Botanical Gardens

A beautiful oasis in Taipei's funky west side, the Botanical Gardens has greenhouses featuring a vast variety of lush plants, literature- and Chinese-zodiac-themed gardens and a marvellous lotus pond.

Taipei's Botanical Gardens is also considered one of the best places in the world to see the rare Malaysian Night Heron, making the park a major stop on foreign birding tours. That such a rare bird can be seen so close to, let alone inside, a major urban centre is quite amazing, or so our twitcher friends tell us. The Botanical Gardens is where you'll find the National Museum of History.