Visit Taipei! Best Taipei Travel Guide

I will tell you why I love this city and why you will love it, too!

Translations: [閱讀繁體中文版][阅读简体中文版][BERI ČLANEK V SLOVENŠČINI]

I love Taipei! How about you? Taipei City is awesome! I'm sure that some of you, who follow my blog for a while now, know how I love this city. I've been blogging about it a lot, but this post is dedicated to people, who plan to travel somewhere in Asia and don't know where they should go. I want to tell them: Come to Taipei!

Taipei is a city that never sleeps.

And if you ask why you should come to Taipei, this post will hopefully give you all the answers.

✰ Taipei what and where?

Taipei City 台北市 (or 臺北市) is a modern East Asian metropolis and the capital city of the Republic of China. It's home to roughly 2.6 million people, while its metropolitan area (or Greater Taipei 台北) is inhabited by around 6.8 million people. That may be a small city compared to other Asian global cities like Tokyo, Beijing, Seoul or Shanghai, but it's definitely big for a European guy like me. Taipei is located on the northern part of the beautiful island of ✰ Taiwan and its Chinese name "台北市" means "Taiwan's Northern City". Taipei is like a big pie cut into smaller pieces by the rivers Danshui, Xindian and Jilong laying in the Taipei basin and surrounded by beautiful mountains of Northern Taiwan also known as Xueshan range.

Taipei's modern part Xinyi lights up beautifully at night.

✰ Taipei why?

Taipei will amaze you: You'll see some of the most amazing sights in this bustling city, eat some of the most delicious food in the world, shop till you drop, meet friendly people and see the most beautiful women you'll ever see in any other city (in case you're a male reader). Taipei will fascinate you with the old and new side by side, with the modern at one corner and the traditional at another. In one day, you can see Taipei 101, Taipei's landmark skyscraper and former tallest building in the world and the National Palace Museum, the currently 11th most visited museum in the world, full of precious historic artifacts representing the history of China at its best. Want to know more? Read on.

✰ Taipei how?

First you'll need a map. And I made a great one for you. Click on it to enlarge.

The red dots ● ● ● mark Taipei's center. The Western part (on the left) consists of historic centers Wanhua and ✰ Zhongzheng, the Eastern part (on the right) is the modern center called ✰ Xinyi.

Once you have a map, make a plan. Decide what you want to see in the days you have available. I recommend you to spend at least 7 days in Taipei City or 14 days in Greater Taipei. Of course when it comes to Taipei, the more days you can stay, the better. If you truly want to get a grasp of the city, stay 30 days, you won't regret it. But that will acquire a big budget and a lot of time. If you have plenty of that, you'll have tons of fun in Taipei.

✰ Taipei: What to see, what to do?

Let me show you some of my favorite spots in Taipei City and show you around this city. I hope to give you great ideas, what you could do in Taipei, in case you plan to visit. This awesome city is a great place to visit for young and old, for Westerners and Easterners, basically for people all over the world. Below are the places I really recommend to you. See Taipei through my eyes.

IMPORTANT: All these types of ✰ Links lead to one of my own posts about the topic and they'll open in a new tab, if you hold down CTRL, when clicking on links. These types of [Links] lead to a website or a page outside my blog and will also give you further information on the topic.

✰ Taipei's amazing spots

First thing you need to do, when you arrive to Taipei, is to see one of the most incredible buildings Taipei has to offer: ✰ Taipei 101 It's not only my favorite building in Taipei, it's also the skyscraper that put Taipei on the map in 2004 by being the tallest building in the world for 6 years. Being at this time at the no 2 spot and most likely losing this position pretty quickly to some buildings currently under construction in China and Middle East, Taipei 101 will always be worth to see, because of it's design and a huge number of firsts and innovations. The 509m tall bamboo-shaped skyscraper is located in Xinyi, Taipei's modern city center. You can go to the observatory on top or dine in some of the finest restaurants on floors 85 and 86.

Taipei 101 at night always looks incredible.

A view from Taipei 101, taken in Diamond Tony's restaurant on 85th floor.

If you're also a fan of high-rise buildings, you'll love the currently second tallest building in Taipei, the 245m tall ✰ Shin Kong Life Tower It looks great at night and it's located in Taipei's old center named Zhongzheng. You can take some amazing photos there.

Dazhi bridge in Dazhi district, beautiful at night. [photo source]

I have to admit, my favorite part of Taipei is ✰ Xinyi. You don't only have Taipei 101 there, but plenty of shopping malls, cinemas, restaurants and clubs, that you'll need to spend many days and nights to see and visit all of them. Xinyi is Taipei's modern architecture at its best. It's a big, clean and a pedestrian friendly area. And you'll see a lot of middle and upper class Taiwanese shopping and eating there. It's something like Seoul's modern district ✰ Gangnam, only smaller and somewhat more pleasant to walk around, because the buildings are not as tall and as intimidating as the ones in Seoul.

