Taipei Travel Guide: Entry, Airport MRT, Metro Passes, Sights and Day Trips

SuperTools travel desk · facts checked 2026-10-15

Taipei is a compact capital that works well on public transport alone. The Taipei Metro reaches most of the places a first visit is built around: the government quarter around Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, the old riverside district of Wanhua, the Xinyi skyline around Taipei 101, the hot-spring valley at Beitou and the river mouth at Tamsui. The Taoyuan Airport MRT links the international airport to Taipei Main Station, so you can land, ride a train into the city and never need a taxi.

Three full days cover the city itself at a comfortable pace. Five days leave room for a mountain day at Maokong, a hot-spring afternoon in Beitou and a bus trip out to the old mining towns of Jiufen and Jinguashi or the railway villages around Shifen. This guide sticks to what official sources state: every fare, opening time and rule below links to the operator or government page it came from, checked on 2026-10-15. Prices and hours change, so confirm on those pages close to your trip.

On the best time to go: Taiwan's Tourism Administration describes March to May as the rainy season with drizzle, June to August as the period when typhoons sometimes approach or hit, and September to November as cool and comfortable, with short, relatively warm winters from December to February (Taiwan Tourism Administration). Autumn is the season the official description favours most clearly, but autumn also has a run of public holidays, covered in the calendar section below.

Entry and visa

Taiwan's visa rules are published by the Bureau of Consular Affairs (BOCA) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The list below summarises the visa-exempt entry page as it stood on the check date (BOCA visa-exempt entry).

The general conditions on the same page matter as much as the country list:

• Your passport needs at least six months of remaining validity on the date of entry. US and Japanese nationals only need a passport valid for the intended stay (BOCA).
• You need a confirmed return ticket, or an onward ticket plus any visa for the next destination (BOCA).
• The stay is counted from the day after arrival and cannot be extended, with the Canada and UK exception noted above (BOCA).
• Visa-exempt entry is for tourism, visiting, business meetings and similar purposes. Activities that legally require a permit still require one (BOCA).

Taiwan Arrival Card. BOCA asks visitors to complete the online immigration arrival card on the National Immigration Agency website within seven days before arriving, at twac.immigration.gov.tw.

Both Taipei airports, Taiwan Taoyuan International and Taipei Songshan, are listed ports of entry for visa-exempt travellers (BOCA). If your nationality is not listed, or you plan to work, study or stay longer, start from the BOCA visa pages rather than from this summary.

Getting in from the airport

International flights to Taipei mostly use Taoyuan International Airport. The Taoyuan Airport MRT runs between Airport Terminal 1 (A12), Airport Terminal 2 (A13) and Taipei Main Station (A1). Express trains, marked in purple, stop only at A1, A3, A8, A12 and A13; commuter trains, marked in blue, stop at every station (Taoyuan Metro train introduction). Take the express unless your hotel is near an intermediate station.

The figures below come from Taoyuan Metro's timetable and fare search, queried for 15 October 2026 (Taoyuan Metro fare search).

Ways to pay at the gates:

• Single-journey token from the ticket machines or the information counter; it is collected by the gate when you exit (Taoyuan Metro tickets).
• Stored-value cards: EasyCard, iPASS and HappyCash 2.0 are accepted. An empty EasyCard costs NT$100 at the station, and the machines add value in multiples of NT$100 (Taoyuan Metro stored-value cards).
• Contactless bank cards and phones: Visa, Mastercard, JCB and UnionPay contactless cards, plus Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, are charged the full single-journey fare (Taoyuan Metro mobile credit card payment).

If you will use the Taipei Metro heavily, look at the joint ticket: a Taoyuan Airport MRT round trip plus a Taipei Metro 48-hour pass costs NT$520, and the version with a 72-hour pass costs NT$600. It is sold at the A1, A12 and A13 information counters and can only be refunded as a set (Taoyuan Metro other tickets). Whether it saves money is worked out in the next section.

Taoyuan Metro's own timetable page reminds airport-bound passengers that train times are for reference and that the airport asks travellers to reach airline check-in counters at least 2 to 3 hours before departure (Taoyuan Metro timetable). The operator also lists in-town check-in at A1 and A3 (Taoyuan Metro); read its in-town check-in pages for the airlines and conditions before relying on it.

