So you have decided to go to Taipei and at a loss of where to go? Fret not! I have compiled a list of places to you can go in Taipei as well as my review of it together with the directions and useful information.
Table of Contents
1. Jiufen
Review
Lots of food and shopping! It is a popular tourist spot! MUST GO!
Directions:
I am unable to provide as we missed the hourly bus at Jinguashi waterfall 🙁 so we waited for some time before deciding to hitch a ride xP But, if you want concrete directions, here is what I googled:
By Train:
From Taipei, take the train north to Ruifang Station. After exiting the station, cross the street to the bus stop next to the Wellcome Supermarket and board the Keelung Transit bus towards Jiufen. The bus trip takes roughly 15 minutes, and the fare is NT$21 during the week, NT$15 during weekends/holiday.
From MRT Zhongxiao Fuxing (忠孝復興), Brown Line 1 and Blue Line 5 interchange, leave from Exit 1 and take bus route 1062 (Keelung Bus) to Jinguashi, alight at Jiufen. The ride is about 1 hour and the fare is NT$90. Be sure to sit on the left side of the bus to enjoy scenic views of Northern Taiwan. Bus 788 is also available from Keelung.
2. Wulai
Review
The waterfall was gorgeous, the scenery was beautiful. I think its a really nice place to visit, one can visit the hot spring or spend a night there. Or if feeling short on cash, one can always soak their feet at the stream. My feet felt so rejuvenated after the feet spa, its like my body felt exhausted but my feet felt so alive. Yes, free of charge spa. Oh , and you can also ride on the mining cart and take photos. There are a few museums, we went to Atayal Museum, Wulai Forestry Museum. Wulai is famous for stone plate grill, trout dishes, pork sausages, maqaw dishes and rice in bamboo tube, but due to time constraints, we didnt get to try all.
Directions: (taken from my Wulai Brochure)
By train, metro, bus: Take a train to Taipei Main Station, switch to the Taipei metro Danshui-Xindian Line and head to Xindian station. Then take Xindian bus 849 from/to Wulai and Taipei Main Station. Xindian Bus route 849: First bus leaves at 05:30, last bus is at 21:30. During peak hours on weekdays, the bus runs every 10-15minutes, during off-peak hours and weekends it runs every 15-20minutes.
By car: Take National Freeway No 3. -> Get off at the Xindian Interchange -> take Xindian Zhongxing Road -> Xindian Road -> Beiyi Road -> Xinwu Road
3.Jinguashi （金瓜石）
Review
I enjoyed the tunnel the most where we walked in it with our helmets and have a first-hand experience of how life as a miner felt like. The weather was sweltering hot so the cool temperature in the tunnel provided us with some respite. It was cheap, at only 50 NTD. This Gold Museum has the Japanese style residences (dormitory for the high-level Japanese company employees), Gold Refining Building, Environmental Building where information on Jinguashi’s geology, environment, climate, plants and characteristics of its settlements were provided ( It was a little boring for me), Jinguashi Crown Prince Chalet( not very interesting), Benshan No.5 Tunnel (The exciting stuff!), Gold Building(I think we didn’t go to this one, didn’t see it ;/ ) I like the free Yukata try out room.
Operating hours:
Weekdays: 09:30-17:00, closed on the first Monday of every month.
Weekends: 09:30-18:00
Directions
We took the 火车 to Ruifang Station, from there we asked for directions on the bus to take to Jinguashi. Don’t worry, the locals are very friendly. But if you still prefer for concrete directions, here was what I googled:
Bus from Jiufen: Take a bus from the bus stop in front of the pavilion, heading away from Ruifang train(railway) station. Check that the bus is heading towards “Jinguashi (金瓜石)”. The sign will be prominently displayed at the front of the bus. If in doubt, check with their friendly bus drivers. Bus fare is payable using the EasyCard or cash. I can’t recall the fare amount – I think it’s NT$22.
Bus from Taipei: Go to the bus stop at Zhongxiao-Fuxing MRT station, exit 1. Look out for a bus from Keelung Bus Company heading towards “Jinguashi (金瓜石)”. The sign will be prominently displayed at the front of the bus. If in doubt, check with their friendly bus drivers. Bus fare is payable using the EasyCard or cash. The fare is about NT$100.
4. Jinguashi Waterfall （金瓜石瀑布）
Review
The waterfall is really beautiful with the gold coloured rocks and water, it is a MUST GO! After the waterfall, walk down 20-30minutes to the seaside, and you will see the gold water flowing out to the sea.
Directions
Similarly, from there we asked around to take bus to the jinguashi waterfall.During weekdays, the buses comes hourly with the first bus coming at 9.24am and last bus at 4.24pm.As for weekends, the buses comes every 30minutes, with the first bus coming at 8.24am, and last bus at 4,24pm.
5. Yeh Liu Geo Park
Review
We spent around 2.5hours in the park, and we couldn’t finish all three areas. The landforms were fascinating, we went for a free tour by the tour guide. You get to see all the sedimentary layers and rocks. It is indeed, nature at its best. It is a MUST GO! (: We snapped lots of scenic photos.
Directions / Useful Info
By Long Distance Bus:
From Taipei West Bus Station – Terminal A (located at Taipei Main Station), go to the KuoKuang (國光) window and purchase a ticket for NT$96 to Yehliu Geopark (野柳地質公園). The journey takes around 90 minutes, and the bus will drop you on the main road just outside the park entrance. Walk down the lane on the left side to enter.
By North Coast Shuttle Bus (from Tamsui or Keelung):
Take the North Coast Shuttle Bus NT$200 all-day unlimited rides from either MRT Tamsui Station or Keelung Railway Station.