Xinyi is Taipei's modern center with the famous Taipei 101.

Xinyi at dusk.

Xinyi's pedestrian area with shopping malls and department stores.

Another awesome district is ✰ Ximending, which is the biggest pedestrian area of Taipei, and a so called trendy district for young people with cinemas, restaurants, shops and clubs. You'll see all kinds of youngsters with unique fashion styles going to crazy theme restaurants and pubs. From fab to weirdo, from cool to special: Ximending is the place to be in Taipei. Even, if you're not from the young generation, it's fun to walk around. And many older people can be found there as well. It's probably the most liberal part of Taipei.

Ximending at night.

And then there's ✰ Zhongxiao East Road, Taipei's main boulevard, that connects the Shin Kong Life Tower with Taipei 101 or the Zhongzheng district with the Xinyi district, the old with the new. It's Taipei's fashion street, full of high-class boutiques and shopping malls, pubs and clubs, fitness centers, spas and shops that sell branded watches. The richest of the rich can be seen there and the people always dress top, especially the women. Do you want to see sexy model-like Taiwanese girls? Go to Zhongxiao East Road!

Zhongxiao East Road at night.

The best way to explore Taipei is by using the subway or Taipei MRT [official website]. The trains are quick, clean and not so crowded like in other big Asian cities such as Seoul or Tokyo. Eating and drinking is not allowed. You can buy a token for a single fare, but there's also a one-day pass for tourists or you buy the standard EasyCard, like most people, who live in Taipei, do. More information about the prices [here].

Taipei City Hall Station in Xinyi, near Taipei 101.

Young people from Taipei waiting for the train. Read about ✰ Taiwan's youth.

✰ Nightlife in Taipei! Where?

Taipei is full of awesome pubs and clubs, that can be found all over the city. Best website for finding a night club of your preference is [Waakao.com], but if you wanna see, how people party in Taipei, check [Steven Vigar's photos] from July 2010 from the night club [Luxy]. Besides Luxy, I recommend you to visit [Roxy Roots], which is a reggae and blues bar and two cool clubs to dance your night away: [Legacy] and the [Wall]. Of course there are so many other clubs in Taipei, but I'll only mention few here, so you can get the idea. Steven Vigar, one of the best photographers in Taiwan, allowed me to share some pics from various clubs with you. I chose the ones that will catch your attention instantly. So, do you wanna see hot foreign girls and guys together with hot Taiwanese girls and guys dance like there is no tomorrow? If yes, then come to Taipei and visit the hottest clubs.

All four photos with permission from Steven Vigar. (Thank you!)

✰ Shopping and food in Taipei

You have shopping malls literally all around in Taipei. Most of them are located in Xinyi and along the Zhongxiao East Road, but let me introduce you some different ones, some special ones. If you take the train to Jiannan Rd. Station, you'll come to ✰ Miramar Entertainment Park, which is an area full of big shopping malls, cinemas, restaurants and with a big Ferris wheel, one of Taipei's famous landmarks [their homepage]. Would you take your lovely lady for a spin? If yes, come to Miramar!

The biggest Ferris wheel in Taipei at Miramar Entertainment Park.

Fun facts: Taipei 101 has the largest countdown clock in the world, displayed every year on New Year's eve. The fireworks are also some of the best around the globe.

✰ Taipei 1010 Mall in the evening.

Speaking of big shopping malls, one of them is called the ✰ Living Mall or [Core Pacific City], a shopping mall with a unique design. The main part is a sphere and it's really cool to walk around that part, which is full of shops. The basement floor is a food court with some yummy and affordable food. There are also great cinemas, where you can watch 3D movies.

Core Pacific City at dusk: An amazing piece of modern architecture.

Of course you won't only come to Taipei for shopping (even though that could be reason enough to visit this amazing city), you will also come to try the incredible food. Taiwanese food is one of the best in the world. Food in Taipei is abundant, it's everywhere and in case you can't imagine, here is the ✰ proof.
The best traditional Chinese food in Taipei can be found in the numerous day and night markets all over the city. Let me show you the the ones I have visited.
✰ Use my list of Night markets, to find the best one for you.

Night markets are full of traditional Taiwanese food and some of them might appear strange to foreigners, maybe even crazy. Would you try to eat the ✰ frog soup? I tried it, it's not bad, but it's certainly not everyone's treat.

✰ Shilin night market, the most famous night market in Taipei.

It's full of uniquely Taiwanese food, such as the stinky tofu, Taiwanese sausages, oyster omelettes, steamed and fried dumplings, buns, fried chicken cutlets and much much more.

