The most common mistake foreign visitors make at a Taipei hot spring is arriving without a swimsuit. In Japan a swimsuit is the one thing you must not wear in an onsen; in Taiwan, most public hot spring pools will not let you in without one, and the two habits are close enough to each other that people carry the Japanese assumption straight into Beitou and get turned around at the counter.
Taiwan regulates bathing springs by statute. The 溫泉法 (Hot Spring Act), last amended on 12 May 2010, requires any business using hot spring water for tourism or recreation to have the water tested by a body recognised by the central tourism authority and to obtain a 溫泉標章 (hot spring mark) from the city or county tourism authority before it may trade (溫泉法 Article 18, checked 7 September 2026). That mark is also the one consumer check a visitor can actually perform at the door.
Do you need a swimsuit?
Assume yes for any shared pool in Taipei, and pack one before you plan a hot spring day. Taiwan's Tourism Administration instructs bathers to shower in the changing area first and then "change into your swimsuit or the bathrobe and slippers provided in the 湯屋 before entering the open-air bathing area" (交通部觀光署, 台灣好湯 泡湯準備, page dated 14 October 2019, checked 7 September 2026). The same authority states that swimwear must be worn when bathing in wild-stream springs.
The nude option exists, but it is not the default and it is not assumed. On its own page describing types of bathing, the Tourism Administration says of open-air springs that "whether it is a nude bath depends on the operator's planning, so please do your homework before you go" (台灣好湯 各式泡湯, page dated 14 October 2019, checked 7 September 2026). That single sentence is the most useful thing an official source says about Taiwanese hot springs, because it tells you the rule is venue-level rather than national. A visitor who wants certainty phones ahead or reads the door.
Taipei's own public open-air pool spells the swimwear rule out further than most. The city's Parks and Street Lights Office states that bathers at the Beitou Park open-air hot spring pool must wear swimwear and shower before entering, and that the on-site bathing code specifically excludes board shorts, casual trousers, sports trousers, denim shorts, trousers with pockets, and underwear (臺北市政府工務局公園路燈工程管理處 press release, 31 December 2016, checked 7 September 2026). A pair of cargo shorts is not a swimsuit there. The NT$40 admission quoted in that 2016 release has since been superseded, and the current figure appears further down this guide.
Which bath type suits you?
Four kinds of bathing sit within a few MRT stops of each other in Taipei, and each has a different answer to what you wear. The table below matches the bath type to the dress rule, what you have to carry in, and the price where a government source publishes one.
| Bath type | What you wear | What you bring | Published price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public open-air pool (Beitou Park) | Swimsuit required; no shorts, trousers or underwear | Swimsuit, towel, shower first | NT$60 full, NT$30 concession (Taipei Parks Office) |
| Public bathhouse, gender-separated (Qianshan Park, Lengshuikeng) | Set by the operating authority; separate men's and women's buildings | Towel; capacity is small | Free (Taipei Dept. of Economic Development) |
| Private room, 湯屋 | No dress rule; the room is yours | Nothing; robe and slippers usually provided | Not published by any government source |
| Hotel or resort bath | Operator's rule; ask whether it is nude or swimsuit | Swimsuit unless told otherwise | Not published by any government source |
Two rows in that table carry no price on purpose. Taiwan's government publishes admission for its own municipal facilities and nothing at all for commercial 湯屋 rooms or hotel baths, so any figure you see for those elsewhere is somebody's snapshot rather than a rate. Confirm at the counter.
The private room is the option most visitors underrate. The Tourism Administration describes 個人湯 (private bathing) as a rented room rather than a shared pool, often booked as part of a stay-and-meal package (台灣好湯 各式泡湯, checked 7 September 2026). Because you are alone, the entire nude-versus-swimsuit question disappears, which is why it is the honest recommendation for a first-time bather who has not resolved which kind of pool they are walking into.
What is the hot spring mark?
