Taipei Travel Guide – Visit Taipei – Budget Travel In Taiwan

Visit Taipei in Taiwan to experience an exciting city that mixes traditional Chinese culture with Japanese and American influences.

I had left most of the planning of the Taiwan leg of our adventure to Joanna, so I had done very little research and no idea what the country was going to offer. We had planned to move on to Japan after Taiwan until we realised just how expensive Japan is. Thankfully, Taiwan can be done fairly cheaply, though accommodation is more expensive than other areas in Southeast Asia. This meant we would be using dorms more than private rooms.

Arriving In Taipei

After a fairly lengthy wait in passport control, we took a train directly from Taipei airport into the city centre (taking about 45 minutes). The journey showed us glimpses of Taiwan’s natural beauty and we were most impressed by the surrounding mountains. They would be a familiar presence over the next two weeks.

We ascended from the underground station and took in our first view of the city. It was very busy and colourful, with neon signs and video screens covering the buildings. Crossing the roads tested my patience as we seemed to be waiting forever for the green man to bless us with his presence.

Where To Stay In Taipei

These are some of the best budget hostels in Taipei, according to user reviews. These are affiliate links to the Agoda web site. I found Agoda to be much better than booking.com in Southeast Asia. I receive a small amount for any bookings made through these links at no extra cost to you.

• Angels Hostel Taipei Ximen
• Mango53 Inn
• Dan Hostel
• Ximen Duckstay Hostel
• Flip Flop Hostel – Main Station
• Sleepbox Hotel
• TaipeiTaipei
• Daan Park Hotel
• Taipei Backpackers Hostel

Space Inn Hengyang

We had booked a three night stay at a hostel called ‘Space Inn Hengyang Branch’ (map). The hostel is located in the basement of a small shopping centre. Check-in was very formulaic and within minutes we entered the hostel communal area. And what a communal area it was!

After our stay in dorms in Singapore, where at least 18 people had to share one shower and the communal area was tiny, this was more like it! The communal area was huge and the space theme was very cool. There were games, computers, TV and plenty of places to relax. There were also plenty of showers and toilets meaning we never had to wait.

The hostel had everything you need. The rooms were comfortable enough and you could block out all light with the dark curtains. Every bed had night lights, usb and plug chargers and a big locker. The WiFi was excellent too, meaning I could easily stream and download content.

On further investigation, we discovered other useful facilities. The washing room had two washers and two dryers for use at a reasonable price.

It also has a kitchen area with free coffee and a refrigerator. We didn’t take the opportunity to cook (though Joanna did make instant noodles).

It is an excellent hostel and I would definitely recommend using it as your base if you are looking for dorms in Taipei.

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We paid £91 for 2 beds for 4 nights.

Click here to book a stay at ‘Space Inn Hengyang Branch’.

Ximending Night Market

Once we got settled into our hostel, it was quite late and the day’s travel had left us felling tired. The hostel was located a ten minute walk away from ‘Ximending Night Market’ (map) so we decided to check it out and get some food.

It is not a typical night market in that there are not many temporary stalls. It is basically a shopping area that stays open late, with some street food thrown in. It is very busy and colourful and there are usually street entertainers blending in with the very loud shop-workers trying to entice you into their shops.

Ximending Night Market Opening Times: 5 pm – 10 pm, every day.

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Taipei Street Food

It wasn’t long before we discovered some street food. The first stall sold chopped beef, which I’d read was a must-try in Taipei. It did look good and I was hanging around contemplating buying when a guy from the next stall offered me one of his bbq mushrooms. They were delicious; huge mushrooms which were chopped and them sprinkled with salty pepper. They were quite ‘whelky’ in texture. I decided to skip the beef and went with the mushrooms.

We wandered for a short while, taking in the atmosphere and checking out the local shops and restaurants (including a toilet-themed restaurant!) before heading back to the hostel for some much-needed rest.

Breakfast At Saizeriya

Our first full day in Taipei began with coffee in the hostel before heading out for breakfast. Breakfast is always the hardest meal when travelling in Southeast Asia, I find, as you end up eating all sorts. Cereal and toast is not easy to come by! And so it proved here as we decided to visit what turned out to part of a chain of Italian restaurants, ‘Saizeriya’ (map). It was a popular place, particularly with the younger Taiwanese, despite being hidden away on the 6th floor of a non-descript building. They offer meal deals which made them reasonably priced. The food was decent, though not quite what I’d call breakfast!

Taipei Museum Of Contemporary Art

We had decided to stay in the city on our first full day and one of the places on our ‘to do’ list was the ‘Museum of Contemporary Art’ (map). There were two exhibitions when we visited and both had interactive elements. There were people of all ages enjoying the exhibitions, which were based around mixed media, and it was a great start to the day.

Museum of Contemporary Art Opening Times: 10 am – 6 pm, Tues – Sun. Closed Monday.
Museum of Contemporary Art Entrance Fee: Free admission.

Huashan 1914 Creative Park

We then continued the art theme by moving on to ‘Huashan 1914 Creative Park’ (map) which is a cultural centre in a former winery. There are many shops and galleries here as well as a cinema and plenty of sculptures and street art. There is so much to explore here and we loved walking around the area and discovering more creativity.

Huashan 1914 Creative Park Opening Times: Public area open 24 hr.
Huashan 1914 Creative Park Enterance Fee: Free admission.

Vegetarian Food In Taipei

There are a number of vegetarian restaurants dotted around Taipei. A lot are buffet-style where you choose what you like and they estimate how much it all costs. These are very cheap and often the best option for veggies, though the food is often not hot.