Some other famous night markets are ✰ Raohe night market in Songshan district, which is usually the second most popular right after the one in Shilin. There is a popular night market near universities: ✰ Shida night market. There's also the less touristy ✰ Tonghua night market, which is worth to mention, because it has some unique foods and ✰ Ningxia night market, one of the oldest traditional night markets in Taipei.

Yummy Taiwanese food that can be found at the Shilin night market.

Taiwan is also famous for having some of the best sweets in the area. Something I really recommend to you are two famous ice creams. One is the [Snow King's] ice cream, which is famous for having some unique ice cream flavors such as wasabi, chili, pig's feet, tomato, carrot and basil. Another ice cream I highly recommend to you is ✰ Shin Fa Ting's shaved ice cream, that consists of very thin layers and melts in your mouth instantly. So tasty!

And since you go to Taipei, don't forget to try the famous ✰ bubble tea, a uniquely Taiwanese drink sold almost on every corner, which is so addictive and tastes really good. Plus it's very cheap. Once you'll try it, you'll love it forever. Taiwanese are crazy about the bubble tea, drinking it is a must. A must! :-)

There are all sorts of bubble tea, Taiwan's food is famous for variety.

Of course in Taiwan people don't only eat the traditional local food. Are you a Western businessman, who misses food from home? No problem, in Taipei you will get EVERYTHING. Taipei is a food paradise. You can get any pizza you like at almost any time, the best spaghetti you miss from home or the best Italian coffee in Asia. Taipei is full of Western style restaurants and unlike in Malaysia and Singapore, where sometimes Western food is just their idea of what Western food is, in Taipei you really get the exactly same food you know from home. That's because Taiwanese people do things extremely well.

Western food in Taipei is easy to find.

Of course besides the local delicacies and the Western food, you also have a lot of other food from Asia. Very popular are Korean, Japanese and Hong Kong styled restaurants, of which I recommend you ✰ The Sweet Dynasty, that serve some delicate traditional Chinese sweets such as tofu pudding. You have to try that one.

One of the best Hong Kong styled restaurants in Taipei.

But if you want to experience something amazing, go on top of Taipei 101, to the ✰ Diamond Tony's Observatory restaurant on the 85th floor, around 370m above the sea level. The view is amazing and the food is top.

Dining on top of Taipei 101, an experience I won't ever forget.

The best duck I ever had... it was 370m above the ground. Amazing.

But Taipei is also famous for some different kinds of restaurants called ✰ theme restaurants. They're totally in this year (2010), be it a Hello Kitty theme, a hospital or airplane theme [see photos here], they are a lot of fun to visit and I'm sure they'll make your trip to Taipei unforgettable. How about eating "shit"? Oh yeah, you've read that right. Go to ✰ Modern Toilet, a restroom themed restaurant, and eat your curry from a mini toilet. Be cool, it's a lot of fun :-)

Curry in a mini toilet, tea in an urinal, ice cream in poop shape: It was delicious.

✰ Historic Taipei

Besides food, drinks, shopping and clubbing, Taipei offers a lot of history for you to explore. Being a merely 300 years old city, Taipei does not have the long history most of European capitals have, however those past 3 centuries were quite eventful. From the early settlements of the Han Chinese in the 17th century to the Japanese rule of the early 20th century to the post WWII capital city of the Republic of China, Taipei has experienced a lot of good and bad times. You will not find a historic center as you know them from European cities like Vienna, Rome or Paris. The remains of the old Taipei are scarce and not always easy to find, but it's not impossible. Most of the historic looking buildings were constructed in the 20th century either by Japanese or later during the rule of Chiang Kai-shek, the former president of Taiwan (from 1949 to 1975). Let me show you the most famous historic sights from the 18-20th century.

✰ Longshan Temple is the most famous temple in Taipei, built in 1738.

✰ Confucius Temple is one of my favorite temples in Taipei, you have to see it.

✰ Baoan Temple is one of the oldest and most beautiful temples in Taipei.

✰ Xingtian temple is one of the biggest and most popular temples in Taipei.

Walk around ✰ Dihua Street, if you want to see the oldest street in Taipei.

✰ Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, completed in 1980.

✰ National Concert Hall, completed in 1987.

✰ National Theater, completed in 1987.

✰ The Gate of Great Centrality and Perfect Uprightness, 1975.

✰ Shin Kong Life Tower seen from the Liberty Square. It was completed in 1993.

✰ Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, completed in 1972.

Statue of [Sun Yat-sen], the founding father of the Republic of China in 1911.

✰ Presidential Office Building, completed in 1919.

✰ 228 Memorial Park, established in 1908.

✰ Taipei Main Station, completed in 1989.

✰ Taipei Post Office, established in 1895.

Read all about the ✰ Gates of Taipei.

✰ Beimen (Northern Gate), completed in 1884.

✰ Nanmen (Southern Gate), completed in 1879.

✰ Xiaonanmen (Little South Gate), completed in 1879.

✰ Dongmen (East Gate), completed in 1884.