Operating hours of the park: 8-5pm
6. Bei Tou Hot Spring, Bei Tou Park, Taipei Library
Review
The Beitou Hot Spring/ Thermal Valley is a small area, but it was very exciting seeing the steam rising up. Do visit the library to admire the architecture! The Ketagalan Culture Center is a museum so if you are a museum lover, do go for it! The Bei Tou Museum is good to visit, to find out the history of the hot spring.
Directions
Alight at MRT Xin Beitou Station. Then when you come out of the station, walk straight ahead, there will be Beitou park in front of you, on the left you will see Ketagalan Culture Center. The hot spring is further up straight ahead.
7. Tamsui Old Street (淡水老街)
Review
It is basically another night market. It was a pity that we reached at night so it was really hard to take nice pictures at the Ai River, and the bridge, sadly. I bought the famous tea blocks there, they offer free sampling ^^
Directions
Our Taiwan friend brought us there so I don’t have directions. Oops
8. Ai He (Love River)
Review
Just a scenic bridge for one to catch the sunset. Pity we couldn’t get to see the sunset as the skies weren’t clear. Night photos were horrible too 🙁 Definitely gonna come back again, and maybe bring my future boyfriend? hehe. By the way, the sunsets really early in Taipei, like 5.30pm, so it is better to come earlier like around 4/5pm.
9. Wu Fen Pu (五分埔）
Review
I was expecting skorts and cropped tops as I thought that was the Korean fashion since I often see those fashion in Singapore. But all I saw was drapey loose tops that weren’t my style. It was Serene’s shopping paradise. Unfortunately, I didn’t like the fashion there so I only bought pump socks. The pump socks were a good buy as they were cheaper than the ones sold in Singapore and of much better quality. Pump socks in singapore are thin and expensive, like 3 for SGD10. I only wear it 1-3 times and the socks would start to have holes. And the best thing is, my nails were trimmed. So you can tell how poor the quality is. On the other-hand, taiwan’s pump socks were much much thicker and some even have paddings, I’ll definitely wear those for heels as it makes wearing heels more comfortable. With regards to pricing, the most expensive pair I saw were 40NTD for one pair, that’s like $2-$3, but way better quality.
Directions:
MRT from TaiPei Main Station (台北車站) to HouShanPi (後山埤) Station exit #1, with travel time of 13mins and cost at NT25. (Bannan line)
Useful info
1st street: Full of trendy products.
3rd street: Area with the highest density of shops, include teahouse, shoes store and clothes shops selling Japanese style products.
5th street: Products mainly focus on Europe, USA, Japanese and Korean style. It was easy to find some shops selling unique hip hop and punk goods at this street too.
7th street: Plenty of Korean style sport and street wears for the lady.
13th street: Mainly Japanese style clothes for the lady.
19th street (SongShan Road Lane 119): Hong Kong and Korean style lady clothes, can find a lot of elegant and traditional wears.
YongJi Road (永吉路) : Kid’s wear , some were imported goods.
ZhongPo Park (中坡公園): Where you can find local cuisine and snacks. Some accessories stalls were available too.
(credits to Alec Travel Guide)
10. Ximending
Review
lots of street food and lots of shopping stuff, pity though i stayed at Ximen WOW Hostel, everyday i left the house super early and went back super late so end up, i didnt get to shop much! Basically, a shopping district.
Directions
Just alight at Ximen Station (its the metro), get off by Exit 6, its just right outside it.
11. Shilin Night Market
Review
Food is not bad, but I dislike the squeeziness of the food court. It was like a maze. I don’t quite like the night market in the end. The food court has a stat counter that tracks the number of people in the foodcourt. But I dont like the confined feeling in an oily place. So nah, not coming back here for food.
12. The Palace Museum (故宫博物馆)
Review
I enjoy going to museums, to learn about the culture. Some exhibits were quite interesting so it depends if you are more inclined towards cultural stuff. If you are, it is a must go. You can also use the Youth Travel Card. Do bring a jacket as the museum is super cold. Perhaps due to my hunger and I was feeling very cold, my attention span was short and I felt bored at the museum.
Directions/Useful Information
Click here.
Ticket-Purchase Office Hours: 8:20 – 18:00
(Tickets can be purchased until 20:30 for extended visiting hours on Fridays and Saturdays)
Exhibition I (Main Building), Zhishan Garden Admission:
| Discount | NTD $150 | – Students with valid international student ID (ISIC,international student identity card)
– Youth Travel Card |
Only Saturday night is free of charge
13. Chiang kai-shek Memorial Hall
Review
Depending on whether you are interested in history and culture, for me, it was just a want-to-go-and-see-and-take-pictures feeling. If history and culture isn’t something that you are interested in, then you might want to give it a miss.
Directions
Take Red Line2 or Green Line 3 to Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall (中正紀念堂), sometimes labeled asK.S. Memorial Hall.
Operating hours: 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM
14. Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall
Review
Depending on whether you are interested in history and culture, for me, it was just a want-to-go-and-see-and-take-pictures feeling. If history and culture isn’t something that you are interested in, then you might want to give it a miss. Free admission
Useful information
visiting hours of the exhibition halls: 9:00 – 17:00
entrance time of the auditorium: 19:00
performance time: 19:30
Directions
Public: MRT Station：From Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall Station (Exit 4), follow Zhongxiao E. Rd. (about three minutes on foot).
Other: 1.Take the No. 204, 212, 232, 235, 240, 259, 261, 263, 266, 270, 278, 281, 282, 288, 299, 504, 662, 663, 667 bus to Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. 2. Parking is available at the City Government parking lot on Guangfu S. Rd.
About Author
Pingback: X Things to do at Kaohsiung | funsizyeeminji