Touring Taiwan Part 2, Taipei
Place: Asia
Country: Taiwan
Towns/Cities: Taipei, Shifen, Jiufen
Time of Year: Dec 2025
How we got there: Plane, High Speed Rail, MRT
Touring Taiwan was such a wonderful experience not only because it was a new country to explore but also because we got to share some of the adventure with our son Aidan who was working in Kaohsiung at the time. If you haven’t already read part 1 of our trip you can do so here:
Day 1 Taipei
After leaving Aidan in Kaohsiung to finish off the last 2 weeks of his 6 week work trip, we made our way back to Taipei via HSR (High Speed Rail) aka bullet train. Since the only part of Taipei we saw when we arrived was the airport and the HSR/MRT station, we were super excited to explore!
Upon arriving at Taipei Main Station we elected to take a taxi to our airbnb since we had luggage and were not yet familiar with the city. This turned out to be our only negative experience of the whole trip! We stood in line for a taxi and were paired with a reluctant older driver with a vehicle held together only by duct tape. It turns out that the duct tape was the only thing that would give me hope that we would arrive safely to our destination. Holding our luggage in our laps and hanging on for dear life, our driver sped through Taipei weaving in and out of traffic at speeds I was sure were faster than the HSR! Staring at the duct tape, I could only think that this car has survived without an accident for a long time so maybe we too could arrive without an incident. The scariest part was that the driver was angry. Angry that he could not communicate with us, angry that we were American, angry that he didn’t fully understand the address provided. None the less he was angry and taking it out on traffic. By some miracle, we arrived in one piece and put the whole experience behind us!
After settling in to our Airbnb, we walked around the corner for lunch at Curry For Peace, a Japanese restaurant. It was incredibly delicious! We would come to find out in the days ahead that Taiwan still has a large Japanese influence.
The rest of this day was to be all about the world’s 2nd tallest building, Taipei 101!
First stop was to view Taipei 101 from Elephant Mountain and this required climbing steps, steps and more steps! We made our way on the MRT using our Easy Cards and getting off in Xiangshan Park. I was quite surprised with the greenery in this area. So far we had only seen grey city buildings and it was refreshing to walk through the park looking for the trailhead.
We spotted the stone elephant sign letting us know we had reached the trailhead. The trail starts with steps and does not let up for 1 mile!
Yet again, the humidity was suffocating and the stairs were relentless! Along the way we spotted several elephant art pieces!
There were many lookout points where we started to get our first glimpse of Taipei 101.
It was such a clear day and I couldn’t stop looking at how spectacular this building really was!
This structure, standing 508 meters tall, is made to look like bamboo stalks with 8 segments (8 is a lucky number in Chinese culture) and represents prosperity, growth and rejuvenation. This is my favorite photo of Taipei 101 from the day:
We took so many photos I just have to share them all!
As we headed down the other side of Elephant Mountain, the landscape changed a little. Mossy boulders, stone steps and unpaved paths lead the way down.
We reached one last viewpoint before making our way back into the park.
A quick refreshing shower was needed before we made our way to visit Taipei 101 itself! The world’s 2nd tallest building was in walking distance to our Airbnb and we had reserved Priority Passes to skip the line and go right to the top!
We choose to go up late in the day so we could experience the view turn from daylight to twilight to darkness. We could spot Elephant Mountain from this vantage point.
After watching the sunset, we learned about the Tuned Mass Damper which is a steel counterweight between the 87th & 92nd floors (Taipei 101 has 101 floors hence the name Taipei 101) that reduces the sway of the building during earthquakes and other severe weather. They showed a video of people viewing the TMD during an actual earthquake and they didn’t even know what was happening! The TMD did its job!!
A few more fun pictures were taken before we went outside to walk around the building for another perspective.
By this time it was dark and Taipei 101 was all lite up.
I was excited to get back to our loft apartment to see the view of Taipei 101 right from our window! So cool to look at this view everyday!
