
While this was the original main feature of Leofoo Village when it first opened in 1979, it’s quite outdated nowadays.
The “safari” is essentially a ride on a steam train called Nairobi Express (蒸汽火車) past a bunch of animals (most but not all are in enclosures, so it feels like you’re riding a train through a zoo).
The train leaves from the back end of the African Tribe area – watch for a staircase going up to it.
There’s also the Ferocious Beasts bus (猛獸區巴士), which is now the only way to see one of Leofoo Village’s top highlights: a couple of rare white tigers (there are only around 300 in the world!)
When I took my kids to Leofoo Village, the thing they were most excited about was seeing the white tigers (we are serious cat lovers – read about our visits to Houtong Cat Village, cat cafes in Taipei, and Cat Island in Japan).
When I rode the bus with my kids, we stopped right beside the white tigers and got to see them for a while. We also saw Bengal tigers and African lions on the bus ride.
To board the bus, you’ll need to follow the path past many ape and monkey enclosures. At the back of it (here on GMaps), look for the queue railing. You may need to wait a while for it.
We also loved the meerkats in African Tribe, with a little tunnel and see-through dome so kids can get up close and personal with the furry creatures. (Related: read about our visit to Taipei’s meerkat cafe).
Kids will also enjoy the pony rides, petting zoo, and numerous monkeys in the Primate Sanctuary, including capuchins, siamangs, red-tailed monkeys, and baboons.
See the full list of animals in African Tribe here.
There are also a few rides in the area, like the Desert Storm (沙漠風暴), a roller coaster with spinning carts, Monkey Brings Good Luck (猴子行大運), from which you can look down at the primates, and a few options for younger kids.
See the full list of rides in African Tribe here.
Overall, African Tribe is probably the best area of Leofoo for visitors with young kids, thanks to the many animals and easier rides.
For food, there’s the Kenyan Restaurant (肯亞美食館), but it’s definitely Taiwanese food, not African, with options like beef noodles and cute steamed buns.
Leofoo Water Park
Leofoo Village Waterpark (六福水樂園) is themed on the Greek Islands (are you surprised?) The waterpark is open June to September.
The water park is not included on the Klook deals I mentioned above; you’ll need to buy a Leofoo Village pass that covers both the amusement park and waterpark (usually around $1300) or waterpark-only pass (usually $600), both available at the entrance gate.
Note that summer in Taiwan is VERY hot – I would visit the water park at this time, but not the amusement park.
Inside, you’ll find a wave pool, several slides and tube rides, and a water play area for younger kids. Kids under 120 cm need to be accompanied by an adult and won’t be able to go on certain slides.
There’s also a small restaurant and shop where you can pick up any beach attire you forgot at home.
Leofoo Guanshi Resort (Leofoo Village Hotel)
Leofoo Village has a dedicated “safari resort”, called Leofoo Guanshi Resort (關西六福莊生態渡假旅館). Guanshi (關西 or Guanxi) refers to the township of Hsinchu where Leofoo is located.
The resort can be booked here on Booking, Agoda, or the official site.
The hotel’s rooms look down on African wildlife in a large enclosure. You can have a drink on your private balcony while watching giraffes munch on tree leaves right in front of you. The experience isn’t cheap, costing around TWD 10,000 per night (price is subject to change).
I haven’t stayed at the resort, but I did visit tour the resort and some of its rooms while researching my Leofoo Village article for Travel in Taiwan magazine.
My favorite part of the resort was the practically tame ring-tailed lemurs that have free range of the resort, climbing about on the viewing platform rails and coming so close you can even touch them.
One reader recently told me that Leofoo Guanshi Resort now has capybaras, too. Guests can spend up to 40 minutes in the capybara enclosure (tons of time, with no crowds or pressure!) and there are a few capybara-themed rooms overlooking the enclosure. Here are more places to see capybaras in Taiwan.
We also happened to catch an impressive live African song and dance performance while we were there. The rooms themselves and the meals are just OK considering the high price tag.
I’m personally not into this kind of fake “safari” experience, but if you’re a family with young kids, you might consider it for a splurge.