Suggested Sites in and around Taipei

Most of these sites have their own entries somewhere on this site.


Sites in Taipei

Taipei 101 Building Observatory

I haven’t been up yet, but if we get a clear day we should go.

CKS Memorial

This is easy to see and can be done quickly. It is a large plaza surrounded by ornate Chinese buildings. This is where a lot of the political rallies and holiday festivals take place.

Longshan Temple / Snake Alley / Night Market

Longshan is a small but very nice temple. Snake Alley is creepy and as the name implies they have snakes. There is a good night market which is like a flea market. They are all within walking distance of each other.

National Palace Museum

This is a little boring, but a very cultural experience. Lots of Chinese antiques and artifacts.

YangMingShan National Park

A mountain inside just off of the city.

Maokong Teahouse/Zhinan Temple

This is an excellent temple located in the mountains. There are also scores of teahouse offering a mountainside view of Taipei. Good during the day or at night.

Ximending Market / Red House Theater

A more modern night market. Next door is the Red House Theater which is cool looking as it is back lit in red. It has a nice gift shop for souveniers.

Boutanical Gardens near Xiaonanmen MRT station

Never been there, always meant to.

228 Park and Museum

A large park with 2 small museums.

Martyr's Shrine

Never been there.

Day Trips

Baishawan or Fulong Beaches

Baishawan is closer. Fulong is bigger. Fulong could also be done as an overnight trip.

Keelung Seafood Market

Buy fresh sea food just off the docks at the market and the restaurant will cook it up for you.

Keelung’s Heping Dao

Strange rock formations along the coast.

Yingge and Sanyi, the pottery and wood carving capitals of Taiwan

Never been here.

Pinglin

Get back to nature and swim in the river. Nothing particularly cultural about this place, but it’s one of my regular camping spots.

Beitou Hotsprings

Sulfur hotsprings. We can hit this the day after you arrive to try to cure the jet lag.

Wulai falls and hotspring

Scenic area with free riverside hotsprings.

Danshui Coast and Fisherman’s Wharf

Scenic area, but not terribly special or having any cultural significance.

Overnight Trips

Taroko Gorge National Park / Hualien Ocean Park

Taroko is an amazing site as the cliff goes straight up on one side of the road and straight down to the river on the other side. The nearest town has an ocean park where you can swim with dolphins.

East Coast Hot Springs

More hot springs, Taiwan is famous for them. That’s why the Japanese didn’t want to leave.

Found this excellent website on Taipei.

Check out the PDF maps for hiking, biking, and hot springs. Good basic background on the areas listed (in good English). Also the basic map of Taipei is useful for locating cultural, culinary and religious hot spots.

http://ezgo.Taipei-elife.net/homepage/english2/eng_discovertaipei.asp

Comments

Nick S said…
While I am not headed to Taipei, I found your post in doing some research for a book I'm making. Thank you very much for the time and effort that you put into this post.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 12:18:00 AM GMT+8
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