General tips

A week in taipei with a few day trips is 100% doable. Transport is fast and easy to most places. It’s not a stressful country at all

Keep your receipts! Each one is an entry into the national lottery:

Bubble tea places on almost every corner

7 eleven and family mart on EVERY corner. more than japan

Definitely some decent specialty coffee places around. See google maps below

Tipping is NOT required

People may stare at you, especially outside of Taipei. They’re just curious - Taiwan doesn’t get much western tourists compared to other countries.

Tap water is incredibly safe by international standards in Taipei, but if you’re in a super old building it could affect water quality. Most hostels and hotels will have a water filter machine and will supply bottled water. Locals generally will not drink water straight from the tap.

Taxis are pretty cheap and Uber is available in most cities.

Footpaths are really uneven, as the responsibility for them lands on property owners. It’s a little annoying and kind of funny. Rolling your luggage a long distance can be frustrating.

Accessibility in metro stations is extremely good!

Transport

Airport train is $7. They even have check in desks at the main station so you can check your bags in early and enjoy your last day in Taiwan before flying out!

Metro and bullet train system is soooooo fast and easy. In my opinion it’s much easier than japan!

Riding transport

You’ll need an Easycard to ride public transport in Taiwan. It’s accepted on almost all buses, trains & trams throughout the country.

You can get one from machines at the airport MRT train station. There are also cute custom ones in the form of keyrings from 7-Eleven. They must be loaded with cash.

It’s around $150ntd one way from the airport to Taipei. Taking the metro normally doesnt cost anywhere near this!

If you put too much money on your easycard, you can also use it to pay at convenience stores and some shops. I think you can also get a refund in cash.

HSR

Going between cities with bullet train is fast, relatively cheap and easy. Non reserved seats are always available, however if you have a large suitcase reservations are highly recommended.

You can prebook reserved seats on the spot at a HSR station if it’s not too busy, or on your phone with the T-EX app.

I recommend booking through the app, especially if you have large luggage. If you’re buying tickets for two people be sure to read the instructions carefully before claiming the ticket. Both people will need the T-EX app, and you’ll need to give them a code to download the ticket before claiming.

SIM Cards

Chunghwha Telecom has the best reception.

Look for this logo

They offer eSims and physical SIMS for cheap prices at Taipei Airport. Just buy when you land!

How to get there:

• Go through customs/passport control and get your bags
• When you exit into the arrival hall, turn right
• The desk will be on your right, among other telecom providers but Chunghwa has the best reception!

Tips

• Get 4G, not 5G.
• You can pay by card or cash, and the staff will set it up for you
• The desk opens at 9am
• Each sim card includes an extra day. So if it says 7 days, it should last for 8 (double check with the staff)

We paid $500 NTD for unlimited data for 8 days (labelled as 7 days - has 1 free day included)

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Money

Taiwan accepts card at almost every store and chains. Smaller restaurants, cafes and street food vendors will only accept cash or maybe Line Pay, if you have it.

7-Eleven ATM charges a fee for international cards of $100 NTD. I recommend going to a bank branch and use their ATM instead, which should be free.

Elk is a really lovely currency converter app to quickly and easily tell how much something actually costs.

Up Bank is handy for travelling! There’s no international fees or ATM withdrawal fees, and it will use the lowest exchange rate on the day. It’s free and fast to sign up on your phone, even if you only use it for travelling. Sign up below and they‘ll give you $10 (full disclosure, i’ll also get $10 but I‘d recommend them even if I didn’t!)

If you want to convert some currency beforehand, you can also open a Wise account at wise.com. Personally I don’t do this, currency rarely fluctuates enough to make it worth it on a short trip. Just be sure to order a Wise Debit Card in advance otherwise you won’t be able to withdraw money from an ATM.

Google Maps lists

I don’t rate everything on these list, just some potentially interesting things to see and do!

Food highlights

If you don’t know what to try, go to one of the many night markets! Most cities have multiple. Taipei has at least 6 and many are open every night.

• Dan Bing (taiwanese egg roll): we went to the same place outside meander hostel every day
• Gua Bao (braised pork belly, pickled mustard greens, coriander and taiwanese peanut powder)
• Braised pork rice
• Xiao Long Bao
• Peanut ice cream roll (available at jiufen)
• Beef noodle soup
• Glutinous rice cake
• Pepper bun
• Papaya milk
• Stinky tofu (if you’re brave. I liked it)
• Shaved ice
• Bubble tea (started in Taiwan)

🏙️ Taipei

The capital of Taiwan! Art, design, multiple night markets and some incredible and accessible day trips. The easiest city to get around in Taiwan, with one of the the best metro systems in the world.

🏨 Where to stay

Try to pick a place near a metro station, preferably one with two lines intersecting.

Zhongshan area is my recommended spot. Staying near any of these stations would probably be a good choice…

• Songjiang Nanjing
  We stayed here last time and it was quiet around but great metro connections to everywhere else.
• Zhongxiao Xinsheng
• Zhongshan
• Nanjing Fuxing
• Zhongxiao Fuxing
• Daan

Ximen is fun area but a very very busy station.

☑️ Things to do

Tamsui old street
The river is a beautiful place to see the sunset

Eat at every night market
Food is amazing. Go to the big ones in the city, but this time we went to Nangchijang and Shuangcheng.

