09:00–10:15
1Longshan Temple Culture
Taipei's most atmospheric temple, arrive early to watch worshippers pray to Guanyin amid curling incense smoke.
No. 211, Guangzhou St, Wanhua District
Trips planned by Robin · Taipei, Taiwan
3 Days in Taipei: Night Markets, Temples & Hot Springs.
Three days in Taipei works as three moods: old Taipei first, with Longshan Temple's incense and the world's benchmark soup dumplings; then a day that climbs Elephant Mountain in the morning and ends steaming in Beitou's hot springs; and a final day of imperial treasures at the Palace Museum before the Maokong gondola lifts you into the tea hills. Every evening lands in a different night market, because in Taipei dinner is a place, not a reservation.
Robin planned this trip forFirst visitMarkets & templesCoupleMRT + walkingBalanced paceMid-NovemberChange these assumptions →
Planned by Robin
3 days · 15 stops
Every place is real, planned with the same verified data that Robin uses in the app. How these itineraries are made
3-day Taipei itinerary at a glance
1Longshan Temple→Bopiliao→Din Tai Fung→Ximending→Ningxia Night Market
2Fu Hang Soy Milk→Elephant Mountain→Taipei 101→Beitou hot springs→Shilin Night Market
3Palace Museum→CKS Memorial Hall→Maokong Gondola→Raohe Night Market
- Best for
- First-time visitors who eat their way through a city
- Car needed
- No: the MRT and your feet cover everything, Beitou and Maokong included
- Where to stay
- Around Ximending or a central MRT hub like Zhongshan
- Best months
- October to December, after typhoon season and before the winter drizzle
- Pace
- Balanced
- Robin recommends
- Reserve Din Tai Fung's original branch ahead; without a booking the queue can swallow the early afternoon
Your 3-day route
All stops, numbered by day order · Map © OpenStreetMap contributors
Day 1 · Thursday
Day 1: Old Taipei, from incense smoke to neon
Ease into old Taipei. Longshan Temple's incense smoke and the narrow lanes of Bopiliao lead into a proper Din Tai Fung lunch, then Ximending's neon buzz carries you into the evening's night market.
Stops in walking order · Map © OpenStreetMap contributors
↓200 m · ~2 min walk
10:30–11:45
2Bopiliao Historic Block Walk
Qing-dynasty brick arcades a block from Longshan, the walled-off facades still show WWII-era ink advertisements.
Guangzhou St, Wanhua District
↓5.6 km · a short ride
12:15–13:30
3Din Tai Fung Eat
The original branch's xiaolongbao, reserve ahead, the soup dumplings here set the global standard.
↓4.6 km · a short ride
14:00–14:45
4Ximending Walk
Taipei's teen-pop, indie-fashion quarter, wander the pedestrian lanes and street murals off Hanzhong Rd.
↓2.3 km · a short ride
18:00–20:00
5Ningxia Night Market Eat
A compact, locals-favored market known for oyster omelets and stewed pork rice, less touristy than Shilin.
Robin's tip. At Longshan, follow the worshippers' route counterclockwise through the courtyards rather than heading straight for the main hall; the morning chanting around 8 to 9 is the temple at its most alive.
Day 2 · Friday
Day 2: Earn the skyline, then soak it off in Beitou
A climb up Elephant Mountain earns you Taipei 101 framed against the skyline, then the afternoon turns to steam at Beitou's thermal valley before Shilin Night Market's chaos of skewers and shaved ice.
Stops in walking order · Map © OpenStreetMap contributors
09:00–09:45
1Fu Hang Soy Milk Eat
Legendary breakfast counter, the fried dough stick dunked in hot soy milk, a Taipei morning ritual.
↓6.4 km · a short ride
10:04–11:34
2Elephant Mountain (Xiangshan) Nature
Short, steep stair-climb, the third viewing platform frames Taipei 101 perfectly for photos.
↓1.2 km · ~15 min walk
11:47–12:27
3Taipei 101 Observatory Sight
Ride the world's fastest elevator to the 89th floor for the view you just earned from below.
No. 7, Section 5, Xinyi Rd
↓17 km · ~22 min drive
14:15–17:00
4Beitou Thermal Valley & Millennium Hot Spring Nature
Steaming jade-green sulfur pool feeds the public bathhouses below, soak at Millennium Hot Spring's outdoor pools after.
↓7.4 km · a short ride
18:00–20:00
5Shilin Night Market Eat
Taipei's biggest night market, head to the basement food court for the original large fried chicken cutlet.
Day 3 · Saturday
Day 3: Treasures, tea hills and one last market
The Palace Museum's treasures and the Memorial Hall's changing of the guard fill the morning, then the Maokong Gondola lifts you above the tea hills for sunset before one last night market send-off at Raohe.
