Kinmen: flights, Cold War sights and key tips

Fly from Taipei Songshan, about an hour, and give Kinmen two days for its Cold War tunnels, lookouts and old villages. Apart from the Qionglin Tunnels, its sights and museums are free. From March to May, add a spare day at each end: fog can ground flights for a day or two.

How long have you got?

• Two days: Zhaishan Tunnel, Juguang Tower, Mashan Observation Station, the Guningtou Battle Museum and Shuitou Village.

When are you going?

• March to May: heavy fog grounds flights.1Taiwan News (opens in a new tab)taiwannews.com.tw Keep a spare day at each end.
• March and April: the wheat fields.2Kinmen Tourism (opens in a new tab)kinmen.travel
• September and October: the sorghum harvest; Jinsha and Jinning have the best farm scenery.3Kinmen Tourism (opens in a new tab)kinmen.travel
• Mid-Autumn Festival: Bo Bing, a dice game played across the island for more than 300 years, with shops running games for prizes.4Kinmen Tourism (opens in a new tab)kinmen.travel
• October to March: cormorants winter at Ci Lake and Yangming Lake.5Kinmen Tourism (opens in a new tab)kinmen.travel

Top things to do

• Zhaishan Tunnel: a tunnel and waterway dug in the 1960s to hide boats.Tip The Zhaishan Tunnel bus stop is right outside.6Tourism Administration (opens in a new tab)eng.taiwan.net.tw
• Mashan Observation Station: Kinmen’s closest point to mainland China, 2.1 km away, or 1.8 km at low tide, with binoculars.7Tourism Administration (opens in a new tab)eng.taiwan.net.tw
• Juguang Tower: the island’s symbol, with a gallery inside, in Jincheng.8Tourism Administration (opens in a new tab)eng.taiwan.net.tw
• Guningtou Battle Museum: on the 1949 battle that kept Kinmen in Taiwan’s hands.9Tourism Administration (opens in a new tab)eng.taiwan.net.tw
• Shuitou Village: one of Kinmen’s top sights, an old village of traditional houses.10Kinmen Tourism (opens in a new tab)kinmen.travel

Do this instead

• Instead of a taxi from the airport: take bus 3 or Blue 1 to Jincheng for NT$12, not a taxi at about NT$250. Bus 3 leaves about once an hour from 07:00 to 20:00 and takes about 25 minutes; Blue 1 runs until 17:00.11Kinmen Tourism (opens in a new tab)kinmen.travel

Hidden gems

• Qionglin Tunnels: a village’s network of wartime tunnels, NT$10.12Kinmen Tourism (opens in a new tab)kinmen.travel
• Wentai Pagoda and Shanhou Folk Cultural Village: on the Tourism Administration’s list of Kinmen sights.13Tourism Administration (opens in a new tab)eng.taiwan.net.tw

Getting there and around

• Flights: Mandarin Airlines and UNI Air fly from Taipei. UNI Air also flies from Kaohsiung, Taichung, Tainan and Chiayi.14Kinmen Tourism (opens in a new tab)kinmen.travel Expect about NT$2,000 one way.15Kinmen Tourism (opens in a new tab)kinmen.travel Bring your passport: you need it to board.
• Buses: NT$12 a ride, roughly every 30 minutes from 06:00 to 20:30, none after about 21:00.16Kinmen Tourism (opens in a new tab)kinmen.travel
• Scooters and cars: scooters cost NT$300 to NT$1,000 a day and cars NT$1,600 to NT$1,800. Petrol scooters and cars need an International Driving Permit.17Kinmen Tourism (opens in a new tab)kinmen.travel
• Taxis: metered, about NT$250 from the airport to Jincheng.
• Ferry to Xiamen: about 30 minutes from Kinmen’s ferry terminal, a 10-minute bus ride from Jincheng, to Wutong in Xiamen. NT$650 one way, or 160 yuan from Xiamen. Ferries run from 09:00 to 17:30, and tickets go on sale an hour before each one. Bring your passport,18Kinmen Tourism (opens in a new tab)kinmen.travel and check China’s entry rules before you go.

If it doesn’t go to plan

• Fog grounds your flight? Keep that spare day free. In April 2026, fog cancelled 22 flights in a day and stranded more than 1,400 travellers.19Taipei Times (opens in a new tab)taipeitimes.com
• No scooter licence? Hire a bicycle in Jincheng, about NT$300 a day, and take the bus for longer hops. Or join a half-day guided bus tour, NT$250, in Mandarin.20Kinmen Tourism (opens in a new tab)kinmen.travel