Taipei, Taiwan 2 Day Itinerary
Taipei is a city that feeds you constantly, whether you want it to or not. Street vendors materialise at every corner, temple incense mixes with the smell of pork fat from the stall next door, and the MRT arrives before you have finished checking which line you need. Two days is tight but absolutely workable if you resist the urge to cross the whole city in a single afternoon.
Getting in from Taoyuan Airport: The Airport MRT Express is the right call. The purple-line express takes 35 minutes to Taipei Main Station, costs NT$160 on an EasyCard, and runs until around 11:30 pm. A taxi costs roughly NT$1,200 and is only worth it if you arrive in a group with heavy luggage late at night. Buy your EasyCard at the airport the moment you land as it works on every bus, MRT line, and even some convenience stores.
Day 1: Temples, Markets and the Old Riverside District
Morning
Skip the hotel breakfast and walk to Fuhang Soy Milk (阜杭豆漿) near Shan Dao Temple MRT. The queue snakes down a staircase, but it moves fast and the savoury hot soy milk with you tiao is genuinely one of the better breakfasts you can have in East Asia. Arrive by 8 am on weekdays; weekends push that to 7:30 am.
From there, take the MRT to Longshan Temple (龍山寺) for the morning ritual atmosphere. The temple is free to enter and most interesting before 10 am when locals still outnumber tourists. The fortune-telling area beside the main hall is worth a few minutes even if you do not believe in it.
Afternoon
Take the MRT to Ximending (西門町), Taipei’s compact answer to Tokyo’s Harajuku. Lunch here at one of the Sichuan noodle shops on Wuchang Street, where a bowl costs NT$120 to NT$180. The shopping is mid-range and aimed at teenagers, so skip the stores unless that is your market. What is worth your time is the Red House Theatre (西門紅樓), a Japanese colonial building from 1908 that now houses independent designers and a weekend outdoor market.
From Ximending, head to the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall (中正紀念館) for the hourly changing of the guard inside the main hall. The surrounding park is calm and photogenic in the late afternoon light. The hall itself is free.
Evening
Head to Dadaocheng (大稻埕), the old tea-trading district near the river. The streets around Dihua Street (迪化街) still have their Qing dynasty shophouse facades, and the neighbourhood has seen a quiet revival of small bars, tea rooms, and design studios. Eat at one of the riverside restaurants near Dadaocheng Wharf and try oyster vermicelli (蚵仔麵線), a Taiwanese staple that most itineraries overlook in favour of stinky tofu.
Spend the evening at Raohe Street Night Market (饒河街觀光夜市) rather than Shilin. Raohe is smaller, less chaotic, and the food stalls are better concentrated. The black pepper bun (胡椒餅) at the entrance stall with the charcoal oven is worth the five-minute queue. Budget NT$300 to NT$500 for a full night market crawl with drinks.
Stay: For location and value, Amba Taipei Ximending (amba 台北西門町) sits directly above the action in Ximending and has clean modern rooms in the NT$3,500 to NT$5,000 range per night. If budget is less of a concern, W Taipei in the Xinyi district puts you close to Taipei 101 and has an excellent rooftop bar.
Day 2: Heights, Hikes and the Best View in the City
Morning
Elephant Mountain (象山) earns its reputation. The trailhead is a five-minute walk from Xiangshan MRT station and the climb to the main viewpoint takes 20 to 30 minutes. Go early (before 8 am) to beat the crowds and get the soft morning light behind Taipei 101. The trail is paved stone steps; it is steep but manageable without any hiking gear.
At the top you get the skyline shot that appears on every Taipei travel photo, but the better view is actually 10 minutes further up the ridge where the crowds thin out and you can see both the tower and the wider basin.
Afternoon
The Taipei 101 Observatory (台北101) is worth doing once, and the indoor 89th-floor deck (NT$600) gives you the context to understand what you saw from Elephant Mountain. Book online in advance, especially from July to September when queues at the counter are long. Note that from 1 July 2026 the ticket counter and entrance temporarily relocate to the 1st floor of the office tower, so check the official site before you go. The express elevator to the 89th floor takes 37 seconds, a detail the engineers are extremely proud of.
Lunch in the Xinyi district after 101. Addiction Aquatic Development (上引水產) near Zhongshan is a seafood market-restaurant hybrid where you pick your ingredients and they cook them, with sashimi, grilled items, and hot pot components all available. It is pricier than a night market (expect NT$600 to NT$1,000 per person) but the quality justifies it.
Spend the mid-afternoon at the National Palace Museum (國立故宮博物院) in Shilin. The collection of 690,000 Chinese imperial artefacts is extraordinary, but you cannot see it properly in one visit. Pick a focus: either the jadeite cabbage (Qing dynasty, gallery 302) and bronze vessels, or the ceramics and calligraphy. The museum is free for children under 12; adults pay NT$350. Skip the audio guide app and use the English text panels instead.
Evening
End in Danshui (淡水), 30 minutes from central Taipei on the red MRT line. The old street along the waterfront has cuttlefish balls, iron eggs (鐵蛋), and A-Gei (stuffed tofu), all genuinely local rather than tourist-manufactured. The sunset over the river mouth with Guanyin Mountain in the background is one of those low-effort, high-reward travel moments. Take the last MRT back rather than a taxi; the red line runs until midnight.
Practical Notes
Transport: The EasyCard covers all MRT lines, buses, and YouBike (public bicycle share). A single MRT journey costs NT$20 to NT$65 depending on distance. Taxis are metered from NT$85 base fare; if a driver quotes you a flat rate from the airport without the meter, insist on using it or use the Uber app instead.
Money: Cash is king at night markets and small restaurants. ATMs at 7-Eleven and FamilyMart accept international cards and charge low fees. The NT$ to USD rate in mid-2026 hovers around NT$32 per dollar.
Weather: May to September is hot and humid (30 to 35C) with afternoon thunderstorms and occasional typhoons in August and September. October to December is the most comfortable time, with clear skies and temperatures around 20C. January and February are cool and grey but much cheaper.
Language: English signage on the MRT is complete and accurate. Restaurant menus in tourist areas are often bilingual. Outside central Taipei, Google Translate’s camera mode is your best tool.
One scam worth knowing: Near major temples and Ximending, individuals approach tourists claiming to be charity collectors or monks. Taiwan is genuinely safe, but these specific solicitations are reliably fake. A polite shake of the head and walking on is all you need.
The best single purchase in Taipei is a reusable shopping bag from one of the Dihua Street paper goods shops. You will fill it with snacks from the convenience stores before you leave.