We booked a holiday to Taipei on a whim. Really it was just to tick it off our Asia country list. I didn’t know that I would end up absolutely loving it and wanting to go back! I found Taipei had a wonderful vibe and was pleased to find that it wasn’t as chaotic as Hong Kong or Shanghai, instead having more of a relaxed atmosphere.
For those who don’t know, the old streets of Taipei are a unique characteristic of the city. Each district is named after what they produced most of during their peak time. The location we stayed in was the Zhongshan district, which was famous in the 70's for tourism and hence got it’s name. When we arrived, it felt like we were stepping back in time to the 70's as it was clear the buildings haven’t been updated since then and still retain their old charm and personality along with the architectural characteristics. It was this aspect of the city that I loved the most. In Taipei, you get a taste of architecture through the ages, as little has been done to update the buildings that currently stand, especially in these old streets. It actually reminded me of an Asian version of Eastern Europe.
Details
Where did I go: Taipei, Taiwan
How long did I go for: Friday – Monday
We flew with Tigerair both ways. On the Friday at 3:55pm from Changi, arriving in Taipei at 8:25pm (took half day leave) and flew back on the Monday at 10:30am, arriving in Singapore at 3:05pm.
For flights to Taipei from Singapore, check the link here and for flights from Taipei to Singapore, check here.
Travel time: 10.5 hours
It was quite a long travel time, principally because of immigration in Taipei. The flight is just shy of 5 hours, however Taipei immigration took around an hour to clear because of the volume of people and too few open immigration desks. In hindsight, we should have paid to sit up front on the flight (like we did in Siem Reap) so we could get ahead of the queue.
Once we were through immigration however, we found a taxi outside the airport quickly (using the airport taxis). The drive to the hotel, which was located centrally in the Zhongshan District, took us around 45 minutes and cost us NT$550 using a meter (SG$23).
Tip: book seats up front of your flight to get ahead of the queue at Taipei airport! : )
Visa Requirements: No (for British Passport holders)
British passport holders are eligible for the visa exemption program, which permits a duration of stay up to 90 days
Not sure if you need a visa? Use this link to check.
When I was researching hotels, I found they were all typically quite expensive. We wanted to be located somewhere fairly central so that we could do more walking rather than having to take taxis everywhere. My research told me that the Zhongshan District was one of the best areas to stay in, and they weren’t wrong. Our hotel was so well located that the entire weekend we either walked or used public transport (an MRT station was around a 5 minute walk from our hotel) to get around.
The hotel itself, which cost just under SG$140 a night (intentionally not including breakfast), was lovely. Similar to what I was mentioning above, it was an art decor building and maintained the 70's influence. Whilst outside it was a pretty dated building, inside was pristine and modernised so no worries there! The receptionists were friendly and helpful, giving us lots of information on how to get around and where was good to eat, including the less touristy options.
The room itself was probably a little on the small side however had space for a large double bed, bathroom and a small living room area with sofas. It was kept clean the entire time, which was all we really needed since we were out and about during the day. I also wanted to mention that the toilet was one of those crazy Japanese toilets with all sorts of squirters to basically clean EVERYTHING. I’m sure you could have a shower with it if you tried!
I would definitely recommend the hotel based on the location and the helpfulness of the front desk staff.
Getting around: As I mentioned above, we used the bus or MRT only for the entire trip, only using taxis to get to and from the airport. We travelled all around Taipei, going to Yangmingshan National Park, the most north point in Taipei, and MaoKong Gondola, down south (see more information below).
A 3 day EasyCard will set you back NT$380 (just under SG$16) and if you plan to be going around Taipei like we did, it’s certainly worth it. Buses per journey are NT$15, (SG$0.60).
For more information, check out this link for the MRT.