Day 2 Jiufen, Shifen, Yehliu Geopark
For day 2 I booked a day trip to visit 2 old mining towns and a geopark on https://www.getyourguide.com/. I have been using this site for a few years now and we have not yet had a bad experience. They have excursions both domestic and international.
From Taipei Main Station we boarded a brand new bus that would be our mode of transportation for the day. I love the fancy curtains!!
First stop of the day was Shifen Old Street where we made a quick stop at Shifen Falls which is the Niagra Falls of Taiwan! A short hike over a bridge and through a little market was required to reach the waterfall.
The waterfall, although not quite Niagara Falls, was pretty and we enjoyed the peacefulness of the area.
I was super excited to get to Shifen Old Street. This is where we would paint our lantern and send it into the sky! Our guide took us into a little shop where we were set up to work on our multi color lantern. I choose to have every color to represent all wishes for every aspect of life! For example, red represents health and orange love/marriage. Together we painted our wishes on each side and then we were taken outside to light our lantern and send it off! I absolutely loved this so much!! Definitely a highlight of the day!
Shifen is also famous for the train that runs right through the narrow street lined with shops and food stands. Unfortunately, a few weeks before, a cyclone hit the area and disabled the train so we were not able to witness the train passing through. We did enjoy the fried rice stuffed chicken roll our guide bought us and I picked out a hand carved wooden lantern to take home as a souvenir.
Back on the bus we traveled another 30 minutes to Jiufen Old Street. Jiufen Old Street is another mining town on the side of a mountain with 300 red lantern lined steps leading to tea houses, shops and lots of food! Our main priority was to have a full tea service at A-Mei Teahouse so we hustled up the steps to get a table before all the tour busses unloaded! A-Mei is the teahouse used as an inspiration for the animated film Spirited Away. This multi leveled traditional tea house was so beautiful with its red lanterns and wooded window views of the ocean!
We ordered the full tea service complete with cute little cakes and an iced tea as well. Check out the tea service:
I was such in awe of this place so we walked around to see the rest of the tea house. At the end of the day I couldn’t stop thinking about the little tea pot for sale in the gift shop so we ran all the way back to A-Mei to get it!
The Tea House itself is so beautiful! I hear it is even more wondrous at night! This truly is a special place!
Next we went in search of the other famous food items available in Jiufen. I think our favorite was the Michelin Star taro balls and beans. Such a unique treat and I was surprised to find that I liked it!!
Walking and eating is frowned upon so we were guided to another outdoor seating area with ocean views to enjoy our taro balls!
The hunt continued for another Jiufen delicacy; peanut ice cream rolls! Rolled in a thin crepe paper is ice cream, peanuts and cilantro!
We could have stayed here exploring every nook and cranny of this hillside village. Every alleyway has something special.
The 2nd to last stop of the day was a pretty unexpected place, so different from where we had already been. Yehliu Geopark is a cape known for its wind eroded geological rock formations. Ocean views are the backdrop to this most unexpected landscape. There are mushroom rocks, sea caves and candle rocks existing nowhere else in the world.
Sand Dollar fossils are sprinkled throughout the landscape.
And the most famous of all is the Queen’s Head formation! Her neck is getting thinner and thinner every year!
Several other features are worth a mention as well. I really do not think this place gets enough attention!
We were pretty beat by the end of the day however this would not be our last stop! We were dropped off in front of the Roahe Night Market for an evening food vendor sampling.
Night markets are a must do! Here we tried pepper buns, Tanghulu (candies fruit skewers), and corn cakes which were my absolute favorite!
Day 3 Old Taipei
The next morning we woke to rain clouds and sprinkles. I was a little concerned because we had a Old Taipei bike tour scheduled (booked through Get Your Guide) and I was hoping they wouldn’t cancel. Lucky for us they did not because this is one of the best things we did in Taipei! Our bike tour guide happened to be an American living in Taipei for the last 20 years! He knew the ins and outs of the city and how to maneuver our way through crowds, scooters, cars and busses on bikes!
