How Can I Get From Maokong Cable Car Station To Taipei 101?
Every way down from Maokong Station to Taipei 101: the Brown Line route, the free tour bus, BR15 and S10, walking the trails, the closing-time trap and the Monday problem, with realistic door-to-door times.
The Maokong Gondola ends at a tea village 4.03 kilometres of cable away from the Taipei Zoo, and Taipei 101 sits on the far side of the city basin from both. The good news is that the two anchor points of the trip, the MRT and the gondola, are stitched together at the same station. The bad news is that the plan that works on a Saturday evening strands you on a Tuesday, because the gondola's closing time changes with the calendar and most Mondays it does not run at all.
How Can I Get From The Cable Car Up To Maokong Station To Taipei 101?
The default route: ride the gondola back down to Taipei Zoo Station, walk roughly 350 metres to MRT Taipei Zoo Station, and take the Wenhu (Brown) Line north with one transfer toward the Bannan Line for Taipei 101. The adult single-journey MRT fare from Taipei Zoo Station to central stations is NT$35, and the full journey runs well over an hour door to door.
That is the route most visitors take, and it is the one the system was designed around. The Wenhu Line terminates at Taipei Zoo Station, so every train leaving that platform is heading somewhere useful, and the operator's own access page treats the MRT as the primary feeder for the gondola. The Brown Line is a rubber-tyred, driverless line, and it runs frequently enough that you rarely check a timetable.
The transfer is where people hesitate. The Wenhu Line does not pass Taipei 101 directly; you change to the Bannan Line to reach the Taipei 101/World Trade Center area, or you ride toward Taipei Main Station and Ximen, both NT$35 from Taipei Zoo Station. The journey from Taipei Main Station back down to Taipei Zoo Station takes roughly 40 minutes with one transfer, so budget the same in reverse plus the gondola ride itself, which the operator's technical figures put at about 20 to 30 minutes depending on running speed.
Before any of that, of course, you need a ticket up and down. The one-day pass is the option that makes the return leg free, since a single-journey ticket only carries you one way and you must buy a new one to come back.
Is There A Free Way Down The Hill From Maokong Station?
Yes: the Maokong Tour Bus is free to anyone who has ridden the gondola that day, on both the Right Line and the Left Line, and it loops the Maokong area including a stop back at Taipei Zoo Station. Since 3 March 2025 this free transfer applies to all gondola riders, part of the city's Greater Three-Cat Park integration, so your gondola ticket doubles as your bus fare.
The mechanism is your stored-value card. Tap the same EasyCard on the gondola and the tour bus reads the free transfer, no extra fare deducted. The Right Line runs weekdays 09:00 to 20:00 and weekends and holidays 08:30 to 20:00, with weekday frequencies of every 10 to 15 minutes and weekend frequencies of every 7 to 10 minutes.
One detail catches visitors out after dark: after 19:00 there are only three departures, at 19:00, 19:30 and 20:00. If you are up at Maokong for the night view from the new Sky Green observation deck, which opened at the station in January 2026, the free bus has already finished its last loop by the time the city lights look their best. The free transfer is a daytime tool, not an evening one.
The trade-off versus the gondola is time and comfort. The bus winds down narrow farm roads that Taipei City's own Public Transportation Office describes as narrow tracks with severely insufficient parking, the very congestion the gondola was built to relieve. It costs nothing, but it is slower and it stops running hours before the cable does.
What About Buses BR15 And S10, Or Walking Down?
BR15 (Brown 15) and S10 are the two public buses that climb all the way to Maokong from street level, and they are the routes the operator itself directs people to whenever the gondola is shut. Walking down is also possible: the Camphor Tree Trail, about 1.5 km and roughly 30 minutes one way, is Taipei's first fully level trail, though a walk to the MRT is a far longer commitment than the trail figures suggest.
The BR15 and S10 matter most on maintenance Mondays and during the annual overhaul, when there is no gondola at all. During the June 2026 three-week overhaul, TRTC's own notice named BR15, S10 (including its short-turn runs) and the Maokong Tour Bus Left Line as the replacement routes. If you are planning a Monday visit, these two route numbers are the ones to save.
