Taiwan
Where to stay in Chiayi City
Chiayi City is a city in Taiwan, home to about 262,000 people.
- Best months
- November to March
- Nearest airport
- CYI6 km · Chiayi Airport
- Currency
- TWDNew Taiwan dollar
- Time zone
- Asia/Taipei
- Language
- Amis, Atayal, Bunun
About
About Chiayi City
Chiayi (), officially known as Chiayi City, is a city located in Chianan Plain in southwestern Taiwan, surrounded by Chiayi County with a population of 263,188 inhabitants as of January 2023.
Chiayi City is a laid-back, friendly country town of around 270,000 people and is the access point for trips to the scenic mountain area of Alishan. If you are on your way to Alishan, note that it is not necessary to stay in Chiayi, as buses leave quite frequently.
Wikipedia and Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Things to do
What to see and do in Chiayi City
See
The best way to get to know Chiayi is to take a walk down Culture Road, and not just once but a few times, back and forth. There are also two movie theaters where you can experience watching both Western movies and Chinese-language movies in a theater packed with local Taiwanese viewers, young and old. There is a good bookstore called Hon-too Bookstore with a wide range of English-language magazines which you can peruse at your leisure. For some quiet downtime, Chiayi Park and Botanical Gardens are a lovely way to spend the afternoon. The Botanical Gardens provide pleasant trails that weave you through a large variety of plants and trees native to the area.
- Hinoki Village
- Sun-Shooting Tower
- Chiayi Jen Wu Temple
- Chiayi Confucian Temple
- Mount Jiuhua Kshitigarbha Temple
- St. John's Cathedral
- Chiayi Municipal Museum
- Chiayi City Historical Relic Museum
- Chiayi Old Prison
- Museum of Ancient Taiwan Tiles
- Taiwan Hinoki Museum
Do
Do visit the 1931 Kano baseball museum, which houses old photographs of the famous Chiayi high school team from 1931.
- Chiayi City Municipal Baseball Stadium
- Chiayi City Municipal Stadium
- Chiayi City Cultural Square
- Cultural Affairs Bureau
- Chiayi Municipal Cultural Affairs Bureau Library
- Chiayi City Music Hall
- Art Site of Chiayi Railway Warehouse
- Chiayi Performing Arts Center
- Chiayi Park
- Chiayi Botanical Garden
- Chiayi Cultural and Creative Industries Park
- Lantan Lake
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Where to stay
Which part of Chiayi City to stay in
There are a number of business and tourist motels just outside the TRA Chiayi station.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Where to stay
Hotels in Chiayi City
61 hotels within 25 km of the centre, as recorded in Wikidata; the 40 best known are shown, by the number of Wikipedia editions that cover them. Each name links to its encyclopedia article where there is one.
| Hotel | Opened | From centre |
|---|---|---|
| Hotel Indigo Alishan | 23.1 km | |
| Alishan Sunrise B&B | 23.0 km | |
| An Lan Jie Hostel | 0.9 km | |
| Back Home Hotel | 1.5 km | |
| Beverly Garden Motel | 1.9 km | |
| Boston Hotel | 0.7 km | |
| Chiayi Crown Hotel | 0.7 km | |
| Chiayi Guanzhi Hotel | 2.1 km | |
| Chiayi King Hotel | 0.6 km | |
| Chiayi Look Hotel | 0.5 km | |
| Chiayi Petite Hostel | 0.6 km | |
| Chinya Hotspring Hotel | 16.6 km | |
| Country Garden Hotel | 0.8 km | |
| Dang Guei Homestay | 22.5 km | |
| de Rěve Express Hotel | 0.9 km | |
| Esun Villa Hotel | 2.1 km | |
| Ever Delightful Business Hotel | 1.8 km | |
| Evergreen Palace Hotel Chiayi | 15.8 km | |
| F Hotel Chiayi | 9.0 km | |
| Gene Long Haiy Att Hotel | 0.4 km | |
| Guan-Zi-Ling Toong Mao Spa Resort | 16.9 km | |
| Guanko Hotel | 1.6 km | |
| Guanziling Lin Kuei Yuan Hot Spring Resort | 17.4 km | |
| Holiday Inn Express Chiayi | 2021 | 1.2 km |
| Hotel Day Plus Teascape | 1.5 km | |
