Ride Kaohsiung from where you are

Kaohsiung rides in three parts. Cijin island is a shared walk and bike path, reached by ferry with your bike. Through the city, from Lotus Pond past the Love River to Qianzhen, the official line is Round-the-Island Route No. 1, which the national cycling portal classes mostly as slow lane or mixed traffic: roads shared with scooters and cars, not paths. East of the city, the Gaoping River levee from Daliao has a long bike-only stretch.

Good to knowDistances are one way, measured along the portal's lines. Ferry crossings and short pier links aren't measured and are flagged in the results. The portal has no line for the Xilingang (West Harbour) bikeway or along the Love River banks, so those aren't measured here.

Where can I ride from here?

Rides people like, ready to go

• Cijin by two ferries: Gushan out, Zhongzhou back

  6.5 km one way · South-east down the island, then across the harbour to Qianzhen.

  Gushan Ferry Pier (Hamasen, Sizihwan) → Cijin Ferry Pier (Cijin old street) → Cijin Shell Museum and Rainbow Church → Cijin Windmill Park → Zhongzhou Ferry Pier (Cijin, to Qianzhen) → Qianzhen Ferry Pier (to Zhongzhou on Cijin)

  Both Kaohsiung City Shipping ferries carry bikes for NT$40 rider plus bike, so you can cross to Cijin at Gushan, ride the shared path down the island past the beach, Shell Museum and Windmill Park, and come back to the city side at Qianzhen without retracing.

  Getting back: Start with a YouBike at 一號船渠景觀橋 (Gushan pier) and return it at 新生臨水南路(南側) by the Qianzhen pier, or bring your own bike. Full-size bikes cannot use MRT O1 Hamasen; from Qianzhen the nearest MRT that takes them is R5 Qianzhen Senior High, via unmeasured streets to Qianzhen Star and 1.0 km of bike-only path.

• Cijin end to end: ferry pier to the south tip

  10 km one way · South-east, with the sea on your right.

  Cijin Ferry Pier (Cijin old street) → Cijin Shell Museum and Rainbow Church → Cijin Windmill Park → Zhongzhou Ferry Pier (Cijin, to Qianzhen) → Cijin south end (Hongmaogang Cultural Park)

  The whole portal line down Cijin on shared bike and pedestrian path, flat and by the sea, to Hongmaogang Cultural Park at the harbour's second mouth.

  Getting back: There is no ferry or rail at the south end: ride 3.5 km back to the Zhongzhou pier (measured) for the Qianzhen ferry, or 10.0 km back to the Cijin ferry pier.

• Lotus Pond by train: Xinzuoying to Zuoying (Jiucheng)

  2.3 km one way · South-west from Xinzuoying, then south along the pond.

  Xinzuoying Station (TRA, HSR Zuoying, MRT R16) → Lotus Pond, east shore (Cuihua Road bike bridge) → Zuoying (Jiucheng) Station (TRA), Lotus Pond south end

  A short ride between two TRA bike stations, ending on the only bike-only stretch of Route No. 1 in the city, along Lotus Pond's east shore.

  Getting back: Both ends are TRA bike stations (bike-service trains only, bike ticket 50% of the full fare). Or use YouBike: stations at 崇德翠華路口 and 左營(舊城)車站.

• Lotus Pond to the Love River mouth and Sanduo on Route No. 1

  10.5 km one way · South through the city to the harbour.

  Zuoying (Jiucheng) Station (TRA), Lotus Pond south end → Heart of Love River (Light Rail C24) → Love River mouth (Love Pier, Light Rail C11) → Sanduo Shopping District (MRT R8)

  The official line through the city from the old-town station past the Heart of Love River to the river mouth at Love Pier, then along the harbour to Sanduo, where the MRT takes bikes home. Almost all of it is slow lane on city roads, not a riverside path.

