Top 10 Taiwan Tourist Spots We Love & Recommend You Visit
If you’d ask us, what’s the most visited overseas destination we’ve been to, it would be Taiwan. Ever since Taiwan opened its visa-free trial for Filipinos, we keep coming back here to explore as many Taiwan tourist spots as we can.
Apparently, we can’t seem to get enough of the sights, sounds, and smells of this small yet formidable country aptly called “Ilha Formosa”, which means “beautiful island” in Portuguese.
If you find yourself visiting Taiwan for the first time or even as a returning traveler, we recommend that you tick everything off our curated list of the best Taiwan attractions — all of which we’ve been to ourselves.
Taiwan tourist attractions for city dwellers
1. Taipei 101
First on our list is none other than Taipei 101. This architectural wonder once held the title as the world’s tallest building before being surpassed by Burj Khalifa in 2010.
Although the structure itself will already leave you speechless, wait till you go up the Taipei 101 Observatory on one of the world’s fastest elevators — we reached the observation deck on the 89th floor in 37 seconds!
*See what others say about Taipei 101 on Tripadvisor.
Address: No. 7, Section 5, Xinyi Road, Xinyi District in Taipei City, Taiwan
Entrance fee: NT$600 (89F Observatory); NT$980 (89F +101F Observatory)
Buy tickets: Klook; KKday; GetYourGuide; Pelago
💡Tip: If Taipei 101 is part of your Taiwan itinerary, you may want to get a Taipei FunPASS to visit more than 30 attractions for free. Plus, it already serves as a transport card so you don’t have to buy your EasyCard separately. Read our Taipei FunPASS guide for more info.
2. Elephant Mountain
From Taipei 101, you can walk for about 23 minutes (1.5km) to reach Elephant Mountain. It is one of the top Taiwan tourist spots to see the capital city of Taipei from a different vantage point.
We hiked up 500 steps to reach the IG-worthy rock viewpoint. Unfortunately, the city view was shrouded in clouds when we arrived. Still, we enjoyed the climb along with our travel buddies.
*See what others say about Elephant Mountain on Tripadvisor.
Address: Xiangshan (Mt. Elephant), Xinyi District, Taipei City, Taiwan
Entrance fee: Free
💡Tip: Searching for a good place to stay in Taipei? Check out our list of the best Taipei hotels, Taipei hotels for families, best Taipei hostels, cheap Taipei stays, hotels near Taipei Main Station, Taipei hotels with bidets, and best Ximending hotels — they are just a few steps from MRT stations and top Taipei attractions.
Taiwan tourist spots for nature lovers
3. Sun Moon Lake
Located in Yuchi Township, Nantou County in Central Taiwan, Sun Moon Lake is the largest natural lake in Taiwan, and truly one of the top tourist spots for nature lovers.
From Taipei, you can join a day trip to Sun Moon Lake, but we opted to stay in a guest house by the lake to take in the beauty of nature even more. And, we didn’t pass up the chance to bike around the scenic lake as it is one of the top things to do here.
*See what others say about Sun Moon Lake on Tripadvisor.
Address: No. 127, Minquan Lane, Shuili Township, Nantou County, Taiwan
Entrance fee: Free
Book tour: Klook; KKday; GetYourGuide; Pelago
4. Beitou Thermal Valley
Beitou Thermal Valley in Beitou District, Taipei City is one of the top places to visit in Taiwan if you’re a fan of hot springs. While the place is dotted with spring resorts, there are public hot springs like the one pictured above where the water is boiling hot that swimming is not allowed.
While we didn’t get to take a dip in one of the thermal springs here, our stroll around the area was already quite rejuvenating.
*See what others say about Beitou Thermal Valley on Tripadvisor.
