Taiwan

April 2026

Basics

Polish citizens don’t need visa to enter Taiwan. What you need is an arrival card, here: https://twac.immigration.gov.tw. Important is, that you have a return or outbound ticket for the application.

Transportation

For travelling between cities I can definitely recommend HSR- high speed rail. TR (Taiwan Rail) also works good if you want to stop somewhere between major cities. For public transport inside the city best way is to buy the Easy Card. It’s a rechargeable card that works for buses, Taipei metro or TR. You can buy it in any 7eleven or Family Mart, but to recharge it ( any ticket machine or convenience store too) you need to use cash. There is also an option of 24/48/72 hrs Taipei Metro pass, but it excludes buses. Public bicycles YouBike is also an idea.

For the airport travel from Taipei there is a quick train, and from Taichung there is a bus, but I would recommend to take an Uber, still cheap and so much easier.

Taichung

I started my Taiwanese journey from Taichung and its area.

Things to do in Taichung

  1. Night Market (is the best attraction in Taiwan, no exaggeration), there are obviously a few markets in Taichung, so here are the places:

    Feng Chia Night Market: the biggest and the best, one of the most famous in the whole country

    Yizhong Street Night Market: in the centre,

    Taichung Second Market, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth (the first one is now the ASEAN Square)

  2. Shen Ji New Village

  3. Chun Shui Tang Si Wei Original Store, which is a birth place of Taiwanese bubble milk tea

  4. Taiwan Sun Cake Museum honors in the invention of sun cakes (太陽餅). You can taste/buy them. They are also organising sun cake making classes, in mandarin tho

  5. Miyahara Ice Cream gives me a Harry Potter library vibe, cute store where you can buy some sweets, snacks for gifts and taste the most popular ice creams in Taichung

  6. Taichung Central Park

  7. Rainbow village

  8. Gaomei wetlands for sunset, a bit away from the city, you need to take a bus

Bubble tea: Tea Top, 50lan

Cafe : MIYO coffee, Celaffee Cafe, Reing Cafe

See Foodie for deep down Taiwanese cuisine breakdown (vege)

Street food: I was mostly eating on the streets or night markets, or fav 7eleven/FamilyMart; Caicaiyuan Spicy Vegetable Hot Pot, Dongdong Taro Ball, 逢甲古早味蛋餅（12) at Fengchia Night Market

Sun Moon Lake

1/2 days

Beautiful place situated around 1,5/2hrs from Taichung. To get there I took a bus from Gancheng Staition in the morning and came back on the same day in the evening.

Things to do in Sun Moon Lake

  • Rent a bike to have the ultimate experience, you can even cycle all around the lake. I did a small loop starting from Shuishe to Xiangshan Visitor Centra and down to View to the Northwest. Took me around an hour, so I cycled around more without any trail. For the whole around Sun Moon Lake loop you will need approx 3 hrs.

  • Wenwu Temple, beautiful temple with a great view on the lake. Go to the top for the best pics.

  • You can take a ferry from Shuishe to Yidashao if you have more time

  • Cien Pagoda on the opposite side of the lake

Dakeng hiking trail

1 day

If you are craving some hiking, that is a great option. It’s only one hour away from the city and you can get there with a bus.

Dakeng Scenic Area

  • It’s a range of small mountains with hiking trails numbered from 1 to 10. The best part of those trails is that they are made with wooden steps, which make it match the forest vibe so much. And it’s really fun to step on them!

  • The trails I walked are accessible by bus 66 from Taichung which gets you just in front of the Trail nr 2 entrance.

  • I did a loop there; starting with Trail 2, then through the Trail 5 that is a connecting one to the Trail 4. The whole loop is pretty short, around 5km, but because of the see-through steps the excitement adds up! You finish the hike in approx 2,5/3 hours. From the end of Trail 4 (or the beginning actually) you will have to walk around 15 mins along the road to the bus stop.

  • *if you have more time and are prepared for more exposition, or simply have a companion, go to Yuanzui Mountain. I haven’t been there, mainly because I was solo and didn’t want to risk getting injured or something, but the whole hike looks amazing!

Taipei

week or more if you travel around

This city is a gem! Even though it’s a capital city, it is not very overcrowded, metro is very efficient and the architecture style made me want to take pictures on every corner.