Getting around Taipei

Taipei Metro fares

Taipei Metro charges by distance. The official fare chart sets the bands as follows (Taipei Metro fare chart):

Station-to-station fares used in this guide, read from the same chart:

You do not have to buy a card to ride. Taipei Metro gates take single-journey tickets, stored-value cards (EasyCard, iPASS, iCASH), the Transit QR Code in mobile apps, and bank cards including Visa, Mastercard, JCB, UnionPay, Diners Club and Discover, with Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay also supported (Taipei Metro tickets). The same page notes that stored-value cards also work for small payments, which in practice means convenience stores and many shops.

Travel passes

Does a pass pay off? A worked example

This is arithmetic from the official fares above, not a recommendation. It assumes an adult paying full fare, staying near Taipei Main Station, and following the three-day itinerary later in this guide.

• Day 1, north: Taipei Main Station to Xinbeitou (35), Xinbeitou to Tamsui (35), Tamsui back to Taipei Main Station (50). Total NT$120 in single fares (fare chart).
• Day 2, south and east: Taipei Main Station to Taipei Zoo (35), Taipei Zoo to Taipei 101/World Trade Center (30), Taipei 101/World Trade Center to Ximen (25), Ximen back to Taipei Main Station (20). Total NT$110 (fare chart).
• Day 3, old city and night market: Taipei Main Station to Dongmen (20), Dongmen to Ximen (20), Ximen to Shilin (25), Shilin back to Taipei Main Station (25). Total NT$90 (fare chart).

Each of those days costs less than the NT$150 One-Day Pass, so a day pass only pays off on days with six or more rides or several long trips (Taipei Metro passes). Over three days the single fares add up to NT$320, which is NT$60 less than the 72hr pass at NT$380.

The airport changes the picture slightly. Two Airport MRT trips at 160 TWD each cost NT$320, so a three-day stay on this plan costs NT$640 in single fares against NT$600 for the joint ticket with the 72-hour pass, a difference of NT$40 in favour of the joint ticket (Taoyuan Metro joint ticket). For a two-day stay using days 1 and 2, single fares come to NT$550 against NT$520 for the 48-hour joint ticket. Two caveats: the Metro pass in the joint ticket runs for consecutive hours from first entry, so a late-evening arrival wastes part of it, and the joint ticket cannot be refunded once used.

Buses, YouBike and longer trips

For city buses, Taipei's official bus information portal is ebus.gov.taipei. For short hops there is the YouBike public bike system; registration, rental rules and charges are on the YouBike site. Its rate page did not load in a form that could be checked, so no YouBike prices are repeated here.

For journeys to other cities, Taiwan High Speed Rail runs from Taipei Main Station down the west coast; timetables and fares are on the THSR site. If you continue south, our Tainan guide picks up from there.

Where to stay, by area

This section describes areas by transport and character only; it does not recommend hotels.

• Around Taipei Main Station (Zhongzheng): the Airport MRT terminates here (A1) and it is a Taipei Metro station, so every fare example above starts here. Practical if you arrive late or leave early.
• Ximen and Wanhua: Ximen station is NT$20 from Taipei Main Station, and the Ximending pedestrian area, the Red House and Longshan Temple are close by (fare chart). Busy until late.
• Zhongshan and Datong: the districts north of the main station. Zhongshan station is NT$20 from Taipei Main Station, and the Confucius Temple is in Datong District (fare chart).
• Xinyi: around Taipei 101 and the department stores. Newer buildings, but further from the airport line.
• Beitou: hot-spring hotels along the valley at Xinbeitou. Restful, but every day trip starts with a longer ride.

Sights at a glance

Hours below are from each operator or from Travel Taipei, the Taipei City Government's tourism site. Several places close one day a week, usually Monday, so plan Mondays around the places that stay open. Hours and prices change; check the linked page before you go.

