A Four-Day Trip in Taipei
Taipei is the main city of Taiwan where cultural, historical and modern life meet. Temples, memorial halls, parks and night markets are mainly what this city is famous for.
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itinerary
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Day 1 Itinerary
Places visited: Houshanpi Station - Ximending - Modern Toilet Restaurant - National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall - Elephant Mountain Hiking Trail - Raohe Night Market
Houshanpi Station
Ximending
Ximending is one of the busiest district in Taipei. It has a lot of restaurants, from the cheapest to the most expensive ones, had shopping centers where we can buy clothes, shoes and bags for cheap amount. This was our first destination when we arrived at Taipei as we really wanted to see the Modern Toilet Restaurant for lunch.
We made some scouting a bit to check some clothes and jackets. My cousin bought a leather jacket for only $350 (Taiwan dollar).
To get to Ximending, you can take the MTR at blue line and get down to Ximen Station.
Modern Toilet Restaurant
We had our lunch at Modern Toilet Restaurant. This is a unique toilet-themed restaurant where most of the utensils, plates, bowls and cups they use are toilet-shaped. The price is very reasonable for the amount of food per serving. They are giving a very large serving at most of their menu so make sure to check with the waiters if a certain dish you wanna get is good for a group of people.
We even got free ice cream per one order of meal and the ice cream was served in a cute toilet-shaped cup.
After our lunch, we decided to go to Chiang-Kai Shek to start our tour in the city.
National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall
The National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall is a famous national monument in Taipei. This is one of the main tourist spots that people often visit when they come to Taipei City. Entrance is for free and this landmark is composed of four halls which are Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Park, National Concert Hall, Liberty Square and the National Theatre.
This landmark was named after the former president of Taiwan and was opened to public in the year 1980.
From Ximending, we made our way here via MTR. To get here, we took the Red Line and get off Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station. From the station, we walked for five minutes to get to the park.
Elephant Mountain Hiking Trail
Elephant Mountain is a hiking spot in Taipei where tourist can get a good view of Taipei 101. It is 183 meters high and is very easy to climb as it has stairs. It took us about 25 minutes to 30 minutes (could be shorter only if we had an active lifestyle) to get to a part where Taipei 101 could be spotted.
It was raining a little bit that’s why we were not able to take good pictures of Taipei 101. On our way to the jump-off point of Elephant Mountain, we passed by a small park where there were trees of cherry blossoms. It was my first time to see cherry blossoms that was why it was so precious for me. The flowers were so pretty and we could not help it so we took a few pictures with it.
Raohe Night Market
Raohe Street Night Market is one of the oldest night markets in Taipei. It is a 600-meter path where interesting Taiwanese local food and snacks, shops and stalls are found.
We tried a few of the famous local food like stinky tofu (but we tried the fried one) and it was delicious, torched beef cubes and it was really delicious as the beef are good quality and very tender (we actually bought two orders each), Xiang Chang or sausages and Fried Chicken Steak (Ji Pai).
It was raining when we went there but it did not stop us from trying out the famous and delicious street food from this night market. We stayed there for two hours as we really checked out each stall.
Other street food that is a must are Oyster Omelette, Pork Pepper Buns, Grilled Squid, Deep Fried Milk and Beef noodles.
Day 2 Itinerary
Places visited: Maokong Gondola Taipei Zoo Station - Taipei Zoo - TAIPEI 101
Maokong Gondola Taipei Zoo Station
Taipei Zoo
Taipei 101
Day 3 Itinerary
Places visited: National Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall - TAIPEI 101 - Yangmingshan National Park - Ximending Night Market
National Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall
National Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall was built as a tribute to Sun Yat-Sen who is the father of the Republic of China. It is also one of the most visited tourist spots in Taipei. Entrance is for free, just like in Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall.
This hall showcases some of the historical relics of Sun’s life and the Xinhai Revolution.
Outside the hall is the Zhongshan Park. Taipei 101 is overlooking from the park. So from there, we walked going to Taipei 101 to have some lunch.
TAIPEI 101
Yangmingshan National Park