Things to do in Taipei

  • Elephant Mountain Trail- easy walk from which you can enjoy great view of the city and Taipei 101 building

  • Taipei 101- I guess there is no need to visit the viewing terrace in the building, it’s so much better to admire the tower from outside. My fav photo location is situated next to the Zhacun Izakaya Restaurant

  • Da’an District- very climatic neighbourhood with so many good cafes and gift shops (Lai hao is cute, there are few nice shops on the same street as well, Lane 6)

  • Chiang Kai-shek memorial- stunning especially during the night

  • 228 Peace Park- from here I took the Free Walking Tour

  • Ximen- lively neighbourhood with cool cafes and restaurants, you can even find here the very popular Japanese store Don Don Donki

  • Dihua Old Street- the old district, also Yanping Riverside Park very close by

  • Maokong - you will get there by the gondola, amazing views on the way. In this mountain district you can admire beautiful views of the Taipei, try tea flavour ice creams or visit tea house. Lupine Flower Field is worth seeing and also Zhinan Temple- especially for sunset (one gondola stop before the Maokong Station).

Night markets

  • My personal favourite is Raohe Night Market. It offers many food options and it’s situated next to the temple. It is quite big, so there are two main alleys between the stalls. That’s the ultimate attraction!

  • Shilin Night Market is the most popular one, very big, but didn’t really lived up to my expectations

  • Ningxia Night Market has less stalls but offers every essential food, it’s located close to the Dihua Street which makes it a great location. I really liked it, not too crowded and had more of a local vibe.

  • Nanjichang Night Market is a less crowded option, with good selection of food as well

Jiufen old town

1 day

To get there you can take the shuttle bus from Ximen, approx 1/1,5 hrs one way.

Things to do in Jiufen

  • This little mountain town is known for being the action location in ‘Spirited Away’ anime.

  • Prepare yourself for crowds

  • I just walked around the streets, grabbed a tea in a cute tea house with a beautiful view of the hills and the sea. Tea houses here are very popular and quite expensive. But you can just enter Juifen Teahouse to see the place, it’s really worth it

  • Shengming Palace with the scenic views

Yangmingshan

1 day

I joined the Klook trip to visit this area, but if you rent a car you can do in on your own.

Yangmingshan trip

  • Yangmingshan National Park

  • Qingtiangang Grassland

  • Lengshuikeng Ecological Pool

  • Yangmingshan Volcano

  • Zhuzihu- Calia Lilies garden, bloom annually around March and April

  • Lunch at the local restaurant: 吉園葡花園野菜餐廳

  • Flower Clock (Yangming Park)

  • Sulfur Valley

  • Beitou Hot Springs Museum

  • Taipei Public Library in Beitou

Hiking trails

up to you, how many trails you want to do

There are some nice hikes near Taipei, either half day or full day long

Trails

  • Bitoujiao Trail- 1-1,5hrs loop, beautiful coastal walk, to get to the start point I took the train to Rueifang and then the bus to Bitoujiao stop

  • Keelung Mountain- 1-1,5 hrs, quite easy walk but with many stairs, the same way downhill, great view of the ocean and Juifen. Bus stops right next to the trail entrance ( Geding/ Keelung Shanjiao)

  • Teapot Mountain- 4-5hrs, whole day walk, more advanced but still doable, there are some rock climbing parts. The bus stops directly next to the car park at the entrance ( Quanjitang )

Wulai

1 day

Small, mountain town. It’s approx 1h away from Taipei. Can get there by bus 849 from Xindian

photo source: Klook

Things to do in Wulai

  • Wulai Old Street

  • Aboriginal Museum ( Atayal Indigenous Museum)

  • Wulai log cart - short but iconic ride in mini forest railway

  • Wulai waterfall

  • Suspension bridge

  • Hot springs

*Thousand Island Lake

  • Car is a must have if you want to get there

  • I haven’t been there because of the car, but I met a girl who joined the Klook trip there. She told me the place was beautiful, but the trip’s main idea was just the tea tasting. So, if you just want to enjoy the nature, the Klook tour is not worth it.

    photo source: Klook

Foodie

Must-try

Taipei foodie places

  • Breakfast: Fuhang Soy Milk (very popular for their soy milk and fried doughsticks youtaio), Good Helper for breakfast ( ate here good radish cake and egg crepe danbing ), One bang one breakfast ( for rice balls), 青島豆漿店 (freshly made clay oven rolls), Lai lai Soy Milk

  • Dinner: 全真素食火鍋鐵板燒 ( amazing vegetarian hot pot), Din Tai Fung, Serenity, Du Hsiao Yueh Dan Zai Noodles, Minder Vegetarian QSquare, Yang Shin Vegetarian, 莎拉還有 (great poke bowl), Dadaocheng Cisheng Temple Forecourt Snack Vendors, Little tree food, DeliSoys, Plants, Veggienius

