CHRISTY: Vancouver Lifestyle, Travel, Fashion, Beauty, Business, & Food Blogger ❀

In 2019, I travelled again to Taipei (check out my full summary here). It was my third time there and this time I was mostly exploring on my own! I love Taipei for the scenery, yummy food, night markets, and shopping. There’s also a bit of Japanese influence there.

My itinerary consists of my favourite Taiwanese food, bubble tea, cute places to check out (especially for Anime or Studio Ghibli fans), places with beautiful scenery, and night markets.

Caution: The itinerary below is for people who have a limited time in Taipei and want to visit each popular area. We’re talking about waking up at 8am to hit up a lot of spots. 😂 Also beware of cockroaches…

Some things to bring: sunscreen, bug spray, cash (mostly), wifi, comfortable shoes – lots of walking!

Must-eats: Bubble tea (tastes much milkier here!), stinky tofu (if you like that), “small sausage in large sausage” from Shilin Night Market, pepper meat bun from Raohe Night Market, braised beef noodle soup, scallion pancake, Taiwanese breakfast (dan bing (omelette cake), you tiao (fritters), soy milk) – Yong He Soy Milk King is super famous for this, hot pot, braised pork rice, fried chicken, pineapple cake (Sunnyhills is top!), oyster noodle (Ay Chung), taro balls, shaved ice

Quick tips: You could probably get around with some English but it’s good to learn some basic Taiwanese Mandarin for ordering food and directions. Also following Google Maps can be a challenge so heads up!

Here’s a brief summary of my itinerary (I stayed in Tamsui):

🗓 DAY 1 – Taipei 101

Most people go to the iconic skyscrapers or towers for the observation decks overseeing the city.

• Morning
  • Head to Taipei 101, one of the tallest buildings in the world
  • Breakfast: Find a place for Taiwanese breakfast!

• Afternoon
  • Lunch: If you can get a spot at the original Din Tai Fung (famous Chinese restaurant originating in Taiwan) you can eat there, if not, there’s a food court in the mall with a lot of food (we had Hawker Chan BBQ pork)
    • I also had a mango shaved ice and fruit drink at Smoothie House
  • Go up to the observation deck, get a lot of cute souvenirs
  • Check out the mall filled with high-end brands

• Evening
  • Night market of course! Ningxia Night Market should be nearby: try the foods listed above!

🗓 DAY 2 – Exploring Taipei Main Station & Tamsui

One time I visited Taipei, I stayed at a hotel near Taipei Main Station. It was super convenient and we even had a Chatime downstairs.

• Morning
  • Breakfast: Find a place for Taiwanese breakfast!

• Afternoon
  • Go to Taipei Main Station
    • Caution: There are usually a lot of salespeople that might approach you if you look like a tourist!
  • Take a photo at the centre beside the big clock
    • There’s also a LINE store there if you’re interested
  • Lunch: Walk around the mall and find some restaurants you want to try (lots of great food choices) – beef noodles would be great!
  • Take the subway to Tamsui that’s by the river
    • There are a lot of cute restaurants and shops here!

• Evening
  • Check out Aletheia University where Jay Chou shot “The Secret That Cannot Be Told”
  • Catch the sunset by the water – Tamsui is known for this!
  • Dinner: Try the street food along the Tamsui old street – try some Taiwanese fried chicken

🗓 DAY 3 – Exploring Ximending

Ximending is a very youthful and trendy shopping and entertainment district. You can find Anime stores and even K-Pop stores!

• Early Morning
  • Head to Ximending station
  • Breakfast: Have a bowl of oyster noodles at Ay-Chung Flour-Rice Noodle

• Bubble Tea Spots: Xing Fu Tang for brown sugar millk tea, HuaDa Milk Tea for milk tea

• Walk and shop around, there are Anime stores, beauty shops, and even K-Pop shops!

• Afternoon
  • Lunch: I went to Yong He Soy Milk King (a bit of a walk) and go the famous Taiwanese breakfast (dan bing (omelette cake), you tiao (fritters), soy milk)

• Head over towards Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall – This place was breathtaking, there’s a huge staircase to walk up to and the view from there was just amazing

• Evening
  • Dinner: Head to the largest and most famous Shilin Night Market and eat the food suggested above, mainly the “small sausage in large sausage” which is a sweet and savory Taiwanese pork sausage wrapped in sticky rice
    • TIP: Exit the Jiantan Metro stop and exit 1, not Shilin Metro stop

🗓 DAY 4 – Jiufen (and Shifen if you have time)

This was one of my favourite places up on the mountains! It’s what inspired Spirited Away. It was about a 2h transit (including bus) up, and sadly it was pouring that day.

• Morning
  • Eat breakfast
  • Start heading over as early as you can!

• Afternoon
  • Explore Jiufen Old Street
  • Lunch: There’s a lot of food to choose from, also try the tea set (only NT$300) at the famous Amei Tea House

• Dessert: Have taro balls from the famous Lai Ah Po Yu Yuan (taro balls is said to have originated in Jiufen)

• Evening
  • If it’s not too late, head to Shifen (I couldn’t go last time since it was dark and I was by myself, it’s a nice location with a railway and waterfall), allocate 2h+ to get back to Taipei

🗓 DAY 5 – Zoo, Souvenir Shopping, & Night Market

• Morning
  • Get breakfast before heading to the Taipei Zoo

• Afternoon
  • Head to the Xinyi District, visit the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall – very large building as a memorial to the Republic of China’s National Father, Dr. Sun Yat-sen
  • Get Sunny Hills pineapple cakes from the Minsheng Park Store (they’re quite heavy and a bit costly but tastes delicious!)
  • Walk around the mall if you’d like

• Evening
  • Dinner: Head to Raohe Night Market nearby, eat the pepper meat bun (you’ll see the huge lineup at the entrance), I also liked the papaya smoothie I got

So that’s what I did or would do for my 5 days in Taipei. I pretty much went to a night market each night! There was even one day where I drank nine bubble tea drinks in a day (not recommended unless you’re sharing).

It was definitely a lot of walking, though I found the weather there less humid than Hong Kong or Japan even in August or October! It was nice to explore the land where a lot of my favourite foods from bubble tea to Taiwanese fried chicken originated!

Other Places To Go:

• Bali: Take a 15-min boat ride from Tamsui for a refreshing experience beside the water, take a photo with the big BALI sign
• Fort San Domingo: Historical fortress established by the Spanish – in Tamsui
• The Lover’s Bridge: A beautiful bridge overlooking the ocean, I was also amazed by the huge hotel establishment – in Tamsui
• National Taipei University – further out towards Taoyuan City

Other Links:

• 🍴 Check out my foodie account @christyenjoys for more! Stay tuned for my next trip on Bangkok, Hiroshima/ Miyajima, Toronto, NYC, and San Francisco.
• If you’re also travelling to Hong Kong or Osaka nearby, check out my blogs!
• See the full summary of my Asia trip