Upcoming trip to Taipei – Advice welcome on things to do, transport, food and accommodation options

[stm1sydney]

The China Airlines lounge in TPE terminal 1 is excellent (if a little dark), much better than their lounge in terminal 2. The noodle bar is great: taiwanese beef noodle soup is a classic.

 

[Limewood]

Oh gee we are looking at booking Taipai for about 8 nights right now in August, so all this info is excellent spending half our time in Kaohsiung and experience the bullet train too. There are also transport concessions for those 65+. 4/5Star hotels very reasonable and food low cost. I see youtube has a mountain of videos on Taiwan. On certain days can be daylight flights in/out SYD. I see 2 x J on SYD/TPE/SYD only 260K points and around $450.

 

[kirawn]

Thanks @kirawn. What's the name or address of the 'main' train station? Still trying to get my bearings for this new city to me.

Hi Dr Ralph,
Taipei Main Station is in Zhongzheng District in downtown Taipei.
My hotel was a short walk away in Section 1, Kaifong St.
Had to get directions from the station to find but it was easy to navigate the area once I got my bearings.
Booked my hotel through Booking.com .The hotel was ok but not great so will not recommend.
There are many hotels in the area.
It was about a fifteen minute walk to Xiamen Commercial District which has a great vibe at night.

 

[Dr Ralph]

Checked out a few hotels. Common theme seems to be that many rooms don't have a window. What's with that?

 

[Dr Ralph]

On certain days can be daylight flights in/out SYD. I see 2 x J on SYD/TPE/SYD only 260K points and around $450.

That's what I booked. Seemed very good value. Surprised I got flights in the NSW school holidays.

 

[pagingjoan]

Checked out a few hotels. Common theme seems to be that many rooms don't have a window. What's with that?

Yes! A local specialty, it seems. In some cases, there may be a glass panel - but it looks on to the general corridor.
We came across similar arrangements in Cuba, I now recall, even in quite ritzy hotels.

 

[jase05]

Agree with all the above comments. Fantastic place and far better that I’d ever imagined.
Have stayed at the Landis Taipei twice and very happy with the room and location.

 

[Wanderlust_tim]

My favourite destination to travel to and one of the few places overseas where I thought to myself 'i could live here'.

There's been a lot of great suggestions so far, to build on some of them:

The Maokong Gondola is shut on Mondays from memory. The tea plantations are lovely, as is the temple halfway up.

Taroko Gorge is unmissable and if you are outdoorsy you would be wise to explore your hiking options.

I love Kaohsiung in the south, it is an easy train from Taipei. Formosa Boulevard MRT station is awesome, and there is a musical performance on the hour.

Eat all the street food. Keelung is an easy bus or train and has an excellent seafood night market.

I didn't enjoy Jiufen. I found it incredibly crowded and I went in quiet season. I would worry about this given you are travelling in Golden Week.

Pre-bought high speed train tickets are discounted. Review the Man in Seat 61.

I really enjoyed Elephant Mountain and climbed up for sunset to see the transition from Taipei from day to night with Taipei 101 as the centre piece.

Changhua has a working turntable for trains which I believe is pretty unusual and something I would love to see.

 

[whughes3]

Well, as advised above, I am back from Taipei; the numerous posts above have pretty well covered m most of what I have experienced so just a few observations:
- this is the first time I have been there since the MRT airport express opened, and it is great; 35 mins to/from from Main station to the airport for NT150 (~AU$7) each way.Also there is a "city checkin" facility at the station (a la HKG) which I used and worked well.
- a good choice for a tour of Taipei is https://www.viator.com/tours/Taipei/Private-Taipei-Chartered-Car-8-hours/d5262-40100P15; you can tailor this to suit your particulat interests.
- just use ATM's for getting local currency; I had no problems doing this.
- one interesting thing I noticed was that in the forecourt in front of the CKS memorial there was a display consisting of a blowup rubber person standing of a blowup rubber tank, a reference to the 30th anniversary of Tienanmen square; calculated to annoy the Chinese no doubt!

