If you had 4 days (over a weekend) to spend in Taipei what
would you do and where would you recommend seeing? We live
in Japan and have never been to Taiwan. We've read an
assortment of guidebooks but we know that suggestions from
those who have recently been to the destination are the
best guides. What were your best (and worst) experiences in
this Asian city? Any info you would care to offer- however
short, are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for your
tips!
[There are 14 posts - the latest was added on Sat 22 May, 15:58]
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Taipei is my least favorite city with the possible exception
of Wellington NZ, and I have been in over 100 countries! If
you are there during the typhoon season it can be a bit
awful. Sorry for the poor opinion, but that is how I see it.
If you have any options and have not been to Hong Kong which
is near, I'd go there for the weekend.
Hopefully some other readers can give you more
encouragement than I just did.
We are planning to go to Taipei soon, this or next month.
Thanks!
Hi. I have just come back from visiting a few places in
Taiwan: Taipei, Taroko Gorge, cross-island central highway,
Shitoushan....Taipei is not a city I really enjoyed either,
but the National Palace Museum is fantastic, if you like
Chinese art. (Their teahouse is also great.) I'm not sure
how you would want to spend your four days, in the city or
outside hiking around, but oh! it's really beautiful....If
I went to Taiwan again I wouldn't spend my time in Taipei.
I would go up to the mountains.
Hi,
I spent the same amount of time in Taipei. I had a great
time, it is such a different culture to Europe. The markets
are great, the museum and you have to go to the Taroko
Gorge, I hiked/hitched my way through, it was one of the
best days of my life, the Taiwanese people have to be one of
the friendliest cultures in the world!
Get some whores for the day
Us Taiwanese have better cnts than your white trash women
I lived in taiwan for three years. Taiwan is great,
Taiwanese are wonderful people. I hope you are
going during the week when it is easier to
travel. Suggestions
Taroko Gorge (3-4 hour train ride down to the mid-easter
part of teh island. Beautiful. )
Yangming Shan -- a mountain with plenty of trails in norther
taipei (you can take a bus from the train station for NT$24
or so) and walk around up there. Look for some local
restaurants or enjoy a hot spring.
Tamshui -- take the new subway out to Tamshui and eat soem
fo teh famous local fish dishes, walk along what should be a
very crowded beach at this time of year. It is a small town,
but charming
Fujian Beach -- actually, I left Taiwan a year ago and have
mispelt the name of thsi beach. Its Fu- something. In any
case, it is a very clean private beach (NT$80 or so to
enter) that has a YMCA along teh waterfront. Stay there for
the night maybe?
In any case, I think that you will avoid dumb postings if
you give people a better idea of what you want. These are
justm some examples of the one of teh coolest places in teh
world.
The Palace museum certainly.
Those who say that Taipei is ugly are quite right. But if
you check out the temples you can see a fascinating side to
Chinese life you'd never catch on the Mainland. And round
the temples there are often interesting little shops selling
gods, gost money, incense and stuff. Night Markets, too,
still have a smack of the Exotic Orient about them.
The best spectacle in Taipei outside Ghost Month
(Octoberish) is a lavish funeral but I don't know where in
Taipei they happen. In smaller cities they can parade over
several busy streets and bring traffic to an uncomplaining
halt but I've never seen one in the capital.
One tip. Pick up any National Park leaflets you see in the
airport (Between Customs and the Arrivals lobby) as they're
impossible to find anywhere else. And the only usable maps
are to be found in (some) Western bars.
Agree with everyone else.
Inside Taipei see the National Palace museum and the Chang
Kai Shek memorial and its surroundings, the snake market is
also interesting although very touristy!
And then get out of the city and see some of the surrounding
area. There are some beautiful mountain areas within a
couple of hours travel from Taipei.
The one thing we regretted about our trip there was that we
didn't spend enough time exploring the National Parks etc.
surrounding Taipei.
Have fun.
In four days you can see a lot of beautiful things around
the island, you only need one day for Taipei....as for
friendliest people...and Taipei as a great city!!!!! Do
you people get out much??? Or are you all western expat
men with Chinese girlfriends!!!!!
Although we'll continue to check and read every post until
this thread is about 2/3 of the way down the list, we want
to thank each and every one of you who responded to our
request for suggestions about Taipei. Positive and negative
comments are both very much appreciated.
It looks as though we'll spend a couple of days in the city
(National Palace Museum, CKS memorial, Temples, markets,
etc.) and then head out (Taroko Gorge, some walks in the
mountains). You've given us some great suggestions and
we'll surely report back to you.
Thanks again and if you have any other suggestions, keep
them coming!