Huashan 1914 and Songshan Creative Parks
Creative parks are a great concept and a must visit for art and design. Songshan has the Taiwan Design Museum for graphic design. Taiwan has many creative parks in general:

Zhongshan
Cool walkable district with lots of alleyways, and trendy clothes/bookstores. There’s a craft market too

Eslite Bookstore
Heaps of locations and is the coolest bookstore ive ever been to, we spent ages there. Songshan and Spectrum Nanxi were probs our favourites

Elephant mountain
A short hike but extremely popular hike with a great view of taipei 101 at sunset. Lots of people, there might be a better hike somewhere else

LGBTQ district in Ximen
Gay rights in taiwan are very progressive and its nice to see it celebrated in a permanent spot in asia. Ximen is basically the Shibuya of Taipei

Red House
In Ximen. Old building with lots of history, has some cool souvenirs and art

Risograph Museum, Pon Ding, Wild Flower Bookstore and Retro Jam Taipei
All have incredible art prints and books at very reasonable prices

Syntrend computer market
Great for gadgets

Taipei Scooter Waterfall
Watch hundreds of scooters exit a motorway

Taipei main station underground mall
IIm not an anime person but if you are you’ll love it

Chang Kai-Shek memorial hall and Taipei 101
The most famous buildings. You can go up Taipei 101 for the view or see the stabiliser

Human Rights Museum
Learning about the history of democracy in taiwan

Dihua Street
Pretty cute old street with lots of ceramic and art stores.

Yongkang Street
Great street for food and knickknacks. A popular tourist street. There was a store called Plumpy where we had a really nice chat with the owner lol

Top foods in Taipei

Still working on this

• 福洱商行 松江南京店
  Place is called For Cuisine in english. Really great Dan Bing
• 極品光復素食包子Unreasonably flavourful vegetarian buns
• Din Tai Fung
  Started in Taipei. People still rave about it
• Cremia
  This is japanese but holy shit its the best soft serve

Trips from Taipei

🍵 Maokong Tea Village

Half day

Tea village at the top of a mountain with $7 cable car

🏮 Pingxi line (highly recommend!!!)

Full day

Cat village, waterfalls, lanterns over the tr ain line (a highlight for us)

⛰️Jiufen

Half to full day

Spirited away village on a hill. Absolutely beautiful. Takes a bit to get there and worth giving yourself time to experience

♨️ Beitou Hot Springs

I haven’t been but am keen to go

Yangmingshan National Park

Also haven’t been, but seems great

📋 Other options

🏮 Tainan

Tainan is famous for its food. It’s the original capital of taiwan! Less developed, more chaotic, but such a wonderful vibe and people are so nice. Weather is warm and there’s lots to see.

Transport in Tainan

MRT doesn’t exist within the city, but buses are okay. Ubers are cheap, and you can take the train to Kaohsiung to fill out your trip to the south - it’s not far away.

Recommend getting an uber from the High Speed Rail to your hotel, as the HSR station is not in the center of Tainan. There are also buses available, including a free transfer bus.

Where to stay in Tainan

Stay in the West Central District. It’s a bit of a distance from the TRA (local train) station but everything cool is around there.

• Chimei Museum - incredible building, super rich persons collection, very impressive and the grounds are cool
• Tainan Flowers Night Market 花園夜市：food, some clothes/accessories and carnival games
• Hayashi Department Store: lots of stalls with small designers (clothes, perfumes, souvenirs, gadgets)
• Anping District in general is really lovely.
  • old street: historical and cute market streets
  • Anping Old Fort
  • Anping Tree House
  • You can take a bus to get here. Easy card works in Tainan as well.
• Shennong Street
  Open at night, cute lanterns.
• Blueprint Cultural and Creative Park
  Cool little converted art space.
• Tainan Wu Garden
• Hai’an Road Art Street
  Nice walkable main road with heaps of art installations. Awesome night market with lots of cool creative stuff every weekend, open until late.

Food

• 鳳餃煎餃 焼きギョウザ/台南中西美食/中西區小吃/中西區煎餃/中西區鍋貼/附近美食/台南美食
  Might be the best dumplings we’ve ever had. The cheesy pork ones are incredible
• Ice 8 Bao
  Michelin Gourmand-listed classic taiwanese ice dessert. Amazing on a hot night. Pick 5 toppings. They have an english menu, might need to ask.
• AIC Ice Cream
  They have a 5-star rating for a reason. Melbourne style ice-cream, flavours are really unique. The owners are the coolest people ever, we went out for hotpot with them afterwards lol
• Section 3, Guohua St, West Central District
  Lots of street food, great to wander around
• 金得春捲
  ”Taiwanese burrito”. Fresh and full of pork/vegies, made on the spot. Long line but moves quick. Unless you have a sweet tooth, ASK FOR 30% SUGAR OR LESS
• Good Year Coffee
  By far the best specialty coffee I’ve had in a long time. Amazing flavour
• 咚窩蕊喫茶店（公休日以IG為主）：late night dessert
  shop with the most divine flan w ice cream on top
• Naughty Boy Spicy Dry Pot （address 東區青年路): v popular, like hot pot but no soup, pick your meat and veg from a lil fridge and give them the basket and cook it for you - only a few tables outside to sit at