Guest Contributor: From Taipei with love – City Adventures & Nearby Magic

Welcome back! In this week’s post, I’ll be sharing my favourite sights in Taipei along with a few insights I have picked up along the way. 

During my most recent trips to Taiwan, I spent a total of about 3 months in Taipei – venturing out every single day (except during those wild typhoon days!) to explore different neighbourhoods and discover both popular attractions and hidden gems. Along the way, I sampled plenty of delicious food and took lots of exciting day trips around Taipei and New Taipei.

All of the favorite spots I’m sharing below are easily accessible by public transportation. The MRT system is easy, fast, affordable, and incredibly convenient. For destinations outside the city, local trains and long-distance buses (often called “tourist shuttle buses”) are also comfortable, budget-friendly, and quite simple to navigate. One of the things I love most is that you can just swipe your EasyCard to pay for all your buses, MRT, traditional trains – it makes getting around so seamless. You can upload more money to your EasyCard on the go at every MRT stop and convenience store – with cash.

Below, you’ll find my favourite places to visit and spend time in Taipei, grouped by area so you can easily explore them in one go and turn them into a perfect day plan if you’d like. I’ve marked the spots that are also fun with kids 🐥

Pro tip: the restaurant inside CKS Memorial’s ‘belly’ on the ground floor serves delicious set meals, the small Post office on site has the best foreign exchange rates and no wait time (unlike bank branches) – and the the souvenir shops sell very nice, high quality gifts – many of which, I have not seen elsewhere.

🛒Shuanglian Day Market 🐥, Bao’an Temple & Confucius Temple, Dihua Old Street 🐥, sunset at Dadaocheng Wharf with its fun container eateries and bars 🐥, Ningxia Night Market for closing the day with delicious snacks – a lovely day with shopping for local delicacies, and strolling in traditional neighborhoods.
Pro tip: go to Ningxia early, like between 5-6 pm when it opens – most night markets get super packed after 7 pm!

🌿The perfect Taipei Saturday: Dongmen day Market 🐥, Daan Park 🐥, Jianguo Jade & Flower Holiday Market 🐥, Yongkang Street food & cute shops 🐥, Shida Night Market, Blue Note Live Music Bar 🎶

🛕⛩️🍹Lively Tourist sights day: Ximending shopping & street snacks 🐥 , The Red House (Japanese era building with lots of artsy, local gift shops inside). Longshan Temple, Bopiliao Historical Block 🐥
Pro tip: Chill out with an al fresco dinner and a cocktail (or two!) at one of the many open-air bars and restaurants right by the Red House. There’s always a great energy and vibe here — and for some reason, outdoor seating is surprisingly rare in Taiwan, which makes this spot feel even more special

New & Old Day: Taipei 101 🐥, 44 South Military Village, Songshan Ciyou Temple,  Raohe Night Market, Rainbow Bridge over the Keelung River
Pro tip: the best view of Taipei 101 is…wait for it…from Hooters 🦉Xinyi Branch’s terrace! I know 🤯 It surprised me too, to find ourselves in a Hooters in Taipei – but trust me on this one!

Shilin Day: National Palace Museum 🐥, National Martyrs’ Shrine – with Change of the Guards ceremony 🐥, Grand Hotel (secret tunnel tour & high tea), Shilin Night Market  🐥
This one is actually my idea of a perfect weekday in Taipei, and we have done this day multiple times during different trips ❤️
Pro Tip: After admiring the beautiful treasures of the Palace Museum – don’t miss having lunch there – nice set meals and a beautiful view are on offer at the restaurant on the top floor.
Also, make sure you visit the stunning Grand Hotel, where all foreign dignitaries stayed throughout the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s. The hotel offers guided tours of its historic, 85-meter-long secret tunnels, which were designed in 1973 for emergency evacuation. You can end your day at famous Shilin Night Market – which is one of the biggest and oldest ones in Taipei and also has lots of arcade games for kids and an underground, newly renovated food court!

Nature Day for the whole family that feels like a day trip – but is just an easy MRT ride away: Taipei Zoo 🐥, Maokong Gondola 🐥, Maokong tea houses & cat themed cafes 🐥

Pro Tip: Start at the Zoo where it’s easy to spend an entire day (they have the funniest Pandas 🐼). From the Zoo Station, hop on the Maokong Gondola and ride all the way up over rolling tea plantations to Maokong for fantastic views over the city.
At the top, enjoy tea-infused dishes at one of the traditional mountainside tea houses and don’t miss tasting the best green tea soy milk I’ve found anywhere in Taiwan! Stay through sunset for truly breathtaking views before taking the gondola back down — and yes, you can even use your EasyCard for the ride.

I have also collected my favorite day-trips from Taipei for you!
Marked spots are fun with kids 🐥

⚓Tamsui: 🐥Spending a day, strolling all around the beautiful Tamsui sights with frequent seafood-snack stops is my absolute favorite thing to do on a Sunday in nice weather! Easy, direct MRT access from Taipei – makes this daytrip also very convenient. 