The 溫泉標章 is a numbered plate a city or county government issues to a hot spring business after checking its water rights and its water, and it is the only consumer-facing proof of legality in the system. Taiwan's Tourism Administration describes it plainly: the mark is a certification issued by local government under the Hot Spring Act after reviewing a venue's hot spring water rights and water quality, with the purpose of protecting the rights of bathers (台灣好湯 溫泉標章, last updated 26 November 2025, checked 7 September 2026).
What sits behind it is more substantial than a tourism seal. Under the 溫泉標章申請使用辦法 (Regulations for the Application and Use of the Hot Spring Mark), last amended on 2 May 2024, a recognised testing body must travel to the premises and sample the water at both the storage tank outlet and the point-of-use outlet, complete the analysis within 20 days, and issue a certificate stating the spring's name, its source location, the test date, its water characteristics, temperature, pH, flow rate, supply method, mineral composition and spring class (溫泉標章申請使用辦法 Article 5, checked 7 September 2026). The application must also carry a spring test certificate no more than three months old and a microbiological bath-water test from the health authority no more than two months old (Article 7).
Here is how you check it in practice, in three steps that take about a minute.
First, look at the entrance. Article 9 of the regulation requires the plate to be hung at the entrance to the premises where it is clearly visible, and Article 18 of the Act requires the venue to display the mark along with the water's composition, temperature, the mark's validity period and the contraindications. Second, read the plate. Article 6 requires it to carry the operator's name, the premises address, the spring's composition, temperature and class, the issuing agency, a plate number and the validity period. Third, check the date. Article 10 sets the validity period at three years, with renewal to be applied for two months before expiry, so a plate whose end date has passed is not a current certification.
If you want to check before you leave the hotel, there is a national register. The Tourism Administration publishes a searchable list of businesses holding the mark at 溫泉標章取得業者, filterable by county and by spring class; it showed 450 entries when we checked it on 7 September 2026, each row giving the operator's name, the premises address, the issue and expiry dates, the spring class, the issuing government, and downloadable PDFs of the issuing letter and the water test certificate. Article 16 of the regulation is what makes this register exist: it requires local governments to publish every issuance, renewal, reissue, cancellation and revocation on the information network and notify the Tourism Administration.
Taipei's share of that register is concentrated. The city's Department of Information and Tourism states that as of 31 October 2025 there were 46 businesses in Taipei holding the mark: 34 in the Xinbeitou hot spring area, 8 on Xingyi Road, 1 at Zhongshan Building, 1 at Matsao (馬槽), 1 in Da'an District and 1 in Zhongshan District (臺北市政府觀光傳播局 FAQ, page updated 27 October 2025, reviewed 27 July 2026, checked 7 September 2026).
How does Taiwan differ from Japan?
Most visitor errors in Beitou come from importing a Japanese rule that Taiwan does not have, or missing a Taiwanese rule Japan does not have. The table below sets the assumption against what Taiwanese official sources actually say.
| Assumption from Japan | What Taiwan's official sources say |
|---|---|
| Swimsuits are banned in the bath | Tourism Administration guidance tells bathers to change into a swimsuit before entering an open-air bathing area; Taipei's public pool requires one |
| All public baths are gender-separated and nude | Whether a bath is nude depends on the operator; mixed swimsuit pools and separate nude bathhouses both exist in Taipei |
| Tattoos are commonly refused | No national rule was found; tattoos do not appear in the statutory list of posted contraindications |
| The house rules are conventions | The posted contraindications, the mark and its labelling are legal requirements with fines attached |
| A small towel goes in the water with you | Tourism Administration guidance prohibits putting towels in the pool; fold it on your head instead |
The last row is the one point where the two countries broadly agree in spirit and differ in detail: both cultures shower first, neither wants soap or hair in the pool, and Taiwan's guidance adds that you should not wash your face or hair in the bath and should not lower your head into the water at all (台灣好湯 泡湯準備, checked 7 September 2026).
