Trip To Taiwan 台湾: Kenting 垦丁 - Kenting Night Market 垦丁大街
By Elin Chow - Saturday, August 15, 2015
Photo By: Elin Chow
A trip to Kenting is never complete without a visit to Kenting night market (also known as Kenting Shopping Street or Pingtung Tourist Night Market) 垦丁大街夜市. So, after checking into my room at Kenting An B&B 垦丁An民宿, we decided to visit the Kenting Night Market to fill our stomach before turning in for the night.
Kenting Night Market 垦丁大街
Located on the main road of Kenting, Kenting Night Market is known to be the largest night market in Pingtung City 屏东县, only second to Feng Jia Night Night Market 逢甲夜市 in Taichung City 台中. The 2 kilometers long street starts from Kenting National Park 垦丁国家公园 and ends somewhere around Caesar Park Hotel 垦丁凯撒大饭店 .
Just like Feng Jia Night Market, Kenting Night Market usually opens around evening time and continues until wee hours in the morning. The entire street bustles into life after sunset with both locals and international tourists, all of whom are eager to try on traditional snacks.
The night market stretches along both side of Kenting road, with hundred of stalls and vendors offering a large selection of local specialties, souvenirs and accessories for visitors to choose from.
There are also various themed bars and pubs which play loud music across the street. You could simply pick one that suit your taste to have a drink.
Although the hotels located along the street offer convenient access to Kenting Night Market, it can get very noisy at night. Be prepared not to sleep if you are planning to stay in one of these hotels as noise can be a big problem, especially if your room faces the street.
The night market can be especially crowded on weekend and public holidays. We visited on a Tuesday night and thought that being a weekday, it would be less crowded. But we were surprised to see thousands of people swarmed the street of Kenting on a weekday night.
The night market tends to get more crowded as night falls. Thus, visiting early on a weekday is the best way to avoid the crowds.
Even though the night market is bustling with both local and international tourists, motor vehicles were seen buzzing away within the packed street, so watch out for traffic. We have constantly watch out for motor vehicles (especially scooters) coming in from both direction while we eat our way down the street. It was annoying, but also a very interesting experience.
Be prepare to queue for good food at the popular stores during peak hours. But I believe good food is always worth waiting for.
Being a seaside town, the main highlight of Kenting night market is seafood. Simply pick whatever you want to eat and have it cooked fresh on the spot. A few of the local specialties of this market include grilled squids, oysters, clams, soft-shelled crabs, sweet potatoes mini balls and many more.
However, comparing with Feng Jia Night Market, prices of food are slightly more expensive here. Even so, Kenting Night market is still a great place to try some delicious local snacks at a relatively affordable price.
It takes us about 30 minutes to walk through the night market in one direction, and then back. We spent about 2 hours walking up and down the night market, buying and trying out various local street food.
Just in case the numerous roadside food stalls does not satisfy your cravings, the 24-hour 7-eleven and Family Mart convenience stores located along the street are great places for late night snacks.
Be sure check out Kenting Night Market if you are in Kenting City. This night market is certainly worth a visit and will not disappoint you.
If you are interested to know more about our trip, you may want to check out our 11D10N round island tour itinerary for the list of attractions that we had visited during our 11 days in Taiwan. Be sure to follow me on Facebook or Twitter for the latest updates on my 11 days adventures in Taiwan!
2 comments
Cool! We went there for a month and went to 墾丁夜市 too! It is a great inspiration.
ReplyDeletethis is so well done. I just posted our 2014 kenting video too. good job!
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