Notes on the main sights

National Palace Museum. The museum's own website could not be checked automatically, so the hours and the regular ticket price here come from the Taipei City Government's Travel Taipei listing. That listing gives the route as MRT Shilin Station Exit 1, then a short walk to the Zhongzheng Road stop for buses R30, S18, 255, 300, 304, 815, S19 or M1, about 15 minutes to the museum (Travel Taipei). It is closed on Mondays, so do not leave it for the last day of a trip that ends on a Monday.

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. The hall describes itself frankly: built in 1980 to commemorate Chiang Kai-shek, with a 6.3-metre bronze statue reflecting the martial-law era, and now planned to become a "Democracy Education Park". The military honour guard patrols in front of the hall run hourly from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, nine times a day, and are cancelled when it rains (CKS Memorial Hall). The hall is closed on Lunar New Year's Eve, Lunar New Year's Day, 228 Peace Memorial Day and maintenance days.

Taipei 101. The observatory ticket desk is on the 1st floor of the office tower, and the observatory is on the 89th floor (Taipei 101). We could not read a current adult price on the official page, so it is left out; the shopping mall below has separate hours, 11:00–21:30 Sunday to Thursday (Taipei 101). For a skyline view without a ticket, there is the Xiangshan trail, also in Xinyi District, near Xiangshan station; Travel Taipei gives the hiking trail as roughly 1.5 km (Travel Taipei).

Taipei Zoo and Maokong. Both are in the south of the city; the gondola's address is No. 8, Sec. 2, Xinguang Rd., Wenshan District (Taipei Metro). The zoo closes on Lunar New Year's Eve and for a period each summer, and on days the city declares a natural-disaster closure such as a typhoon day (Taipei Zoo hours). The gondola's own page says it "is closed on Mondays for general maintenance except for national holidays and the first Monday of every month", and closes on Lunar New Year's Eve; service also stops in bad weather (Maokong Gondola hours). The discount gondola fares apply only to Taiwanese nationals, so foreign adults pay the regular fare. Children aged 0 to 5 ride free with a ticketed adult, up to two per adult (Maokong Gondola fares).

Wanhua. Longshan Temple sits next to Longshan Temple station, NT$20 from Taipei Main Station (fare chart). The temple's website was under maintenance on the check date, so no hours are given here; it is an active place of worship, so keep voices low and stay out of the way of people praying. The Red House and the Ximending pedestrian streets are a short walk away.

Night markets. Travel Taipei places Shilin Night Market around Dadong Road in Shilin District and Raohe Street Night Market on Raohe Street in Songshan District, and lists both as opening in late afternoon and running to midnight (Travel Taipei).

Itineraries

These are sample plans built from the official opening hours and Metro routes above. They are not a travel diary.

Three days

1. North: Xinbeitou in the morning for the Thermal Valley (closed Mondays) and the Beitou Hot Spring Museum, then one Metro ride on to Tamsui for the riverside and sunset, back to Taipei Main Station in the evening. Metro single fares NT$120 (fare chart).
2. South and east: Taipei Zoo when it opens, the Maokong Gondola up to the tea hills, then across to Taipei 101 and the Xiangshan trail before dark, and dinner around Ximen. Metro single fares NT$110 (fare chart).
3. Old city: Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall for the hourly honour guard, Dongmen for lunch, Ximen and the Red House in the afternoon (closed Mondays), Longshan Temple, then Shilin Night Market in the evening. Metro single fares NT$90 (fare chart).

Five days: add a full day at the National Palace Museum (not on a Monday) and the Confucius Temple in Datong District, and a day trip from the next section. Schedule the Thermal Valley, Red House, museum and Confucius Temple on Tuesday to Sunday, and keep Monday for the night markets, the Xiangshan trail, Taipei 101 and a day trip.

Day trips

Jiufen and Jinguashi

Taiwan Tourist Shuttle route 965, the Jiufen-Jinguashi line, runs from MRT Fuzhong station to Jinguashi (Gold Museum), with central Taipei boarding points at MRT Ximen and MRT Beimen. The fare is charged in sections: the operator lists the trip from Taipei to Ruifang District as a six-section fare. The route takes EasyCard, iPASS, icash, HappyCash and LINE Pay. Seats on one outbound departure, 09:00 from Fuzhong, and one return, 16:00 from Jinguashi, can be reserved through the Taipei FunPass site (Taiwan Tourist Shuttle 965).

