Taiwan - Travelling to Taiwan

I've decide to make a general topic on this great Country, many Aussies do not visit which I found interesting considering how close it is to Australia. While travelling there, A lot of Amercias, Canadians and Europeans love visiting this place and heard the Kiwis like to visit as well.

English is something which seems like a barrier but I think if others are visiting why not Aussie as well, when I have trying to find info, I could not find a lot on Oz Bargain or other sites so I been there for a trip lately, I hope this help others to go and travel there. Any questions you have, I'll try and do my best to answer from what I've experienced.

Below is details where I stayed and general details to get an understanding, I took out all the spots I listed as this was 20 pages long so cut out all the things that weren't required, hope it helps.

What to do before you go to Taipei, Taiwan

Things to not do in Taiwan

Things to take.

Take an umbrella. There’s a reason most people carry one everywhere: Taiwan is both intensely sunny and rainy, alternating several times in a single day. Either way, an umbrella’s got you covered.

Power plugs -
Plug type A
Plug type B

Once arrive at the airport

Find an ATM - options are

There an ATM just 1 at Terminal 1 exiting customs and only 1 after exiting customer which I could find landing at Taoyuan International Airport MRT

Taiwanese ATMs do not charge fees for other banks' cards, unlike in some countries.

Cash exchange rate mark-up at the airport is ~3% for CAD, ~1% for USD, plus a tiny flat transaction fee. The transaction fee is much higher if you exchange TWD to foreign currency. Canadian bank ATM exchange margin is 3% with a few exceptions.

Purchase a SIM card.

https://guidetotaipei.com/article/cell-phones-and-sim-cards
https://hktravelblog.com/sim-cards/phone-sim-cards-taipei-ta…

NT$250 = AUD$11 unlimited for 5 days.

Catch the Airport bus to our hotel.

http://www.evergreen-eitc.com.tw/eitchtdocs/jsp/c_4/c_4_2_2.…


微風廣場 Breeze Center

https://translate.google.com.au/translate?hl=en&sl=zh-TW&u=h…

Back up plan by train.

Taoyuan International Airport MRT

Airport Terminal 2 Station
38 min by Train, every 10 minutes
ExpressCommuter
$6 - $8

Taipei Main Station
5 min by Subway, every 10 minutes
Blue
$1

Zhongxiao Fuxing

Walk for 10 min
Approx 845 meters

Horizon Inn, Taipei

Take the shuttle bus in the airport toward Taipei Train Station, but stop and get out of the bus by ZhongShan MRT station.

Then take the MRT to NajingFuxing Station and it's only 450 meters left.

Bus via Songshan Airport 56 min includes 3 min transfer $6 - $8

Taoyuan Airport T2

45 min by Bus, every 10 minutes
18405502
$4 - $6

Songshan Airport

Songshan Airport

2 min by Subway, every 10 minutes
Brown
$2

Nanjing East Road

Walk for 6 min
Approx 516 meters

Horizon Inn, Taipei

https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Taipei-Airport-TPE/Horizon-Inn-…

Hotel in Taipei

This is close to Citibank and between 2 Metro train lines, its 3 stars hotel but has a unique breakfast which I haven’t experience anywhere else in the World which is why I booked there.

Horizon Inn

Address: 10491, Taiwan, Taipei City, Zhongshan District, Section 2, Chang'an East Road, 246號
Phone: +886 2 2711 0120

What is the Easycard?

Similar to the Octopus Card in Hong Kong, the Taipei Easycard, or 悠遊卡 (Yōuyóu kǎ), allows passengers to conveniently ride the Taipei MRT or bus systems without the need to constantly search for loose change. 7-11, Family Mart, and other convenience stores and supermarkets also accept the Easycard for payment. The standard card is called 'adult' (普通卡), and student cards (學生卡) and concessionaire cards (優待卡) allow for discounts for some services.

https://guidetotaipei.com/article/easycard-%E6%82%A0%E9%81%8…

$25 AUD each and get $5 AUD back when you return the card.

District where these places are and how to get there by the metro train.

Travelling outside of Taipei.

One day tour - Either do this on 10th or 11th of June.

http://thesmartlocal.com/read/things-to-do-taipei

Jiu Fen Old Street

Shi Fen Waterfall

Golden Waterfall 

regional taipei

Yehliu Geopark

Shifen water falls

Bai Shih Lake Bridge (Neihu)

https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Attraction_Review-g13806767-d…

Green Lake Park (Neihu)

https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Attraction_Review-g13806767-d…

Maokong mountain (Wenshan)

https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Attraction_Review-g13808394-d…

Yang Ming Shan Leng Shui Keng Suspension Bridge, Taipei

https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Attraction_Review-g293913-d65…

Places to eat.