Address: Zhongshan Road, Thermal Valley, Beitou District, Taipei City, Taiwan
Entrance fee: Free, unless you want to dip in a hot spring in one of the resorts
Book tour: Klook; KKday; GetYourGuide; Pelago
5. Yangmingshan National Park
If you don’t know yet, you can spot cherry blossoms in Taiwan! 🌸
Yangmingshan National Park is one of the top Taiwan tourist spots to spot these lovely blooms during spring. Like our spring trip in Japan, we made sure to include cherry blossoms in our Taiwan spring itinerary.
Although it rained during our Yangmingshan National Park day trip, we still managed to see some pink blooms. It was truly a bucket list-worthy experience!
*See what others say about Yangmingshan National Park on Tripadvisor.
Address: No. 1-20, Zhuzihu Road, Beitou District in Taipei City, Taiwan
Entrance fee: Free
Book tour: Klook; KKday; GetYourGuide; Pelago
Taiwan attractions for culture and history buffs
6. National Palace Museum
The National Palace Museum houses a massive collection of ancient Chinese relics and artifacts, making it the largest of its kind. It truly is one of the top Taiwan attractions for culture and history enthusiasts.
Aside from the museum itself, the surrounding area makes for a great photography spot, which is evident in our photo above.
*See what others say about the National Palace Museum on Tripadvisor.
Address: No. 221, Section 2, Zhishan Road, Shilin District, Taipei City, Taiwan (Northern Branch)
Entrance fee: NT$350 (regular ticket)
Buy tickets: Klook; KKday; GetYourGuide; Pelago
7. Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall
Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall was constructed in honor of Chiang Kai-shek, the revolutionary leader who established the Republic of China (ROC) or modern-day Taiwan. It’s one of Taiwan’s most iconic landmarks you may have seen in many photos.
We witnessed the changing of the guards here in the afternoon, but it is scheduled hourly, from 9am to 5pm, so you should not miss it.
*See what others say about the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on Tripadvisor.
Address: No. 21, Zhongshan S. Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, Taiwan
Entrance fee: Free
8. Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum
The Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum is not your typical museum as it combines traditional and modern elements. The main feature here is the tooth relic of Sakyamuni Buddha, the founder of Buddhism.
The museum is quite huge and open to all visitors, so feel free to explore at your own leisure, but do observe proper decorum as this is a sacred site.
*See what others say about the Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum on Tripadvisor.
Address: No. 1, Tongling Road, Dashu District in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan
Entrance fee: Free
💡Tip: Reach Kaohsiung from Taipei in 1.5 hours by riding the Taiwan High Speed Rail. Read our THSR guide to learn more.
Places to visit in Taiwan for foodies
9. Shilin Night Market
What’s a trip to Taiwan without visiting a night market? While there are too many of them, what stood out the most to us was Shilin Night Market.
Here, we sampled many Taiwanese food such as flame-torched beef, pork ribs, cheesy chicken, candied fruits, and sponge cake. We also bought some Taiwan pasalubong (souvenirs) for our loved ones back home.
*See what others say about the Shilin Night Market on Tripadvisor.
Address: No. 101, Jihe Road, Shilin District in Taipei City, Taiwan
Entrance fee: Free
10. Chun Shui Tang Cultural Tea House
You should never leave Taiwan without drinking the famous pearl milk tea or bubble tea. The best place to try it is Chun Shui Tang Cultural Tea House in Taichung, which is said to be the place of origin for Taiwan’s pearl milk tea.
We came here on two separate occasions and it was always filled with so many customers, so have some patience to queue for your turn. Their original pearl milk tea is a must-try, of course!
*See what others say about the Chun Shui Tang Cultural Tea House on Tripadvisor.
Address: No. 30, Siwei Street, West District, Taichung City, Taiwan
Entrance fee: Free unless you buy something
These are just some of the many Taiwan tourist spots we recommend you visit. But there’s still so much more to discover. In fact, we can’t wait to be back to explore the East Coast and the rest of this incredible East Asian destination.
Tara na sa Taiwan! (Let’s go to Taiwan!)
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