Shifen and the Pingxi valley

Taiwan Tourist Shuttle route 795, the Muzha-Pingxi line, runs from MRT Taipei Zoo station through Shenkeng, Jingtong and Pingxi to the Shifen Visitor Center. The fare is charged in three sections at NT$15 each for a full fare, NT$45 for the whole route one way, and stored-value cards are accepted (Taiwan Tourist Shuttle 795). Because it starts at Taipei Zoo station, it combines easily with a Maokong morning.

Tamsui and Beitou

Both are reached by Taipei Metro, so no special ticket is needed: NT$50 from Taipei Main Station to Tamsui, and NT$35 to Xinbeitou (fare chart). The Beitou Hot Spring Museum, restored from the 1913 Beitou Public Bathhouse and reopened in 1998, is in the same Beitou hot-spring area (Beitou Hot Spring Museum). Its website did not give opening hours in a form we could verify, so check it before going. Taiwan Tourist Shuttle also runs the Beitou-Zhuzihu line from Beitou MRT station past Beitou Park and the Sulphur Valley to Zhuzihu on Yangmingshan; stops and timetable are on the route page.

Local know-how

• Paying. A stored-value card (EasyCard, iPASS or iCASH) covers the Metro, the Airport MRT, buses, the tourist shuttles above and small purchases. If you prefer not to carry one, the Metro gates also take contactless bank cards and phone wallets (Taipei Metro tickets).
• Service charge. The Tourism Administration notes that a 10% service charge is customary in hotels and restaurants, usually added to the bill (Taiwan Tourism useful tips).
• Electricity. Taiwan uses 110 volts at 60 cycles; appliances from Europe, Australia or South-East Asia need an adaptor or transformer (Taiwan Tourism useful tips).
• Metro manners. Taipei Metro publishes etiquette guidance for escalators, platforms and carriages (Taipei Metro etiquette).
• Typhoons. When a typhoon approaches, the city government may declare a closure day; Taipei Zoo, for one, shuts on those days (Taipei Zoo hours). Follow the Central Weather Administration at cwa.gov.tw and keep a flexible day in summer plans.
• Outdoors. The Tourism Administration's safety tips warn about falling rocks, giant hornets, venomous snakes and wild monkeys, and advise against swimming where no lifeguards are on duty (Taiwan Tourism useful tips).

Emergency and help numbers

Calendar and holidays

The Tourism Administration lists these national holidays for 2026, citing the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration (Taiwan Tourism useful tips).

Lunar New Year is the period to plan around most carefully. Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall closes on Lunar New Year's Eve and Lunar New Year's Day, Taipei Zoo closes on Lunar New Year's Eve, and the Maokong Gondola closes on Lunar New Year's Eve (CKS Memorial Hall). The 2027 government calendar is published by the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration; check it if you are travelling next year.

Staying connected

Taiwan's mobile networks closed their 3G service on June 30, 2024. The Tourism Administration warns that a phone or SIM without 4G voice (VoLTE) support cannot make calls, including to the emergency numbers 112, 110 and 119 (Taiwan Tourism useful tips). Check that your handset supports VoLTE on Taiwanese networks before relying on it for calls.

For data, the options are a phone service from the rental operators at the airport, which the Tourism Administration mentions, roaming from your home provider, or an eSIM installed before you fly. Our Taiwan eSIM guide explains how eSIMs work in Taiwan and what to check on your phone. Taipei Metro has a wireless broadband page under passenger services (Taipei Metro), and Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall lists CKSMH Free WiFi hotspots in the hall and park.

FAQ

Do I need a visa for Taiwan?

Citizens of the countries on BOCA's visa-exempt list can enter without a visa for up to 90, 30 or 14 days depending on nationality, with a passport valid at least six months and a return or onward ticket. Check your nationality on the BOCA page before booking.

What is the Taiwan Arrival Card and when do I fill it in?