| Hotel Hi - Chuiyang | 1.4 km | |
| Hotel Hi Xinmin | 1.5 km | |
| Hotel Liyaou | 1.1 km | |
| Hotelday + Day Plus Hotel | 1.5 km | |
| Hsin Hotel | 2.8 km | |
| King's Garden Villa | 17.4 km | |
| Lan Kwai Fong Garden Hotel | 0.4 km | |
| Le Beau Max Resort | 1994 | 6.1 km |
| Light Hostel Chiayi | 0.6 km | |
| Look Royal Resort | 3.4 km | |
| Maison De Chine Chiayi | 2006 | 0.4 km |
| Mega Hotel | 0.8 km | |
| ML HOTEL | 0.2 km | |
| New Hongye Hotel | 17.3 km | |
| Nice Prince Hotel | 1.8 km |
All 61 hotels in Chiayi City, with their history and operators
When to go
The best time to visit Chiayi City
The most comfortable months for a city stay in Chiayi City are November to March. July is the warmest month, with average highs of 32 °C; August is the wettest, with about 444 mm of rain.
Comfortable means average daytime high between 18 °C and 29 °C and under 80 mm of rain in the month. Averages for 1991–2020 over the surrounding area, a grid square about 50 km across, so a coast or a nearby mountain can make the town itself warmer or cooler. Data: CRU TS v4.10, Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia (Open Database License).
Getting there
Getting to Chiayi City: airports and arrival
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Chiayi Airport (CYI), about 6.3 km from the city centre in a straight line; Tainan International Airport / Tainan Air Base (TNN, 64 km) and Penghu Magong Airport (MZG, 84 km) are also within reach.
Getting in
HSR Chiayi (Taibao) station is on the high-speed line between Taipei (1½ hr, NT$1,080) and Kaohsiung. The HSR station is over 15 km out of town, but linked to the city by the Chiayi BRT system.
Getting around
The Chiayi Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system has three lines, with the main line linking the HSR and TRA railway stations. The trip between the two takes around 30 minutes (NT$40, exact change - no charge if going directly between the HSR & TRA stations), but note that the BRT stop is on the rear side of the TRA station, so you need to take the pedestrian bridge to cross to the other side. The location of the TRA station is not obvious from the BRT stop.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
CYI · Chiayi Airport
TNN · Tainan International Airport / Tainan Air Base
MZG · Penghu Magong Airport
Local knowledge
Eating, drinking and staying safe in Chiayi City
Eat
Chiayi is famous in Taiwan and among tourists for its turkey rice (火雞肉飯), a popular dish of turkey strips and a savory sauce ladled over the white rice. It's available at many sidewalk shops and indoor eateries around town, NT$20-40.
Drink
Chiayi has many roadside tea shops and quite a few karaoke lounges, and a few pubs and bars, too.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Questions
Chiayi City: questions travellers ask
When is the best time to visit Chiayi City?
The most comfortable months for a city stay in Chiayi City are November to March. July is the warmest month, with average highs of 32 °C; August is the wettest, with about 444 mm of rain.
Which airport is closest to Chiayi City?
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Chiayi Airport (CYI), about 6.3 km from the city centre in a straight line; Tainan International Airport / Tainan Air Base (TNN, 64 km) and Penghu Magong Airport (MZG, 84 km) are also within reach.
What currency is used in Chiayi City?
New Taiwan dollar (TWD).
Nearby
Destinations near Chiayi City
Sources: city facts from Wikidata and Wikipedia; airports from OurAirports; climate from CRU TS v4.10 (University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit), 1991–2020 monthly means, 0.5° grid; places to stay, guest scores and amenities from each operator's own public pages. How this guide is made.