Taiwan Travelers Recommend

With three days to spend in Taipei, you’ll get an overview of everything the city has to offer—culture, history, food, and natural beauty—with time to head outside the city limits to one of many worthy day trip destinations on the island. Here are a few ways to spend an unforgettable 72 hours in and beyond the Taiwanese capital.

Day 1: Taipei Sightseeing

Get an early start for an action-packed day of sightseeing. Book a guided city tour to get an overview of Taiwan’s key attractions, including the National Palace Museum, Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, Taipei 101, and Longshan Temple. Alternatively, ride the hop-on hop-off bus to explore the city’s top sights at your own pace, getting off where and when you want. After lunch, head to one or two of the attractions that warrant a more thorough visit. History and art buffs might want to check out the impressive collection at the National Palace Museum, while families traveling with kids could opt for the Taipei Zoo. Watch as the sun sets and the city lights blink on from the top of Taipei 101 before heading to a night market for a delectable dinner of street food; join a food tour to ensure you find the best bites.

Day 2: Outdoor Adventure

There are only a few major metropolises in the world where you can commune with nature without leaving the city limits—and Taipei is one of them. Spend today basking in the city’s natural beauty. Get an early start to watch the sunrise over Taipei from Yangmingshan National Park, or take a guided hike up Elephant Mountain Trail (aka the Nangang District Hiking Trail and Xiangshan Trail) for panoramic views. Spend some time touring Taipei’s Beitou District, also known as Hell Valley, to see where the country’s famous geothermal waters originate, or go for a soak in historic Beitou Hot Springs. Other options for adventure in the city include rock climbing in Xinbeitou and mountain biking in Jiufen. No matter what you choose to do, reward your efforts with a dinner at the Michelin-starred Din Tai Fung, famous for its slurp-worthy soup dumplings.

Day 3: Greater Taiwan

Now that you’ve explored the cultural and natural sides of Taipei, spend your last day seeing what the rest of Taiwan has going on. Day trip options abound, depending on your interests. Soak up the beauty of Taroko Gorge, Taiwan’s most popular tourist destination. Take a tour of the Northeast Coast to explore the harbor city of Keelung and snap photos of the unusual rock formations of Yehliu Geopark. Or journey to the central mountains for a relaxing day cruising the waters of Sun Moon Lake. Alternatively, get a feel for the Taiwan of yesteryear with a visit to Jiufen, a charming town famous for its traditional teahouses, handicraft markets, and colonial architecture.

Taipei is a city that’s serious about food. From cheap and cheerful to sophisticated and spicy, the cuisine of the Taiwanese capital is distinctive, bold, and diverse–just like its people. Here are some of Taipei’s best bites for a delicious getaway.

Beef Noodles

Nothing warms you up on a cold day quite like a bowl of Taiwanese beef noodle soup. Locals love this simple and satisfying dish so much that there’s an annual festival dedicated to it. The best bowls come with a clear and spicy broth, slices of tender beef, chewy noodles, and baby bok choy.

Stinky Tofu

A street food staple in just about every night market in Taipei (and throughout Asia), stinky tofu tastes much better than its name (and smell) implies. Fried, steamed, or braised chunks of fermented bean curd are smothered in chili and soy sauce. Wash it down with a cold glass of bubble tea.

Fried Chicken Cutlet

Another street food favorite, fried chicken cutlet, is most famously found at the Shilin Night Market at a stand called Hot-Star Large Fried Chicken. The name is accurate–these breaded and deep-fried cutlets can be as big as your face.

Braised Pork Belly Rice

Locals love this basic dish so much that the Taipei government championed a “braised pork rice is ours” campaign in 2013 to stake claim to this incredibly popular meal. Salty, sweet, and a little bit spicy, the dish consists of a thick, tangy sauce and finely chopped but still fatty pork are all piled on a bed of piping hot rice.

Xiao Long Bao

These traditional steamed buns from the Jiangnan region of China, sometimes called Shanghai dumplings, are popular among locals in Taiwan. No place does them better than Din Tai Fung. Travelers and residents line up at the chain’s many locations for bamboo baskets of piping hot morsels filled with steaming pork, crab, and salty roe.

Shaved Ice

This traditional dessert is among the favorites here in Taipei, and no one should leave the city without at least one serving of this Taiwanese version of ice cream. Locals love the frosty mountains of traditional shaved ice topped with real fresh fruit, like mangoes, strawberries, and coconut. It’s a refreshing way to end a spicy local meal or to cool off from the city heat.

The seamless blending of energy, people, history, culture, and cuisine in Taipei offers enough to entertain and educate visitors for weeks. Yet if you’re pressed for time and have only one day in the Taiwanese capital, here are some ideas for how to make the most of your time.

Morning: City Tour

The 300-year-old city of Taipei is a busy mishmash of cultural influences. Get your bearings by starting your day with a sightseeing tour, taking in key attractions like the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, Martyr’s Shrine, and Taipei 101. Alternately, take a self-guided tour at your own pace aboard the hop-on hop-off bus, which stops at more than 20 points of interest around the city. Onboard audio commentary gives you additional insight into what you’re seeing as you go. After working up an appetite, grab lunch at one of Taipei’s many authentic dumpling houses for some xiao long bao soup dumplings.

