Taipei is an amazing blend of centuries-old culture and futuristic technology — like Tokyo, but with fewer people and more room to breathe. Like at the Taipei Zoo, the giant pandas put on a complete show with no wait, while the same experience in Tokyo meant 40 minutes in a queue. The toilets are a highlight feature in both cities — spotlessly clean and advanced tech!
Airport:
EVA Air, the popular local airline of Taiwan, runs a 2-4-2 cabin configuration — a rarity — with service and food that rivals Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines. East Asian carriers as a whole operate at a different level from their western counterparts. The Taoyuan International Airport is large and elegantly designed, with some gates built around indoor gardens. Not Singapore Changi, but impressive in its own right.
Weather:
It can rain at any time and all day. There is just not other option than to be prepared for it and just brave it and head out. Thankfully, we had at least 1 entire dry day of the 3 we were there, helping us maximize activities.
Surroundings:
The city is enormous, but you only truly grasp its scale from the 89th floor observation deck of Taipei 101, iconic skyscraper that was once the world's tallest building.
The streets, despite being narrow and busy on a wet Friday evening, are navigable even with a stroller. The city is clean and well-coordinated. There's an architectural contrast between gleaming high-rises and small, older hillside settlements, but the latter don't look poor — just compact and lived-in. It has a charm Tokyo shares but with none of the crowd pressure.
Accommodation:
Stay in Da'an — where most visitors do — and you can walk everywhere and think that's all there is, but look up from a height, like the one we had from the 21st floor of Shangrila, and you'll see mountains in every direction, with skyscrapers rising beyond them and even on top of them.
People:
The people are exceptional. Helpful and warm despite the language barrier — airport staff greeting you at arrivals, zoo visitors checking if you're lost, taxi drivers unfailingly polite.
To see:
Taipei Zoo (Muzha Zoo) The best zoo we've been to, though I think I say that about every zoo I've been to so far. I guess it just gets better and better. Giant panda viewing here is near-instant, with caretakers actively engaging the pandas in enrichment activities: solving food puzzles inside bucket mazes, navigating structures placed in their enclosure. It's a delight. So was seeing Kangaroos, which was a first for all 3 of us. And then the silverback gorillas! There was one beating its chest right on the other side of the glass to us. We also saw rhinos hippos, and orangutans at a range closer than ever before. Allow a full half-day at minimum, especially given the unpredictable weather.
Zhishan Garden Located near the National Palace Museum in Shilin District, this is a classical Chinese garden, with winding covered walkways, ponds, pavilions, and dense greenery. Quiet, unhurried, and perfect with children — birds, plants, seeds, and plenty of nooks to explore. One of the more peaceful hours you can spend in the city.
Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall & Liberty Square Situated in the Zhongzheng District, this is one of Taipei's most iconic landmarks. The real draw is the military honour guard change ceremony, performed hourly from 9 AM to 5 PM in the main hall. Liberty Square — the expansive garden complex surrounding the memorial — is one of the largest public squares in the world and worth wandering through on its own. Rainy days and scheduling may push this down the priority list, but don't skip it if time allows.
Tower 101 is just as everything else in Taipei, super organized and super fast. In spite of what looks like long queues, you can quickly get to the top and sufficient space and time to take photos of all corners of Taipei city that can be seen from the top. The Din Tai Fun at the basement is another must-visit as part of this tower, and unfortunately, the one thing that you cannot avoid the wait times. Here it will take a minimum 2 hours get a table, and people will wait!
Linjiang Street Night Market (Tonghua Night Market) More manageable than the larger markets and better for families. Beyond the food, there are carnival-style games (fishing for prizes), quirky shopping, and a lively but not overwhelming atmosphere. The food is not exclusively meat-heavy, and what is there looks well-prepared and clean. The crowd favourite picks — bubble milk tea, peanut ice cream roll, and mango snow ice — are all worth the visit on their own.
Raohe Street Night Market is the other popular night market and we thought of visiting this on the second night of our stay, but Neo wanted one specific toy from one specific store that we did not get the previous night and so we went back to Linjiang
Maokong Gondola The cable car station sits right at the Zoo's South Gate, making it a natural add-on, but along with the others, missed this as well, not because of weather or time because we actually climbed all the way to the entrance with Neo in his stroller, but the cable car itself was closed for maintenance when we were there.To eat:
Breakfast Hot soybean milk — warm, subtly sweet, and the perfect start. Onsen tamago (hot spring egg) — slow-cooked, silky, and delicate. Tea egg — braised in soy and spices, sold everywhere. Dan Bing — a thin egg crêpe, soft and savoury.
Lunch & Mains Beef noodle soup — slow-braised, deeply flavoured broth with thick noodles; a Taiwanese national dish. Braised pork rice (Lu Rou Fan) — minced or belly pork cooked down in soy and spice, served over white rice; another national dish, which I preferred to the noodle soup. Taiwanese popcorn chicken — crispy, heavily seasoned, sometimes with a plum flavour that works surprisingly well.
Desserts
Mango snow ice — the ice is shaved so fine it falls like snow; topped with fresh mango and condensed milk. Pineapple cake (Fèng Lí Sū) — buttery pastry with a sweet pineapple flavouring. Taro balls (Yù Yuán) — chewy, served warm and made with sweet potatoes of different colors and coated with plum again. Wheel cakes (Chē Lún Bǐng) — small round pancakes filled with red bean, custard, or chocolate and we had the chocolate variant thinking Neo will prefer, but he didn't even have a bit. Peanut ice cream roll — vanilla ice cream and sugar-glazed crushed peanuts wrapped in a thin rice crepe; they also have a version with fresh coriander which I avoided, but the rest was incredible!
Restaurants:
