Guide to Taipei, Taiwan
Getting to and around Taipei
Getting from the airport to city center
Most likely, you’ll be flying into Taipei Taoyuan International Airport (TPE). The airport is about 1 hour from Taipei’s city center, and you can take either a taxi, Uber, or MRT to get there. To reach the city center by MRT, take the Purple (Airport Express) Line. This will take you from the airport to Taipei Main Station. Taipei Main Station is centrally located within the city center, and you can either walk, take a bus, or transfer to another MRT line to reach your accommodation from there.
Pro tip: When you’re flying into Taiwan, don’t forget to register for Taiwan the Lucky Land, a little lottery game you can play at the airport upon arrival. You can win up to 5000NT ($150) from the game (which we actually did)! You have to register ahead of time, at least 1 day before your flight, so don’t forget!
Getting around Taipei
Public transit makes getting around Taipei really convenient. The MRT runs through all major areas of Taipei, and you can easily transfer to different lines at different MRT stations. From an MRT station, most places you’ll want to visit will be either within a 20-30 minute walk, or there will surely be a bus that can take you directly to where you need to go. The MRT runs every few minutes, so you don’t need to worry about timing with the schedule there. Buses can be less frequent, and Google Maps is oftentimes inaccurate with the bus timing, so I’d recommend downloading the Bus+ App which has accurate and realtime bus times in Taiwan.
Uber and taxis are both available in Taipei and are similar in price. Most people prefer one or the other, just based off which one they are more familiar with.
Where to stay in Taipei
When I went to Taipei, I had a friend tell me that I could virtually choose anywhere, and it would all be fine. That everywhere has places to eat and drink around, and it’s all easily accessible. It turned out that he was right! I think you could virtually pick any neighborhood, and all will be good options. These are the places I’ve personally stayed and visited in Taipei, and my recommendations based off my experience.
Ximen
The most common neighborhood tourists stay is in the Ximen neighborhood. Ximending is home to a huge shopping district with plenty of shops and restaurants, and is easily the largest tourist hub of Taipei. I stayed here for 4 days and while I appreciated getting to see the hustle and bustle of this neighborhood, I personally prefer to stay in more local areas. If you only have a few days and want to be somewhere convenient with plenty of things to do around, Ximen would be a good option. If you are staying longer, you could start with a few days in Ximen to see it, and then move to a quieter, more local part of Taipei.
Taipei Main Station / Zhongzheng
Since Taipei Main Station is a well connected MRT hub, it’s convenient to stay around the Main Station. From here, there’s plenty of places to eat all around, and many different neighborhoods accessible to you. The lively Ximen neighborhood is only a 15 minute walk south, the traditional Dihua Street is a 15 minute walk north, and you’ll be within quick access via the MRT to any other neighborhood in Taipei.
Xinyi & Songshan
Xinyi and Songshan are areas with tons of places to eat, shop, and drink all around, while still retaining a local feel. I enjoyed walking around here and feeling like I was living more amongst locals, while still having conveniences all around. This would be a good option to stay to get a more local feel for Taiwan, while still being easily connected to the rest of the city. Raohe Night Market is also in this neighborhood, and MRT lines make it accessible to the rest of city. It gets a little fancier and more expensive in the area towards this cafe, and more local and chill feeling in the area towards this bakery.
Da’an
I liked Da’an. It’s also a local feeling neighborhood, that feels a little more calm and spacious than other parts more in the center of the city. Like all neighborhoods, there are places to eat and drink all along the street, but here you also have more parks and a generally more residential feel.
Neihu
This is my grandparent’s neighborhood, and a very local Taiwanese neighborhood. I think almost no foreigners stay here. I like this area quite a bit. There’s places to eat and drink everywhere, and you can find busier main streets and smaller side streets. There’s also many parks and nature trails accessible from this neighborhood.
How long to stay in Taipei
To see the sights and really get to explore and inhale the city, you could spend at least 5 days in Taipei. In 5 days, you could see some of the main sights, do some short hikes, explore the myriad of food and drink options, visit the night markets, and begin to inhale the city.
If you have more time, even 1 week+ would be good. This would allow you to daytrip to neighborhoods, nature, and sights that are a bit further away such as Tamsui District on the coast, Yamingshan in the mountains, Jiufen the historical old neighborhood, and various hot springs. Taipei is a big city, so the longer you’re able to spend, the more you’ll be able to just walk the various neighborhoods and really get a feel for the place beyond just seeing the sights.
What to do in Taipei
Go to the top of Taipei 101
Taipei 101 is a truly spectacular skyscraper located Taipei. It was designed to resemble an enormous bamboo stalk, and has a height of 508m, comprising 101 stories above ground and 5 below ground. There are 8 “nodes” to the building, to represent the lucky number 8 in Taiwanese culture.
When it was completed in 2004, it was the world’s tallest building, but it eventually lost the title in 2010 to the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. It was also the first building in the world to break the half-kilometer mark. There are indoor and outdoor observation decks which offer 360-degree views of the city, and really worth going up to see.
The base of Taipei 101 also has a bustling food court, including a Ding Tai Fung, that make for an enjoyable dining experience!
Visit the Night Markets
One thing Taiwan is known for, are its night street food markets! It’s when the city comes to life. It’s essentially dozens and dozens of stalls selling street food and drinks, and it only opens at night. There are night markets in all different neighborhoods in Taipei. My favorite is the Raohe Street Night Market and the largest one is the Shilin Night Market.
Visit Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall
Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall is a stunning monument built and dedicated to the former president of Taiwan. It’s an impressive sight to see, and definitely recommended to visit!
Hike Elephant Mountain
Elephant Mountain is a popular hike in Taipei, known for its great views of Taipei 101. It’s an accessible hike from Xinyi District in the center of town. From Xiangshan MRT station, it’s about a 1.5 hour roundtrip hike. Here is a good guide to hiking Elephant Mountain. While Elephant Mountain is a touristy hike in Taipei (my uncle who lives nearby and does it regularly, said it’s the one place sees more foreigners than locals haha), you can also add the neighboring Tiger Mountain trail which is less trafficked, more natural, and also boasts great views of Taipei 101.
Hike some more!
For being a city, Taipei is also a nature lover’s paradise. There are many hikes on the outskirts of the city, such as north of Neihu in the Jinmianshan Trail area, south of Xinyi District in the Hushan Trail area, and if you have time to venture further, beautiful trails of Yamingshan National Park are north of Taipei. Yamingshan has stunning mountains and can either be daytripped from Taipei, or you can stay there a few nights and really enjoy the peace of the mountains.
Take day trips
There are so many places within 1-2 hours of Taipei that make great day trips. You can visit the cute coastal town of Tamsui District that lies on the Tamsui River. There you can visit the traditional old town and walk along the water at the wharf.
You can go for a soak in the hot springs in Beitou District. These are hot spring bath houses (not hot springs in nature), but are nice for a relaxing soak!
Jiufen is an old, traditional town an hour from Taipei that’s nice to walk around and visit. There’s the old street there that’s lined with many traditional shops, and surrounding mountains that make for great day hikes. While most people only visit Jiufen for the day, spending the night can let you really enjoy the charm and peace of the town after all the day tourists have left for the day. It does get very busy on weekends, so I would recommend avoiding visiting then if you can!
Visit the traditional neighborhood on Dihua Street
Dihua Street is a very nice and charming old street selling traditional goods and snacks. Here you can stroll around and get a sense for traditional life in Taiwan while also sampling your way through many traditional snacks!
Soak in the bustling neighborhood of Ximen
Ximen is the shopping district and by far the most touristy neighborhood of Taiwan. It’s bustling with shops, restaurants, and people lining the streets. If you’re not already staying in Ximen, it’s nice to walk around a few times just to soak it in and experience that bustling life in Taiwan.
Afternoon Tea at The Grand Hotel
The Grand Hotel is… grand! It’s a beautiful, old, huge hotel that has wonderful afternoon tea. Afternoon tea in Taiwan is actually mostly about food, and less about tea. Here, it’s a huge and delicious buffet that will cost you around $30. You have many different food stations, a huge dessert station, even free beer on tap, and an ice cream cart! Highly recommend to try it with a big appetite. It’s also recommended to make a reservation online first.
Walk through and absorb Songshan, Da’an, and Neihu neighborhoods to experience daily local life
If you’re staying in a more touristy area such as Ximen or near the Main Station, I would recommend walking through some of these local neighborhoods to get a sense for what daily life is really like in Taiwan! These neighborhoods are all nicely walkable, with plenty of cafes, boba shops, Taiwanese bakeries, and restaurants lining the streets so you can stop for a snack whenever you feel like.