Popular places which will will likely eat at.

Ichiran Ramen 一蘭拉麵 – Famous Ramen Restaurant In Taipei, Opens 24/7

http://danielfooddiary.com/2018/01/11/ichirantaipei/

HONEY PIG No. 415-3 XinYi Road, Sec. 4 台北市信義區信義路四段415號-3 (02) 2725-5757 MRT: Taipei 101

http://hungryintaipei.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/koreanbbq-i-st…

Other places to eat.

http://thesmartlocal.com/read/scoot-to-taipei

http://www.thanislim.com/2017/03/taipei-food-guide-must-eat-…

https://www.eater.com/maps/best-taipei-restaurants

http://www.taiwan-hotels.net/taipei/10-best-local-restaurant…

Train from Taipei to Kaohsiung City

Taiwan High Speed Rail (also known as THSR, HSR, or Gāotíe) is a high-speed rail line approximately 345KM in length running along the west coast of Taiwan from Taipei Main Station in the north to Kaohsiung in the south. The line opened for service in 2007, using trains with a top speed of 300KM/H covering the journey in as short as 96 minutes.

The price of a standard full fare HSR ticket from Taipei to Kaohsiung (Zuoying) is NT$1490 = AUD$66 AUD (oneway)

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/%E5%A4%A7%E5%9C%B0%E6%B8%85%…

https://guidetotaipei.com/article/taiwan-high-speed-rail-%E5…

https://www.travelking.com.tw/eng/tourguide/kaohsiung/transp…

http://roadsandkingdoms.com/2016/know-before-you-go-to-taipe…

7-11 in Taiwan

http://www.taichungexpat.com/2015/09/07/what-can-you-do-at-7…

Comments

  • +2

    Thank you! I'm going to Taiwan in August so this is great.

    • If your looking at narrowing down Districts in Taipei, I found this one a good one to obtain, night markets, temples, shines etc.

      https://www.treksplorer.com/things-to-do-in-taipei-taiwan/

      A lot of places are closed in the morning in terms of shoppings and market, everything happen late afternoon and nights.

  • +1

    I know I can't speak for everyone, but Taiwan isn't a country that pops up in my head when I think about wanting to go somewhere for fun.

    It's not a bad country (well, it's actually a great country!), but I don't get the same level of excitement as I would when I think about other Asian countries like Hong Kong, Macau, China, Vietnam.

    I went there once during the Christmas/New Year's period and got quite bored after a few days. Gave it a second try a few months later and still got bored.

    It's good for sightseeing etc, but not much to do at night. In a way, I see it being the asian version of Australia. Having said that, I might appreciate things over there a little more when I get older.

    • +2

      what? No way.
      Taiwan is famous for their street night market that open all the way till 2-3am, then early morning breakfast places that open up 4-5am. They have also got numerous massage places and night clubs. Much cheaper drinks, and so much less restrictions. However in saying that, most of their people don’t speak english so it is understandably harder.

      Anyways I don’t think its comparable to asian version of australia at all.

      • +1

        most of their people don’t speak english so it is understandably harder.

        I found that a lot of the younger generation that I met did speak English and a lot also spoke Cantonese, so that was a plus for me!

        I'm not sure if I'm explaining it correctly. The vibe just isn't there for me. Or it could simply be a case of me having too high expectations of the place before I went.

        They have also got numerous massage places and night clubs

        PS: I did have a funny experience at a massage place though. It was day time and wasn't after anything special so went into this normal-looking massage place. The massage people looked like they were in their 50s and 60s, so I made the assumption that it was just a normal massage. About 15 minutes into the 2 hour session that I paid for (equiv of about AUD$50), I was lying flat on my back with this 50-60 yr old lady sitting on me, gyrating and trying to tug my shorts off! I said no thank you, put my normal clothes on and went back down into the waiting area thinking that I'd just wait for my mate to finish.
        Literally 3 minutes later, he comes running down too with the most disgusted look on his face! So we ditched! lol!

    • taiwan's night life is nothing like australia

      wo ai tai mei , tai mei ai wo

  • +2

    There actually have been quite a few discussions over the years. Might visit there in September/October.

    • Would appreciate feedback on any issues you encountered with toilets after your visit.

      • I don't think I'll have any issue with toilets in TW. Well, wife & kids might not agree.

  • +3

    Been there once, didn't like it at all. Much prefer Hong Kong, Vietnam, China, Singapore, Japan, Korea…

  • +1

    This is useful! We are heading to Taiwan for a few days for my mate’s Bucks’

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