  Getting back: Start at TRA Zuoying (a TRA bike station) and finish at MRT R8 Sanduo Shopping District (full-size bikes in the set hours, NT$80). Do not plan on R13, R14, R16, R11 or O5/R10: they do not let full-size bikes in or out.

• Gushan pier to the Love River mouth and Heart of Love River

  5.3 km one way · East along the harbour, then north up the Love River.

  Gushan Ferry Pier (Hamasen, Sizihwan) → Pier-2 Art Center (Light Rail C12 and C13) → Love River mouth (Love Pier, Light Rail C11) → Heart of Love River (Light Rail C24)

  The city's own Xilingang (West Harbour Line) bikeway runs past Pier-2 to Love Pier, and Route No. 1 then follows the Love River north. Only the river part has a portal line, so the harbour part is unmeasured.

  Getting back: YouBike works both ways: stations at 一號船渠景觀橋 (Gushan pier) and 博愛同盟路口 (Heart of Love River). With your own full-size bike, MRT O2 Yanchengpu near Pier-2 and R12 Houyi near the Heart of Love River both allow bikes in the set hours.

• Sanduo to Qianzhen on the bike-only stretch

  3.4 km one way · South-east.

  Sanduo Shopping District (MRT R8) → Qianzhen Star bike bridge (Light Rail C3, near MRT R6) → Qianzhen Senior High (MRT R5)

  A short MRT-to-MRT ride that crosses the busy Zhongshan Road and Kaixuan 4th Road junction on the Qianzhen Star bike bridge and finishes on bike-only path.

  Getting back: R8 Sanduo Shopping District and R5 Qianzhen Senior High both allow full-size bikes in the set hours (NT$80). R6 Kaisyuan, beside Qianzhen Star, does not.

• MRT Daliao to TRA Jiuqutang by the Gaoping River

  11.8 km one way · East to the river, then north.

  Daliao Station (MRT OT1, Orange Line end) → Gaoping River levee at Daliao (start of the bike-only path) → Dashu Old Iron Bridge wetland park → Jiuqutang Station (TRA)

  Rail at both ends: out on the Orange Line, along the Daliao Bikeway to the Gaoping River, north past the Dashu old iron bridge wetland park to a TRA bike station. All slow lane on the portal.

  Getting back: MRT OT1 Daliao takes full-size bikes in the set hours (NT$80); TRA Jiuqutang is a TRA bike station (bike-service trains only). YouBike stations at both ends.

• Gaoping River levee: Daliao to the river mouth

  24.2 km one way · East to the river, then south to the sea.

  Daliao Station (MRT OT1, Orange Line end) → Gaoping River levee at Daliao (start of the bike-only path) → Gaoping River levee, south end (Linyuan, near the river mouth)

  The longest bike-only stretch in this planner: 18.3 km of portal bike-only path along the Kaohsiung bank of the Gaoping River, after 5.9 km of slow lane from MRT Daliao. Current condition is not confirmed by an official source.

  Getting back: None: no rail or verified service at the south end. Ride back the same way (24.2 km to MRT Daliao, measured), or turn around earlier. Carry water and lights.

