Visiting Taipei & Taiwan in May 2025

A group of hikers trekking up a wooden staircase through a bamboo forest in Taiwan

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Is May a good time to visit Taiwan? For starters, May is the peak of spring in Taiwan, with rising temperatures foreshadowing the summer heat that is just around the corner. May is usually warm – not too hot, yet not too cold.

However, the Plum Rain Monsoon usually arrives in Taipei sometime in May, bringing rain for days on end. The rains then move south, usually not reaching the far south of Taiwan until late May or early June. If you aren’t a fan or rain or gray sky days, you may want to avoid visiting Taiwan in May. If you have to come at this time, see my recommended things to do when it rains in Taipei.

Having said that, there are some worthwhile events in May. It’s also a good month for flowers and fireflies. In general, May’s warm weather is ideal for taking in Taiwan’s top attractions. It is also one of the best months to visit the offshore islands, so consider adding Penghu or Orchid Island to your Taiwan itinerary, both which feature festivals in May.

To see how many compares to other months of the year, see my guide to the weather and the best months to visit Taiwan. Also find answers to the most common Taiwan FAQs.

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Taipei in May: Best Things to Do

With summer just around the corner, May is a great month for exploring Taipei on foot and soaking up the pre-summer vibes.

Here are some fun things to do in Taipei, my recommended Taipei itinerary, and my general Taipei city guide.

Nick Kembel wearing black shades and posting in front of a sea of hydrangea flowers and hills behind
Me with hydrangeas at Yangmingshan

Taipei’s parks and biking trails come alive as people come out to enjoy the early summer sun. At Zhuzihu in Yangmingshan National Park, the calla lilies are mostly finished by May, but are replaced by hydrangeas, which usually bloom from mid-May to mid-June.

Also near Yangmingshan, there are somem beautiful red maples at Futianyuan Leisure Farm. They are the most vibrant from April to mid-May.

At Taipei Botanical Garden, a large pond full of lotus flowers blooms from late May to June.

A sea of pink lotus flowers in front of a Chinese looking red building
Lotus Pond at Taipei Botanical Garden

In May, head to Treasure Hill, a vibrant arts community housed in a military veterans’ village by the riverside, for the annual Treasure Hill Light Festival. The 2025 dates have yet to be announced.

Looking up at some buildings of an old Taiwanese village on a hill, with some sticks of light as an art installation in the grass below
Treasure Hill Festival of Lights

From April to May, Dalongdong Bao’an Temple in Taipei puts on a series of traditional street parades and other events in celebration of the Baosheng Emperor’s birthday.

While the main birthday parade will take place in April this year, some other smaller events will continue on into May.

Dalongdong Bao'An Temple Taipei
Bao An Temple in Taipei

In late May, fireflies can be seen in Da’An Park (there’s a zoned off area for them roughly here), Muzha Park, and Rongxing Park. The best time to see them is from 6-8 p.m. on non-rainy days.

If the rain gets bad, there are plenty of things to do indoors in Taipei, such as the National Palace Museum, doing KTV (karaoke) or MTV in Ximending, visiting cat cafes, or checking one of the Taipei’s many excellent art galleries.

Here are more ideas for things to do on rainy days in Taipei.

Taiwan in May: Best Places to Visit

Due to the enormous earthquake in Hualien on April 3, 2024, Taroko Gorge has suffered enormous damage and has yet to reopen to tourists. The road from Yilan to Hualien is only open three times per day, but trains to Hualien and still running.

You can still visit Hualien area – see my guide to things to do in Hualien besides Taroko Gorge. Contact Island Life Taiwan for arranging non-Taroko tours or private drivers on the east coast.

At Taipingshan in Yilan county, some beautiful red maples reach their most vibrant color from May to June. There best ones are on either side of a the tall staircase at the main entrance to the national forest recreation area.

In May, tung blossoms, which the Taiwanese call “May Snow”, continue to bloom and fall in Taoyuan, Hsinchu, and Miaoli counties. Read more about it in my guide to Taiwan’s flower seasons.

Freshly fallen tung blossom white flowers on the ground
Tung blossoms

With a lower chance of rain in most places in Central and Southern Taiwan (compared to Taipei), pretty much anywhere in Taiwan is great to visit in May, including Sun Moon Lake in Nantou county.

Winter is over in the high mountain resorts such as Alishan and Qingjing Farm, but can still be quite cold in the early morning due to the elevation.

In small villages between Chiayi city and Alishan, like Fenqihu and Ruili, it’s prime firefly watching season.

A dark forest image with flashing lights of fireflies going by
Fireflies at Fenqihu

In southern Taiwan, the rice fields in rural regions like Meinong in Kaohsiung and Chishang in Taitung should be starting to turn from green to yellow by the end of May. They reach their most golden color in June before being cut.

If the sun does come out, consider visiting one of these beaches in Taiwan. It’s usually warm enough already, but you’ll find the beaches almost totally empty, as most locals don’t even think about going to the beach until it is crazy hot out in summer.

Heading to the beach is one of the best things to do in Taiwan in May
Hardly anybody is on the beach in May, even though the weather is warm enough for it

In my opinion, May and June are the best months to visit the offshore islands of Taiwan.

My friends and I had a magnificent trip to Orchid Island in May. Regular flights from Taitung were up and running, the weather was perfect and hot enough to swim, but there were no almost no visitors there yet, Taiwanese or foreign.

What’s more, you might be lucky enough to catch some festivities related to the Flying Fish Festival on Orchid Island (there’s no set date for it, and different festivities happen at different times in every village).

Some fireworks exploding in the sky above a bridge across water, with the lights of the fireworks reflecting in the water
Penghu Fireworks Festival

The Penghu International Fireworks Festival on Penghu Islands will take place every Monday and Thursday in May 2025. See the full schedule here.

