Taipei rewards three days: a compact centre, mountains you can climb before breakfast, hot springs at the end of a metro line, and the best night-market eating in the region.
Taipei · 3 days Taiwan
Best time: October to April for cooler, drier weather.
Downtown and XinyiDay 1
📍9:00 AM
Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall
Arrive for the hourly changing of the guard in the main hall, then walk the gardens and the two concert halls flanking the square.
🚗 ~9 min · 2.7 mi
🌇1:00 PM
Taipei 101 observatory
The tower that defined the skyline; the observatory is worth it on a clear day for the mountains ringing the basin.
🚶 ~38 min · 🚗 ~5 min · 1.4 mi
🍽️6:30 PM
Raohe Street Night Market
A single dense lane behind a temple, easier to navigate than Shilin and strong on pepper buns and stewed pork rice.
Old Taipei and the museumDay 2
🖼️9:00 AM
National Palace Museum
The imperial Chinese collection moved here in 1949; go at opening and pick two galleries rather than attempting all of it.
🚗 ~14 min · 4.0 mi
🌆2:00 PM
Dadaocheng and Dihua Street
The nineteenth-century tea and herb trading street, now a row of restored shophouses selling dried goods and fabric.
🚶 ~9 min · 🚗 ~1 min · 0.3 mi
🍽️6:00 PM
Ningxia Night Market
Smaller and more local than the tourist markets, and the easiest place to try oyster omelette and taro balls.
Beitou and the hillsDay 3
📍9:30 AM
Beitou hot springs
A whole valley of public and private bathhouses at the end of a metro branch line, with the sulphurous Thermal Valley steaming above them.
🚇 Metro or walk
🖼️2:00 PM
Beitou Hot Spring Museum
The 1913 Japanese-era bathhouse, kept as a museum of how the valley was developed.
🚗 ~30 min · 8.5 mi
📍5:30 PM
Elephant Mountain
A short steep stair climb from the city for the classic view straight at Taipei 101, best in the last hour of light.
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Best time to goOctober to April for cooler, drier weather. Summer is hot, humid and the peak of typhoon season.
Getting aroundThe MRT is clean, cheap and signposted in English; an EasyCard covers metro, buses and convenience stores. Taxis are plentiful and metered.
Local tip: Eat dinner standing up at a night market rather than sitting down at a restaurant. Order one thing per stall and keep moving; that is how the food is meant to be eaten.
The full plan as text
The same day-by-day plan as text. Times are starting points, not homework.
Day 1: Downtown and Xinyi
9:00 AM
Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall
Arrive for the hourly changing of the guard in the main hall, then walk the gardens and the two concert halls flanking the square.
1:00 PM
Taipei 101 observatory
The tower that defined the skyline; the observatory is worth it on a clear day for the mountains ringing the basin.
6:30 PM
Raohe Street Night Market
A single dense lane behind a temple, easier to navigate than Shilin and strong on pepper buns and stewed pork rice.
Day 2: Old Taipei and the museum
9:00 AM
National Palace Museum
The imperial Chinese collection moved here in 1949; go at opening and pick two galleries rather than attempting all of it.
2:00 PM
Dadaocheng and Dihua Street
The nineteenth-century tea and herb trading street, now a row of restored shophouses selling dried goods and fabric.
6:00 PM
Ningxia Night Market
Smaller and more local than the tourist markets, and the easiest place to try oyster omelette and taro balls.
Day 3: Beitou and the hills
9:30 AM
Beitou hot springs
A whole valley of public and private bathhouses at the end of a metro branch line, with the sulphurous Thermal Valley steaming above them.
2:00 PM
Beitou Hot Spring Museum
The 1913 Japanese-era bathhouse, kept as a museum of how the valley was developed.
5:30 PM
Elephant Mountain
A short steep stair climb from the city for the classic view straight at Taipei 101, best in the last hour of light.
Make this Taipei plan yours
Forward your real booking confirmations to Petrel and it builds this exact day-by-day view for you: flights, hotels, reservations, live flight status, and the travel time between stops. Under a minute.
