Taipei, Taiwan, top 10 things to do (Wimup travel guide)

▶ Video · Best of Taipei

Video guide · 12:05

▶ Watch the guide

Top 10AsiaTaiwan

Top 10 Things To Do in Taipei

Country

Taiwan

Best months

Oct · Nov · Mar

Population

2.44M city

Language

Mandarin Chinese

Budget / day

$60–120

Quick answer

The best things to do in Taipei are the observatory at Taipei 101, the National Palace Museum, Longshan Temple, Shilin Night Market and the sunset climb up Elephant Mountain. Give the city four to five days, come in October, November or March for dry, mild weather, and buy an EasyCard at the airport so the metro and the buses stop being a decision.

Best of Taipei

▶ Video guideOpen the film page (12:05) →

Taipei is a capital you can read in four days and keep unpicking for years. A metro that reaches the mountains, a night market within walking distance of almost any hotel, and sulfur springs inside the city limits. Below are the ten things worth your time, each mapped, plus the neighbourhoods, temples and day trips that fill the gaps between them.

The 10 best things to do in Taipei

Ride to the 89th floor of Taipei 101

Landmark· 89F, No. 7, Sec. 5, Xinyi Rd., Xinyi District, Taipei

The tower held the title of world's tallest building from the end of 2004 until Burj Khalifa took it in 2010, and the observatory still gives you the whole basin in one turn. The reason to linger is between floors 87 and 92: a 660-tonne steel sphere slung on eight cables, the damper that keeps the building steady through typhoons.

Time2 hrs

CostFrom NT$600

Best atAn hour before sunset

TipBuy online, ticket counter is on Office Tower 1F

Map ↗ Website

National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan (Wimup)

Give the National Palace Museum a full morning

Museum· No. 221, Sec. 2, Zhishan Rd., Shilin District, Taipei

One of the largest collections of Chinese imperial art anywhere, and far too much to attempt in an afternoon. Open Tuesday to Sunday, with ticket sales closing at 16:30. Foreign visitors pay NT$350; under-18s go free. Arrive at opening, take the jade and bronze galleries first, and treat the rest as a return visit.

Time3 hrs

CostNT$350

Best atOpening time

TipClosed Mondays, last tickets 16:30

Map ↗ Website

Stand in the incense at Longshan Temple

Temple· No. 211, Guangzhou St., Wanhua District, Taipei

Built in 1738 by settlers from Fujian and still a working temple rather than a monument, which is the point. Doors open daily at 06:00 and the gates lock late; come at dusk, when the forecourt fills with people there to pray rather than photograph. The surrounding Wanhua streets are the oldest part of the city.

Time45 min

CostFree

Best atDusk

TipWalk on to Bopiliao Historic Block afterwards

Map ↗ Website

Time the guard change at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

Landmark· No. 21, Zhongshan S. Rd., Zhongzheng District, Taipei

The hall opens daily and the surrounding Liberty Square from 05:00 until midnight, all of it free. The changing of the guard runs hourly on the hour from 09:00 to 17:00, and since 2024 it has taken place out on Liberty Square rather than in the upstairs statue room. Rain cancels it. The square is flanked by the National Theater and Concert Hall.

Time1–2 hrs

CostFree

Best atOn the hour

TipGuard change is cancelled in rain

Map ↗ Website

Eat dinner standing up at Shilin Night Market

Food· Around Jiantan MRT station, Shilin District, Taipei

The largest and oldest of the headline markets, running from about 16:00 until midnight and busiest between 19:00 and 22:00. Come out of Jiantan station exit 1 and work the basement food court before the surface stalls. The three things people queue for are the oversized fried chicken cutlet, the oyster omelette and flame-seared cube steak.

Time2 hrs

CostNT$300 and up

Best atFrom 19:00

TipCarry small notes, most stalls are cash

Map

Climb Elephant Mountain for the skyline

Viewpoint· Lane 150, Sec. 5, Xinyi Rd., Xinyi District, Taipei

The Xiangshan trail starts a ten-minute walk from Xiangshan MRT exit 2 and climbs 183 metres on stone steps, less than a kilometre from Taipei 101 itself. It is open around the clock and free. Start about ninety minutes before sunset and you get the daylight city, the sunset and the lit tower from the same rock platform without walking down in the dark.