The impressive display takes place above Guanyinting Recreation Area and is about 50% lit up drones and 50% fireworks.

Matsu PilgrimA traditional parade in Taipeiage, one of the most popular events in Taiwan in mid-spring
Matsu Pilgrimage

On the 23rd day of the 3rd lunar month (April 20 in 2025), it is Matsu’s birthday. Matsu is the patron goddess of Taiwan and she looks over fishermen.

To celebrate her birthday, Taiwanese hold the enormous Matsu Pilgrimage across Central Taiwan for 9 days in her honor, with additional activities for more days on either end. To pilgrimage starts at ends at Zhenlan Temple in Dajia, Taichung. The 2025 dates for the event are May 1 to 11.

A giant golden statue of a seated Buddha
Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum

Sometime in May, there is usually a small music festival on the beach in Taitung called East Wave Music Festival. See their official page for announcements about the 2025 dates.

Buddha’s Birthday will be celebrated on the 8th day of the 4th lunar month (May 5, 2025).

While this is not a major celebration like it is in some neighboring countries (see my article on the Lantern Festival in South Korea), you can expect major Buddhist monasteries in Taiwan such as Foguangshan in Kaohsiung to have some kind of festivities or special decorations.

Don’t forget about Mother’s Day on May 11. Expect restaurants in Taipei and other big cities to be fully booked on that weekend.

From May 17 to May 30, Taipei will host the World Masters Games (see official site). This international event includes a wide variety of sports.

Close up of the head of a dragon boat in Taiwan
Dragon Boat Festival starts at the end of May this year.

Dragon Boat Festival, which usually falls in June, comes early this year. In 2025, it falls on Saturday, May 31. There will be a 3-day long weekend from Friday, May 30 to Sunday, June 1.

As usual for a three-day long weekend, everything will be open. Staying in Taipei or any large city is suggested, as the roads, trains, hotels, and popular tourist places across the country will be very busy.

See my guide to June in Taiwan for more information about the event.

Taipei Weather in May

The cloudy Taipei weather in May
Overcast weather around Taipei 101

Summer is surely approaching in the month of May in Taipei, but the most intense heat has yet to arrive. The average high for May is 29°C (84°F), while the average low is 22°C (72°F).

The most important thing to note about the weather in Taipei in May is the arrival of the plum rain season. Named so because it coincides with the ripening of plums in Southern China, the East Asian Rainy Season usually hits Taipei sometime around the first half of May and can last into June.

When plum rains arrive, what usually happens is that it rains pretty much every day, sometimes for 1-2 weeks in a row. The rain tends to be heavier than winter drizzles in Taipei, but not as wild as a summer typhoon. The rains are not as intense or predictable as, for example, the Southeast Asian or Indian monsoons.

I would call it a “mini-monsoon”. Some years, it’s barely even noticeable, but once in a while, the plum rains are heavy enough to cause minor flooding in some areas and can really disrupt travel plans.

It isn’t necessarily always raining in Taipei in May and June, and sometimes the rains come later than usual (for example in 2018 they didn’t arrive until June). According to the average numbers, there are still 16 days every May WITHOUT rain, so it is still very possible to have gorgeous sunny weather in Taipei in May.

It rains an average of 235mm in Taipei in May, which is a big jump from April (180mm) and the winter months, but still not as much as in June (325mm) or the summer typhoon season.

Like in most months in Taipei and Taiwan, late afternoon is the most common time for rain to fall. But don’t worry too much – there are many possible indoor activities in Taipei.

What to Wear in Taipei in May

Because Taipei is getting quite warm by May, you can pretty much pack summer clothes. However, due to the increased likelihood of rain, you’ll want to bring appropriate rain gear. Because of the higher temperatures, the plum rains don’t make you feel cold like winter rain in Taipei does; they are more like a mild annoyance than anything.

Umbrellas are a necessity at this time, but even if you don’t bring one from home, you can buy them from any convenience store for TWD 100-200 (USD3-6). Also, every time there’s a downpour, makeshift umbrella stands seem to magically appear all over the city.

Taiwan Weather in May

In the major cities & counties south of Taipei, such as Yilan, Taichung, Tainan, and Kaohsiung, summer has already arrived by May. It will still get a few degrees hotter in the coming months, but it’s practically there. In Tainan, the average high temperature in May is 31°C (88°F) and the average low is 24°C (75°F).

The plum rains don’t affect the south of Taiwan until later than in Taipei and the north. Usually the rain starts increasing in late May or early June. In Tainan the average precipitation in May is 175mm, which is more than double the figure from April (80mm), but still less than half what it will be in June (370mm).

What to wear in Taiwan in May

For traveling around the lowland areas and major cities of Taiwan in May, you can pretty much dress for summer. Think comfy shorts/skirts, T-shirts, a hat, sunglasses and lots of sunscreen.

If you’re coming toward the end of May, you might get some rain, but if you’re lucky, the plum rains won’t even arrive in the center and south of Taiwan until June. It’s still best to prepare for it just in case. A decent foldable umbrella is a smart thing to carry around, especially when venturing from the city, hiking, and so on.

Conclusion: Is May a Good Time to Visit Taiwan?

In my opinion, no month is a bad month to visit Taiwan. Don’t let the plum rains scare you off from visiting Taiwan in May (unless you really hate gray skies and occasional rain). People open their umbrellas, scooters riders throw on a rain jacket, and life goes on as normal. It’s part of the Taipei experience!

In Southern Taiwan Taiwan, May offers great early-summertime weather, but not as overwhelmingly hot as it will become in the coming months. So if May is the only time you can come, but you want to avoid the rain, consider focusing mainly on the south of Taiwan.

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