Each day is planned backwards from a free sunset: the river, the mountain, the lanterns and the sea. Start on a Tuesday or a Wednesday: six stops on this route close on Mondays, and Jiufen is best on a weekday.
Day 1
The old river city
- Longshan Temple
- Bopiliao
- Beef noodle soup in Ximending
- The Red House
- Xiahai City God Temple
- Dihua Street
- Sunset: Dadaocheng Wharf
- Ningxia Night Market
Start where Taipei started, on the river. Be at Longshan Temple for the morning chanting, before the tour groups arrive. Walk the red-brick lane of Bopiliao, then eat the dish Taipei is best known for, beef noodle soup, in Ximending. Head north to Dihua Street, the city's oldest trading street, where shops still sell tea, herbs and dried mushrooms. End on the riverbank at Dadaocheng Wharf, where the tea boats once docked, then eat your way down Ningxia Night Market.
Why this order: the temple is calmest early, the old streets lead north to the river, and the wharf faces the sunset.
Tip: Ningxia is a market to eat at, not to shop at. Go before half past six to beat the queues.
The free planner has this day's times, metro steps and map →
Day 2
The monuments and the tower
- Soy-milk breakfast
- Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall
- Din Tai Fung
- Taipei 101 from the ground
- Sunset: Elephant Mountain
- Raohe Night Market
Start with a Taipei breakfast: soy milk, fried dough sticks and flatbreads baked in a clay oven. Watch the guard change at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, then eat soup dumplings at the Din Tai Fung where the worldwide chain began. See Taipei 101 from the ground, then climb Elephant Mountain for the view that looks down on it. Finish at Raohe Night Market with black-pepper pork buns, baked on the walls of charcoal ovens.
Our verdict: skip the Taipei 101 observatory unless it rains. It costs NT$600, about US$19, and from up there you can't see Taipei 101. From Elephant Mountain, the tower is the tallest thing in the view, and the climb is free: 20 to 30 minutes of steep stone steps.
The free planner has this day's times, metro steps and map →
Day 3 · a weekday
Out to the hills
- Train to Ruifang
- Shifen Old Street
- Shifen Waterfall
- Jiufen Old Street
- Dusk: Amei Teahouse
Leave the city for the old mining towns in the hills. Ride the little Pingxi Line up the valley to Shifen, where the train squeezes between the shops and people launch sky lanterns. Walk to Shifen Waterfall, the broadest in Taiwan. Then go up to Jiufen, the old gold-mining town, for taro balls and a pot of tea at Amei Teahouse, as the lanterns come on down the hill.
Why this order: Shifen Waterfall's last entry is in the afternoon, and Jiufen is at its best at dusk, often in mist. It's busiest at weekends, so make this day a weekday.
Tip: launch a lantern only where the shop and the signs say you can. Stepping onto the tracks breaks the law, and people have been fined.
Rather not do the trains? Book a Shifen and Jiufen day tour →
The free planner has the train times, the change at Ruifang and the way back →
Want a rainy-day swap and taxi address cards? See the Complete Trip Kit →
Day 4
Treasures, hot springs and the sea
- National Palace Museum
- Beitou
- Tamsui Old Street
- Fort San Domingo
- Sunset: Fisherman's Wharf
Follow the red metro line north. See the Jadeite Cabbage and the Meat-shaped Stone at the National Palace Museum. Then walk up through Beitou, Taipei's own hot-spring town, past a wooden green library and a 1913 bathhouse, to the steaming Thermal Valley. Ride to the end of the line at Tamsui for its red fort, then watch the sun go into the sea from Lover's Bridge.
Why this order: the museum opens first, Beitou is on the way, and Tamsui is at the end of the line, facing the sunset. Flying out tonight? Leave Tamsui out.
Note: from 8 December to 7 March, the Jadeite Cabbage is on loan to the museum's southern branch in Chiayi. The Meat-shaped Stone stays.
The free planner has this day's times, metro steps and map →