Time1–2 hrs

CostFree

Best atLate afternoon

TipSteps only, and humid year round. Carry water

Map ↗ Website

Spend a day in the Beitou hot spring valley

Hot springs· No. 2, Zhongshan Rd., Beitou District, Taipei

Twenty-five minutes from the centre by metro and a different city entirely. The Hot Spring Museum occupies the 1913 public bathhouse, the largest in East Asia when built, and admission is free. Uphill, Thermal Valley steams over green sulfur water that deposits hokutolite, a mineral found in only one other place on earth. Bring a swimsuit for the public pools.

TimeHalf day

CostMuseum free

Best atWeekday morning

TipMuseum and Thermal Valley both close Mondays

Map ↗ Website

Take the Maokong Gondola up to the tea hills

Viewpoint· No. 8, Sec. 2, Xinguang Rd., Wenshan District, Taipei

The cable car climbs from beside Taipei Zoo into the Wenshan tea terraces, and the crystal cabins with glass floors run on the same line for the same fare. It closes on Mondays unless the Monday is a holiday, so check before you commit an afternoon. At the top, order Muzha Tieguanyin at one of the terrace tea houses.

Time3 hrs

CostNT$70–120

Best atLate afternoon

TipClosed most Mondays

Map ↗ Website

Walk Dihua Street through old Dadaocheng

Neighbourhood· Sec. 1, Dihua St., Datong District, Taipei

Taipei's oldest commercial street, and the centre of the island's tea and textile trades since the mid-1800s. The shophouses still sell dried goods and herbs, with design studios and coffee bars wedged between them. Stop at the Xiahai City God Temple of 1859, which packs more than six hundred deities into 152 square metres.

Time2–3 hrs

CostFree

Best atAfternoon

TipNingxia Night Market is a ten-minute walk east

Map ↗ Website

Ride the bus up into Yangmingshan

Nature· No. 1-20, Zhuzihu Rd., Beitou District, Taipei

A national park inside the city, built on a volcanic field: fumaroles at Xiaoyoukeng, grassland at Qingtiangang, calla lily fields at Zhuzihu. Qixing Mountain tops out at 1,120 metres and is the highest volcano in Taiwan. Entry is free and the headquarters visitor centre opens daily 08:30 to 16:30. Parking is scarce, so take the bus.

TimeHalf day

CostFree

Best atFeb–Mar for the flowers

TipVisitor centre 08:30–16:30, take the bus

Map ↗ Website

All 10, mapped

Taipei · 10 spots

AllLandmarksMuseumsFoodFree

Taipei travel FAQ

How many days do you need in Taipei?+

Four to five. Two days cover the Top 10 inside the city, a third buys Beitou or Maokong at an unhurried pace, and a fourth or fifth gets you out to Jiufen, Yehliu or the Pingxi line without rushing back.

When is the best time to visit Taipei?+

October and November: temperatures around 19 to 27 degrees, low rainfall and the summer humidity gone. March is the other window. Avoid the plum rains from April to June, and note that typhoons are most frequent from mid-July to early October.

Is Taipei expensive?+

No, by East Asian capital standards. A hostel dorm runs around NT$700 and night-market eating around NT$400 to 600 a day, so a shoestring budget of NT$1,400 to 2,000 works. Mid-range travel with a hotel and sit-down meals lands nearer US$120 a day.

How do I get from Taoyuan Airport into Taipei?+

The Airport MRT Express runs to Taipei Main Station in about 35 minutes for NT$160, with luggage racks and wireless charging on board. Buy an EasyCard at the station while you are there and use it on the metro, the buses and in convenience stores.

Do I need cash in Taipei?+

Yes, for night markets and small eateries, which are largely cash. Everything else takes cards, and an EasyCard covers the metro, buses, the Maokong Gondola and most convenience-store purchases.

After dark

Best night markets in Taipei

Six markets, from the one everyone visits to the one your hotel receptionist eats at.

Shilin

Shilin Night Market

16:00–24:00 · Jiantan MRT

The biggest and the oldest, open from about 16:00 to midnight. Fried chicken cutlets, oyster omelettes and a basement food court.

Map

Songshan

Raohe Street Night Market

16:00–24:00 · Songshan station

A single straight lane beside Songshan station, 16:00 to midnight, so nothing is hidden down a side alley. The pepper-bun queue at the entrance moves fast.

Map

Datong

Ningxia Night Market

From 17:30 · 200+ stalls

Small, old and almost entirely local: a 170-metre pedestrian street of family stalls from about 17:30. The oldest oyster omelette shop dates to 1965.

