Photo: Chensiyuan, edit by DXR · CC BY-SA 4.05 Days in Taipei: Old Streets, Big Museums & Tea in the Hills
Five slow days in Taipei for deep divers: old Wanhua and Dadaocheng's historic streets first, then the National Palace Museum and the city's art museums, Taipei 101 and a gondola ride up to Maokong's tea houses, and Beitou's hot springs — with the night markets of Raohe, Ningxia and Shilin woven through every evening. The plan re-plans itself around your style, pace and budget, so the trip reads like your trip.
Pick a style, a budget and a pace — the route and days below re-plan themselves.
15 stops · 10 meals · 1 hotelThis is the editor’s pick.
5 days
Each day takes one part of Taipei, kept close so you walk more than you ride. The map shows the whole route — pick a day to zoom in.
- Day 1Ximending: Longshan Temple & Ximen Red House
- Day 2Datong & Dadaocheng: Dihua Street & Bao'an Temple
- Day 3Da'an: The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial & Yongkang Street
- Day 4Xinyi: The Taipei 101 Observatory & Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall
- Day 5Shilin & Beitou: The National Palace Museum & Beitou Hot Spring Museum
The 1908 octagonal red-brick market hall turned creative market, with design shops and a theatre at the heart of Ximending. Entry is generally free — a natural meeting point before the neon streets.
- Open Tue-Sun 11:00-21:30; closed Mondays.
Ximending's busiest Taiwanese diner: lu rou fan with a fried egg, oyster omelette and wok-hei turnip cake. The queue moves fast.
- Open 10:30 AM-10:30 PM, closed Mondays; lu rou fan with egg about NT$70.
A Ximending institution: silky mee sua with pig intestines in thick gravy, eaten standing on the street. Cash only, takeaway bowls only.
- Add the homemade chili sauce, black vinegar and garlic paste for the full flavor.
A red-brick Qing-dynasty street spanning three eras, now heritage exhibition halls and art installations. It's a 3-minute walk from Longshan Temple MRT Exit 3, so pair the two in one morning.
- Indoor halls Tue-Sun 9:00-18:00; closed Mondays.
Taipei's oldest temple, founded 1738. Buddhist, Taoist and folk shrines share one ornate roof. The main hall's Guanyin icon survived the 1945 bombing. Come in the morning when the incense is thickest.
- Open daily 6:00-22:00; free admission.
- Start at Longshan Temple, then walk to Bopiliao's heritage halls — 8 minutes apart, one old-Wanhua morning.
Taiwan's oldest Western restaurant, founded 1934 and named for Ravel's Boléro: French duck rice and old-school Western set meals in a registered historic building.
- Daily 10:00 AM-9:00 PM.
A design hostel in a 70-year-old Japanese-colonial-era building near Taipei Main Station: dorms and private rooms, with a breakfast voucher included.
- Check-in 15:00-22:00, check-out 11:00.
Historic Tainan dan zai noodles on Dihua Street: the 1895 recipe of shrimp-and-pork noodles, with braised pork rice and shrimp rolls.
- Sun and Sat 11:00-21:15; Mon-Fri 11:30-20:15.
Dadaocheng's historic shophouse row: Baroque facades, tea merchants, medicinal shops and New Year snack stalls. Best on foot, with the Xiahai City God matchmaking shrine along the way.
- Start at the north end by Taipei Bridge and walk south for the full heritage row.
- Duck into Du Hsiao Yueh mid-stroll for the 1895 dan zai noodles — it's right on Dihua Street.
A Minnan-style Confucius temple with ornate woodcarvings, calligraphy rooms and a Chinese-writing exhibit. Quiet, orderly, and free.
- Open Tue-Sat 8:30-21:00, Sun 8:30-17:00; closed Mondays.
A UNESCO award-winning folk temple with stunning murals, dragon carvings and a lantern-lit garden across the road. Evening is when the lanterns earn their keep.
- Open roughly 6:30-21:30 daily; closed Mondays.
Spicy beef soup with duck blood plus the signature mildly-spicy 'soul-stirring' dry noodles.
- Mon-Fri 11:30-14:30 and 17:30-21:00, weekends 11:30-21:00.
Stay put: ~13 min by subway back from Bao'an Temple tonight, ~15 min by subway to the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial in the morning.
