Taipei

Visitors come for food above all, from night-market snacks to beef noodle soup and soup dumplings, and for the National Palace Museum, Taipei 101, historic temples and the hot springs of Beitou. The MRT metro is clean, simple and well signed in English, and the old mining towns of Jiufen and Pingxi, the coast and Yangmingshan National Park are easy day trips. Apartments and serviced residences suit longer stays, though Taiwan licenses tourist accommodation strictly, so choose registered lodging and check the rules first.

Where to stay in Taipei

The area around Taipei Main Station, in Zhongzheng district, is the most practical base for arrivals and onward travel: the airport MRT, the high-speed rail and several metro lines meet here. Ximending and the older Wanhua district, to the west, are lively, youthful and often good value, with Longshan Temple and street food nearby.

Da'an, in the center, is a leafy residential district around Da'an Forest Park and Yongkang Street, with cafés, restaurants and quiet lanes that suit families and longer stays. Xinyi, to the east, is the modern business district around Taipei 101, with department stores and wide sidewalks. Zhongshan, north of the station, mixes boutique streets, cafés and hotels and is close to the historic Dadaocheng quarter by the river. For a slower stay, Beitou, at the foot of the mountains in the north, has hot-spring baths and greenery. Most districts are within a short walk of an MRT station.

Museums, temples and landmarks

The National Palace Museum, in Shilin, holds one of the great collections of Chinese art and artifacts, much of it moved from mainland China during the civil war of the 1940s. Taipei 101, opened in 2004 in Xinyi and 508 meters tall, was the world's tallest building for several years and has an observatory near the top.

Bangka Lungshan Temple, in Wanhua, was built in 1738 by settlers from Fujian and honors Guanyin along with many other deities; evening prayers fill its courtyards. The vast Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, with its plaza, theater and concert hall, is in the government district, and Dalongdong Baoan Temple and the Confucius Temple stand side by side in Datong. Dihua Street in Dadaocheng keeps old shophouses from the tea and herb trade. Elephant Mountain, a short climb near Taipei 101, gives a classic view of the skyline.

Night markets and food

Night markets are central to Taipei life. Shilin is one of the largest and busiest, Raohe in Songshan runs along a single lively street beside Ciyou Temple, and Ningxia, near Zhongshan, is compact and known for traditional snacks. Look for oyster omelets, pepper buns baked in clay ovens, stinky tofu, scallion pancakes, grilled squid and shaved ice with fruit.

Beyond the markets, beef noodle soup, braised pork rice and soup dumplings are everyday favorites, and breakfast shops serve soy milk, egg crêpes and fried dough sticks early in the morning. Bubble tea was popularized in Taiwan and is sold on almost every block. Convenience stores are open around the clock and are useful during an apartment stay, as are traditional morning markets for fruit and vegetables. Tipping is not generally expected, although some sit-down restaurants add a service charge.

Getting there and around

Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TPE), opened in 1979, lies about 40 kilometers west of the city in Dayuan, Taoyuan, and handles most international flights. Express trains on the Taoyuan Airport MRT reach Taipei Main Station in about 35 to 37 minutes. Taipei Songshan Airport (TSA), inside the city, serves domestic flights and some regional routes to Japan, South Korea and mainland China.

The Taipei Metro, or MRT, covers the city and much of New Taipei with clear signs in Chinese and English, and buses fill the gaps. An EasyCard works on the MRT, buses and YouBike shared bicycles and in convenience stores. The Taiwan High Speed Rail runs from Taipei Main Station down the west coast to Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, while conventional trains serve the east coast. Scooters fill the streets, so cross with care; a car is unnecessary in the city.

Hot springs, mountains and day trips

Yangmingshan National Park, on the volcanic mountains north of the city, has hiking trails, fumaroles and seasonal flowers; Qixing Mountain, its highest peak at 1,120 meters, is a dormant volcano. Beitou, at its foot and reached by MRT, has public and private hot-spring baths and a hot-spring museum. The Maokong gondola rises from near the zoo to tea plantations in the hills to the south.

The old gold-mining town of Jiufen, on the northeast coast, is known for its stepped lanes and sea views, and the Pingxi line nearby passes Shifen, with a waterfall and sky lanterns. Tamsui, at the mouth of the Tamsui River, has a riverside promenade, sunsets and the historic Fort San Domingo. Keelung's port and night market, the rock formations of Yehliu Geopark, the Atayal village of Wulai and the hot springs and coast of Yilan are all within a day's reach.

Weather and when to visit

Taipei has a humid subtropical climate. Summers, from June to September, are hot and humid, with afternoon thunderstorms, and typhoons can affect the city from June to October, sometimes bringing heavy rain and transport disruption for a day or two. Spring brings a wetter spell known as the plum rains in May and June.

Autumn, from October to early December, is often the most comfortable season, with warm, drier days for hiking and day trips. Winters are short and mild, though often damp and cloudy, and occasional cold fronts can push daytime temperatures below 10 degrees Celsius; snow is not recorded in the city's lowland districts and falls only rarely on its mountains, such as Yangmingshan. Lunar New Year, in January or February, is a major holiday when many businesses close and transport is busy, and the Lantern Festival follows two weeks later.

Renting a home in Taipei

Under Taiwan's Act for the Development of Tourism, accommodation for travelers must be registered as a hotel or as a minsu, a licensed bed-and-breakfast. Unlicensed short-term rentals of apartments, often called daily rental suites, are the most common form of illegal lodging, and operators who advertise them face fines; such places may also lack insurance and fire safety measures.

Legal hotels and minsu display their registration certificate and official sign, and the Tourism Administration's Taiwan Stay website lists licensed properties. Serviced apartments and hotel-run residences offer longer stays with kitchens. Before booking a private apartment, check whether it appears as licensed lodging, and look for current guidance from the Taipei City Government, as enforcement and penalties have been tightened in recent years.