Walking deserves honest framing. The eight signposted Maokong trails are real and pleasant, and the Camphor Tree Trail is genuinely flat, but none of them is a shortcut to an MRT station. The trails connect the village, the tea gardens and viewpoints to each other, not to the zoo. Walking out of Maokong to street-level transit is a hike measured in hours on farm lanes, not a stroll. Treat the trails as the reason you came up, and use the cable or a bus for the descent.
If you are weighing up the whole day rather than just the ride, the Maokong Gondola one-day pass is what turns the descent from a second purchase into a free hop, and it is worth settling before you go.
What Time Does The Gondola Close, And Why Does The Day Of The Week Matter?
The gondola runs weekdays 09:00 to 21:00 and weekends and public holidays 09:00 to 22:00. The trap is that no last-boarding time is published anywhere on the operator's site, so arriving at 20:50 on a Tuesday is a genuine gamble, while the same arrival on a Saturday leaves you an hour of margin. One evening plan, two different outcomes.
This is the single most common way an itinerary breaks. The sunset-and-city-lights plan at Maokong works beautifully on a Friday or Saturday, when the cable keeps running until 22:00 and the night view from the Sky Green deck is followed by a calm ride down. On a Tuesday the same plan ends with you watching the clock, because the operator publishes closing times but no cutoff for boarding, and the honest answer is that nobody outside the station knows how late is too late.
If you do reach the top station after the last cabins, you are not stranded, but your options narrow sharply. The free tour bus finished its last departures at 20:00. BR15 and S10 still run, on their own schedules. A taxi or ride-hail from the ridge works, but Taipei City's own description of Maokong's roads, narrow farm tracks, explains why a descent that looks short on the map takes longer than it should. The final fallback, and the one the operator has published for weather shutdowns, is the shuttle arrangement: when the line suspends with passengers at the upper stations, free shuttle buses take them down the mountain. That provision is for suspensions, not for missed closing times, so do not plan around it.
What If My Visit Falls On A Monday?
On most Mondays there is no gondola at all: the system closes for routine maintenance on many Mondays through the year, and the exact dates vary month to month. The operator's published 2026 calendar lists closures including 12 and 26 January, 9, 16 and 23 February, and every Monday in May, while 29 June and 31 August are explicitly operating days. Check the dated calendar, not the general rule.
The reason the calendar matters more than the rule is that the operator's own English summary and its Chinese closure calendar disagree, and only the calendar is dated. October 2026 has a single Monday closure, while May has four. Planning "we'll avoid Mondays" is roughly right; planning against a specific date requires the published list.
For a Monday visitor determined to see the tea houses, the route changes shape entirely: MRT to Taipei Zoo Station as usual, then BR15 or S10 up the hill instead of the cable, and the same buses back down. Your Taipei 101 leg is unchanged, the MRT runs every day, but the hillside leg loses both the gondola ride and the free tour bus transfer that comes with it.
What About The Reverse Trip, From Taipei 101 To Maokong?
Do the gondola before the 101, not after. Going out, ride the MRT to Taipei Zoo Station, walk the 350 metres to the gondola's Taipei Zoo Station, and go up while the light is still on the tea gardens; coming back, the evening view belongs to Taipei 101's observation deck. The order matters because the gondola closes earlier than the 101, and the tea houses are at their best at sunset.
The arithmetic of the day supports this. If you start at the 101 mid-afternoon, you arrive at the zoo with a compressed window: gondola up, tea house, gondola down, all before a closing time that the operator does not attach a last-boarding figure to. Start at the zoo in the morning and you get the tea village at a human pace, the sunset from the ridge, and a ride down with margin to spare, then the 101's own night view as the finale, which is the version of the city skyline that stays open late.
One structural point worth knowing: the gondola route is roughly shaped like the numeral 7, with four passenger stations, and the direction change happens at two closed angle stations before Zhinan Temple, not at the temple itself. If you hop off mid-route at Zhinan Temple Station or Taipei Zoo South Station on a one-day pass, you are not losing your place in some queue; cabins circulate continuously with no timetable, and a pass holder re-enters at any station.
How Long Does Each Option Really Take, Door To Door?
