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Navigating The City

When Flying to Taiwan via International flights, you will land at one of two airports: TPE (Taoyuan International Airport) or TSA (Taipei Songshan Airport). Despite the abbreviation of the Taoyuan airport being TPE, it is not to be confused with Taipei as the airport is actually in Taoyuan which is roughly an hour away from Taipei. The Songshan Airport however, is in fact located right in Taipei and is roughly 20 minutes away from the Taipei 101. Once out of the Taoyuan airport, there are two options for transportation to wherever your destination may be. The cheapest would be the Airport MRT which would take you directly to the main train station in Taipei city for 5USD/150NTD. Alternatively, you could hail a taxi which would be much faster, but that would cost up to 10x the price. If you land in Songshan Airport, you will already be in Taipei city and to travel to your accommodation, both options (taxi and MRT) would be available and fares would be much cheaper. The colored lines on the maps indicate different MRT lines/routes. Google Maps is very useful in the city as they also include the schedules of MRT trains. The Taipei Main Station is similar to the Grand Central Train station as it is not only a stop for the MRT (urban transport) but also for the THSR (Taiwan Highspeed Rail) which is like a bullet train that can take you across the entire country under two hours. There are THSR stations in all the major cities so you can travel from one city to another with ease, and to travel within a city the MRT or taxis are both great choices. Although slightly more expensive than other options, Uber is also available.

TPE Taoyuan International Airport

TSA Taipei Songshan airport

Navigating the Countryside

Google maps is incredibly useful in navigating the city, but slightly less convenient when traveling the countryside due to reception issues; having a planned route makes things easier when there is no cell service, and on the off chance that you get lost, ask locals. Due to the small size of the entire country and the lack off urban traffic, traveling the countryside would be fastest and easiest by renting a vehicle, either a car or a motorcycle. There are a lot of car rental services that operate similar to Hertz and can be found with a quick google search. Car rental rates are around 80USD/2400NTD a day. However, do keep in mind that the driving age in Taiwan is 18 or above, slightly higher than that of the US. Taxis are rare to find in the countryside, but if you’re lucky enough to run into one, chances are the taxi driver is local and knows their way around the area better than the back of their hand.