Itinerary
National Palace Museum
On our first day in Taipei, we decided to visit the National Palace Museum as we’d heard it was one of the things to see. We took the MRT to Shilin Station and then Bus 30 to the museum. For more information on how to get to the museum by public transport, check this link here (it also includes a map of the MRT). Our journey time was around an hour.
hereThe price for entering the museum was NT$250 (around SG$10) (more info on prices ) and you get to see a wide range of historic artifacts from Chinese history.
Turns out that my other half and I aren’t really museum people, so we ended up spending less than an hour here before leaving (and then didn’t do any more museum things)! But if you enjoy history, definitely check it out.
Yangmingshan National Park
On our second day, we went to Yangmingshan National Park and it was definitely one of the highlights of our trip. We took the MRT to Jiantan station, taking Exit 1 for Shilin Night Market, and took the S17 to Yangmingshan station. For alternate routes, check this link here.
Once we got to the station in Yangmingshan, we walked around a bit before we found and settled in a small park where we found a lot of people sitting. Yangmingshan is everything you would expect from a park, and even though it was a little cloudy and drizzle on the day we visited, it was still stunning. The weather was lovely and cool, and we sat in the park for nearly 2 hours. There were lots of elderly people and families enjoying the lush greenery, and some even doing Tai chi, which I’m sure you could get involved in if you wanted to!
We used the same route to get back, after grabbing an ice cream from the 711 across the road from the bus stop!
MaoKong Gondola
On the same day that we did the park, we decided to go way south and enjoy the MaoKong Gondola as well. To get to the gondola by public transport, we took the MRT to Taipei Zoo Station and then walked to the MaoKong Gondola. Once at the station for the gondola, you have to purchase a ticket depending on which and how many stations (there are 3) you want to go to. The 3 stations are: Angle Station, Zhinan Temple and MaoKong station. Single fares are the only option, and if you want to make it to the MaoKong station (which you do) it will cost NT$120 (SG$ 5). Included in this fare is also the option to stop off at any of the other 3 stations.
This helpful table will make it easier to understand.
Since we didn’t have a lot of time, we skipped the first 2 stations and went straight to the top (MaoKong). Once you’re off at MaoKong station you exit the station and walk up the hill. Everyone is doing this, so you can just follow others like we did! Along the walk there are lots of eateries and souvenir shops. Like I said, we didn’t have a lot of time, so all I managed to have was a barbecued Chinese sausage, which was at a bargain price of NT$10 (god knows what was in it!) but was delicious!
Tip: Instead of doing the observatory at Taipei 101, make sure you do the MaoKong for panoramic views of Taipei. It’s cheaper and you also get to do this whilst breathing fresh air!
Tip: if all else fails, go walking around the city. It's so beautiful and the architecture is different and unique in every district that you won't get bored or tired of it!
Foodie Highlights
Shilin Night Market
Shilin Night Market is one of, if not the most, popular place to go to for the ‘Night Market experience’ in Taipei. And even though it’s super touristy, YOU HAVE TO GO! The food was sensational, and that’s not an over-exaggeration. Take the MRT to Shilin station and follow the signs to the night market. That’s it and you can’t miss it since it’s HUGE.
Once you’re there, the only thing you need to worrying about is eat, eat and EATING! Food is typically between NT$50 – 100 a piece / plate and my advice is to head anywhere there is a bit of a queue as you can usually trust these places are clean and the food is good. We tried a whole host of items as we were walking around and absolutely loved it. Personally, I find Chinese flavours can be quite sweet, as they use sugar as part of the base of their sauces. However in Taipei, I found food more on the savoury side, which I far more prefer.
Some of the things we tried were: the scallion pancake, flat iron steak, baked pork bao, mango, chicken cutlet and bubble tea (in a uniquely light bulb shaped bottle). There were other things too as we had purposely arrived at the night market starving, but unfortunately I don’t know what they were called!
In addition to all the food that they serve, you can also buy lots of other bits and bobs such as phones, phones covers, souvenirs, clothes, bags, hair extension, you name it, Shilin Night Market has it. Essentially it’s like any other night market, selling a whole host of weird and wonderful things. However if you’re like me, and not really fussed about the ‘other stuff’, then just stick to the food.