There is a second, quieter divergence worth knowing about, and it is chemical rather than social. Taipei's own foot bath parks post a rule that you should not wash your face because the water is acidic (臺北市政府產業發展局, 泡湯須知與泡腳池禮儀, reviewed 8 November 2024, checked 7 September 2026). The city measures the source at Quanyuan Park and Fuxing Park at roughly 70°C and pH 1.5, a 青磺 acid chloride-sulphate spring close in type to Thermal Valley's water, while the Liuhuanggu foot bath is supplied at roughly 50°C and pH 5.0 as an acid sulphate 白磺 spring (臺北市政府產業發展局, 泉型特色介紹, reviewed 8 November 2024, checked 7 September 2026). Beitou District Office describes the three local water types the same way: 青磺 near Thermal Valley, clear and faintly green; 白磺 milky white with a sulphur smell, which most Beitou hotels use; and 鐵磺, a neutral carbonate water with iron deposits (臺北市北投區公所, page updated 6 January 2026, checked 7 September 2026). The Tourism Administration separately lists 青磺泉 as not for drinking.
Who should not bathe?
Taiwan's bathing contraindications are written into law rather than left to signage convention, and the list below is reproduced as the regulation states it, not as our advice. Article 9 of the 溫泉標章申請使用辦法 requires every certified venue to display, in legible type in a suitable place, thirteen items: wash your body thoroughly before entering; people with chronic conditions including heart disease, lung disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and other circulatory disorders should bathe according to a doctor's instructions; take in an appropriate amount of water before and after bathing; bathe in the order of feet, half-body then full-body, and do not immerse above heart level; leave the bath and tell staff if you feel any discomfort; rest before bathing after long travel, excessive fatigue or strenuous exercise; people with infectious diseases are prohibited from bathing; women are prohibited from bathing during menstruation; pets are prohibited; pregnant women, people with impaired mobility, the elderly and children should avoid bathing alone; bathing is unsuitable when drunk, on an empty stomach or just after a full meal; a single soak should not exceed 15 minutes and total bathing time should not exceed one hour; and you should not go straight into a sauna after bathing (溫泉標章申請使用辦法 Article 9, checked 7 September 2026).
The Tourism Administration republishes that same list on its public hot spring site and adds two lines about circulation: bathing suddenly on insufficient sleep or after excessive mental strain may cause cerebral anaemia or hot spring shock, and you should not bathe immediately after drinking because hot spring bathing accelerates blood circulation (台灣好湯 泡湯準備, checked 7 September 2026). Taipei City's own foot bath rules go slightly further than the national list, prohibiting entry for people with skin disease, unhealed wounds or who have been drinking, and advising women against entering in early or late pregnancy or during menstruation (臺北市政府產業發展局, checked 7 September 2026).
Two things follow from all this that a visitor can use. The 15-minute and one-hour figures are the state's numbers, not a venue's preference, so a staff member asking you to get out is applying a posted rule. And the water itself is monitored: the mark can be revoked outright if a venue's water fails the temperature or composition standard, or fails the health authority's microbiological indicators for hot spring bath water, and the problem is not corrected within the time limit (Article 14 of the regulation). Taipei's own bath and pool water standard, notified by the city's Department of Health on 14 March 2014, sets coliform bacteria below 6 CFU or 6 MPN per 100 ml and a total bacterial count below 500 CFU per ml (臺北自來水事業處 FAQ, page reviewed 27 August 2026, checked 7 September 2026).
What has no rule at all?
Tattoos have no national hot spring rule in Taiwan that we could find, and that absence is worth stating clearly because the Japanese convention travels with people. We checked the Hot Spring Act, the Hot Spring Mark regulation and the Tourism Administration's own bathing guidance; none of them mentions tattoos, and the statutory list of thirteen contraindications that every certified venue must post does not include them. That is not the same as saying no Taiwanese venue refuses tattooed bathers — an individual operator can set its own house rules, exactly as it can decide whether its open-air bath is nude — but there is no national prohibition to plan around, and we found no official source asserting one in either direction.
