City guide · Taiwan
Taipei
Night markets, hot springs and xiaolongbao under Taipei 101
October–December & March–April
New Taiwan Dollar (TWD)
Mandarin, Taiwanese Hokkien
Asia
The guides
The best of Taipei, by category
Taipei packs imperial Chinese treasures, Japanese-era shophouses and a bamboo-shaped supertall into a basin ringed by hot-spring volcanoes. Its true religion is eating: night markets sizzle past midnight, beef noodle shops inspire pilgrimages, and the city birthed both bubble tea culture and the world's most famous soup dumplings.
The shortlist
If you only have time for the best
The single highest-rated picks across every category in Taipei.
Hotels
See all 6- 1
Mandarin Oriental, Taipei
Songshan
4.6★3,000+ reviews
- 2
W Taipei
Xinyi
4.6★7,500+ reviews - 3
Grand Hyatt Taipei
Xinyi
4.5★7,500+ reviews
Restaurants
See all 6- 1
Din Tai Fung (Taipei 101)
Xinyi
4.6★15,000+ reviews - 2
Le Palais
Datong
4.6★2,000+ reviews - 3
Shin Yeh (Main Store)
Zhongshan
4.5★5,000+ reviews
Bars
See all 6- 1
Indulge Experimental Bistro
Da'an
4.5★1,500+ reviews - 2
AHA Saloon
Da'an
4.6★1,500+ reviews - 3
Ounce Taipei
Da'an
4.5★1,500+ reviews
Attractions
See all 6- 1
Taipei 101 Observatory
Xinyi
4.6★75,000+ reviews - 2
National Palace Museum
Shilin
4.6★25,000+ reviews
- 3
Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall
Zhongzheng
4.6★50,000+ reviews
Where to base yourself
Taipei neighborhoods, decoded
Pick your area first — it shapes everything else about the trip.
Ximending
Neon youth culture, street performersTaipei's Shibuya is a pedestrianized grid of street fashion, sneaker shops, cinemas and snack stalls that has set Taiwanese youth trends since the Japanese era. Come evening for buskers, tattoo street and the historic Red House theater's craft market.
Yongkang Street (Da'an)
Food pilgrimage lanes, leafy cafésThe lanes around Yongkang Park hold an absurd density of famous eating, from beef noodle shrines to mango ice at Smoothie House, with Din Tai Fung's roots nearby. Side alleys hide tea houses, ceramics shops and some of the city's best coffee.
Dadaocheng
1920s shophouses, tea merchants rebornTaipei's old trading quarter along Dihua Street keeps its baroque-faced shophouses stocked with dried goods, medicinal herbs and oolong, now interleaved with craft boutiques and natural wine bars. The riverside at sunset and the Xiahai City God Temple anchor a perfect slow afternoon.
Xinyi
Glass towers, rooftop bars, big retailThe planned district around Taipei 101 is the city's Manhattan, stacked with department stores, cinemas and the densest run of clubs and rooftop bars in Taiwan. Elephant Mountain rises straight off its eastern edge for the skyline photo.
Beyond the city
Day trips worth the ride
Jiufen
75 min by bus or train + taxiA gold-rush town stacked on a coastal mountainside, its lantern-lit teahouse lanes famously evocative of Spirited Away; pair it with the Shifen waterfall and sky lanterns.
Beitou & Yangmingshan
30-45 min by MRT and busSoak in Japanese-era hot springs at Beitou's steaming Thermal Valley, then ride up Yangmingshan's volcanic meadows, fumaroles and calla lily farms.
Tamsui
40 min by MRTA breezy river-mouth old town of forts and street snacks at the end of the red line, where Fort San Domingo's colonial history meets Taiwan's best harbor sunset at Fisherman's Wharf.
Eat like a local
What to order in Taipei
Xiaolongbao
Eighteen-fold soup dumplings with paper-thin skins, the dish that carried Taiwanese precision cooking to the world.
Try it at: Din Tai Fung, Taipei 101
Beef Noodle Soup
Taipei's de facto national dish: hand-pulled noodles under braised shank in a deep, spicy-soy beef broth.
Try it at: Yongkang Beef Noodle, Da'an
Black Pepper Bun (Hu Jiao Bing)
Charcoal-barrel-baked buns bursting with peppery pork and scallions, eaten dangerously hot from the oven.
Try it at: Fuzhou Shizu Pepper Bun, Raohe Night Market entrance
Mango Shaved Ice
A mountain of snowflake-fine milk ice buried in fresh Irwin mango and condensed milk, the definitive summer dessert.
Try it at: Smoothie House, Yongkang Street
Good to know
Taipei essentials, answered
Three days covers the National Palace Museum, Taipei 101, Longshan Temple and two night markets comfortably. Add a fourth and fifth for Jiufen and a Beitou hot-spring soak, which most visitors end up rating as highlights.