Ferries, Metro and the train back

• Kaohsiung Metro (rules revised 2026-02-01): full-size non-motorised bikes (up to 120 cm high, 180 cm long, 70 cm wide) on working days 09:00 to 16:00 and 20:00 to close, all day at weekends and on national holidays, special events announced separately. NT$80 rider plus bike from the service counter, first car only, 4 bikes per train, lifts and ramps only. Never at R6 Kaisyuan, O5/R10 Formosa Boulevard, R11 Kaohsiung Main Station, R13 Aozihdi, R14 Kaohsiung Arena, R16 Zuoying or O1 Hamasen. Stations in this planner that do take full-size bikes: R8 Sanduo Shopping District, R5 Qianzhen Senior High, OT1 Daliao, plus O2 Yanchengpu near Pier-2 and R12 Houyi near the Heart of Love River.
• A non-motorised folding bike that folds to 220 cm total (length plus width plus height) or less rides Kaohsiung Metro free at any time and any station. The Circular Light Rail accepts only non-motorised folding bikes, folded before boarding, free; a full-size bike cannot use the light rail, so the waterfront stops (C11 Love Pier, C12 and C13 Pier-2, C14 Hamasen, C24 Heart of Love River, C3 Qianzhen Star) are no help for a ride back with one.
• TRA stations in or near this planner on the TRA bike-station list (人車同行): Xinzuoying, Zuoying (Jiucheng), Kaohsiung, Minzu, Science and Technology Museum, Zhengyi, Fengshan and Jiuqutang (plus Neiwei, Museum of Fine Arts and Sankuaicuo). Gushan Station is not on the list. Whole bikes ride only bike-service trains with a bike ticket at 50% of the full fare and a per-train quota; a bike in a proper bike bag (150 cm longest side, 220 cm total) rides any train.
• Ferries with a bike: on both the Gushan to Cijin and Qianzhen to Zhongzhou ferries, rider plus bicycle costs NT$40 cash (listed as a discount from NT$50; student NT$35, concession NT$25) or NT$40 by iPASS, EasyCard or icash, one card per person; a bicycle alone is NT$10. Cash fares need coins: staff give no change. That makes a loop possible: Gushan ferry to Cijin, ride 6.5 km down the island, Zhongzhou ferry back to Qianzhen.
• Electric scooters and similar powered devices must be switched off, folded and taken on board through the pedestrian waiting room only, or staff may refuse them (Kaohsiung City Shipping notice). The operator's pages do not say which entrance bicycles use.
• YouBike one way: Kaohsiung City Shipping names YouBike stations at the Gushan pier (一號船渠景觀橋) and the Zhongzhou pier (中洲渡輪船站), and the official YouBike list has stations by the Cijin pier, the Qianzhen pier, MRT Daliao exit 1, Jiuqutang Station and the Daliao end of the Gaoping levee. YouBike's Kaohsiung transfer discount includes the ferry: members who tap an iPASS on the ferry and rent a YouBike 2.0 with the same card within an hour ride the first 30 minutes free.
• Hongmaogang (Cijin south end) and the Gaoping River mouth have no rail or ferry return. Whether Kaohsiung buses carry bikes was not checked. Plan to ride back. Not confirmed

Ferry times and the evening

• Gushan to Cijin ferry (旗鼓航線): first boats 05:00 from Cijin and 05:15 from Gushan, last boats 02:00. Weekdays a boat every 6 to 8 minutes 06:40 to 08:30, 8 to 15 minutes through the day, every 30 minutes after midnight; holidays every 6 to 8 minutes 12:20 to 19:40. The operator says times are for reference only, as currents, weather and ship traffic affect them.
• Qianzhen to Zhongzhou ferry (前中航線): fixed sailings, 18 each way: from Qianzhen 06:15 to 22:00, from Zhongzhou 06:00 to 21:30 (operator timetable).
• Sea bus from Penny Lane (棧貳庫 KW2) by Pier-2 to Cijin: weekdays 12:30 to 16:15, weekends and holidays 12:00 to 18:45, NT$80. The operator's page does not say whether bikes are carried; do not plan on it with a bike.
• The Gushan ferry pier building is being renovated; Kaohsiung City Shipping asks callers to use (07) 571-2542 instead of the pier's own number.
• No official opening or lighting hours were found for Route No. 1 through the city, the Lotus Pond and Love River paths, the Xilingang bikeway, the Cijin path, the Daliao Bikeway or the Gaoping River levee. Do not publish "open 24 hours". United Daily News (2026-06-23) reported missing street lights on Lotus Pond's east side. Bring front and rear lights. Not confirmed

When is it busy?