Mike and Sharon
Post 6. was referring to Fulung Beach, which is the best
beach in Northern Taiwan. It's about an hour driving from
Taipei.
As for the above comments on Taipei, Taipei is not a city
that was planned, it sort of happened. Whether it is
attractive or not depends on what your attitude is and what
you expect from the place.
I have been living here for 5 years now and I agree with the
view that Taipei isn't beautiful but can still be
fascinating, especially in the evening. It's everything that
Japan isn't, both positive and negative.
As for Taiwan as a whole, if you have a positive attitude
and the time to really dive into this place you will find
lots of gems.
In order to provide you with some more details, get the
Lonely Planet guide for Taiwan, it's (as always) very useful
, extremely amusing and recently updated.
Taiwan can be roughly divided into three parts:
1. the west coast, which is highly industrialized, very
urban and only of interest to people looking for temples
(Tainan) or other urban fun. (since you're living in Japan I
don't see the point of you guys spending much time in this
part)
2. the mountains, which make up 2/3 of Taiwan and which
stretch from the north just outside Taipei all the way to
the southern tip of the island.
3. the east coast, which is close to the mountains and less
populated, thus more suitable for travelling.
The best way to spend your four days is to travel from
Taipei to the eastern town of Hualien (go visit Newman's
cafe !!!), a marble mining town which is close to the Taroko
gorge. Spend at least a day hiking into Taroko (don't go on
weekends !) while staying in Hualien or inside of Taroko
itself (Tienhsiang is the place inside Taroko which has both
5 star accomodation or a great value Catholic hostel where
you can stay)
After Hualien you can travel all the way to the south, to
the most southern point of the island, Kenting, where you
have nice beaches and a great opportunity to rent a
(motor)cycle and explore the surrounding area and see the
famous sunset at Oluanbi.
Then I recommend you skip the whole west coast and fly back
to Taipei to spend the rest of your time (if there's
anything left, exploring the National Palace Museum and
eating out at any type of restaurant (Taipei is the
gastronomic capital of the world if you know your way
around). By the way, outside the National Palace Museum
about 200m down the road (left if the NPM is in your back)
is the Taiwan's aboriginal museum. Small but still
interesting, I thought. As long as you're in the
neighborhood, go check it out !
If you would have even one more day at your disposal then I
would recommend you go to Alishan, which is halfway back
from Kenting to Taipei in the county of Chiai. Alishan is a
beautiful mountain resort that is one of the highlights of
Taiwan.
Some warnings: 1. Taiwan is not as clean and tidy as Japan
(gross understatement) 2. try to avoid the weekends at
popular places 3. don't go to Snake Alley as it's too
touristic and gives a bad impression of Taiwan
4. Currently it's the rain season in Taiwan, which means
every week or so you can expect some days of (sometimes)
heavy rain. The north and east of the island will suffer the
most from these rains. The most southern tip of the island
and the south-west corner are the driest.
Some tips: 1. buy Taiwanese High Mountain Oolong Tea if you
like tea (best quality tea in the world !) 2. buy Kaoliang
liquor if you like strong drinks 3. The Grand Hotel is a
great place to visit if you have a couple of hours left in
Taipei and want to have lunch or teatime in a nice
atmosphere. The place used to be badly managed and rundown,
but has improved considerably. The hotel is built on a hill
and can be seen when entering Taipei (you can't miss it).
Have a nice trip !
Checkout http://www.cwb.gov.tw/Data/forecast/B61.gif
for the weather forecast in Taiwan
Thanks for your very informative and thorough suggestions
M! All of you have been very kind to share your candid
impressions and suggestions about Taiwan. Four days appears
to be way too short, but perhaps long enough to gather some
special impressions of this republic and its people.
Both of us appreciate the time everyone has taken to write
on this thread. We'll save these posts as a text file and
take them with us on our trip.
Thanks again!
Mike & Sharon
I have to agree with those that said one day in Taipei is
enough. To be honest, I wouldn't even bother with the CKS
memorial - it's no big deal when compared with the National
Palace Museum. I wouldn't bother with snake alley either,
unless you like seeing people skin live snakes and drink
their blood. There is a pretty cool temple near there,
though (can't remember the name). I would recommend Taroko
Gorge for a couple of days, and then take the road all the
way to the highest point in Taiwan (cross-island highway), a
very beautiful drive. I'd also only go to one night market,
probably shi minding (that's how it's pronounced, no idea on
spelling). The best parts of Taiwan lie outside of Taipei
in the rural areas, and that's what I'd focus on. Kenting
National Park is pretty cool as well. I'd recommend renting
a car rather than trains and buses if you only have 4 days,
you'll get to see more.