The white-marble monument with the blue roof on Liberty Square: hourly guard changes, a museum, and twin concert halls. Arrive at opening to catch the first guard change.
- Changing of the guard on the hour, 9:00 to 17:00.
A family-run soup-dumpling shop by the memorial hall: juicy xiaolongbao, shrimp-pork potstickers and clams at canteen prices. Michelin Bib Gourmand.
- Open Sun-Thu 11:00 AM-10:00 PM, Fri-Sat to 11:00 PM.
- Walk off the memorial grounds to Hangzhou Xiaolongbao — juicy soup dumplings at canteen prices, 3 minutes away.
Yongkang Street's mango shaved-ice landmark: mango snowflake ice with mango cubes, mango ice cream and panna cotta. Huge portions — share one.
- Daily about 10:00-22:30; mango snowflake ice around NT$275.
Taipei's legendary food street: the 1963 beef noodle shop, dumplings, shaved ice and independent boutiques in a few walkable blocks. Come hungry and graze.
- Yongkang Beef Noodles, Din Tai Fung's original branch and Smoothie House are all on or near the street.
The 26-hectare 'lungs of Taipei': jogging loops, ponds, egrets and amphitheatre music in the city center. The MRT station exits directly into the park.
- Open 24 hours; free entry.
- Walk Daan Forest Park's jogging loops, then cross to Yongkang for Smoothie House's mango shaved ice.
Three-generation Shanghai dim sum on Yongkang Street: pan-fried sheng jian bao, crab-shell pastries and soup dumplings. On the city's 2017 heritage-eateries list.
- Open daily 11:00 AM-9:00 PM.
Stay put: ~20 min by subway back from Daan Forest Park tonight, ~25 min by subway to Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in the morning.
Ningxia's legendary oyster omelette since 1965: plump Tainan oysters in homemade sweet-hot sauce, Michelin Guide-listed year after year.
- Daily 12:00-14:30 and 16:30-00:30.
The monument to Dr. Sun Yat-sen with hourly guard-changing, exhibitions and Zhongshan Park's Lake Cui gardens. A calmer counterpoint to the CKS memorial.
- Open daily 9:00 AM-6:00 PM; entry free.
Taiwan's tallest building: the 89th-floor observatory, a 37-second elevator and the world's largest tuned mass damper. Go for dusk, when the city lights come on below you.
- Open daily 10:00-21:00; observatory about NT$600.
A steep 20-minute stair climb to Six Giant Rocks and the classic Taipei 101 skyline viewpoint. Go for sunset, and bring mosquito repellent and water.
- Trailhead by Xiangshan MRT Station Exit 2; open 24 hours, free.
A Michelin Guide-listed goose restaurant: smoked or boiled 90-day-old Yunlin geese, opened 2010.
- 162 Jilin Road, Zhongshan.
Stay put: ~34 min by subway back from the Elephant Mountain hike tonight, ~24 min by subway to Chiang Kai-shek Shilin Residence in the morning.
Chiang Kai-shek's family home for 26 years: a dark-green Western bungalow in European-style gardens with a rose garden and flower halls. The park is free; the main building closes midday.
- Main building Tue-Sun 9:30-12:00 and 13:30-17:00; about NT$100.
Shilin's classic herbal pork-rib soup: ten-herb broth, tender ribs and noodles, open afternoon till midnight. A good warm-up before the night market.
- Sun/Mon/Wed/Thu/Fri/Sat 15:00-00:00; Tuesday closed.
A 1913 Japanese public bathhouse turned museum of Beitou's hot-spring culture, with a grand Roman-style tiled bath hall. Change into the museum slippers at the entrance.
- Open Tue-Sun 10:00-18:00; closed Mondays. Free admission.
One of the world's great museums: 700,000 Chinese treasures including the Jadeite Cabbage and the Meat-Shaped Stone. Give it a full morning — the collection rewards slowness.
- Open 9:00-17:00, closed Mondays; tickets about NT$350.
A stretch
The Golden Dragon Restaurant inside Taipei's landmark Grand Hotel (est. 1952): Cantonese cuisine beneath the palace's famous gilded three-clawed dragon.
Stay put: ~31 min by subway back from the National Palace Museum tonight, ~24 min by subway to Chiang Kai-shek Shilin Residence in the morning.
