During my vacation to the Philippines, I had a layover in Taipei, Taiwan on the way back to Toronto. And for an avid travel lover, the longer the layover, the more time it gives me to be able to explore the country in between my intended destination. (If you want to visit more places, here’s How To Visit More Destinations In One Trip.) During this particular trip, I had a 6 hour layover in Taipei, starting at the Taoyuan International Airport (TPE). So of course I was planning out exactly how much time I would need for transportation to and from the airport and the amount of time I can actually spend in the city before having to go through customs again to get to my gate in order to fly back home. It wasn’t a lot of time, but I believed I can plan well enough to at least visit a couple places during this layover.
For those who are adventurous and don’t want to spend all your time waiting at the airport for your next flight, here are the best things to do during your layover in Taiwan and the different options you have during this short time frame.
Important Things To Keep In Mind If You Plan To Explore The City During Your Layover
In order to make sure exploring the city in a timely and smooth manner works in your favor, here are a few important things to know:
- Budget the time you have so you don’t miss your next flight. A 6 hour layover doesn’t mean you have the full 6 hours to spend in the city. You need to take into consideration:
– the time it takes to get off the plane and to the taxis
– the amount of time you need to explore a certain location
– the time it may take to wait for transportation to get to your next location
– the time it takes to get back to the airport before check-in
– rush hour is between 8-9 AM and 5-7PM.
This could likely mean you actually have about 4 hours to really explore the city.
- It’s best if you don’t have your luggage with you. You don’t want to be dragging your luggage all around town so if you have a checked bag for your next flight then that’s perfect. If you have a carry-on, the Taoyuan International Airport has smart luggage lockers in Terminal 1 and 2. There are 88 slots with 3 capacity options with a storage fee of NT $40, NT $60, and NT $80 every 3 hours which can be stored for up to 3 days. I’d still be a little wary because there’s only 88 slots and you’re not guaranteed a spot, so take this into consideration.
- The currency is the New Taiwan Dollar. You can either get this exchanged prior to your trip, but we just exchanged our Canadian Dollars at the airport when we got off the plane.
- You’ll need to know Mandarin or have a good language translating app or device. The official language in Taiwan is Mandarin and only some people know how to speak English. Luckily I knew enough Mandarin (limited though) to get around in a taxi to and from the locations I needed to go as well as how to order food.
- Check if your country needs a visa in order to visit Taiwan. Our Canadian and American passports did not require a visa to explore this country, but double check if your country does before you plan your trip and whether or not this layover would be worth doing if you need to pay extra for it especially if your layover is short.
- Your passport needs to be valid for at least 6 months. It’s always risky to travel with only 6 months expiry left on your passport and some countries require this to be a minimum of entering their country.
- Don’t forget to fill out the immigration entry/exit form.
- Check the operating hours of the places you plan to visit. If you’re going to be venturing off on your own, remember to check the times to make sure they’re opened on the day you’re there.
How To Explore Taipei During Your Layover
There are a couple ways to explore Taipei, Taiwan during your long layover and here the options that you can choose from that may work for you.
1 – Free Half Day Tour
The great thing about having a layover in Taipei is that the Taoyuan International Airport actually offers free half day tours twice a day for you to explore the city. However, you will need at least 7 hours to take advantage of this tour. The Taiwan Embassy’s site actually shows you the full details on the itineraries as well as how you can sign up once you arrive at the Tourist Service Center, or reserve your tour in advance of your arrival and the starting time of the tours at each terminal.
Each tour is limited to 18 passengers so it’s best to book this ahead of time. The morning and afternoon both have different itineraries, but each passenger can only book one tour per day. To make sure you don’t miss your departure flight, they don’t accept passengers in the morning who depart before 3 PM or those in the afternoon who depart before 8:30 PM.
2 – Paid Tour
If your flight departure times don’t qualify you for the free tour or you just prefer to have your own tour and itinerary, another option is to opt for a paid tour. If you’re flying with Eva Airlines, they also offer 4 great layover tours to visit the most popular places in Taipei. Other reputable sites that offer the top layover tours in Taipei are Viator and Tripadvisor.
3 – Self-Guided – Explore By Yourself
This is the option we chose since our flight times didn’t coincide with the free tour being offered and we just thought it would be easier for us to go to where we needed to go. The good thing about a self-guided tour or exploring on your own is that you can do exactly what you want to do at the pace you want. You just need to not over-plan your itinerary and try to hit too many spots, speak the language (somewhat), and watch your times closely.