 

[Dr Ralph]

Well, as advised above, I am back from Taipei; the numerous posts above have pretty well covered m most of what I have experienced so just a few observations:
- this is the first time I have been there since the MRT airport express opened, and it is great; 35 mins to/from from Main station to the airport for NT150 (~AU$7) each way.Also there is a "city checkin" facility at the station (a la HKG) which I used and worked well.
- a good choice for a tour of Taipei is https://www.viator.com/tours/Taipei/Private-Taipei-Chartered-Car-8-hours/d5262-40100P15; you can tailor this to suit your particulat interests.
- just use ATM's for getting local currency; I had no problems doing this.
- one interesting thing I noticed was that in the forecourt in front of the CKS memorial there was a display consisting of a blowup rubber person standing of a blowup rubber tank, a reference to the 30th anniversary of Tienanmen square; calculated to annoy the Chinese no doubt!

Thanks for the info @whughes3. Just curious about your use of cash. Did you need much or could most of your purchases be made with EFT/credit card?

 

[Limewood]

Using Viator there if more than couple weeks out from booking, price skyrockets by AU$100 for two.

 

[whughes3]

Thanks for the info @whughes3. Just curious about your use of cash. Did you need much or could most of your purchases be made with EFT/credit card?

You can use MC/Visa for most things: I did not need a lot of cash (except for buying train tickets, where it is "cash only" in most cases, and smaller shops).

 

[jase05]

You can use MC/Visa for most things: I did not need a lot of cash (except for buying train tickets, where it is "cash only" in most cases, and smaller shops).

Can purchase an Easycard at 711’s and other convenience stores and top it up. The Easycard gives you 20% off on the MRT and can be used on buses and at some tourist attractions. Has an added bonus of being used to hire the YouBikes around the city

 

[Dr Ralph]

Anyone know anything about baseball games in Taipei? Location of grounds? Ticket prices? Ease of getting tickets?

 

[Limewood]

Want to book TPE for mid Aug. but return transit time Sydney International to Domestic for us is 2.20 mins is that enough time?.

 

[Dr Ralph]

Want to book TPE for mid Aug. but return transit time Sydney International to Domestic for us is 2.20 mins is that enough time?.

I'd be OK with doing this.

 

[pagingjoan]

Anyone know anything about baseball games in Taipei? Location of grounds? Ticket prices? Ease of getting tickets?

I know less than nothing!
But:

Tianmu Baseball Stadium: All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)

Tianmu Baseball Stadium, Shilin: See 31 reviews, articles, and 55 photos of Tianmu Baseball Stadium, ranked No.15 on Tripadvisor among 79 attractions in Shilin.

www.tripadvisor.com.au

 

[Dr Ralph]

I know less than nothing!
But:

Tianmu Baseball Stadium: All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)

Tianmu Baseball Stadium, Shilin: See 31 reviews, articles, and 55 photos of Tianmu Baseball Stadium, ranked No.15 on Tripadvisor among 79 attractions in Shilin.

www.tripadvisor.com.au

Thanks. I'd done some too googling already. Was looking for some direct experiences. For example, was stunned to ready that you can't buy beer at the ground and they allow you to take your own in an ezky. Seemed to be the antithesis of my experiences in the US.

 

[pagingjoan]

Thanks. I'd done some too googling already. Was looking for some direct experiences. For example, was stunned to ready that you can't buy beer at the ground and they allow you to take your own in an ezky. Seemed to be the antithesis of my experiences in the US.

I know as much about beer as I do about baseball!
So no help whatsoever, I'm afraid.

 

[Hvr]

Want to book TPE for mid Aug. but return transit time Sydney International to Domestic for us is 2.20 mins is that enough time?.

Book it on one ticket and you'll be protected, i.e. they'll put you on the next flight to your destination. The transfer desk once you come out of international is very good at fixing these issues if they arise.