Dear all,
I am posting a summary of my recent trip as a way of showing my appreciation to TA forumers.
7 Days / 6 Nights -
Day one:
Arrive Taipei at 7.00 pm
Pick-up by Mr. Lee to hotel.
Check in Ta Shun (TS) hotel
Rest
Dinner at XiMenDeng
Day Two:
Change money to Taiwan currency - Mega Bank, go out exit 4 of Ximen MRT station, walk past the Hi-life convenience shop on the left, you鈥檒l see the bank a few shops down the street.
Note: I was not aware that a passport is required for currency exchange as it was not needed when I changed currency at Tao Yuan airport. We did not have our passports with us since we left them for safekeeping at the hotel, had to go back to the hotel to get them and walk back to the bank. Passport was also required at Taipei 101 and National Palace Museum to borrow audio aids.
Buy MRT Easy card (NT$500)
Note: Ximen MRT station is a short walk from TS hotel, turn left from the entrance of the hotel, walk straight till you see the police post and you should see Ximen MRT station Exit 1 across the road.
Head for CKS Memorial Hall. (CKS MH MRT)
National Concert Hall
National Theatre
You can watch the changing of the guards and also visit the CKS exhibition halls on the ground floor (free admission). You鈥檒l see exhibits of many items during the life and times of CKS, including his presidential limousines. There is also a lovely garden along both sides of the palace.
Walk to Presidential Office Building
From CKS Memorial to the Presidential Office, you鈥檒l pass by the 228 Peace Park.
Note: The Presidential Office is open to the public from 9am to 12nn, Mon. to Fri. (last admission around 11.30am). We arrived at about 12.00 and were not allowed to go in, so we just took pictures outside the building.
Rather than walk back to the CKS MH MRT, we had lunch down the road of the Presidential Building then walked back to XMD.
Day Three: NE Taipei tour with Meeky Yang
(1) Martyr鈥檚 Shrine
(2) Yeliu Park
(3) Jiufen 鈥?very crowded, maybe because it was still CNY holidays in Taiwan. Tried the hot taro balls soup. I was not brave enough to try stinky tofu. The smell alone made me sick.
Note: If the public toilet on the entrance of the market has a long line or is dirty, try the toilets beside the Buddhist temple. It is clean and hardly anyone is using the toilets. Public toilets outside Taipei are mostly the hole in the ground type.
Golden Waterfall (photo stop only),
(5)Jinguashi, lots of walking if you wish to explore the whole area,
(6)Nanya, (7)Yin Yang Hai (6 %26amp; 7 - photo stops),
(8)Pitou Mountain Trail (scenic view of the Pacific Ocean but be prepared for a long, strenuous walk). To avoid going up the numerous steep steps after the entrance, we started our walk from the Exit and finished at the Entrance. This way, we went down the stairs which was easier. It was cold and windy when we were on top of the mountain. There are sections on the mountain trail where there are hand rails only on one side of the narrow path; makes one feel vulnerable when the other side is open and facing the cliff
(9)Keelung Miaokou nightmarket 鈥?lots of seafood stalls.
Day Four:
Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall (SYS MH MRT)
Spend about an hour or so there and then head for Taipei City Hall.
Visit the Discovery Centre (free admission, photography not allowed) 鈥搃nteresting and informative presentation of the founding of the nation.
**Both Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall and Taipei City Hall Square had the Lantern Festival on. Colourful lantern floats of different themes on display. There were so many I lost count. These places were packed with families at night.
Walk down the road past the Taipei World Trade Centre Hall 3, to NYNY. Had lunch at NYNY foodcourt at the basement. If you don鈥檛 wish to walk on the street level, there is a skywalk that connects NYNY, Vieshow Cinemas and Shinkong Mitsukoshi. Very good when it is raining.
Visit Xinyi Eslite, multi-level bookstore but the books are mostly in Chinese. Some stationery, office supplies and gift items - expensive.
Late afternoon, head for Taipei 101. Visit Jason鈥檚 supermarket on the basement which sells imported groceries and fruits. There are free samples of some products. Go to Level 5 to purchase tickets (NT$400/adult) for the 101 observatory. The staff inform us that because of bad weather, visibility is very poor. We decide to come back another day.
Dinner at the 101 foodcourt in the basement. After dinner, take the free 101 shuttle bus to City Hall MRT (exit 2) and take MRT back to Ximen.
Day 5: Beitou and Danshui
Suppose to go to Yang Min Shan today but a guide said there are not many flowers during this time so decide not to go.