Stops in walking order · Map © OpenStreetMap contributors
09:00–09:45
1上品早餐坊 Eat
Neighborhood breakfast shop near Da'an, order the scallion pancake with egg before the museum crowds arrive.
↓12 km · ~17 min drive
10:11–12:26
2National Palace Museum Culture
One of the world's great collections of Chinese art, the jade cabbage draws crowds, so go straight for it first.
No. 221, Sec 2, Zhishan Rd, Shilin District
↓10 km · ~15 min drive
12:50–13:50
3National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Sight
Catch the top-of-hour changing of the guard ceremony beneath the white archway.
No. 21, Zhongshan S Rd
↓10 km · ~15 min drive
15:00–15:40
4Maokong Gondola & tea house Sight
Cable car up to Taipei's tea-growing hills, settle onto a terraced tea house's outdoor table for sunset over the city.
↓7.8 km · a short ride
18:00–20:00
5Raohe Street Night Market Eat
Enter by the ornate temple gate and follow the queue to the pepper pork bun stall near the entrance.
Choose your last afternoon
If you want every box tickedkeep the full sweep as planned, but treat Maokong as a ride and a look; the gondola views are the point on a tight clock
If you came for the tea hillstrade the Memorial Hall for an early gondola and give Maokong the whole afternoon: a terraced tea house, a slow pot of tieguanyin, and sunset before Raohe
If you could live in the Palace Museumstay until it closes, skip Maokong for this trip, and arrive at Raohe at opening when the pepper-bun queue is shortest
Ask Robin to personalize this day →
Bucket-list foods in Taipei
Xiaolongbao
Soup dumplings pleated eighteen folds thin, lifted whole, dipped in ginger and black vinegar. Taipei is where the standard was set.
On this trip: Din Tai Fung's original branch, day 1 lunch
A proper Taiwanese breakfast
Hot soy milk, flaky shaobing, and a fried dough stick to dunk: the morning ritual half of Taipei queues for.
On this trip: Fu Hang Soy Milk, day 2, and a neighborhood scallion-pancake counter on day 3
Pepper pork buns
Charcoal-oven buns with peppery pork and scallions, blistering hot from a clay tandoor at the market gate.
On this trip: Raohe Street Night Market, day 3, the queue by the temple entrance
Beef noodle soup
Taipei's soul dish: slow-braised shank in a broth cities hold competitions over. This plan's evenings belong to the markets, so ask Robin to swap a lunch and it will name you a proper beef-noodle house.
Where to stay for this itinerary
Stay in Ximending if…
- you want day 1's whole loop walkable and neon outside your window
- late-night street food matters more than quiet
Stay in Zhongshan if…
- you want a calm, central base one MRT hop from almost everything on this plan
- good coffee and department-store food halls are your idea of downtime
Stay in Da'an if…
- leafy streets and neighborhood breakfast shops appeal, like day 3's scallion-pancake counter
- you are happy trading a few extra MRT minutes for living like a local
Before you go
Do you need a car?
No, and you would regret one. The MRT is fast, cheap and signed in English; Beitou and the Maokong gondola are both literally MRT stops. Get an EasyCard on arrival and every train, bus and gondola ride is a tap.
What must be booked ahead?
Din Tai Fung's original branch takes reservations and they are worth making. Taipei 101's observatory sells timed tickets online if you want sunset. Everything else on this plan, night markets included, just takes showing up hungry.
How do you get in from the airport?
The Taoyuan Airport MRT express runs into Taipei Main Station in about 40 minutes; from there you are one or two stops from any of the neighborhoods above.
Is three days enough?
For the city's greatest hits, yes, and densely. What it leaves out is what surrounds Taipei: Jiufen's lantern-hung tea houses, the northeast coast, and Yangmingshan's volcanic trails all fit a fourth or fifth day.
What about the hot springs, practically?
Millennium Hot Spring in Beitou is a public outdoor bath: bring a swimsuit, rent nothing, pay little. Sessions run on a posted schedule with cleaning breaks between, so check the day's times when you arrive.
4–5 days
Have 4–5 days?
First, unpack day 3
Give the Palace Museum its own morning and Maokong a real afternoon, tea house and all; the zigzag disappears and both stop being drive-bys.
Day 4: Jiufen and the northeast coast
An hour out, Jiufen's stacked lantern lanes and sea views explain a century of mining money and movie sets; go late afternoon into evening when the lanterns come on.
Day 5: Yangmingshan's volcano trails
Fumaroles at Xiaoyoukeng, grass-topped ridges, and hot springs on the way down; it is the wild green counterweight to three urban days.
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