Taipei Travel Forum

hey everyone,

i'll be going to taipei in jan with 3 other friends for 4D3N, and i need some advice on getting around, what to see and abt the neijiang hotel, which we've booked for our stay.

how much would a taxi ride from the cks airport to neijiang cost? would it be better (i.e. cheaper and more convenient) for us to take the bus? which bus should we take from the airport? i've heard a lot abt freego on this forum, but i have no idea where it will stop us and stuff like that.

to get around taipei (e.g. to shilin market or cks memorial hall), better to take the mrt or taxis? safe to take bus?

what are the MUST SEE sights in taipei? on my list i've got the changing of guards at cks memorial hall, taipei 101, shilin and raohe night markets, ximending, national palace museum, beitou hotsprings. is the sun yat sen memorial hall worth going to?

has anyone stayed in the neijiang hotel recently? how did you find it? and i'm feeling a bit insecure abt the booking. i called them to book (gave them my name, eta and date of arrival) and all they gave me was a six digit number. is that how it usually works? and i forgot to ask the guy i talked to for his name. is my booking secured?

thanks so much for the help!

hi whoosh,

i read about Neijiang Hotel in the older posts in this forum. Maybe you could fish out info out from there.

Taking a bus from airport to hotel is always cheaper. The two popular ones are Freego (Fei1gou3) and Guoguang.

Shilin Mkt is @ Jiantan MRT so taking the train is better.

Among the places you mentioned, i've only been to 101, ShiLin Nite Mkt, Zhong Zheng Memorial Hall, XMD, WuFenPu, Shu Jie. 101 is a good sight to go (but once is enough really) You can choose to go up the observatory and get a bird's eye view for less than SGD30. it's basically a building that houses many foreign high end brands. On a side note, the food court has a stall that sells Singaporean food (laksa etc). :) From 101, there's a bridge that connects you to 2-3 other malls nearby like New York New York, Mitsukoshi and Warner. They're just dept stores so you can browse through if you want. BTW, there's an ice cream parlour called Coldstone Creamery at NYNY that's worth trying.

WuFenPu and RaoHe Nite Mkt are close to each other. Take MRT to HouShanPi MRT exit #1 and you'll reach WuFenPu first. Shops are beginning to open slightly after 1pm so don't pop by in the morning. it's a major shopping place with rows and rows of small shops. The really gd thing? not every shop sells the same stuff so if you spot something nice, try and remember its position if you wanna return. After shopping you can go RaoHe. it's a nice less touristy type place than ShiLin. be adventurous!

XMD is a major shopping area (ala Far East). Lots of street wear, accessories etc. They've got lots of food places.

For Zhong Zheng Memorial Hall, they've torn down Chiang Kai Shek's statue already so i'm not sure if the place is open. Not sure if there is a changing of guards also. The only place i know for sure with guards change is Martyr's Shrine at Bei An Road. They have change of guards every hour from 9am. The last 'shift' is 4.40pm. The best way to get there is by bus:21, 42, 208, 213, 247, 287.

Speaking of bus, I got their version of EZ Link card called You1 You2 Ka3. It's NT$500/SGD25. Actual value is NT$400. it's great because you can use it on the MRT and on all buses. Once you're done with the trip, you can refund and get the remaining value plus deposit back.

Shu Jie starts from Zhong Shan MRT. I made the mistake of stopping at Taipei Main Station and walked underground all the way to Zhong Shan. It's not a fancy place. It's just an underground corridor with book stores lined up by the side. It's not crowded so any time of the day is gd to go. The good thing I like abt the place is that it offers genuine discounts off books that can also be found in Eslite. When i was there, a lot of books were at 20-40% discount. of course variety and latest books cannot be compared to Eslite but it was good enough for me. Eslite is just round the corner (Taipei City Hall Station, near 101) so you can pop by to check out the prices. Get chinese books - you are better off buying english ones here.

if you're into museums, National Palace Museum is a great place. You can easily spend 4 hours just walking cos it's that big. Take bus from ShihLin Station.

hi whoosh,

i read about Neijiang Hotel in the older posts in this forum. Maybe you could fish out info out from there.

Taking a bus from airport to hotel is always cheaper. The two popular ones are Freego (Fei1gou3) and Guoguang.

Shilin Mkt is @ Jiantan MRT so taking the train is better.

Among the places you mentioned, i've only been to 101, ShiLin Nite Mkt, Zhong Zheng Memorial Hall, XMD, WuFenPu, Shu Jie. 101 is a good sight to go (but once is enough really) You can choose to go up the observatory and get a bird's eye view for less than SGD30. it's basically a building that houses many foreign high end brands. On a side note, the food court has a stall that sells Singaporean food (laksa etc). :) From 101, there's a bridge that connects you to 2-3 other malls nearby like New York New York, Mitsukoshi and Warner. They're just dept stores so you can browse through if you want. BTW, there's an ice cream parlour called Coldstone Creamery at NYNY that's worth trying.

WuFenPu and RaoHe Nite Mkt are close to each other. Take MRT to HouShanPi MRT exit #1 and you'll reach WuFenPu first. Shops are beginning to open slightly after 1pm so don't pop by in the morning. it's a major shopping place with rows and rows of small shops. The really gd thing? not every shop sells the same stuff so if you spot something nice, try and remember its position if you wanna return. After shopping you can go RaoHe. it's a nice less touristy type place than ShiLin. be adventurous!

XMD is a major shopping area (ala Far East). Lots of street wear, accessories etc. They've got lots of food places.

For Zhong Zheng Memorial Hall, they've torn down Chiang Kai Shek's statue already so i'm not sure if the place is open. Not sure if there is a changing of guards also. The only place i know for sure with guards change is Martyr's Shrine at Bei An Road. They have change of guards every hour from 9am. The last 'shift' is 4.40pm. The best way to get there is by bus:21, 42, 208, 213, 247, 287.

Speaking of bus, I got their version of EZ Link card called You1 You2 Ka3. It's NT$500/SGD25. Actual value is NT$400. it's great because you can use it on the MRT and on all buses. Once you're done with the trip, you can refund and get the remaining value plus deposit back.

Shu Jie starts from Zhong Shan MRT. I made the mistake of stopping at Taipei Main Station and walked underground all the way to Zhong Shan. It's not a fancy place. It's just an underground corridor with book stores lined up by the side. It's not crowded so any time of the day is gd to go. The good thing I like abt the place is that it offers genuine discounts off books that can also be found in Eslite. When i was there, a lot of books were at 20-40% discount. of course variety and latest books cannot be compared to Eslite but it was good enough for me. Eslite is just round the corner (Taipei City Hall Station, near 101) so you can pop by to check out the prices. Get chinese books - you are better off buying english ones here.

if you're into museums, National Palace Museum is a great place. You can easily spend 4 hours just walking cos it's that big. Take bus from ShihLin Station.