Hells Valley - Take the Red Line (Xindian-Danshui) towards Danshui, get off at Beitou Station, then transfer to the Pink Line to Xinbentou. Walk along Zhongshan Road to Quanyuan Road, left hand side of the road. You can visit the Kategalan Culture Center (free admission 鈥?no picture taking inside the museum, closed on Mondays) and Beitou Hot Springs Museum (right hand side). At the Hot Springs Museum, you are required to take off your shoes and change into slippers provided by the museum. If you are not keen on wearing slippers that have been worn by countless visitors, better wear socks on the day. At least it is not your bare feet coming into direct contact with the slippers. Don鈥檛 know why they don鈥檛 provide disposable slippers or something that one can use to cover your footwear.
Continue walking to Hells Valley.
Lunch at Yoshinoya near Beitou MRT - nice food.
Take MRT from Beitou to Danshui. Outside Danshui MRT take bus Red 26 to Fisherman%26#39;s wharf. FW is the last stop. You can also get off at the stop as soon as you see the Lover鈥檚 Bridge (Bus Stop before FW). Have early dinner at FW and see the Sunset Lighting of the Lover%26#39;s Bridge. Plan to take ferry from FW to Old Danshiu Street but ending up taking the bus back to MRT.
Take MRT to LongShan Temple, go through Longshan temple underground shopping street to the temple
Walk to Huasi Street nightmarket, visit Snake Alley, walk back to hotel.
Day 6:
National Palace Museum (admission fee NT$160) Free English guided tours at 10am %26amp; 3pm. I highly recommend you join a guided tour (also available in Chinese 鈥?different times). The tour gives you background information and shows you the most interesting artifacts in the museum. Don鈥檛 miss the jade cabbage. After the guided tour, you can explore on your own.
Chihsan Garden, beautiful, landscaped garden built in the style of Sung Dynasty outside the NPM. No admission fee if you show your NPM ticket stub.
**To go to NPM, take MRT to Shi Lin (same station for Shilin night market) go to the left side of the station and take the Red Line Bus 30. It will directly stop inside the NPM next to the side glass door entrance. To go back, take the Red Line Bus 30 again from where you alighted and it will pass by Shi Lin MRT.
Taipei Storyland Museum 鈥?take MRT to Taipei Main Station. Exit to Shinkong Mitsukoshi store. Taipei Storyland is in the basement of the building beside SM. At the admission area, the place looks spooky and uninviting. Decided not worth the NT$160 (?) admission fee. Went back to hotel to rest.
Taipei 101 鈥?finally the weather was good enough for us to go to the 101 observatory. We had dinner before travelling in the fastest elevator to the top of Taipei 101. Going outside on the 91st floor was a bit scary, it was very windy and you could hear the wind. You got a slight feeling of giddiness as you stepped out. In hindsight, we should not have wasted our time to go to Taipei Storyland and should have gone direct to Taipei 101. We would have seen the daytime as well as the nighttime view. Because we went there at night, all we saw were city lights and not much else.
Day 7:
Checkout, leave luggage with hotel
Miniatures Museum of Taiwan 鈥?(closed on Mondays) Tues 鈥?Sat 10am 鈥?6 pm, Photography allowed but no flash and tripod. Take MRT to Zhongxiao-Xinseng and walk to the museum or alternatively, take MRT to Taipei Main Station then change to Bus Route 307 to Nanjing JianGuo Intersection. Their brochure has instructions on how to get there. Website 鈥?www.mmot.com.tw. This is an amazing museum. It even has an in-house passport you can purchase for NT$20 and you can stamp it as you visit the different miniature display of different countries. There is also a section of displays built from Lego. Impressive. Well worth the admission fee (NT$180).
***Get refund for MRT Easy cards.
Early dinner at Modern Toilet XMD. Located along the alley opposite the Eslite department store (Roots) and Shinkong Mitsukoshi cinema complex. Restaurant is to your right. 鈥?This is a toilet-themed restaurant. Dared myself to eat here. Food is quite nice. The chocolate ice shavings we ordered was huge (enough for 2). Visit www.moderntoilet.com.tw for more info.
Walk to Red House Theatre XMD, had a quick look inside the theatre.
Back to hotel to wait for transport to airport.
***the end :)
Taipei Feb. 2 to Feb. 8 tour summaryhi leisure2go, many thanks for sharing ur trip with us. its esp useful for 1st timer like me. :-)
Taipei Feb. 2 to Feb. 8 tour summaryThanks for sharing, leisure2go. This will be very useful for others planning their trips there.
You mentioned a Mr Lee that picked you up at the airport. Is he a taxi driver? How much does he charge for the trip from airport to hotel?
How long was the bus ride from Shilin MRT to National Palace Museum?
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