Mike, our guide took us to a local breakfast spot serving a typical Taiwanese breakfast of crepe omelets and oil sticks(aka Chinese churros) dipped in soy milk! So good!
We learned the deep history of Taipei while visiting temples and memorials scattered around the city.
Watching the changing of the guard at Chiang-Kai-Shek Memorial Hall was pretty cool.
And the grounds were beautiful.
We loved how we could ride bikes through the markets and along the river.
After our 4 hours bike ride adventure, we were getting hungry so what a better time to visit the Original Din Tai Fung restaurant in Taipei! I had purchased a Din Tai Fung restaurant experience from where else Get Your Guide! This included a pre selected menu (we choose the package) at a reasonable price. We arrived expecting to wait an hour or more but were surprised to be escorted straight to a table when we showed the host our tickets. With in 5 minutes of being seated, our food started to arrive!
Dumplings of every type, soup, pork chop and fried rice, and dessert chocolate dumplings!
We experienced top notch service and when finished just walked out the door without any fuss since we prepaid. Din Tai Fung will always be our favorite and how lucky are we that we got to eat at the original location known for creating the very first soup dumpling!
Day 4 Yangmingshan National Park & Beitou Thermal Valley
We had already seen so much of Taipei and the surrounding areas and there was one last spot we needed to check out before heading home. We hired a personal driver through Get Your Guide who drove us out of the city and into nature. Today’s destinations start with a visit to the Beitou District known for its hot springs.
We took a stroll around the Beitou Library famous for its architecture and the Beitou Hot Springs Museum where we had to exchange our shoes for slippers.
Then we wondered around Beitou Thermal Valley where we got a look at the steaming turquoise colored waters it is famous for.
We found a “Seat of Love”!
Yangming Park within Yangmingshan National Park is known for its Chinese gardens, cherry blossoms and iconic Flower Clock.
The Cherry trees were not in bloom this time of year however we did get to see other beautiful parts of the gardens.
At the foot of Mt. Qixing, which is the highest dormant volcano in the park is Xiaoyoukeng lookout where you can see steaming vents, bubbling hot springs and smell sulfur in the air. It has a bit of a Yellowstone NP feel. We took a small hike through the bamboo forest on the Arrow Bamboo Trail.
Before exploring the rest of the park our driver took us to a local authentic Taiwanese outdoor restaurante where we had the craziest experience. Even though our driver was fluent in English and the local Taiwanese language, there was a miscommunication with our order. We ended up getting a feast fit for 10+ people instead of just 2! Anyone hungry for some chicken feet? We should have known when asked to pay $45 US dollars that we were in over our heads! We hadn’t paid more than $20 for a meal the whole time we were in Taiwan.
Feeling a little embarrassed and guilty for all the uneaten food, we found our driver and continued our tour. Next stop was the Jingshan Suspension Bridge.
With a stop to soak our feet in the hot springs.
It was getting pretty windy and cold by this time which was so opposite from the heat of the city. Im so glad we brought gloves and jackets! Our last stop within the national park was Qingtiangang Grasslands. What a beautiful place! I loved all the green covered hills and the grazing water buffalo.
To warm us up before the long drive back to the city we stopped at a fancy local coffee shop with a minimum dollar purchase amount! The treats and drinks were delicious and the outdoor garden was a quaint little quiet place to relax and think about the fact that our trip was coming to an end.
Once back at our Airbnb, we walked over to visit the nearby Night Market for one last taste of Taiwan. We had the most delicious scallion pancakes ever and more candied fruit skewers but couldn’t get up the nerve to try the stinky tofu that engulfed us as we walked through the market!
On the walk home we watched the scooter parade that seemed to be present on every street and talked about what a great experience we had in Taiwan!
Well that concludes our tour of Taiwan! Someday we will return to explore the other side of the island. I hope that you too get a chance to tour Taiwan and experience the wonderful people and culture it has to offer. Please remember to travel responsibly.