Top Tamsui sights: TianYuan Temple (pagoda), Old street, River Promenade, Fort San Domingo & Former Residence of the British consul. Fisherman’s Wharf & Shalun Beach.
Pro tip: make sure you end at Fisherman’s wharf at sunset!
On your way to Tamsui you can get off the MRT one stop early and walk through the Mangrove Trail to arrive to the Tamsui River Promenade. 🍲Try the delicious local specialty ‘Tamsui Agei’ (pictured above).  

⛰️Yangmingshan national park (1.5 hours by MRT and Bus): There are many trails and stunning sights to explore. For autumn Qiantian Grassland is fabulous, for early spring Cala lily season and cherry blossom viewing is best around  Zhizihu.
Pro Tip: Yangminshan is one of those rare day-trips from Taipei City – where I will admit, I ‘have cheated’ when it comes to transportation. There is a small public bus (S15) running up to Yangmingshan. But on the 3 occasions when I tried to take this bus from Jiantan station, I found endless lines every time, and I tried on weekdays, not even busy weekends 🫠 Could not get on the bus I planned or the next one, so I gave up, as the one after that was in an hour, with 3 bus-loads of people waiting ahead of me. We made fast friends in the line with a fellow traveler and took an Uber up together, and arrived to Qingtiangang visitor center 35 mts later. Worth every dime. 👍 (480 NT total)

Short list of my other favorite day-trips with links to a lot of helpful details that I always use to plan my day:

Yehliu Geopark with its unique rock formations, just 1 hour by public bus from Taipei Main and can be explored in a couple hours after which Keelung is great for the late afternoon 🐥

🚢 Keelung: is Taiwan’s north port city. Its famous night Market is a fantastic seafood galore! 45 mts by train from central Taipei or by bus from Yehliu. Bring your umbrella ☔- Keelung might be the rainiest city in Taiwan – but much fun! 🐥

🚂 Ride the super cute old Pingxi Railway Line in New Taipei City, and get off and explore multiple scenic stops  🐥 like 
🏮 Shifen Old street & Waterwall

🍊 Persimmon harvest on a scenic farm near Hsinchu  (1 hour by car or by train to Hsinchu, and taxi to this awesome farm. Taxi costs about 300 NT from HSR station.)  🐥 🐥 

🛁 Beitou Hot Springs – easy MRT access from Taipei for public or private hot spring fun🐥

🏖️ Fulong beach – very nice sandy beach, 1.5 train ride away from Taipei Main. Also great for overnight stay at Fullon HOTEL which has a nice pool too  🐥

Formosa Files – I’ve been listening to this fascinating weekly podcast for a couple of years now. The episodes are fun and digestible, covering a wide range of topics including history, traditions, culture, and quirky details about Taiwan. Highly recommended.

Taiwan Obsessed – a fantastic travel blog with helpful, up-to-date information on all Taiwan sights, with sample itineraries, transportation tips, food introductions and more.

Taiwan Arrival Card: all foreigners are required to complete this online before arrival to Taiwan.

CWA Weather website & App – you can set up alerts to get notified about inclement weather wherever you are in Taiwan – including typhoon and heat alerts.

Fun in Taiwan with the Family Facebook group – managed by this group, this is a community where parents can ask questions and share their favorite spots to take kids to have fun in Taiwan.

Focus Taiwan Facebook page – one of the best English-language news sources

Taiwan Alerts Facebook page– excellent for alerts before and during typhoons

LINE app: the most widely used messaging app in Taiwan. It’s absolutely vital for any Taiwan trip. Businesses broadly use it – booking a table in a restaurant, connecting with the car rental place, hotel, guesthouse, your driver etc.

Youbike: app for Taiwan’s fantastic bike sharing system. No trip is complete without riding on YouBikes. Ideally on a bike path vs in heavy city traffic though 🙂

Uber & Uber Eats: Uber is available in most cities and affordable. (significantly cheaper than in the US or Europe). UberEats is great for food or grocery delivery.

Google Maps: very reliable for route planning in Taiwan. Bus schedules are not exactly spot on – but even for buses it gives a solid idea.

Google Translate & Google Lens – lifesavers if you don’t speak or read Mandarin. Locals of all ages, in all situations use it all the time with foreigners and are very familiar with it. 

HSR website & app [T-EX]– book your High-Speed Rail tickets here

TRA website & app – traditional train schedules and online booking

Tripool – a very reliable car-sharing app, best for longer journeys between cities

Klook – popular, easy to use app for booking day trips, discount HSR train tickets, SIM cards, car rentals and more

Have fun with your travel planning using these tools!!
Coming next week: the ultimate island loop—two weeks, endless views, and one unforgettable road trip around the island!

XOXO,
Emese