Taipei is such a charming City. Historical sites, architectural landmarks, food destinations, shopping, and more! These are just some of the reasons why you should visit Taipei, the capital city of Taiwan.
Since November 1, 2017, Filipinos can now enter Taiwan, visa-free! We didn't let this opportunity pass and quickly booked a flight to Taipei and had an awesome 5-day adventure in Taiwan from November 18-22, 2017. We visited Taipei's many tourist spots and attractions, tasted its local flavors, experienced its culture, and learned many things about its vibrant past. With this, let me share to you my 3 best ways on how to conveniently explore and discover Taipei.
3 Best Ways to Explore and Discover Taipei, Taiwan this 2023
1. Taipei Double Decker Bus Tour
This tour is a Hop-on Hop-off Sightseeing Bus Tour to some of the major tourist spots and attractions in Taipei. Composed of 23 bus stops and 2 routes, it gives you the convenience of taking the bus that goes to the different interesting sites in Taipei. With this tour, you can choose to hop off at any stop for sightseeing, and hop back on when the next bus on the schedule arrives. How cool and convenient is that?
Boarding the Taipei Double Decker Sightseeing Bus.
Audio guides available in English, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. You can borrow headphones from the tour guide.
Enjoying the view from the bus.
By taking this tour, you can visit Taipei's top attractions such as Taipei 101, National Palace Museum, Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall, Ximending, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Shilin Night Market, and many more! What I love most about taking this sightseeing bus tour, is that it gives you the flexibility of time by hopping on and off the bus and explore your preferred attractions along the bus route at your own convenience.
TRAVEL TIP: Upon boarding the bus, get a brochure where you could find a copy of the schedule of the bus stops. This will greatly help you in planning where you want to go, and the timing of the arrival of the buses at the bus stops.
Liberty Square Gate
National Concert Hall and Theater
Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall
At the entrance of the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Square.
Taking a closer look at the National Concert Hall and Theater.
The buses are clean, has an English-speaking tour guide, offers free WiFi and USB charging ports, and provides introductions to the attractions with a headset commentary and audio guides available in English, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.
Enjoying the sights from the upper deck of the bus.
The buses run along two routes (red and blue lines), both leaving and ending at Taipei Main Station Exit M4. But if you're near one of the stops of the sightseeing bus tour, you can start from any of them.
Waiting for the next hop on hop off bus.
From Taipei Main Station, both lines run westward passing through the city's north gate, and then to Ximen MRT Station, and then to Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. This is where the two routes split.
The Presidential Building a famous historical landmark in downtown Taipei. Located in the Zhongzheng District near Taipei Main Station and Ximending, is very convenient to visit, and is a great addition to your Taipei city tour.
The blue line continues by going to the north to The Ambassador Hotel, Tatung Company, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, MRT Jiantan Station, Shilin Official Residence, National Palace Museum, and back to Taipei Main Station.
Shilin Official Residence in Zhongshan North Road
Entering Shilin Official Residence.
Shilin Official Residence is the former residence of Chiang Kai-shek and his wife Soong Mei-ling.
Beautiful Gardens at Shilin Official Residence.
Shilin Official Residence
Just enjoying our time at Shilin Official Residence.
The Shilin Official Residence complex has Chinese and Western style gardens.
The red line goes eastward to Xinyi and Yong Kong Intersection, MRT Daan Park Station, Xinyi and Tonghua Intersection, Taipei 101, Sonshu Road Entrance, MRT Taipei City Hall Station, MRT Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall Station, MRT Zhongxiao Dunhua Station, Dinghao Market, MRT Zhongxiao Fuxing Station, Huashan Cultural and Creative Industries Park, and then back to Taipei Main Station.
Taipei Fine Art Museum
Don't miss this beautiful art installation just outside the museum
Taipei Fine Art Museum
It would take about 75 minutes if you want to see all the interesting sites along the red route, and about 120 minutes for the blue route. But this does not include alighting the bus and exploring the different sites. With so many attractions to see, I suggest that you get a one-day pass so you could maximize your time. The Sightseeing Bus Tour's operating hours is from 9:00 am to 04:20 pm for the blue line and 09:10 am to 10:00 pm for the red line.
National Palace Museum
Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall
Taipei City Hall
For convenience, the Taipei Sightseeing Hop on Hop off Bus Tour tickets can be purchased online via Klook. When you have your tickets, you can just show the printed copy of the voucher or an e-voucher from your smartphone before riding the bus. That's how convenient it is!
HOP ON HOP OFF BUS TICKET PRICES:
- 4 Hour Pass - PHP 454.00
- 1 Day Pass - PHP 1,059.00
Taipei 101, "one of the tallest buildings in the world."
2. Explore Taipei City Tour
For a more convenient and organized tour, you may also consider geting an "Explore Taipei City Tour."
Visiting a temple in Taipei.
Assisted by an English-speaking tour guide, the tour company fetched us at our hotel and took us on a private tour to Taipei's must-visit sights and attractions. This includes the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall, the National Palace Museum, Martyrs' Shrine, Taiwan Arts Handicraft Center, and a community temple.
Chiang Kai Shek is one of the most important figures in the history of Taiwan.
This huge memorial was built in honor of Chiang Kai Shek.