No single number covers it. The realistic door-to-door range from Maokong Station to the Taipei 101 area is about 60 to 90 minutes via gondola plus MRT, roughly 90 minutes to two hours via the free tour bus or BR15 and S10, and walking is measured in half a day. The variables are the gondola's running speed, the transfer wait, and how close you are cutting it to a closing time.
| Option | Rough door-to-door time | Cost notes | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gondola down + Brown Line MRT with transfer | About 60 to 90 minutes | Gondola fare plus NT$35 MRT fare to central stations | The default; fastest and most reliable |
| Free Maokong Tour Bus + MRT | About 90 minutes to 2 hours | Free with a same-day gondola tap; last departures 19:00, 19:30, 20:00 | Daytime loops when you want the scenic road |
| BR15 or S10 bus + MRT | About 90 minutes to 2 hours | Standard bus fare; the operator's own fallback routes | Mondays and overhaul closures |
| Taxi or ride-hail from the ridge | Variable; narrow farm roads slow the descent | Metered or app fare; expect a longer ride than the map suggests | After the buses finish, if you missed closing |
| Walking down via trails | Half a day or more | Free, but trails link the village, not the MRT | Only with time, daylight and proper shoes |
The gondola leg alone is about 20 to 30 minutes, up to roughly 37 minutes when the system runs at reduced speed. The MRT leg from Taipei Zoo Station to Taipei Main Station is roughly 40 minutes with one transfer, and the fare to central stations is NT$35. Everything else in the table is those two legs plus the walk between stations and your wait, which is why the honest answer is a range and not a number.
A one-day pass changes the return leg from a second fare into a free re-entry, which is exactly the situation this route creates: you go up, you come back down, and on a single-journey ticket that is two purchases.
The short answers: gondola down to Taipei Zoo Station, Brown Line north with one transfer, NT$35 MRT fare to central stations, about 60 to 90 minutes door to door. The free tour bus works by day, BR15 and S10 cover Mondays, and the closing time, 21:00 weekdays and 22:00 weekends, is the detail that decides whether your evening plan survives.
Common Questions About Getting From Maokong To Taipei 101
How Can I Get From Maokong Gondola Station To Taipei 101?
Ride the gondola back down to Taipei Zoo Station, walk about 350 metres to MRT Taipei Zoo Station, and take the Wenhu (Brown) Line north with a transfer toward the Bannan Line for the Taipei 101 area. The MRT fare from Taipei Zoo Station to central stations is NT$35, and the whole journey runs about 60 to 90 minutes door to door.
Is The Maokong Tour Bus Really Free?
For anyone who has ridden the gondola that day, yes. Tap the same EasyCard and the transfer to the Right and Left Lines is free, a rule that has applied to all gondola riders since 3 March 2025. The catch is timing: after 19:00 only three departures remain, at 19:00, 19:30 and 20:00.
What Happens If I Miss The Last Gondola Down?
You are not stranded, but your options narrow. The free tour bus has finished by 20:00, so the remaining routes are BR15, S10 or a taxi down the narrow farm roads. The operator's free shuttle provision for stranded passengers applies to service suspensions, such as lightning or wind shutdowns, not to missed closing times.
Does The Gondola Run On Mondays?
Usually not. Most Mondays are routine maintenance closures, but the exact dates vary month to month and the operator publishes a dated calendar: in 2026, for example, October has one Monday closure while May has four, and 29 June and 31 August are explicitly operating days. Check the calendar for your date rather than assuming.
Should I Do Maokong Or Taipei 101 First?
Maokong first. The tea houses are at their best at sunset, the gondola closes earlier than the 101's observation deck, and no last-boarding time is published, so the hillside belongs to the daytime and the skyline belongs to the evening. Doing it in reverse leaves you racing a closing time with no published cutoff.
Can I Walk From Maokong Down To The MRT?
Not realistically. The signposted trails, including the 1.5 km Camphor Tree Trail, link the village, tea gardens and viewpoints to each other, not to the zoo or the MRT. Walking out to street-level transit is a hike of hours on farm lanes. Use the gondola, the tour bus or BR15 and S10 for the descent.
Related reading: the full gondola hours and best visiting times guide covers the closure calendar in detail, and getting to Maokong from central Taipei works through every feeder route in the other direction.