Is Taipei Worth Visiting? 10 Reasons Not To Skip It!

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I love Taipei. I think about going back no less than once a week. And today I’m going to share all the reasons I think Taipei is worth visiting!

Whether you like cities or nature, food or culture, Taipei has it all, or at least a short day trip away.

Taipei is the bustling capital of Taiwan at the northern end of the island that I think is an underrated destination.

houtong cat village in Taiwan best taipei day trip

Is Taipei worth visiting?

Yes! It’s absolutely worth visiting Taipei, even if it’s a quick visit. While I spent a few weeks there, a lot of people I met there were only visiting for 1-5 days.

Now I’m going to share with you all the reasons I think it’s worth going to Taipei and why I want to go back so bad.

Oyster vermicelli Night markets in Taipei Taiwan

The night markets!

Now, there are a lot of great reasons to visit Taipei, but I think the night markets are one of the bigger ones.

There are so many and aside from being fun to walk around, they’re so great for trying a large variety of Taiwanese food.

They’re super easy to get to on the MRT and the food is very affordable. Here are some of the best night markets in Taipei:

Shilin Night Market (one of the biggest and most popular)
Rahoe Street Night Market (also very popular)
Ningxia Night Market
Keelung Night Market
Dihua Street (this one is open around Chinese New Year)

Join a historic night market tour here!

It’s very safe

One of the reasons I love Taipei so much is how safe it was. And it’s actually one of the safest cities in the world!

I never felt unsafe while I was here and wasn’t afraid to walk around alone in the dark, which I’m usually very wary of.

I will acknowledge that I am a white lady and other people may have different experiences, I can only share mine.

And I’m sure there are less safe areas as there typically are in most (if not all) cities, but generally it’s quite safe and crime rates are very low.

red brick building ximending taipei taiwan

People are so friendly and helpful

I talked about this in the post I wrote about all the reasons I love Taiwan so I won’t share every example here, but Taiwan is the place I’ve been with the most friendly people.

Every time I asked for help (which was a lot) people were always willing and friendly.

I had so many great experiences with people here that it really stands out and it easy an easy answer when people ask me where I’ve been with the best people. Does that even make sense?

The food is 10/10

I know I said the night markets are one of the best things that makes Taipei worth visiting, but the food in general is all really good.

Of course try the night market food but don’t skip the restaurants either. I don’t really have any specific restaurant recommendations other than the hot pot restaurant across from Meander Taipei.

A food tour would be a great way to try a lot of things if you don’t have much time, or if you just want to try some really great places without doing the research (I get that).

Here are some must-try dishes in Taipei:

XiaoLong Bao
Steamed pork buns
Beef noodles
Large fried chicken (that’s actually what it’s called)
Oyster omelette
Hot pot
Scallion pancakes

Join a private food tour here!

It’s easy to get around

I loved just wandering around Taipei and would sometimes walk between places instead of taking the MRT.

But the MRT is super easy to use and there are buses all around Taipei, too. The trains are also very easy to use to get to the surrounding area.

I’m not good at navigating and was afraid of the MRT since I had never used a subway system before that, but once you know how to pay for it (or if you’ve been on a subway before), it’s a breeze!

If you’re not sure what to do or if you’re in the right place, don’t be afraid to ask for help.

There are plenty of great day trips

While Taipei itself is great, it also makes for a great base to explore the northern part of the country.

There are tons of great day trips from Taipei that are easy to do and don’t take tons of time to get to. Here are some good day trip ideas:

Houtong cat village
Jiufen
Shifen
Pingxi
Yehliu Geopark
Yangmingshan National Park
Taroko Gorge (it’s possible but a very, very long day and I would just take two days to go to Hualien then here)

It’s budget friendly

I had no expectations for the cost of things in Taipei, but it turned out to be quite affordable!

It’s not like, a lowest of low shoestring budget destination but it won’t break the bank either (unless you’re on the lowest of low shoestring budgets).

Night markets are a great budget friendly way to try a lot of local foods and hostels can also be found for under $25 USD per night (it was less when I went in 2016 but this still isn’t too bad).

And in addition to being efficient, the MRT is also quite affordable at around $1.50 USD per ride (give or take).

There is so much to see and do

I spent three weeks in Taipei, almost four, and barely scratched the surface on all the things to do there.

I have a giant post of seven ways to spend one day in Taipei which covers some of the highlights broken down sort of by interest.

Here are some great things do to while you’re in Taipei, no matter how much time you have:

Sun Yat Sen Memorial
Chiang Kai Shek Memorial
Taipei 101
Ximending Pedestrian Area
Any night markets
Stroll through Da’an Park
Visit Huashan 1914 Creative Park
Longshan Temple
National Palace Museum
Beitou hot springs
Tamsui Fisherman’s Wharf
Maokong Gondola
Elephant Mountain

teapot mountian hike best hikes near taipei taiwan

You can still do some hiking

Whether you want to stay in the city or head out on day trips, there is plenty of hiking near Taipei to check out.

One of the most popular hikes in Taipei is Elephant Mountain, especially for sunset. It has wonderful views of Taipei 101.

Fairy Footprint (I talk about it in the Elephant Mountain post linked above) is a similar hike but less popular and while the views are still wonderful, Taipei 101 isn’t really seen here (or at least not well), if that matters to you.

Outside of Taipei you’ll have lots of options. There is Teapot Mountain near Jiufen, and Yangmingshan National Park.

You can find tons of great local made souvenirs

One of my favorite things I did in Taipei was go to the Huashan 1914 Creative Park. It’s a little market type thing full of local artists selling their work!

And it’s not like a traditional handicraft type market, it was more modern and fun. I got some fun stickers, postcards, and keychains here.

They weren’t specifically Taiwan things, but they were very fun and more special, I think.

According to Reddit, the area around Dongmen Station by NTNU has a lot of great little stores with paintings for sale. The Yingge area and Shenji New Village are good places to look, too.

Where to stay in Taipei

Meander Taipei – I stayed here and absolutely loved it! They have dorms and private rooms and it was so good for meeting people without being a party hostel. It’s near Ximending.

Meander 1948 – This is a beautifully modern hostel conveniently located above a 7-Eleven near Taipei Main Station!

Taipei 109 Hostel – This is another nice, modern hostel near Ximending. There isn’t much for a common area so it might not be the best if you want to meet people or socialize.

Star Hostel – This is another beautiful modern hostel near Taipei Main Station. This is a hostel with sustainability practices aimed at reducing waste.