Map

Da'an

Tonghua (Linjiang Street) Night Market

From 18:00 · Neighbourhood

The neighbourhood market for Xinyi, open daily from around 18:00 and mostly Taipei residents. Calmer, cheaper, better for a second night.

Map

Wanhua

Huaxi Street Night Market

Covered · Beside Longshan

The covered market beside Longshan Temple, and the strip that gave Snake Alley its name. Traditional stalls, herbal soups and a slower pace than Shilin.

Map

Zhongzheng

Nanjichang Night Market

Local · Near the river

A short strip inside a public-housing block near the river, trading to the neighbourhood rather than to visitors. Several stalls carry Michelin recommendations.

Map

Where to eat

Best restaurants in Taipei

Eight tables, from a three-star Cantonese dining room to a queue for braised pork on rice.

Da'an

Din Tai Fung (Xinyi Road)

Shanghainese · NT$$

The Xinyi Road branch of the xiaolongbao house that went global, and still the benchmark for the eighteen-pleat dumpling. Michelin-listed.

Map ↗ Website

Datong

Le Palais

Cantonese · NT$$$$

The Cantonese dining room on the 17th floor of the Palais de Chine hotel, and Taiwan's longest-standing three-Michelin-star restaurant.

Map ↗ Website

Da'an

Yongkang Beef Noodle

Beef noodles · NT$$

The Yongkang Street institution for Taiwan's national bowl, known for the spicy braised broth. Michelin Bib Gourmand.

Map ↗ Website

Zhongzheng

Jin Feng Braised Pork Rice

Braised pork rice · NT$

A counter near Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall serving the lu rou fan most Taipei arguments end at. Open from breakfast to the small hours.

Map

Zhongzheng

Fu Hang Soy Milk

Breakfast · NT$

Taipei's most-queued breakfast, on the second floor of the Huashan Market building. Salty soy milk, thick shaobing, a Bib Gourmand five years running.

Map

Wanhua

Ay-Chung Flour-Rice Noodle

Street food · NT$

Standing room only in Ximending since 1975, one dish on the menu: thin noodles in a thickened broth with braised intestine.

Map ↗ Website

Zhongshan

Addiction Aquatic Development

Seafood · NT$$$

A converted fish market off Minzu East Road: standing sushi bar, charcoal grill and a retail floor, open from 06:00.

Map ↗ Website

Zhongshan

Shin Yeh Taiwanese Cuisine

Taiwanese · NT$$$

The original branch of the restaurant that made home-style Taiwanese cooking a sit-down occasion. Book for dinner.

Map ↗ Website

Working temples

Best temples in Taipei

Five that people still use daily, not five that are preserved for visitors.

Wanhua

Longshan Temple

Founded 1738

The 1738 Wanhua temple to Guanyin, rebuilt after fire, flood and wartime bombing, and busy from dawn to late evening.

Map ↗ Website

Zhongshan

Xingtian Temple

No incense · Guan Yu

Dedicated to Guan Yu, patron of merchants. It stopped burning incense in 2014 and removed its furnaces, so the air is clear and volunteers do the rituals.

Map ↗ Website

Datong

Dalongdong Bao'an Temple

UNESCO award 2003

Dedicated to Baosheng Dadi, the god of medicine, and honoured in the 2003 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for its restoration. The best carving in the city.

Map ↗ Website

Datong

Taipei Confucius Temple

Rites on 28 Sep

Southern Fujianese architecture with no statue of the sage, only a spirit tablet. The birthday rites are held here at 06:00 on 28 September, presided over by the mayor.

Map ↗ Website

Datong

Xiahai City God Temple

600+ deities

More than six hundred deities crowded into 152 square metres, the densest concentration of statues in Taiwan, including the matchmaker god people fly in to petition.

Map ↗ Website

Collections

Best museums in Taipei

Six worth a half day, from imperial jade to the island's own contemporary art.

Shilin

National Palace Museum

Imperial art · NT$350

Imperial Chinese art at a scale no single visit covers. Tuesday to Sunday, 09:00 to 17:00, NT$350 for foreign visitors.

Map ↗ Website

Zhongshan

Taipei Fine Arts Museum

Modern & contemporary

The city's modern and contemporary museum on Zhongshan North Road, open Tuesday to Sunday 09:30 to 17:30, and home to the Taipei Biennial.

Map ↗ Website

Zhongzheng

National Taiwan Museum

Natural history · 228 Park

Natural history and the island's own past, in the columned hall at the top of 228 Peace Park. Tuesday to Sunday, 09:30 to 17:00, closed Mondays.