Afternoon: National Palace Museum

Taipei’s National Palace Museum houses one of the world’s best collections of Chinese art and historical artifacts, many of them smuggled out of China to be protected during the Cultural Revolution. It’s well worth setting aside an afternoon to escape the heat and explore the museum’s treasures on your own or with a guide. If museums aren’t your thing, make your way to Beitou Hot Springs instead for an afternoon enjoying a Taiwanese pastime: soaking in the outdoor pools. Swing by the Beitou Hot Springs Museum to learn more about the history of these popular Japanese-style baths.

Night: Night Markets

No trip to Taipei would be complete without a visit to one of its many lively night markets. While it’s possible to shop for clothes, souvenirs, and household items at many of them, they’re best known as culinary playgrounds where you can sample an array of local specialties. Make sure you find the best bites by joining a guided food tour; sample oyster pancakes and pork leg rice at Ningxia Night Market, bubble tea and grilled octopus at Shilin Night Market, or fried dumplings at Shida Night Market.

Hot pot, a popular East Asian stew, is the perfect Taiwanese meal to share with good friends, new travel companions, or a table full of locals. Here’s what you need to know before tucking into your hot pot experience, a must-do for any visitor in the Taiwanese capital of Taipei.

What is Hot Pot?

Hot pot, sometimes known as steamboat or shabu-shabu, is a traditional East Asian stew served in a large metal pot on a burner filled with bubbling stock, served alongside a variety of paper-thin meats, sliced vegetables, seafood, dumplings, and mushrooms that you dip into the broth to cook right at the table. Some of the best hot pot restaurants, including Mala Hotpot and Tripod King, offer a choice of soup base, the most popular of which is a spicy hot pot seasoned with spices and Sichuan peppercorns. All-you-can-eat hot pot restaurants are also popular throughout Taiwan and Asia.

Highlights

• Combine a walking tour of Taipei with a hot pot dinner.

• Learn the art of cooking hot pot during a private Taiwanese cooking class.

• Sample authentic Taiwanese hot pot during a food tour of Ningxia Night Market.

• Choose a private tour of the city’s culinary scene for a more personal experience.

It's tempting to think that Taiwanese food is the same as that of mainland China, but that's not the case. Influences from around Asia—particularly the aboriginal and Chinese minority groups who immigrated to Taiwan—have led to the evolution of a culinary scene characterized by a love of eating often and eating well.Here are a few foods and activities you won't want to miss.

Must-Try Dishes

You might smell one of Taiwan's most famous dishes before you see it. Stinky tofu gets its name from the odor caused by fermentation, but don't let the smell fool you—it's delicious. The Taiwanese also love seafood and eggs, sometimes together, which is the case with oyster omelettes, a savory night market favorite. One dish that is heavily influenced by Mainland China is Taiwan's famous beef noodle soup, or niu rou mian, which is especially comforting during the colder winter months, while another favored comfort food is lu rou fan, a bowl of rice topped with braised and chopped pork belly with an aromatic five-spice sauce. When you get thirsty, be sure to wash it all down with some Taiwanese bubble milk tea.

Must-Do Experiences

• Check out Taipei's snack streets and Shilin Night Market on a food tour that includes samples of the best bites from the most popular food stalls.

• Indulge in a Michelin-starred meal with dinner at Din Tai Fung in the iconic Taipei 101, where you'll eat your fill of burst-in-your-mouth soup dumplings.

• Try tofu at Shenken Old Street in New Taipei.

• Tour the picturesque Bagua Tea Plantation, the largest of its kind in northern Taiwain.

With two days in Taipei, you have ample time to tour the city’s top attractions and to enjoy the spectacular natural scenery within and around the city. From soaring skyscrapers and must-see museums to hiking trails and hot springs, here’s how to spend a memorable 48 hours in the Taiwanese capital.

Day 1: City Sightseeing

**Morning:**Kick off your trip with a half-day city sightseeing tour. Stop at key attractions such as the National Palace Museum, Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, and Martyrs’ Shrine. Alternatively, tour the city at your own pace aboard the hop-on hop-off bus, creating your own itinerary with its more than 20 stops.

**Afternoon:**After lunch, dig deeper into some choice city’s attractions. Discover Chinese art and artifacts at the National Palace Museum, head to the top of Taipei 101 for panoramic city views and a lesson in skyscraper architecture, or learn more about Buddhism at Longshan Temple—the oldest in Taiwan.

**Night:**Taipei is a foodie city, so this evening treat your taste buds to the flavors of Taiwan. Take a walking tour of a bustling night market to sample some of the best street foods on offer, or slurp up some famous soup dumplings at the Michelin-starred Din Tai Fung.

Day 2: Taipei Outdoors

**Morning:**Taipei is blessed with abundant natural beauty that you can enjoy without leaving the city. Take advantage of cooler morning temperatures on a guided hike up Elephant Mountain Trail (aka the Nangang District Hiking Trail and Xiangshan Trail) for panoramic views, or explore the hiking trails in Yangmingshan National Park, just 10 miles (16 kilometers) north of downtown.

**Afternoon:**Relax those tired muscles with a soak in Beitou Hot Springs, where five pools ranging from extremely hot to cool feel worlds away from the busy streets of Taipei. For extra pampering, book a reflexology foot massage, hydrating facial, or other treatment at a top day spa.

**Night:**Get cultural this evening with one of Taipei’s live shows. Enjoy some traditional Beijing opera or kid-friendly Taiwanese hand puppets. Some shows allow guests to arrive early and watch the performers don their costumes and makeup. Alternatively, go on a Taipei pub crawl, replete with free shots at some of the city’s hottest bars and clubs.