Taipei Travel Guide: 4-Day Itinerary, Night Market Strategy, and Real Costs

From Taoyuan Airport, take the Airport MRT express (35 min, NT$160). At Taipei Main Station, buy an EasyCard at the service counter and load NT$500. This covers two full days of MRT rides.

Longshan Temple (built 1738) is Taipei's most important temple and still a living place of worship. Observe quietly, do not point at deity statues, and gesture with an open hand. Photography is fine if you stay out of worshippers' sightlines. The adjacent Bopiliao block preserves Qing Dynasty and Japanese colonial-era architecture and is free to walk through.

Dihua Street is Taipei's oldest commercial street, dating to the 1850s. Traditional dried goods shops, tea merchants, and fabric stores sit alongside converted art galleries and coffee shops. Stop at a traditional tea house for an oolong tasting. The Xiahai City God Temple, despite being tiny, is one of the most culturally significant temples in the city.

Only 170 meters long but packed with some of Taipei's best food stalls. Try the oyster omelet (NT$60), fried taro balls with pork floss (NT$25), and braised pork rice (lu rou fan, NT$40). This is a food-focused market, not a games-and-souvenirs tourist trap. Arrive by 6:30 PM before the lines build.

The memorial hall is free to enter. The changing of the guard ceremony happens on the hour from 9 AM to 5 PM and lasts about 10 minutes. The surrounding Liberty Square plaza and National Theater and Concert Hall are architecturally impressive. This is a politically charged site for many Taiwanese, so be observant rather than opinionated.

The 89th-floor observation deck offers panoramic views and a close look at the 730-ton wind damper that stabilizes the building during typhoons. If you would rather skip the fee, the ground-floor food court has a Din Tai Fung outpost where the xiao long bao (soup dumplings) cost NT$220 for 10 pieces. The food court also has excellent beef noodle soup options.

About 1,086 steps from the trailhead near Xiangshan MRT station (Red Line terminus). Takes 20 to 30 minutes to reach the main viewpoint. The sunset view of Taipei 101 framed by the city skyline is the best free photo opportunity in Taipei. Arrive 45 minutes before sunset to claim a spot. Bring water.

Serious food people in Taipei rank Raohe above Shilin. The black pepper pork bun (hu jiao bing, NT$55) at the market entrance has a permanent line for good reason. Also try the medicinal herbal ribs soup, stinky tofu, and grilled squid. The market is a single straight street, so it is impossible to get lost. Walk the full length once to scout, then double back to eat.

Houses one of the world's largest collections of Chinese art and antiquities, over 700,000 pieces spanning 8,000 years. The Jadeite Cabbage and Meat-Shaped Stone are the famous crowd-pullers, but the calligraphy and ceramics galleries are where you can spend time without jostling for position. Take bus 304 from Taipei Main Station or the MRT to Shilin Station and transfer to bus Red 30.

The lanes between Zhongshan and Shuanglian MRT stations are packed with independent coffee shops, small galleries, and Japanese-influenced bistros. This area feels quieter and more curated than the rest of Taipei. Try a Taiwanese set lunch (bian dang) at a local shop for under NT$100, or sit down at a specialty coffee shop where a pour-over costs NT$150 to NT$200.

Taipei's answer to Harajuku or Hongdae. Pedestrianized streets fill with teenagers, street performers, and an overwhelming density of bubble tea shops. The Red House (a 1908 octagonal market building) hosts indie craft vendors inside and an outdoor plaza with bars and live music in the evenings. The surrounding lanes have some of the cheapest clothing and accessories in the city.

Taipei's largest night market is more spectacle than culinary destination. It is worth one visit for the sheer scale: an underground food court, game stalls, claw machines, and multi-story shopping. The food is decent but pricier and more tourist-oriented than Raohe or Ningxia. Try the giant fried chicken cutlet (ji pai, NT$70) and oyster vermicelli (NT$60).

Take the MRT Red Line to Xinbeitou (30 min from Taipei Main Station). The public outdoor foot bath at Beitou Thermal Valley is free. Millennium Hot Spring is a public bathhouse with multiple temperature pools for just NT$40. Private hot spring hotels charge NT$500 to NT$1,500 for a 90-minute soak. Visit the free Beitou Hot Spring Museum (a converted 1913 Japanese bathhouse) first for context.

Take bus 1062 from Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT station directly to Jiufen (75 to 90 minutes, NT$102). This hillside town of narrow lanes and teahouses famously inspired the setting of Spirited Away. The old street gets crushingly crowded on weekends, so go on a weekday if possible. Have taro balls at Ah Gan Yi and tea with a mountain view at any of the clifftop teahouses.

Da'an is where Taipei's food culture reaches its most concentrated form. The original Din Tai Fung at Yongkang Street always has a line, but the wait display shows estimated times and it moves fast. Yongkang Street also has excellent mango shaved ice (seasonal, April to October), beef noodle soup, and scallion pancakes. For a no-wait alternative, try any of the small noodle or rice shops on the side streets around Da'an MRT.