Though I think the Keelung night market is a compelling enough reason to visit Keelung on its own (the fact that it’s so easy to get here from Taipei makes this a no-brainer), you might want to do some other stuff while you’re here. I mean, you’re here already, you may as well.
Or you could just eat. That works too.
But if you want to walk off some of that food, there are a few interesting things around the city that you could check out.
The first thing to see is the Khóo Tsú-song Old Mansion. This is a crumbling old house, built in 1931 on a hill with a very scenic view of the city.
It’s actually quite close to the night market. To get there, you just need to find this sketchy alleyway with a whole bunch of stairs.
You need to keep climbing up, and up, and up.
And up.
But then you’ll find yourself with a pretty great view of the city.
And you can check out the house, which feels vaguely post-apocalyptic.
It’s definitely interesting to wander around.
Though there was at least one part that made me think I was either going to get murdered by a hobo, or trapped inside forever by an angry ghost.
Moving on from the ghost house, Keelung is a seaside town, and there are some nice views to be had at the Maritime Plaza.
There’s not a lot to do here, but it’s worth checking out.
If you don’t mind walking a bit, head on over to the Zhupu Altar, a really interesting building that contains a small (but free!) museum about the mid-summer ghost festival.
Finally, a bit further up into the hills is this Buddhist temple complex.
Again, there isn’t much to do here, but there are some interesting buildings and statues to see.
Though I should warn you that this whole area is traversed via winding, hilly paths that are a little confusing even with the help of Google maps. I got lost a couple of times, but I eventually found my way back.
Khóo Tsú-song Old Mansion: No. 15, Lane 2, Aisi Road, Ren’ai District, Keelung City, Taiwan 200
Maritime Plaza: Zhongyi Road, Ren’ai District, Keelung City, Taiwan 200
Zhupu Altar: No. 280, Xin’er Road, Zhongzheng District, Keelung City, Taiwan 202
Buddhist Temple: No. 17號, Shoushan Road, Xinyi District, Keelung City, Taiwan 201
How to find it: There’s a good chance you’ll get lost at some point going to all those places, but it’s an interesting area to wander around, so just roll with it.