It is the online immigration arrival card run by the National Immigration Agency. BOCA asks visitors to complete it within seven days before arriving, at twac.immigration.gov.tw.

How do I get from Taoyuan Airport to Taipei Main Station?

Take the Taoyuan Airport MRT express from Terminal 1 (A12) or Terminal 2 (A13). The official fare to Taipei Main Station is 160 TWD and the express takes about 36 to 39 minutes (Taoyuan Metro).

Should I buy a Taipei Metro day pass?

Only for a heavy day. On the sample routes in this guide, single fares came to NT$90 to NT$120 a day, below the NT$150 One-Day Pass (Taipei Metro). The airport joint ticket came out slightly cheaper than single fares for two- and three-day stays on those routes.

Can I use my credit card on the Metro?

Yes. Taipei Metro gates accept Visa, Mastercard, JCB, UnionPay, Diners Club and Discover cards and Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay (Taipei Metro). The Airport MRT accepts contactless Visa, Mastercard, JCB and UnionPay.

Which sights close on Mondays?

From the pages checked: the National Palace Museum, Beitou Thermal Valley, National Taiwan Museum, Taipei Confucius Temple and the Ximen Red House list Monday as a day off, and the Maokong Gondola closes most Mondays for maintenance (Maokong Gondola).

What numbers do I call in an emergency?

Dial 110 for police and 119 for fire or ambulance. 112 works for emergency calls when mobile reception is poor (Taiwan Tourism).

Sources

• Bureau of Consular Affairs: Visa-Exempt Entry — visa-exempt countries and durations, passport validity, ticket requirement, ports of entry, arrival card timing.
• National Immigration Agency: Taiwan Arrival Card — the online arrival card system.
• Taoyuan Metro: Timetable and Fare Search — A1–A12 and A13–A1 fares, first and last trains, journey times on 15 October 2026.
• Taoyuan Metro: Train Introduction — express and commuter stopping patterns.
• Taoyuan Metro: Single-Journey Ticket and One Day Pass — tokens and the Airport MRT One Day Pass.
• Taoyuan Metro: Stored-Value Cards — EasyCard price and top-up rules.
• Taoyuan Metro: Other Ticket Types — Airport MRT and Taipei Metro joint tickets.
• Taoyuan Metro: Mobile Credit Card Payment — contactless bank cards and phone wallets.
• Taoyuan Metro: Timetables — check-in buffer reminder.
• Taipei Metro: Fare and Travel Time Inquiries (fare chart PDF) — distance bands and station-to-station fares.
• Taipei Metro: Tickets and Travel Pass Recommendations — accepted payment methods.
• Taipei Metro: Taipei Anytime — One-Day, 24, 48 and 72-hour pass prices.
• Taipei Metro: Etiquette — passenger etiquette guidance.
• Maokong Gondola: Fares and Hours — gondola fares, hours and Monday closures.
• Taipei Zoo: Tickets and Opening Times — admission and hours.
• National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall: Visit Info — hall and park hours, closed days, honour guard times.
• Taipei 101 Observatory — observatory and mall hours.
• Travel Taipei: National Palace Museum — hours, Monday closure, ticket price, bus route.
• Travel Taipei: Beitou Thermal Valley — hours and closed days.
• Travel Taipei: National Taiwan Museum, Confucius Temple, Red House — hours.
• Travel Taipei: Xiangshan trail, Shilin Night Market, Raohe Night Market — hours and trail length.
• Beitou Hot Spring Museum — history of the 1913 bathhouse.
• Taiwan Tourist Shuttle 965, 795 and Beitou-Zhuzihu — day-trip bus routes and fares.
• Taiwan Tourism Administration: Useful Tips — 2026 holidays, emergency numbers, voltage, service charge, VoLTE notice.
• Taiwan Tourism Administration: General Information — seasons and climate.
• National Police Agency — 110 emergency hotline.
• Directorate-General of Personnel Administration: government calendars — official office calendars for 2026 and 2027.
• Central Weather Administration — forecasts and typhoon warnings.
• Taipei bus information, YouBike, THSR — operators referred to without figures.