Witnessing the changing of the guards is a must-see! It happens every hour. I suggest that you plan your visit, so you will not miss it.
Visiting the impressive Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall is a great way to learn about Taiwan's history and view the spectacular changing of the guard.
My favorite part of this tour is when we visited the impressive Chiang Kai-Shek memorial Hall and witnessed the hourly changing of the guards. I also enjoyed our time exploring the Martyrs' Shrine, as well as seeing a huge collection of Chinese art and artifacts at the National Palace Museum.
The National Palace Museum is located at Zhi Shan Rd, Shilin District, Taipei City, Taiwan.
The National Palace Museum has a permanent collection of nearly 700,000 pieces of ancient Chinese imperial artifacts and artworks, making it one of the largest of its type in the world. (Wikipedia)
Checking out the amazing collections displayed at the National Palace Museum.
National Palace Museum houses the world's largest collection of priceless Chinese art treasures.
The museum is open daily from 08:30 AM to 06:30 PM. General admission for the museum costs NT $250 (PHP 420 / US $8.33). This is already included in the "Explore Taipei City" tour.
TRAVEL TIP: There are five free entrance days for the National Palace Museum: New Year’s Day (Jan. 1), the Lantern Festival, International Museum Day (May 18), World Tourism Day (Sept. 27), and National Day (Oct. 10).
This half day tour already includes private transportation, including hotel pick up and drop off and entrance fee to the National Palace Museum. We also booked this tour via Klook.com for PHP 1,705 per person.
The National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine is located in Zhongshan District, Taipei, Taiwan.
It is a shrine dedicated to the war dead of the Republic of China.
The changing of the honor guards is also a must-see when visiting the Martyrs' Shrine.
ALSO READ: Taiwan Travel Guide - Things to do, Where to Stay, Itinerary, and More!
3. Taipei at Night
If you want to experience Taipei as it comes alive at night, you may also consider joining a "Taipei at Night" tour. This tour includes private transportation, an English-speaking tour guide, and hotel pick-up and drop-off at any hotel in downtown Taipei City. The tour's itinerary starts at around 6:00 to 6:30 PM and ends at around 9:30 PM.
Taipei Huaxi Night Market aka Snake Alley. The most famous item in the market is snake soup, a unique treat found only on Huaxi Street.
Huaxi Street market is located conveniently next to Longshan Temple in Wanhua District.
Taipei Huaxi Night Market
As a joining tour, we were fetched at our hotel by our tour guide and let us board a private van; we then fetched other guests and started the tour. We visited Taipei's most popular nighttime sights, which includes Lungshan Temple in Wanhua District, Taipei Huaxi Night Market, and Taipei 101.
ALSO READ: 14 Must-try Street Food in Taiwan
Mengjia Longshan Temple was built in 1738 and is one of the most popular temples in Taiwan.
Longshan Temple is also considered as one of largest and oldest temples in Taiwan.
Temples in Taiwan are usually a mixture of Buddhist and Taoist religions.
The Taipei at Night Tour also includes a delicious dinner at one of Taipei's popular restaurants. Depending on the seat availability, this tour shall end or start with a sumptuous and very filling dining experience at Din Tai Fung Restaurant.
Din Tai Fung is located in the basement level of Taipei 101.
You have to fall in line to get a table during the peak hours. Good thing our tour guide already reserved seats for us.
Din Tai Fung is famous for Xiao Long Bao (steamed dumplings).
Don't miss watching the Xiao Long Bao preparation from the glass windows of the kitchen.
If you're in search for the top best things to do in Taipei at night, go on a Taipei Night Tour. This tour is also available via Klook.com for 2,325 pesos per person. This is quite affordable considering that it already includes dinner at Din Tai Fung.
Cheap Flights to Taipei Taiwan
With Taiwan's visa-free entry privilege given to Filipinos, this is now the best time to visit Taiwan. There are several airlines departing from Manila and Cebu that has direct flights to Taipei's Taoyuan INternational Airport.
EVA Airways, Cebu Pacific Air, Philippine Airlines and Cathay Pacific have daily flights to Taipei. To search for cheap flights to Taiwan, I highly recommend booking via Traveloka.com - one of Southeast Asia's leading travel booking sites. I've been using it in my travels and I can assure you that you'll always get the best deals and promos on hotels and flights!
READ: How I got to Book a Manila to Taipei Flight for 4,696 Pesos with FREE 30 kilos Baggage Allowance, In-flight Meal, and Philippine Travel Tax?
WHERE TO STAY IN TAIPEI?
As the capital city of Taiwan, Taipei offers a wide array of accommodation options that can fir your budget and needs. From cheap and affordable hostels, to mid-range budget hotels, to luxury hotels, one can find a temporary home to stay at the heart of the city. Book in advance to avail up to 50% discount on published room rates via Agoda!
Please note that ticket prices and airfare are subject to change and depend on the date of your booking.
ALSO READ: Taipei, Taiwan Travel Guide 2018 - DIY Itinerary, Things To Do, Budget, and more!
This trip to Taipei, Taiwan was made possible by Traveloka and Klook Travel.
hi pinoyadventurista, re hop on hop off bus, if we will board in ximen, what street should we wait or what is the nearest mrt exit in ximen should we wait?
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