Map ↗ Website

Datong

MOCA Taipei

Contemporary

Taiwan's first museum given over entirely to contemporary art, opened in 2001 on Chang'an West Road and still the most consistently interesting programme in the city.

Map ↗ Website

Zhongzheng

National Museum of History

Art & antiquities

On Nanhai Road in Zhongzheng, and the quietest of the big collections. Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 18:00, closed Mondays.

Map ↗ Website

Shilin

Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines

Indigenous Taiwan

Across the road from the National Palace Museum, and the counterweight to it: the material culture of Taiwan's indigenous peoples. Tuesday to Sunday, 09:00 to 17:00.

Map ↗ Website

Sulfur and steam

Best hot springs & spas in Taipei

Three stops in Beitou, all reachable on the metro's pink shuttle branch.

Beitou

Beitou Hot Spring Museum

Free · 1913 bathhouse

The 1913 public bathhouse, the largest in East Asia when it opened, restored as a free museum. Open 10:00 to 18:00, closed Mondays.

Map ↗ Website

Beitou

Beitou Thermal Valley

Free · the source

The source: a steaming green sulfur lake that deposits hokutolite, a radium-bearing mineral found in only one other place on earth. Look, do not touch.

Map ↗ Website

Beitou

Millennium Hot Spring

Public pools · swimsuit

The open-air public pools on Zhongshan Road, terraced down the hillside and the cheapest soak in the city. Mixed sex, so swimsuits are required.

Map

Where to base yourself

Best neighborhoods in Taipei

Ten districts and quarters, and what each one is actually for.

Wanhua

Ximending

Youth & shopping

The pedestrianised youth quarter: street fashion, cinemas, tattoo studios and the octagonal Red House theatre. Loud, cheap and central.

Map

Da'an

Best base

The city's most liveable district. Yongkang Street for food, Da'an Forest Park for air, and the best-connected metro interchange in Taipei.

Map

Xinyi

Skyline & malls

Taipei 101, the department stores and the bar strip, laid out on a grid of skywalks. Where the city looks newest.

Map

Zhongshan

Design & coffee

Japanese-era streets north of the station, now a run of independent bookshops, coffee bars and small galleries around Chifeng Street.

Map

Datong

Dadaocheng

Historic trade

The old tea and textile port on the Tamsui River, centred on Dihua Street, and the best-preserved commercial architecture in Taipei.

Map

Wanhua

Mengjia (Wanhua)

Oldest quarter

Where the city started. Longshan Temple, Bopiliao's Qing-era shophouses and Huaxi Street, still rough at the edges.

Map

Beitou

Hot springs

A hot spring resort suburb at the end of a metro branch line, with sulfur in the air and a library made of wood.

Map

Shilin

Museum & market

The National Palace Museum, the night market and the Shilin Official Residence gardens, all north of the river.

Map

Zhongzheng

Gongguan

Student quarter

The National Taiwan University quarter: bookshops, cheap food, riverside cycle paths and a student market that runs late.

Map

Neihu

Tech & trails

Tech offices by day, and the trailhead district for Bishanyan temple and the Dahu Park hills by weekend.

Map

Out of the city

Best day trips in Taipei

Six trips, each an hour or two from Taipei Main Station on public transport.

New Taipei

Jiufen

1.5 hrs · train + bus

A former gold-mining town stacked up a hillside above the northeast coast, with teahouses on Shuqi Street. Train to Ruifang, then a local bus.

Map

New Taipei

Yehliu Geopark

1.25 hrs · bus 1815

Wind-carved sandstone on a cape north of Keelung, including the Queen's Head. KuoKuang bus 1815 from Taipei Bus Station, about an hour and a quarter.

Map

New Taipei

Shifen and the Pingxi line

1.5 hrs · TRA + branch line

The branch railway where sky lanterns are released over the tracks, plus Shifen Waterfall. Train to Ruifang, then the Pingxi line.

Map

New Taipei

Tamsui

40 min · MRT red line

The end of the metro's red line: a river mouth, a Spanish-Dutch fort at Fort San Domingo and the best sunset within an EasyCard tap.

Map

New Taipei

Wulai

1 hr · bus from Xindian

An Atayal indigenous township in a gorge south of the city, with a waterfall, a narrow-gauge trolley and riverside hot springs.