  • Bubble tea: Rencha, Tea Top, 50 lan, WooTea

  • Coffee: Fong Da Coffee, Come true coffee, Twatutia Coffee & Co, The coffee belt, Woolloomooloo, Formosa

  • Dessert: 大方冰品 長安店 (good tofu pudding), Yi Zhu Mai Ice Shop, Zhuangtou Douhua Stall, Smoothie House

Breakfast

  • We can’t really speak about Taiwanese food without mentioning the breakfast. Like everything in Taiwan, it is served on every corner of the every street. It’s not just one dish, but the whole menu!

  • It’s more of an experience than just a meal, most of the breakfast is deep fried or is made from a dough. On the side you can usually drink soy milk.

  • The vege breakdown below (most items from traditional breakie)

  • Egg crepe (Dan bing)

    Literally just an egg pancake that is rolled, with some cheese, fries egg, and whatever you want to add. My personal fav was with cheese and seaweed.

  • Clay oven rolls (Shao bing)

    Delicious bread buns, with sesame on top. Always baked fresh and stuffed with fried egg.

  • White radish cake (Luobo gao)

    Very jelly like, pan fried cake. Usually comes with some salty sauce ots.

  • Fried dough sticks (You tiao)

    Deep fried donut like stick. The dough is prepared the night before. The way to eat it is either to dip in some soy milk or have it inside the oven clay roll, like on my pic.

  • Pinterest

    Salty soy milk (Xian doujiang)

    Soy milk soup with tofu, mushrooms, veggies, could be shrimp, dry seaweed and cilantro.

    photo source: Pinterest

  • Sticky rice ball (Fan tuan)

    Dark rice bowl stuffed with veggies, fried onion, seaweed, etc

  • Black pepper tie ban noodles (Teppanyaki)

    Fried noodles with black pepper or mushroom sauce with fried egg on top.

    photo source: Pinterest

  • Steamed buns (Baozi)

    There are many options, no filling (mantou), black sesame (zhima bao), red bean (dousha bao), taro paste (yu ni bao) or vegetables (cai bao). I have tried the empty ones, delicious!

  • Soup dumplings (Xiaolongbao)

    Most of them are with pork, but there must be some fully vegetarian buns. Unfortunately I couldn’t find any.

    photo source: Pinterest

Night street food

  • When I think of Taiwan, street food at night markets comes to my mind instantly. Doesn’t matter if it’s a week night or weekend night, the food stalls will be there and it will get busy.

  • Obviously, a lot of dishes are meat based, but for a vegetarian the choice is actually big!

  • The vege street food breakdown below

  • Scallion pancake

    Fried flaky dough often with egg, my fav was with egg and corn

  • Stinky tofu

    Yes, it does have a funny smell, but the taste covers it up. Tofu could be steamed, boiled or fried. Served with some cabbage and sweet/spicy sauce

  • Sweet potato balls

    Deep fried balls, that are delicious. Served by its own or with some sauce (peanut, vanilla, chocolate)

  • Peanut ice cream wrap

    I chose taro and matcha ice cream with coriander and crushed peanuts inside a wrap, surprisingly delicious

  • Wheel cake

    I dare to say that every Asian country has its own version of that cake, the best is with red beans

  • Green tea soft serve

    Not really a night market eat, but it is a must have ice cream for a trip to Maokong

  • Oyster omelette

    Served with tomatoe sauce, not the best dish in your life, but good to snack on

  • Vegetarian hot pot

    So heart warming, delicious hot pot, that is being heated on your table

  • Tofu pudding

    I was not expecting to like it so much, it’s a tofu based pudding with some red beans, grass jelly, fruit and even taro balls

  • Aiyu jelly drink

    Jelly like drink, very refreshing, made from the seeds of the creeping fig

  • Bubble tea

    Bubble or boba, same thing. The most popular Taiwanese drink worldwide, with tapioca and milk seems like a proper dessert. My fav version was a non milk, oolong tea based boba with some passion fruit.

  • Egg yoke ball

    Deep fried sweet bowl with melting egg yoke inside

  • Grilled corn

    Exactly what that is

    photo source: Pinterest

  • Tea egg

    Hard boiled egg in soy sauce and tea infusion. You can find it in every 7eleven or Family mart

  • 7eleven or Family mart snacks

    My fav snacks are tuna onigiri, salmon rice balls, cheese sticks, vegan burritos and milk buns

Thanks for visiting

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