• Public Television (PTS, 2025-04-04) reported the Gushan to Cijin ferries packed over the Tomb Sweeping long weekend, with one Cijin resident waiting more than an hour to board; the operator ran 5 boats instead of its usual 4 on holidays. News report
• On holidays of 3 days or more, from 11:00 to 19:00 each day, visitors' fuel scooters may not board the Gushan to Cijin ferry; Cijin residents, electric scooters and bicycles are exempt (operator route page; also reported by ETtoday for the 2026 Dragon Boat holiday).
• Kaohsiung City Shipping says it adds sailings at weekends depending on visitor numbers.
• ETtoday (2026-06-16) reported that the city applies traffic control at Cijin, Sizihwan, Hamasen, Pier-2 and other sights over long holidays, depending on traffic. News report
• For Cijin, cross on a weekday morning, avoid long-weekend afternoons, and walk the bike around the pier and old street. On the city slow lanes, expect heavy scooter traffic at rush hour. No official counts by time of day were found. Our advice

Renting a bike

• YouBike 2.0 is the verified option across this planner: the official station list (2026-11-04) has a station within about 220 m of every place except Xinzuoying's line point (about 270 m), the Zhongzhou line point (the station is at the pier, about 350 m off the line), Hongmaogang (about 1.5 km) and the Gaoping River mouth (about 1 km). Names are in places.json. Availability changes; check the YouBike app.
• Commercial bike rental shops on Cijin, at Pier-2 or by the Love River were not verified: the Kaohsiung tourism site (khh.travel) returned HTTP 403 and no other official rental directory was found. Not confirmed

Rules on the paths and roads

• The national portal classes most of the city corridor in this planner as slow lane (慢車道) or mixed traffic (混合車道): roads shared with scooters and cars, not paths. That is Round-the-Island Route No. 1 from Xinzuoying past the Love River to Qianzhen, and the whole Daliao Bikeway. Bike-only path (自行車專用道) is limited to about 1 km at Lotus Pond, about 3.7 km from Qianzhen Star toward the airport area (1.0 km of it in this planner) and about 18 km of the Gaoping River levee south of Daliao. The Cijin line is shared bike and pedestrian path.
• Kaohsiung City Government describes a 24.5 km Love River Bikeway from Lotus Pond to Love Pier and a 6 km Xilingang (West Harbour Line) bikeway on the former harbour freight railway from Fisherman's Wharf by the Gushan ferry pier to Kaixuan Road, past Pier-2 and Love Pier (Tourism Administration database entries supplied by the city, last updated 2022). Neither has a national portal line, so this planner measures the Love River corridor along Route No. 1 and leaves the harbour stretch unmeasured. The city's 2023 report to the council says the Circular Light Rail north of C14 Hamasen was laid in the former Xilingang railway corridor that had been a bikeway.
• Lotus Pond: United Daily News (2026-06-23) reported that the city's improvements were concentrated on the west bank, that east-side footway and bike-lane surfaces are worn with no street lighting, that about 1,500 m from the Confucius Temple to the Qingshui Temple archway had not been improved, and that the Tourism Bureau planned to seek central funding for 2026 to 2027. The portal's bike-only stretch in this planner is on the east side. News report
• Gaoping River levee: the portal draws about 18 km of bike-only path from Daliao to the river mouth, but no managing-authority page confirming its current condition was found. A 2019 Kaohsiung Public Works bike network study noted gaps under the Gaoping and Shuangyuan bridges.
• Wear a properly fitted helmet. On the slow lanes keep right, watch for scooters passing and turning across you, and stop and look at every junction. Give walkers priority on the Cijin shared path and in the Star Tunnel. Carry water and sun protection; the Cijin south half and the Gaoping levee have little shade and no verified services. Do not ride the seafront or the levee in typhoon warnings or high water. Our advice

• Cijin island bikeway
• Bikes on trains and metro
• YouBike

Local guideFor the MRT, Light Rail, Cijin ferry and transit cards, see getting around Kaohsiung on Inside Kaohsiung.