Taipei 6 Day Itinerary

Taipei 6-Day Itinerary: A Comprehensive Guide

The single best fifteen dollars you’ll spend in Taipei is the hundred-twenty New Taiwan dollar EasyCard, loaded with cash at any convenience store, because it shaves roughly a fifth off every MRT and bus fare and turns six days of transport logistics into a tap-and-go afterthought. The card itself is a non-refundable hundred TWD deposit, so treat it as a cheap souvenir rather than something to cash back in before you fly home.

Day 1: Arrival & Taipei 101

  • Arrival at Taoyuan International Airport: The Airport MRT express reaches Taipei Main Station in about thirty-five minutes for 160 TWD, faster and only marginally pricier than the Kuo-Kuang bus, which takes fifty to seventy minutes depending on traffic for 90 to 145 TWD. Unless you’re arriving after midnight when the MRT has stopped running, skip the bus.

  • Check-in & Lunch: Check into your hotel (recommended areas: Ximending, Zhongshan, or Da’an district). After settling in, head out for lunch at a local eatery like A-Gei (阿戈哩) or Yongkang Beef Noodles (永康牛肉麵).

  • Taipei 101 Observatory: Book the 89th-floor ticket online in advance, it runs roughly 600 TWD and skips the queue that forms at the fifth-floor counter by mid-afternoon. Ride up to the observatory for stunning views of the city and don’t skip the 660-tonne tuned mass damper suspended between floors 87 and 92, it’s one of the few places in the world you can watch a building’s earthquake and typhoon countermeasure in plain sight.

  • Dinner & Night Market: For dinner, explore Shilin Night Market or Raohe Street Night Market to taste various local delicacies such as stinky tofu, bubble milk tea, and oyster omelet. Raohe is smaller and less overrun than Shilin, my pick if you only have one night market evening to spare.

Day 2: Explore Northern Taipei

  • Breakfast at Addiction Aquatic Development (AAD): Start your day with a unique breakfast experience at AAD, featuring fresh seafood and Taiwanese cuisine.

  • Yangmingshan National Park: Take a bus or taxi to Yangmingshan National Park for hiking, hot springs, and cherry blossoms in season, roughly February to March. Outside of bloom season the sulphur vents and volcanic terrain at Xiaoyoukeng are reason enough to go.

  • Lunch at Beitou: Enjoy a peaceful lunch in the hot spring district of Beitou. Try local specialties like black chicken soup and steamed fish with ginger and green onions.

  • Zoo and Taipei Zoological Garden: Spend the afternoon visiting the Taipei Zoo, one of Asia’s largest, to see various unique wildlife species. Note this is the same institution under two names, not two separate zoos, so don’t plan on doing both.

Day 3: Southern Taipei & Ximending

  • Breakfast at MUME: Kick off your day with an elegant breakfast at MUME, a Michelin-starred restaurant that serves Taiwanese cuisine with a twist.

  • National Palace Museum: Visit the National Palace Museum to learn about Chinese art and history. Go on a weekday morning if you can, the collection is vast enough that a rushed visit does it a disservice.

  • Lunch at Din Tai Fung: The original Din Tai Fung is not in Ximending, it’s the small storefront on Xinyi Road near Yongkang Street in Da’an district, opened by founder Yang Bing-yi back in 1958 as a cooking oil shop before it became the xiao long bao institution it is today. Go there rather than a newer branch if the pilgrimage matters to you, and expect a wait regardless of which location you pick.

  • Longshan Temple, Wanhua District: Explore Longshan Temple and its vibrant surroundings.

Day 4: Eastern Taipei & Tamsui

  • Breakfast at Ay-Chung Flour-Rice Noodle: Start your day with a popular Taiwanese breakfast, thick rice noodles in a peppery broth, at Ay-Chung in Ximending before heading out.

  • Danshui Line to Tamsui: Take the MRT’s red line to Tamsui District and visit Fort San Domingo, the Little White House, and take a stroll along the Tamsui River, especially near sunset when the riverside promenade fills with vendors and buskers.

  • Lunch at Tamsui Fisherman’s Wharf: Enjoy fresh seafood at one of the many restaurants at Tamsui Fisherman’s Wharf.

Day 5: Western Taipei & Maokong

  • Breakfast at Yong Kang Beef Noodles (original branch): Head to the original Yongkang Beef Noodles for a satisfying breakfast.

  • Maokong Gondola: Take the Maokong Gondola, a 4km cable car strung over tea-growing hillsides, and explore tea plantations, enjoy the scenic views, and taste authentic Taiwanese teas at one of the terraced teahouses near the upper station. Glass-bottomed cabins exist but the queue for them can run well over an hour on weekends, ordinary cabins move faster and the view is nearly identical.

  • Lunch at Tianmu: Have lunch at one of the restaurants near Tianmu before heading back to Taipei City.

Day 6: Leisure & Departure

  • Breakfast at your hotel or nearby cafe: Spend your last morning in Taipei enjoying a relaxing breakfast at your hotel or a trendy local cafe.

  • Shopping and Souvenirs: Visit the bustling markets of Ximending, Shida Night Market, or Zhongshan District for souvenir shopping.

  • Lunch & Departure: Have a farewell lunch at a place of your choice before heading to Taoyuan International Airport for your departure. Give yourself at least ninety minutes for the Airport MRT connection plus check-in, the express runs frequently but immigration queues at Taoyuan can be slow at peak evening departure times.

Load your EasyCard with more than you think you need before your last day, cash top-ups at the airport MRT station take longer than a quick tap through the gate.