City Guide: Taipei

Taipei is a fascinating metropolis as it combines Western with Asian influences. In this City Guide we’ll explain what you can expect when visiting the political center of Taiwan!

If you are thinking about travelling to Taiwan, there are a ton of goods reasons. While I think that China can be very fascinating as well, I think that Taiwan is particularly special. For example, Shanghai or Chengdu just feel like very modern cities, where not a lot of history is left. Meanwhile, a city like Taipei comes with the best of two worlds, a modern business hub as well as lots of history. Let’s dive into what Taipei has to offer!

Taipei 101 and the modern business center of Taipei

When looking for the modern part of Taipei, you should definitely visit the area around Taipei 101. The Xiangti Aveneue Plaza is the perfect example of how the modern Taiwan looks like.

The massive Taipei 101 skyscraper obviously is a real highlight as well as one of the world’s tallest buildings, while still offering a pretty unique architecture.

If you like great views, you should definitely reserve a spot (needs to be done online in advance) at the Starbucks in the Taipei 101, which offers mesmerizing views of town.

However, there’s another spot to really enjoy nice views, called Elephant Mountain. You may only reach it by walking upwards quite a bit, but it’s totally worth it.

There’s no other spot in Taipei, where you can catch such a nice view of the skyline. Plus, it’s an incredibly nice area if you are looking to escape the buzz of the metropolis.

There are more “modern” city parts in Taipei, including the neighbor city called “New Taipei”, but the area around the Taipei 101 sure is the most interesting one to visit as a tourist.

Liberty Square & the Sun Yet Sen Memorial Hall

Not far away from Taipei 101, you can find the Sun Yet Sen Memorial Hall, one of the most important attractions in the city. It’s both, a culture and historical landmark of Taipei.

However, most other historic attractions are located in different areas of town. One you definitely shouldn’t miss is the Liberty Square, located in the old city center of Taipei.

The most prominent building here is the fascinating Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall, which just looks stunning.

There are more fascinating buildings at Liberty Square though, including the National Concert Hall.

The Libery Arch is obviously worth having a look at as well.

Not far away is also the Presidential Hall, which you may have a look at as well.

You will generally notice that Taipei has some interesting historic monuments, which are spread out through the city.

The fascinating parks in and around Taipei

Due to Taipei’s location in a rather challenging natural environment with plenty of earthquakes, the whole city has a unique landscape. This is including many parks by the rivers (used as an overflow area). A good example is the Longshan Riverside Park.

There are also many other noteworthy parks in the city, including the artsy 228 Peace Park Taipei.

I also very much enjoyed visiting the Yuanshan Park.

I’d also recommend visiting the funny Garden Maze located further North. It’s not a typical park, but still very interesting to visit.

When exploring the various riverside parks, you may also spot a view of the interesting Grand Hotel Taipei, once known as one of the best hotels in Asia.

Generally, you will find more parks in Taipei than in pretty much all other Asian metropolises, including cities like Bangkok or Tokyo.

National Palace Museum & Lin Ai Tai Historical House Taipei

If you have some time while exploring Taipei, I’d definitely recommend using a day to explore the North of the city. Here, you can among other things find the Chiang Kai Shek Shilin Residence with its beautiful park.

Even more important though is obviously the enormous National Palace Museum Taipei, which is one of the most important monuments in the whole country.

You can not only visit the interesting museum, but also explore several other interesting things around. Furthermore, the architecture is just really stunning, so visiting for that alone is worth it.

Last but not least, I also want to make you aware of the Lin Ai Tai Historical House, located not too far away from the Palace Museum.

It’s a really charming historic house located in a park and a real hidden gem, in my opinion.

All of these places are definitely worth visiting, so I’d plan at least a full day for those when in Taipei!

Overall impressions of Taipei

I really enjoyed my time in Taipei and would highly recommend visiting the city. While Taipei is not as known as other Asian metropolises, it’s still very interesting to visit. Especially the combination of history and modernity is special and makes Taipei very different compared to other cities in the Far East.

Do you have any questions about Taipei? Feel free to ask or share your impressions in the comments!

Check here for more guides of cities all around the world!