Map

Keelung

45 min · train

The working port city half an hour up the coast, and Miaokou Night Market, which is the best reason to go and eat somewhere other than Taipei.

Map

Traditional food

Must-try dishes in Taipei, Taiwan

The eight things to order before you leave the island.

Beef noodle soup

Taiwan's national bowl, braised or clear, and the dish the city holds a festival for every October.

Lu rou fan

Braised pork belly over rice. The city once handed out a thousand bowls to press its claim on the dish.

Xiaolongbao

Soup dumplings, folded to eighteen pleats at the houses that care. Eat them the minute they land.

Gua bao

Steamed folded bun around braised pork belly, pickled mustard greens and peanut powder. Fujianese in origin.

Oyster omelette

Small oysters, sweet potato starch and greens, fried into something chewy and finished with a sweet red sauce.

Bubble tea

Invented in Taiwan in the 1980s and claimed by two tea houses at once. Order it half sugar to pass unremarked.

Pineapple cake

The standard thing to carry home: shortcrust around a dense pineapple filling. The good ones use real fruit.

Hujiao bing

Pepper bun: peppered pork and spring onion sealed in dough and baked against a clay oven wall.

What's on

Festivals & annual events in Taipei (2026)

Time your trip around the city's biggest dates.

Feb–Mar

Taipei Lantern Festival

Lantern installations around Ximending and the old city in the weeks after Lunar New Year.

February

Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival

Paper lanterns released over the Pingxi valley an hour east of the city. Go by train, not car.

Feb–Mar

Yangmingshan Flower Festival

Cherry blossom and calla lilies on the mountain, with shuttle buses from Jiantan and Beitou.

June

Dragon Boat Festival

A national holiday, with dragon boat races on the city's rivers and zongzi on every counter.

Jun–Jul

Taipei Film Festival

Two weeks of Taiwanese and international premieres, closing with the Taipei Film Awards.

October

Taipei International Beef Noodle Festival

The city's own dish, judged competitively, with the winning shops queued out the door for weeks after.

Late October

Taiwan Pride

Asia's largest LGBTQ+ parade, held on the last Saturday of October and drawing more than 200,000 people.

31 December

New Year's Eve at Taipei 101

Fireworks fired off the length of the tower at midnight. Xinyi closes to traffic and the metro runs all night.

Getting around

Taipei transport & airports

How to arrive, and why you will barely use a taxi.

TPE

Taoyuan International

The main gateway, 40 km west of the city. The Airport MRT Express reaches Taipei Main Station in about 35 minutes for NT$160.

Map ↗ Website

TSA

Taipei Songshan

The city airport, on the brown Wenhu metro line, handling domestic and short regional routes. Ten minutes from Zhongshan and about twenty from Xinyi.

Map ↗ Website

MRT

Taipei Metro

Bilingual signage, fares by distance, and an EasyCard tap in and out. IC card users get a monthly rebate of 10 to 30 percent by ride count.

Map ↗ Website

THSR

High Speed Rail

The west-coast line runs from Nangang through Taipei Main Station to Zuoying in Kaohsiung, fastest in 1 hr 45 min. Book in English online.

Map ↗ Website

Taipei fact sheet

Taipei at a glance

The essentials worth knowing before you go.

Country

Taiwan

Region

Northern Taiwan

Population

2.44M city

Founded

1884 walled city

Nickname

City of Azaleas

Language

Mandarin Chinese, Taiwanese Hokkien

Currency

New Taiwan dollar (NT$)

Time zone

CST · UTC+8

Calling code

+886 2

Airports

TPE, TSA

Power

110V · Type A/B

Emergency

110 police / 119 fire

Ideal length

4–5 days

Getting around

MRT & walking

Tourism board

Official site

Interesting facts

Taipei 101 was the tallest building in the world from its completion at the end of 2004 until Burj Khalifa overtook it in 2010.
The tower's 660-tonne tuned mass damper hangs on eight cables between floors 87 and 92, and visitors can walk right up to it.
Beitou and the Tamagawa hot spring in Akita are the only two places on earth where hokutolite forms. The mineral is named after Beitou.
Qixing Mountain, inside Yangmingshan National Park and within the city limits, reaches 1,120 metres and is the highest volcano in Taiwan.
The Xiahai City God Temple on Dihua Street holds more than six hundred deities in 152 square metres, the densest concentration in Taiwan.

Headed to Taipei?

Get our one-page Taipei cheat sheet plus a fresh destination every Thursday.