Botanical Garden to Snake Alley, Taipei: free self-guided walking tour
Quick answer. A free self-guided walking tour from the Taipei Botanical Garden to Snake Alley in Wanhua: 4 stops, about 2.8 km, about 35 minutes of walking plus about 24 minutes of listening. Start in the Taipei Botanical Garden, a nursery of 1896 that became Taiwan’s first botanical garden in 1921. Beside it, the palace-roofed National Museum of History, founded in 1955, reopened in 2024. Walk west into old Monga to Qingshui Temple, built by Anxi settlers in 1787–1790 and rebuilt in 1867 after a clan feud, and end in Snake Alley, the Huaxi Street Night Market.
- Stops:
- 4
- Distance:
- about 2.8 km
- Walking:
- about 35 min
- Listening:
- about 24 min
Two ways to do this walk
Taipei with Mappu
Walk Mode, in the free Mappu app
It knows where you are, tells you about everything you pass between the stops, answers your questions and keeps you on the route. Your phone stays in your pocket.
A 2-hour live walk, €4.99.
50 credits from the Starter pack. One-time purchase, no subscription.
Self-guided audio walk. No guide accompanies you. Not affiliated with the sites.
Free: the audio guides
Listen to each stop’s audio guide in your browser and find your own way between the stops.
Walking directions in Google MapsBotanical Garden to Snake Alley, Taipei: how long does the walk take?
About 59 minutes in all: about 35 minutes on foot over about 2.8 km, plus about 24 minutes of audio at the 4 stops. Time inside the sites is extra.
Botanical Garden to Snake Alley, Taipei: in what order should you visit the stops?
Follow the stops in this order: Taipei Botanical Garden, National Museum of History, Bangka Qingshui Temple, and Snake Alley. The longest stretch between two stops is about 1.9 km, about 25 min on foot.
Route and map
Indicative route. While you walk, watch where you're going, mind the traffic and follow local signs and rules. The map is an aid, not a safety guide. Terms
Follow Mappu’s map: the route runs along the streets from stop to stop, and the stories keep playing as you walk.
To get to the first stop, or if you’re far from the route, Google Maps has walking directions through every stop.
Stop 1
Eight hectares of green on ground once under the ancient Taipei Lake, a nursery of 1896 made Taiwan’s first botanical garden in 1921, with the 1924 Herbarium and a Qing envoys’ hall of 1888.
about 6 min of audio
Next stop: National Museum of History · about 0.2 km, about 3 min on foot
Stop 2
The first museum of the Nanhai Academy, founded in 1955 in a Japanese-era exhibition hall of 1916 and rebuilt in palace style, reopened in February 2024 after five years of renovation.
about 7 min of audio
Next stop: Bangka Qingshui Temple · about 1.9 km, about 25 min on foot
Stop 3
The Anxi settlers’ temple to the monk Qingshui Zushi, built in 1787–1790, burned in the clan feud of 1853 and rebuilt in 1867, home of the Nose-Falling Patriarch who warns of disaster.
about 6 min of audio
Next stop: Snake Alley · about 0.7 km, about 9 min on foot
Stop 4
The Huaxi Street Night Market, once famous for snake and turtle shops and guidebook warnings, now a brighter covered arcade of thick squid soup, oyster omelets and goose.
about 5 min of audio
The stop stories are AI-generated audio guides and can contain mistakes. Check opening hours and tickets on the official sites.
Planning a trip to Taipei?
Get your plan
Mappu sketches your days free in the chat, no account needed. Then take the full plan with you:
- Weekend trip, €9.99: Your day-by-day plan plus 2 live walks
- Save your trip’s free guides on your phone in the Mappu app: they play with no signal
Before you go
- Check opening hours, tickets and access on each site’s official page before you go.
- Distances and times are estimates: the walking route between stops, from OpenStreetMap, at 4.5 km/h. Your route on the street may differ.
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Plan more days in Taipei
These day-by-day Mappu itineraries include Taipei. The day links open the days that visit stops on this walk.
Route checked by Mappu on November 1, 2026. Stop descriptions come from each place’s published Mappu audio guide. Mappu is a Fenutech product.