What I Did During My 6 Hour Layover In Taipei
We took Eva Airlines (voted the World’s Top 10 Airlines) for our trip to and from the Philippines and it was on our way home that the layover in Taipei was long enough for us to go out and explore. As soon as we landed in Taipei from the Philippines in the late morning, we rushed off the plane and immediately went to exchange money for the local currency. Luckily our checked bag goes straight to our home destination and we only carried our backpacks during this layover. Once we exited the airport, we went straight to the taxis and started our journey.
Since we opted to explore Taipei on our own, the 2 major stops we had on our itinerary was the National Palace Museum and the Shi Lin Night Market. We wanted to make sure we allocated enough time for travel to and from the airport as well as enough time to go through the museum and get some Taiwanese street food.
It took us 45 minutes to an hour to get to the National Palace Museum from the airport and costed about NT $1,300 which is roughly $45 USD or $55 CAD. We had purchased our e-tickets online the night before when we were still in the Philippines on Klook. Sign up for an account to get $5.20 CAD from my referral! Once we got to the museum, we just had to scan our QR code and had direct entry. We had spent about 2 hours or so at the National Palace Museum and it still wasn’t enough time since we rushed through it to make sure we didn’t miss our flight. It was still really amazing to see the ancient artifacts and the Taiwanese and Chinese culture on display. We also bought some souvenirs at the gift shop for our family.
Next, we ordered a taxi to take us to our most anticipated destination – Shi Lin Night Market. We were super excited for this stop since one of the best things about traveling is trying the local food and it was great to have a taste of the local Taiwanese cuisine. Plus, food just tastes so much better in the actual country! The night market opened at 4 PM and we arrived about that time. It was already bustling with people and vendors opening up shop. We visited a bunch of different food stalls and ordered the items we were interested in as well as visited some stores. I think that it’s better to use cash for everything here, but some vendors do take card.
There was actually so much to see and do here that you can spend your time well into the night. We spent about 1.5 hours here but I definitely wish we could’ve stayed longer and tried more of the food. It was absolutely delicious and I expected nothing less.
We then waved down a taxi for the airport. I asked the driver how much it would cost and he told me TD $1,000, which was great because that’s exactly all I had left. Even though we got to the airport and the meter read TD $1,300, the driver was nice enough to keep the price he told me when we got in the car. It took a little longer to get back to the airport since it was rush hour, but we still made it back with about 2 hours to spare before our next flight. We had to go through customs and security again and just spent the rest of our time shopping around, looking at the different cultural exhibits the airport had, and just waiting. I feel like we could’ve spent at least another 30 minutes to an hour at the night market, but it would’ve been risky.
Either way, I’m so glad that we had the time to visit the museum, take in some of the local culture, and try some of their most popular foods.
Top Attractions To Visit in Taipei With A Limited Amount of Time
If you want to explore Taipei on your own during your layover, here are some of the top attractions to visit within the area so that you can create your own itinerary.
1 – National Palace Museum
Address – No. 221, Sec 2, Zhi Shan Rd in Shilin District
Interesting Facts – You can see cultural relics from the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasty with almost 700,000 pieces of artifacts and displays over 8,000 years of Chinese history.
2 – Taipei 101
Address – No. 7, Sec 5, Xinyi Road in Xinyi District
Interesting Facts – Taipei 101 is a skyscraper in Taiwan that was considered to be the tallest in the world until the Burj Khalifa in the UAE was built. The building was inspired by the traditional Chinese architecture to resemble a pagoda and the bamboo plant which represents strength, elegance and humbleness. I think this location can be pretty quick if you’re only planning to take photos here. But if you want to eat at Din Tai Fung for their famous xiao long baos (Chinese dumplings), plan to spend about 1 to 1.5 hours here.
3 – National Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall
Address – No. 21 Zhongshan S Road in Zhongzheng District
Interesting Facts – This memorial hall is a national monument and landmark in memory of Chiang Kai Shek, the former president of the Republic of China who was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary and military leader. He was also Chairman of the Kuomintang and was actually preceded by one of my ancestors, Hu Hanmin.
4 – National Revolutionary Martyrs’ Shrine
Address – No. 30, Beian Rd in Zhongshan District
Interesting Facts – This shrine is dedicated to the 330,000 people who sacrificed their lives for the revolution before the establishment of the Republic of China, the Sino-Japanese war, and the Chinese Civil War.
