Taipei · Taiwan, China
Taipei is the first stop on any Taiwan, China trip — 650,000 treasures in the Palace Museum, night markets, Beitou hot springs and Taipei 101, all linked by an MRT from NT$20.
The short version
The place itself
Taipei resists summary. It is a 24-hour bookshop, a shouting night market, incense at a 270-year-old temple and a youth-culture quarter all inside the same metro map. Every MRT exit hands you a different city: step off at Ximen for the pedestrian neon of Ximending, at Longshan Temple for the oldest market streets in the basin, at Xinbeitou for streets that steam with hot-spring water, at Tamsui for a river sunset.
What surprises first-timers is the gentleness. Passengers queue to the right on escalators and leave the priority seats empty even in a crush; strangers walk you to your destination rather than pointing. The old line about Taiwan is that the finest scenery is the people, and Taipei is where that line was invented.
The city is also built for eating. Every neighbourhood keeps its own night market — Shilin for the greatest hits, Ningxia for a 200-metre strip of old-school stalls, Raohe for pepper buns, Huaxi for the old snake alley — and the side streets hide beef-noodle shops that sell out by noon. A meal of small dishes runs NT$150–250 and is the best money you will spend.
It is the easiest base on the island. The high-speed rail runs from Taipei Main Station to Kaohsiung's Zuoying in about 2 hours, the conventional rail and the Pingxi branch line reach the old mining towns in under an hour, and Jiufen's lantern-lit stairways are a day trip. Four days is the honest minimum; five lets you keep a slow day in Tamsui or Maokong.
Pins are plotted from real latitude and longitude on a 5° graticule. This is a schematic orientation diagram, not a political map — no boundaries are drawn.
Over 650,000 bronzes, jades, ceramics, paintings and rare books, with about 8,000 on display at any time and the rest rotated every few months. NT$160 plus NT$20 for the Zhishan Garden; 09:00–17:00, to 20:30 Saturdays; bus R30 from Shilin MRT.
The 509.2 m tower that is to Taipei what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris. The world's fastest lifts reach the 89th-floor observatory in seconds; the night lighting runs through the rainbow one colour a day. NT$400, 10:00–22:00, last entry 21:15.
Shilin for scale, Ningxia for old-school flavour, Raohe for pepper buns and herbal rib soup, Shida for the student crowd. Go with friends and share — one order of everything split four ways is how the locals do it.
The steaming valley at the end of the MRT: the hot-spring museum, the sulphur vents of Thermal Valley, the green library in the trees, and public baths from NT$70 for 30 minutes at Takinoyu. At its best in the winter rain.
Longshan Temple, founded in 1738, is the spiritual heart of old Monga — incense, chant and lantern festivals — with the Bopiliao heritage block and the Huaxi night market a few steps apart. MRT Longshan Temple station, then walk.
The harbour town at the end of the red line: the old street's iron eggs and A-gei, Fort San Domingo, Aletheia University, and the Lover's Bridge at the Fisherman's Wharf turning gold. Ferry across to Bali and cycle the riverside path.
Almost everyone flies into Taoyuan International (TPE), about 40 km from the centre. Seven coach companies run from the arrivals hall to Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung and Changhua for NT$110–140 in about an hour; a taxi to the city runs about NT$1,300 (meter plus 15%). Songshan Airport sits inside the city on Dunhua North Road, with the MRT's Wenhu line at the door — flights from Shanghai Hongqiao include the Hello Kitty services. There are also sailings from Fujian to Kinmen and Matsu with onward flights, and a direct Fuzhou–Kaohsiung ferry for the strong of stomach.
Inside the city the MRT is the answer: lines in six colours cover nearly every sight, NT$20–50 a ride, 06:00 to midnight, with a NT$200 one-day pass and the rechargeable EasyCard giving 20% off. Buses run over 300 routes at a flat NT$15 (no change given — use the EasyCard). Taxis are yellow, NT$70 for 1.5 km then NT$5 per 300 m, with a 20% night surcharge 23:00–06:00. For the rest of the island, the HSR from Taipei Main Station reaches Kaohsiung's Zuoying in about 2 hours, and TRA trains plus long-distance coaches fill in everything else.
| Month | Weather | Crowds | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 12°C / 4°C · cool, damp | Quiet | Good |
| February | 14°C / 6°C · cool, damp | Very busy | Good |
| March | 18°C / 10°C · clear and mild | Moderate | Best |
| April | 24°C / 16°C · clear and mild | Moderate | Best |
| May | 28°C / 21°C · cool, damp | Busy | OK |
| June | 32°C / 25°C · very hot, humid | Moderate | OK |
| July | 35°C / 28°C · cool, damp | Busy | Avoid |
| August | 34°C / 27°C · cool, damp | Busy | Avoid |
| September | 29°C / 23°C · very hot, humid | Moderate | OK |
| October | 24°C / 17°C · clear and mild | Very busy | Best |
| November | 18°C / 11°C · clear and mild | Quiet | Best |
| December | 13°C / 6°C · cool, damp | Quiet | Good |
Four days is honest: one for the Palace Museum, the Shilin Official Residence and Shilin night market; one for Longshan Temple, Bopiliao, Ximending and the 101 at dusk; one for Beitou and Tamsui; one for Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, NTU and the Gongguan or Shida night markets. A fifth day buys Maokong's teahouses by gondola, or the day trip out to Jiufen and the Pingxi branch line — 52 TWD for a day of hopping on and off an old mining railway.
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September to November — clear skies, cool air and few typhoons. The city works year-round (no severe cold, no extreme heat), but May brings the plum rains and summer brings afternoon downpours and typhoons. Winter rain in Taipei is soft and the hot springs are at their best in it.
Four full days for the city itself, five with a side trip. One day is enough for the 'one-page Taipei' greatest hits — 101, the memorial hall, Tamsui sunset, a night market — but the city rewards slowness, and the guides are right that a rushed trip misses the point.
Gentler than you expect. MRT rides are NT$20–50, night-market dinners NT$150–250, the Palace Museum NT$160, hostel beds from NT$350–550, guesthouse doubles around NT$1,500 and mid-range hotels NT$2,000–3,500. Convenience stores on every corner cover everything cheaply, around the clock.
Airport coach is the default: seven companies sell tickets in the arrivals hall, NT$110–140, about an hour to Taipei Main Station. A taxi runs about NT$1,300 (meter plus 15%) and operates 24 hours. If you land at Songshan instead, the MRT Wenhu line is at the terminal door.
Shilin first for the greatest hits — giant fried chicken cutlet, oyster omelette, sausage-in-sausage, papaya milk — but remember to get off at Jiantan MRT, not Shilin. Then Ningxia for the old-school strip, Raohe for pepper buns, and Shida for the student crowd. Go with friends and split dishes.
Carry some cash — night markets and small eateries are cash-only. UnionPay works at about 80% of ATMs (look in 7-Eleven, FamilyMart and post offices) and at over 6,000 merchants, mostly the bigger malls. Change money on arrival in Taiwan, not in Hong Kong, where the rate is poor.
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