Din Tai Fung
On our first day, we went to Din Tai Fung (DTF) for dinner. The Taipei branch is the very first DTF to ever open AND is Michelin starred. It’s located in Taipei 101 which we also got via public transport (head to the MRT station of the same name). When we arrived, as we were expecting, there was already a growing queue. However we intentionally came at an awkward time for an early dinner, in the hope that the queue wouldn’t be too long. We headed to the counter and got a ticket and were told by the lady that it was a 30 minute wait for 2 people. We were told we could go for a walk but to come back in around 20 minutes.
Taipei 101, in addition to housing DTF, is a mall and has an air-conditioned food court. Yes, it also has the observatory but after seeing the rip off price to go there, we decided to give that a miss. You can get the panoramic views of Taipei at the top of the MaoKong Gondola, and that only costs SG$5! As we are mega foodies, we headed straight to the food court (and yes I do realise that we were eating whilst waiting to eat). The food court is like any other food court in Singapore, so nothing particularly entertaining to report, other than you can expect prices to be hiked up in light of the sheer number of tourists who visit.
When we finally got in to DTF, we ordered the usual suspects: xiao long baos and spicy dumplings. I won’t go in to too much detail as I know everyone has their own favourites at DTF, but one thing we did notice was just how friendly the waiting staff were. I’m not sure what your experience has been in Singapore, but I tend to find that staff at DTF are pretty unfriendly, and let’s face it, miserable. However in Taipei, this wasn’t the case at all. In fact, I found this to be the running theme all over Taipei. Even though there is a significant language barrier with most people not being able to speak much English, I found people really friendly and willing to help us. The food was great, and I would definitely recommend it, even if just for the experience.
8way
More than I would recommend DTF however, I would recommend this restaurant. The name of the restaurant was actually written in Chinese, and you wouldn’t imagine the lengths I have gone to in order to find the name in English (it involved lots of Google Earth searching!), and I’m still not sure it’s definitely called 8way! To be safe however, I’ve also included the name of the restaurant in Chinese below under my ‘Useful information’ section.
This restaurant was recommended to us by the front desk of our hotel, and I’m so glad that we went. It was given to us as an alternative to DTF, if we didn’t fancy queuing for hours. It’s a 100% local joint, you won’t find any tourists here even though it’s on the main road in the Zhongshan District. In fact, we had a tough time ordering because the staff didn’t speak a word of English! But it was all good fun, and the dumplings were so, so worth it.
The restaurant specialises in dumplings, 2 kinds only (steamed and pan fried), of which there are only 6 flavours: Signboard (pork), Leek, Korean Spicy, Corn, Garden Vegetable and Curry. We tried Signboard, Korean Spicy and Curry. Amazing, amazing! And it was cheap as chips with 2 portions of fried dumplings coming in at less that SG$2! Definitely a must try and more than once if you have time (like we did!). Check out the menu here.
Best time to visit: Taiwan's subtropical climate makes it a challenging destination to plan for. While it's warm all year-round, you can expect rain almost any time of the year. It can get hot and humid from March to May, and typhoons hit the country from June to September. You'll get the most out of your Taiwan trip if you go in April or in November.
Website links and useful information:
Accomodation
Hotel Sense: No. 477, Linsen N Rd, Zhongshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan 10451
Visa
Not sure if you need a visa? Check here
Activities
National Palace Museum: No. 221, Section 2, Zhishan Rd, Shilin District, Taipei City, Taiwan 111 MaoKong Gondola
Restaurants
8way (八方雲集): No. 59號, Tianxiang Rd, Zhongshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan 104
Shilin Night Market: No. 101, Jihe Rd, Shilin District, Taipei City, Taiwan 111
Din Tai Fung: 110, Taiwan, Taipei City, Xinyi District, City Hall Rd, 45號台北101購物中心