5 – Sanxia Old Street
Address – No. 37-147, Minquan St in Sanxia District
Interesting Facts – Sanxia is a traditional district and this nostalgic street features red-brick buildings, food vendors, and many shops to enjoy. There’s also the Qingshui Zushi Temple which is known for its classical temple arts and sets it apart from all other Chinese temples.
6 – The Longshan Temple
Address – No. 211, Guangzhou St. in Wanhua District
Interesting Facts – The Longshan Temple was built in 1738 and is one of the most popular temples. It is Taipei’s top religious site where you can explore the unique temple arts, architecture, and the Taiwanese folk faith.
7 – Lin An Tai Historical House And Museum
Address – No. 5, Binjiang St in Zhongshan District
Interesting Facts – This museum was originally a family home that was built in an area where it’s considered good feng shui. It is one of the few traditional houses left in Taipei and is the best-preserved and maintained.
8 – Night Markets
If you love food, shopping, games, and the night life, then visiting a night market is a must if your layover in Taipei crosses over to the afternoon and evening. There are over 70 night markets and Shi Lin Night Market is probably the most popular. The original location opened in 1913 and the current location was opened in 2011. Roahe Night Market, Ningxia Night Market, and Huaxi Night Market are great options as well and within the same area.
9 – New Taipei City Yingge Ceramics Museum and Yingge Ceramics Street
Address – No. 200, Wenhua Rd in Yinggee District
Interesting Facts – If you like pottery and ceramics and want some good souvenirs to take home, this is the place to go. The ceramics museum and the Ceramics Street is about a 7 minute walk from each other and you can see a range of ceramics of all styles. For tea lovers, this is also the place to look for the best teapots. It’s best to make tea in clay teapots since they enhance the taste of tea. Zisha (also known as purple clay) teapots use the same techniques from the 14th century and can cost up to $90,000 due to the high quality and intensive labor involved, especially if it’s decorated.
Some Of The Most Popular Foods To Try In Taipei
When you’re in Taipei, Taiwan, a must do is to get a taste of their amazing culinary cuisine. There are so many different food options and it’ll hard to cover them all in just a layover. But here are some of the most popular foods to try:
1 – Beef Noodle Soup – This is the national dish of Taiwan so you can’t miss this. What I actually like best about this is the soup!
2 – Bubble Tea – Tea-based drink with tapioca balls or other toppings that was made in the 1980s and it has taken the world by storm.
3 – Taiwanese Fried Chicken – Most commonly found as a street snack and also known as popcorn chicken but tastes much better than it’s Western counterparts.
4 – Oyster Omelette – Voted as the snack that best represents Taiwan by the Global Views Monthly magazine (followed by milk tea), the oyster omelette has fresh oysters mixed with potato starch and egg batter. Chili sauce also goes amazing with this dish.
5 – Wheel Cake – This dessert has a delicious filling of either custard, red bean or black sesame.
6 – Fan Tuan – It is basically glutinous rice wrapped around a youtiao (fried bread stick) and sometimes there are other ingredients as well. This dish is pretty savory and filling.
7 – Gua Bao – Steamed bread folded over braised pork belly and pickled cabbage.
For Those Who Won’t Be Leaving The Taoyuan Airport During Your Layover
6 hours at an airport is between “long at the airport and not long enough to explore the city” for some people. So for those who don’t want to risk or have the energy to discover the city of Taipei, here are some options of what you can do during layover at the airport:
1 – Sleep – What better way to pass the time than to sleep it off? If you can find a spot and if you can that is!
2 – Eat – There are still great restaurants to try out at the Taoyuan airport and you should absolutely do so and at least get a taste of this country’s amazing food. There are other Asian cuisines available too.
3 – Shop – I love taking home food from other countries. I really enjoy Taiwanese pineapple cakes and purchased some of that at the gift shop as well as XO sauce and local tea. This airport doesn’t have the best shopping, but there are still plenty of stores to go through during your layover.
4 – Hang Out At The Lounges – Luckily, lounges are available for any traveller from any airline and flight class. Just pre-book your lounge access and get entry to shower facilities to refresh, food, drinks, TV and more.
5 – Explore Taiwan Within The Airport – Amazingly enough, the Taoyuan International airport has set up mini exhibits and art galleries for travellers to experience their culture with items on loan from the National Museum of History. The e-Library lounge also educates travellers through their literary works and offers interactive stations.
If you’d like to visit more destinations on a connecting flight, learn How To Visit More Destinations In One Trip!
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