We visited a place with a Chinese name where you had to order from a menu (map). As the menus were all in Chinese, this proved difficult. Luckily, a local girl saw us struggling and helped us out. I’m not sure what we ordered. One dish was a veggie oyster omelette! The food was cheap but not the best.

Prince Cheese Potato

In the evening, we decided to buy some beers from 7-eleven and stay in the communal area of the hotel. Cheap night! But first, we went back to ‘Ximending Night Market’ to try some food from ‘Prince Cheese Potato’ (map) as it had grabbed our attention the night before.

We thought they sold Jacket potatoes which we REALLY fancied! However, what they actually sell is some kind of mashed potato covered in breadcrumbs and toppings of your choice which is then covered in a cheese sauce.

I had one with smoked ham. They were interesting and unlike most of the food we’d eaten on our travels.

Elephant Mountain

The next morning, following a delicious buffet breakfast, we made our way to ‘Elephant Mountain’ (map) to take in the views over the city. We took a bus out of the city. Taipei has a great public transport system and the details of times can be found on Google Maps.

Elaphant Mountain has many trails to its viewpoint over the city and it is quite steep but much less of a challenge than either Mount Bromo and Mount Ijen which we had recently conquered!

Their are many viewpoints over the city and its iconic ‘101’ building.

We discovered how ‘Elephant Mount’ got its name which is a bit silly to be honest 🙂

Along the way, we found a spider that, even though it was missing a couple of legs, was still pretty scary!

We reached the top then began descending along a different route. After a short while, we came across a temple. There are many other interesting places to discover on its many trails.

It was very hot and it was a bit of a struggle but it was definitely worthwhile. Fortunately, our trail led us directly to the bus stop which took us back to town.

Taipei Beef Noodle Soup 

We got back to our hostel and I decided to try the ‘beef noodle soup’ dish that is very popular in Taipei. Ii went to ‘Xinyang Noodles’ (map) which was just next to our hostel and always seemed busy. The beef was tender and tasty but the broth was very bland. It was very disappointing.

Shi Lin Night Market

In the evening, we decided to visit one of Taipei’s famous night markets. ‘Shi Lin Night Market’ (map) promised hundreds of street food stalls and it didn’t disappoint. It was very busy so movement is slow but this gave us plenty of opportunity to eye up the treats on offer.

Stinky Tofu

We wanted to try the infamous ‘stinky tofu’ and we heard that it was available in Shi Lin. After seeing many ‘interesting’ snacks on offer, we suddenly caught a waft on a strange smell, not entirely unlike the open sewer smell that we had become familiar with on our travels. We had found stinky tofu.

Like scorpions and insects in Thailand, stinky tofu is not just something for tourists to try. People in Taiwan eat this stuff for pleasure! The smell isn’t great (hence the name) and we had heard that the taste was equally as foul.

Joanna bought some and, to be honest, it really wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. It had a pretty bad aftertaste that would take some getting used to, but I was expecting it to be much worse. It wouldn’t be on the top of my dinner preferences but it is nowhere near as bad as some make out.

However, I had other plans for my dinner.

Revolver Live Music Bar

We caught the MRT from Shi Lin and went to a bar called ‘Revolver’ (map) which had live music, craft beer and happy hour offers. It’s a great bar. Anywhere where the staff all wear ‘NO COLDPLAY’ t-shirts is fine by me! The bar had a great collection of b-movie horror posters which gained them extra points.

Futuro And Venturo House Abandoned Resort

The next morning, we were heading out of the city to visit the small coastal town of Yehliu. We had heard about an abandoned coastal resort that we just had to check out.

We caught a bus and after an hour or so, we found ourselves at a very quiet coastal town. It wasn’t long before what we came here to see revealed itself.

The portable homes were the brainchild of Finnish designer Matti Suuronen who saw them as the houses of the future. They were not popular; so much so they were vandalised by neighbours of any purchasers. A Taiwanese businessman thought they would make great holiday homes and built a resort in the town of Yehliu where, it seems, they were equally unsuccessful.

The area is great to explore and you can even enter some of the abandoned properties. Be aware that a small number are actually still occupied. We saw someone waving at us so it seems the few residents are not annoyed by tourists. This retro-futuristic vision is a great area to explore.

Yehliu Geopark

We left the abandoned resort to see if there was anything else worth exploring in this quiet coastal town. We discovered that there was a Geopark only 20 minutes walk away. As we walked, the town became more populated with many seafood restaurants and tourists.

We reached the geopark and, after paying a small admission fee, began to explore.

Many of the rocks have been given names.

Yehliu Geopark Opening Times: 8 am – 5 pm, every day.
Yehliu Geopark Entrance Fee: 80 NTD.

We walked up to the lighthouse viewpoint then headed to the bus stop to take us back to Taipei. We had a fantastic day in Yehliu!

Tulip Timeout

In the evening, I had an explore around the ‘Red House’ area (map) and its many bars. I was on the hunt for food and I fancied something western. I was happy to find ‘Tulip Timeout’ (map) which sold delicious hot dogs and fries and was exactly what I needed.

Is Taipei Worth Visiting?

We had no real expectations of Taipei as we had no idea what to expect. What we found was a vibrant city with friendly people and lively markets. It was the perfect start to our Taiwan adventure and gave us a massive lift, making us energetic and ready to discover more of Taiwan.

For more information, visit https://www.travel.taipei/en