Where to stay in Taipei
Ranked for first-timer travelers on a comfortable budget. The places this plan sleeps in come first.
Meander 1948 Hostel
A design hostel in a 70-year-old Japanese-colonial-era building near Taipei Main Station: dorms and private rooms, with a breakfast voucher included.
Folio Hotel Daan Taipei
A quirky 57-room art-filled boutique steps from Daan MRT: compact spotless rooms, complimentary breakfast and a gift shop, in a quiet lane off Xinyi Rd.
Just Sleep Ximending
143 compact designer rooms a minute from Ximen MRT: a famous pillow menu, an organic breakfast cafe and a 24-hour front desk.
Flights to Taipei
Fly into TPE (TPE)
Flight results via Travelpayouts — we may earn a commission on bookings.
Getting around Taipei
How to actually move around the city — transit, rideshare, bikes, and taxis.
Public transit
Taipei's MRT covers the whole city and the Airport MRT reaches Taoyuan International Airport from Taipei Main Station; buses fill in the gaps and an EasyCard works across all of it.
- Taipei MRT
Taipei's MRT is the fastest way across the city: fares are distance-based, roughly NT$20–65, and trains generally run from 6:00am to midnight. Tap an EasyCard or other IC card at the gates.
Tip: Buy an EasyCard (悠遊卡) at any MRT station — it also works on city buses and YouBike.
- Taoyuan Airport MRT
Links Taipei Main Station with Taoyuan International Airport in about 35 minutes for NT$160 one-way; EasyCard and iPASS are accepted. Purple Express trains make five stops en route, and express and stopping trains charge the same fare.
Tip: Catch the purple Express train at Taipei Main Station (A1); blue trains stop at every station.
Rideshare
Uber runs around the clock in Taipei, and its app can also hail a licensed metered taxi — handy late at night or with luggage.
- Uber
Uber operates in Taipei 24/7 with UberX and other ride options. The app can also request a licensed local taxi with metered pricing — useful late at night or for airport runs (about NT$1,396 on average to Taoyuan Airport).
Tip: Compare the Uber estimate with the 55688 Taiwan Taxi app at peak times; fares vary with demand.
Bikes
YouBike 2.0 docks are everywhere in the central city and cheap for short hops — ideal for the riverside paths and neighborhood rides.
- YouBike 2.0
Taipei's docked bikeshare charges NT$10 per 30 minutes for the first four hours, NT$20 per 30 minutes for hours 4–8, and NT$40 per 30 minutes after eight hours. Taipei City members get a NT$10 subsidy per rental, in effect since February 28, 2024.
Tip: Register an EasyCard with YouBike on the official site before your first ride.
Taxis
Metered yellow taxis are everywhere, regulated and inexpensive; hail one on the street, call 55688, or use the city's toll-free safe-taxi line.
- Taipei taxis
Yellow taxis are metered, plentiful and cheap by world standards: NT$85 starts the meter for the first 1.25 km, then NT$5 per 200 m (NT$5 per 60 seconds under 5 km/h), plus a NT$20 surcharge per trip from 11pm to 6am. Hail on the street, use the 55688 Taiwan Taxi app, or call the city's toll-free safe-taxi hotline 0800-055850.
Tip: Have your destination in Chinese characters handy — most drivers speak limited English.
Keep exploring
More itineraries for this trip.
- Photo: Chensiyuan, edit by DXR · CC BY-SA 4.03 days
3 Days in Taipei: Temples, Beef Noodles & Night Markets
Three days in Taipei for first-timers: Longshan Temple and old Wanhua on day one, Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Yongkang Street eats on day two, and Taipei 101 plus the night markets — Raohe, Ningxia and Shilin — woven through every evening. The plan re-plans itself around your style, pace and budget, so the trip reads like your trip.
Read the itinerary → - Photo: Chensiyuan, edit by DXR · CC BY-SA 4.02 days
2 Days in Taipei: Taipei 101, Ximending & the Night Markets
A two-day Taipei weekend built around the city's greatest hits: ride up Taipei 101 and hike Elephant Mountain, wander Ximending's neon streets, and graze through Raohe and Shilin's night markets. Day two covers Dadaocheng's historic Dihua Street, Bao'an and Confucius temples, Yongkang Street's food crawl, and Beitou's hot springs. The plan re-plans itself around how you travel - your style, pace, and budget.
Read the itinerary →