Discover Taipei – Top Things to Do, See, and Eat

Planning a trip to Taiwan’s amazing capital? I’ve spent two weeks in Taipei (2024 and 2026) exploring this beautiful city. This comprehensive Taipei travel guide cuts through the noise to help you experience the city like a local. From navigating the MRT system and trying legendary night market street food to exploring historic temples and dramatic mountain overlooks, here is everything you need to plan an unforgettable adventure in Taipei.

Best Neighborhoods to Stay in Taipei

Accommodation:

Neighborhood: I’d recommend staying in downtown Taipei so that you are central to the main attractions. I recommend the Xinyi or Zhongzheng districts. I spent one night in the Banqiao district and this was also nice. I expected it to be quieter, but it really wasn’t because there was a big Christmas market. It was nice, but I preferred the downtown locations. I have also stayed in the Zhongshan district at the Taipei Marriott Hotel for work. This was good for being on the north side of the city, but bad for going to anything downtown during rush hour.

Hotel: I stayed at the Grand Hyatt in Taipei which was amazing. The breakfast buffet is great, the spa (steam, sauna, hot tubs, and cold plunge) are included, and the rooms are spacious and cozy. In Banqiao I stayed at the Hilton Taipei Sinban, which was also very nice!

Getting Around:

By Train/Bus: The public transportation in Taipei works great! I mostly took the metro or buses to get around. You just need to buy an EasyCard and load it with money at the metro station (cash only!).

You can check on Google Maps how much your trip will likely cost and you can make sure you have enough balance on your card. I just used Google Maps to know which trains and buses to get around.

By Uber: Ubers work pretty well in downtown Taipei. They’re definitely less expensive than in the US, but not nearly as cheap as the public transportation. I was able to use Uber to cross town or get home at night (I felt very safe but was just tired a couple times).

Getting from the airport:

I was planning on taking an Uber, but when I arrived, there were no Ubers available. Instead, I went out to the taxi line and took a taxi. This was easy and worked great as well! It cost about $45 to get downtown and most the taxis accepted credit card. Just ask the taxi attendant to double check for you (the attendants usually speak english but the drivers usually don’t)

Huashan 1914 & Songshan Creative Parks: These are two different parks that are home to amazing markets. The are structures filled with pop up vendors for handicrafts, gifts, art and more. I was visiting in December and it was a perfect stop for Christmas shopping. I’d highly recommend spending some time at both of these culture parks.

Dihua Old Street: We spent a whole afternoon wandering this historic street full of cute shops, chinese medicine stores, food vendors, and more.

Elephant Mountain Hike:  Another nice thing to do in Taipei is to climb Elephant Mountain. This is a popular hike right up stairs in the mountain to get you to beautiful views of Taipei! You can climb as little or as much as you want, but bring water and be prepared to sweat! 

National Palace Museum: I didn’t have time to check this out, but you can explore the National Palace Museum for about $12pp entrance fee. The museum is open from 9a – 5p and closed on Mondays. The museum holds a permanent collection of nearly 700,000 pieces of artifacts and artworks.

Must-do Taipei Experiences

Foot Spa and Massage: I am not exaggerating when I say this foot massage was life changing. I went in skeptical and booked a 30 min foot massage, but I could have sat there for 90 mins. It was so relaxing I was drifting in and out of sleep and my feet felt amazing after.

Dancing Finger Massage was great, but there are so many places throughout the city offering foot massage.

Enjoy a Bubble Tea:  Bubble tea or pearl milk tea (珍珠奶茶) originated in Taiwan and remains extremely popular. I easily drank one bubble tea per day because they are so good!

They are often less sweet that what you find in the US and there are many varieties. My local friends recommended TRUEDAN. 

Feast at Din Tai Fung: When in Taiwan, you have to try this iconic Taiwanese restaurant. At first I thought it wouldn’t be popular in Taiwan since it is a chain, but I was so wrong.

Every location was always packed. I’m sadly gluten free so I ate the fried rice, cucumber salad, and red bean dessert. 

Head Spa: I went for the most incredible head spa at Innovate專業頭皮養護-忠孝館. It was a roughly 2 hour service with head massage, shampooing, treatments, and more. I would come back in a heartbeat!! 

Karaoke: You absolutely MUST do karaoke at ONCOR. You get a private room with great song selection, and you can order their delicious food right to the room. We spent 3 hours here easily. 

Have a night out: Taipei has incredible nightlife and so many places to explore! We checked out RUFF Taipei (club with roughly $20 USD cover – needed passport copy to get in – wouldn’t highly recommend, but still fun), Fake Sober, and the bars in ATT4Fun.