National Palace Museum offers free entry on 17 October
Published on 10/18/2026 at 04:17 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
The National Palace Museum in Taipei offered free admission to Exhibition Hall 1 on 17 October 2026 for Taiwan Culture Day. The one-day access change applied to all visitors and gave the museum's main northern venue a specific place in Taiwan's national cultural programme.
Taiwan Culture Day brings free entry on 17 October
The museum announced that admission to Exhibition Hall 1 would be free for all visitors on Saturday, 17 October 2026. The date was listed on the operator's admission page alongside the museum's regular free-entry dates, making the special arrangement relevant to travellers who were in Taipei during the October weekend.
The Northern Branch is at No. 221, Section 2, Zhishan Road, in Shilin District. The official admission information identifies Exhibition Hall 1 as the venue covered by the Taiwan Culture Day arrangement, while the Southern Branch is a separate site in Chiayi County. The museum's free-entry notice sets out the date and the affected exhibition hall.
National Palace Museum links the free day to its history
The institution was officially founded on 10 October 1925, according to its historical record. Its origins are tied to the preservation and public presentation of objects inherited from the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing courts.
The Taipei museum building was completed in August 1965. The new venue opened internally on 12 November 1965 and to the public on 13 November 1965, with galleries devoted to calligraphy, paintings, bronzes, tapestries, porcelain, jade, curios, rare books and historical documents. The October 2026 free-entry day therefore placed a current access arrangement within the continuing public life of a museum that has been open in Taipei since 1965. Background on the Taipei museum describes its role in preserving major holdings from the Chinese imperial collection.
October displays give the free day a current focus
The museum's October exhibition calendar listed A Keen Eye: Aesthetic Principles and the Appreciation of Painting from 9 October to 27 December 2026. Spotlight on National Treasures 2026-III followed the same dates in Exhibition Hall 1, while Reviving Cultural Treasures: Conservation and Restoration ran from 8 October 2026 to 3 January 2027.
These displays connected the 17 October access arrangement with different parts of the collection. Painting appreciation, national-treasure presentations and conservation work were all listed for Exhibition Hall 1, so the free day applied to a venue with several active exhibition themes rather than to an empty seasonal programme.
Visiting National Palace Museum: what travellers from Western Europe should know
- Taiwan Culture Day access took place on 17 October 2026 at Exhibition Hall 1 of the Northern Branch in Taipei.
- Admission to Exhibition Hall 1 was free for all visitors on 17 October 2026 under the museum's published Taiwan Culture Day notice.
- The Northern Branch is located at No. 221, Section 2, Zhishan Road, Shilin District, Taipei City, Taiwan.
- Entry requirements depend on your nationality; UK travellers can check the FCDO travel advice at gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice, Irish travellers the Department of Foreign Affairs at ireland.ie.
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Frequently asked questions about National Palace Museum
When did Taiwan Culture Day take place at National Palace Museum?
The special free-admission arrangement took place on 17 October 2026 at Exhibition Hall 1 in the Northern Branch.
What is National Palace Museum?
It is a museum in Taipei preserving and displaying major Chinese art and historical collections, with its Taipei venue open to the public since 13 November 1965.
Where is National Palace Museum and how do you get there?
The Northern Branch is at No. 221, Section 2, Zhishan Road, Shilin District, Taipei City, Taiwan.