Several other things are outside what this guide can tell you. It does not cover prices for private 湯屋 rooms or hotel baths, because no government source publishes them. It does not cover hot springs outside Taipei; the Hot Spring Act and the mark are national, but session times, admission and dress codes are set locally or by the operator, and the national register is the place to check a specific venue elsewhere. It does not cover wild-stream springs beyond noting the Tourism Administration's instruction to wear swimwear there, and its warning that some locations require a mountain entry permit arranged in advance. And it does not cover Beitou's museums, Thermal Valley or the 北投石 nature reserve, which are sightseeing rather than bathing and are governed by their own rules.
Which Beitou baths are open?
The city's best-known cheap public bath is currently shut, and this is the single fact most likely to spoil a planned afternoon. Taipei's Parks and Street Lights Office states that the Beitou Park open-air hot spring pool — the terraced stone bath opened in December 1999 and nicknamed 千禧湯, the Millennium Pool — has been suspended since 24 January 2025 for a rebuilding project, with works expected to be completed by 26 September 2026 and the reopening date to be announced on the official website (臺北市政府工務局公園路燈工程管理處 FAQ, page updated 29 July 2026, reviewed 27 August 2026, checked 7 September 2026). Check that page on the day rather than trusting any secondhand listing, including this one.
When it runs, the published terms are these. Admission is NT$60 full and NT$30 concession, with concessions covering students, children, military and police, veterans, retired city employees, city low-income households, holders of the city's volunteer honour card and people aged 65 or over; holders of a disability card and one necessary companion enter free; and the 08:00–10:00 session is free for people aged 65 and over, or 55 and over for Indigenous elders. Six sessions run daily, from 05:30–07:30 through to 19:30–22:00, and the city's timetable describes four hot pools and two cold, with one high-temperature pool at 43–45°C, two mid pools at 38–43°C and one low pool at 35–40°C (臺北市政府工務局公園路燈工程管理處 bathhouse timetable PDF, dated 29 July 2026, checked 7 September 2026).
Three free alternatives are open in the meantime, and none of them is a mixed swimsuit pool. The Qianshan Park public bathhouses on Yangmingshan run separate men's and women's buildings on a timetable effective 14 October 2025: two sessions on Mondays, 05:30–08:00 and 10:00–12:00, and three on Tuesday to Sunday adding 15:00–18:00, with the last entry 30 minutes before each session ends, Monday afternoons closed for cleaning, and a comfortable capacity of about 20 people (same timetable PDF, checked 7 September 2026). Taipei's Department of Economic Development lists both Qianshan Park and Lengshuikeng public hot spring bathhouses as free (台北溫泉情報站, 輕鬆泡湯, page updated 27 April 2026, checked 7 September 2026). The Lengshuikeng bathhouse, inside Yangmingshan National Park in Shilin rather than Beitou, runs four sessions between 06:00 and 20:00 with cleaning and disinfection breaks between them, and closes on Mondays, at Lunar New Year's Eve and on typhoon days (內政部國家公園署, 冷水坑遊客服務站, checked 7 September 2026).
If you want hot spring water without any of the dress questions, use the foot baths. Taipei runs three free foot bath parks — Quanyuan Park, Liuhuanggu and Fuxing Park — open Tuesday to Sunday, 08:00 to 18:00 (臺北市政府產業發展局, 泡腳池開放時間, page updated 12 February 2026, checked 7 September 2026). You wash your feet before and after, you do not bathe or wash anything else, under-12s and older visitors need a companion, pets other than guide dogs are excluded, a single soak should not exceed 15 minutes, and you keep your face out of the acidic water.
What do you do first?
Pack a plain swimsuit and a towel before you go anywhere near Beitou, because that decision cannot be undone at the door. A one-piece or plain trunks will pass every dress code described above; shorts with pockets will not pass Taipei's public pool.
Then settle two questions about your chosen venue before you travel to it. Ask whether the bath is nude or swimsuit, since Taiwan's own tourism authority says this is the operator's call rather than a national rule. And look up the venue on the Tourism Administration's register of mark holders so you know its water has been tested, then confirm the plate at the entrance shows an expiry date in the future when you arrive.
If either answer is unclear on the day, book a private 湯屋 room instead of standing at a counter negotiating in a second language. It removes the dress question entirely, and the price you agree at the desk is the whole transaction.