✰ Lin Family Garden and Residence in Banqiao, completed in 1847.

✰ Li Family Residence in Luzhou is a famous old house from Qing, 1857.

✰ National Palace Museum, established in 1964 [homepage].

✰ Museum of Contemporary Art is located in former City Hall, 1921.

National Taiwan Museum, completed in 1908 [homepage].

National Museum of History, established in 1955 [homepage].

Nanhai Academy with a lovely pond.

✰ Taipei Botanic Gardens, esatblished in 1921.

The Lotus pond in the botanic gardens.

✰ Chiang Kai-shek's Presidential residence in Shilin, 1950.

✰ The Grand Hotel, established in 1952, completed in 1973.

✰ National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine, established in 1969.

✰ National Taiwan University, founded in 1928 [homepage].

✰ Around Taipei

Taipei offers so much to do and see during your trip, but you need to reserve few days to visit some lovely small towns nearby. They're accessible by bus or train and will make your Taipei trip truly unforgettable. Let me introduce some to you:

The first one you need to visit is ✰ Danshui, because it's accessible with the MRT train (red line). It takes about 30min going northwards. You can see historic buildings from the Spanish and Dutch times and the famous sunset at the Lovers' bridge, as well as enjoy some tasty street food at the famous Old Street. Another town located south from Taipei city is ✰ Xindian. It's also accessible with the MRT train (green line), you'll need about 20min from Taipei's main station. You can stroll around the Xindian river, which is turned into a lake, because of a dam. The whole area is called [Bitan]. You can cross the lake on famous pedestrian suspension bridge, eat out at restaurants or take a ride at a pedal boat with your loved one. Located east from Taipei is ✰ Keelung, a big port city famous for the ✰ Miaokou Night Market, one of the best night markets in Taiwan with the famous sea food.

Another small town I highly recommend to you is ✰ Yingge (30min away from Taipei by train), the famous pottery capital of Taiwan. Walk around the Old street or visit the pottery museum, it's free of charge. Take one day to visit ✰ Jiufen, a lovely mountain village (about 1.5h away from Taipei) at the north coast of Taiwan. Enjoy some great views and tea there. You'll love it, it's so romantic. Close to Jiufen is ✰ Yeliu, a famous geopark with some of the most amazing natural sculptures you'll ever see, such as the well known ✰ Queen's Head, one of Taiwan's famous images. Maybe on your last day you can visit ✰ Wulai, a lovely mountain resort with hot springs (around 1h away from Taipei). You can soak in warm water, enjoy some aboriginal delicacies or visit the famous Wulai Falls. If you add all these lovely getaways to your Taipei trip, you really won't regret it. Believe me. It'll make your Taipei trip truly unforgettable.

✰ Around Taiwan

Taipei is also a great starting point to explore all of Taiwan. It's well connected with the biggest Taiwanese cities, such as ✰ Taichung, ✰ Tainan and ✰ Kaohsiung. You can take the high-speed train and you'll be in the southern part of Taiwan in about 1.5 hours.

Taiwan has a lot more to offer than just its four bustling cities. But that's a topic for another and much longer post. For now, let's remain in Taipei.

✰ In conclusion

I hope I made Taipei interesting to you and I hope I gave you some good reasons to visit. I wasn't paid to promote Taipei by anyone, I just love to share my experience with those, who are interested in visiting Taipei or Taiwan. I will constantly update this post, add new photos, change information, if necessary. And you can always correct me, if I've made a factual mistake. Please drop a comment below, if you have some questions or additional info or anything to say.

Taipei is full of young people.

Fun fact: 88% of today's Taiwanese have some aboriginal roots [source].

Taipei 101 on a hot summer day. See ✰ a big photo here.

Fun fact: Taipei 101 is seen from almost every corner of the city.

A cute girl near Taipei 101. You'll see many like her all around Taipei [photo source].

Fun fact: Taipei was made the provincial capital of Taiwan in 1886 during Qing Dynasty.

I hope I gave you enough reasons to visit Taipei at least once in your life.

Fun fact: Taipei is safe, full of museums, universities, culture, art and good food.

People in Taipei are friendly, but shy at first. But once you get to know them, they will open up and become good friends with you. The cute girl above is very special to me. She used to be my guide around Taipei and all of Taiwan. I had the best time of my life with her and I'm looking forward to explore more of the island with her in the future. I want to say special thanks to her for helping me with this post and with almost all Taiwan related posts. This article is dedicated to my dear girlfriend Lily. Thank you very much. 我愛妳!

External links: [7 Ways that Taipei beats Singapore][Culture of Taiwan (articles)]

Related: [My TAIWAN page][All photos by MKL, except where otherwise noted]

[My TAIPEI page][Thank you Lily Chen and Steven Vigar]

[This post was UPDATED on 29th March, 2011]