Dajia River Side Park is one of the most pleasant, entertaining and easy areas of the river to pedal with children. If you have your own bikes, you can leave your car in the park's parking lot. If not, you can rent them at Taibeishihebinzixingchezujie Station. Here they have available children's bicycles of all types (even with training wheels) and also city bikes with seats for children and babies. You can also rent normal adult bikes. The price is really low, about 100 NTD per hour.
From the bike rental area, head towards the river and start pedaling to the left, towards the big hotel (that big red building with Chinese architecture). Very soon you will arrive at the playground area. The first thing you will come across is the whale, which is very close to the zip line. If you continue a little further on, on the left you will see some fountains that in summer are a fun area to soak in (better to wear a swim suit) and the rest of the year they can serve as a bump park for bicycles.
Keep pedaling a little more and soon you will come across the octopus (which the children love). Here, there are some food and coffee stalls, where you can buy the typical breaded chicken fillets, nuggets, potatoes and other fried foods... it is not a wonder, so we recommend that you better bring a picnic from home.
Next, you have the bulk of the park, with an immense sand pool, swings and slides. And in front of the park is the Fountain of Hope, which, like a huge geyser, spouts water from time to time to the delight of the little ones.
When the children are tired of playing, get back on the bikes and continue in the direction you were going. You will see that you will reach an area where the road passes over you, there, exit the River Side Park through a tunnel and soon you will arrive at the Lin An Tai Historical House and Museum (09.00-17.00, free admission, closed on Mondays). This is a former home of a Chinese merchant who settled in Taiwan in the early 20th century. Park the bikes outside, and go inside... it is wonderful. Children especially love wandering in the stone maze that is entering on the left, but it is all beautiful.
Then take the bikes again and cross to Xinsheng Park. The best thing about this park is the Garden Maze, a maze made of bushes that looks like a movie. It is well worth going in and getting lost! And another attraction is that the planes pass over your heads! Stand on the central street of the park (the one that goes from east to west) and freak out because they pass really close.
With the bikes you can take a walk through the park gardens, and then return to Dajia River Side Park where you came from. As a prize, very close to where the children's playground is, on the pier you have a bar that opens in the afternoons, where you can have a beer with views of the river before returning the bikes.
