Ruriel
Arch-Supremacy Member
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2010
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Hello!
I'm heading to Taiwan for the very first time next month, so needless to say I'm pretty excited now already. I've done some research here and in TA forums, but I still have some queries which I hope some of you gurus here can roughly guide me with.
I'm going with a friend (who has never been there before), and generally we are only interested in the food and shopping. Hence our itinerary lacks scenery visits or museums. We also believe in having a flexible holiday, so we don't really fix timings on what time to wake up, where to go, MUST BE at this place at x:xx time, etc... And since both of us are there only for the first time, we decided to only stick to Taipei, leaving the rest of TW for future trips.
So here's our rough itinerary and my queries in blue:
Day 1
- Morning flight from SG, will reach TPE around 1pm.
- Buy prepaid data sim card from airport, then take Freego bus (to check if the bus will stop by our hotel or anywhere near our hotel) to XMD.
- Check in hotel at 3pm
- Head to Wufenpu, and then Raohe NM.
Day 2 (Probably the only day I will drag my friend up in the morning)
- Head to Houtong Cat Village, then to Shifen (for sky lantern), then Jiufen, then Keelung Miaokou NM.
OK here's my queries for this day:
1) Is this actually doable in a day for someone who's never been to TW before? Some people say yes, some people say no. I'm a little apprehensive.
2) From my understanding, this is how it goes - I should buy the unlimited train rides on Pingxi Line card at TMS, then take the train (with Easycard) to Ruifang, tap out (with Easycard), then tap in again with the Pingxi Line card, then wait for the train to Houtong. After spending some time at Cat Village, take the train to Shifen for the sky latern, and then back to the station to take the train back to Ruifang. Alight and take bus 1062 to Jiufen. When leaving Jiufen, take the same bus (presumably) back to Ruifang station and take the train to Badu, alight there and board the train to Keelung. Is this correct?
Day 3
- To go Danshui around noon. Slowly savour the food, discover the shops, visit Fisherman's wharf, Lovers' bridge, etc.
- Late evening, take the metro to Shuanglian and alight for Ningxia NM.
Day 4
- Attend Computex!
- At night, will head to Shilin NM.
Day 5 (IT/Gadget day)
- To head to Guanghua digital plaza and explore the rest of the "IT street"
- Visit the Longshan/Huaxi night markets in the evening (or should I go Shida NM?)
Day 6
- Totally free & easy day. Nothing planned. Probably just shop around Taipei, explore malls and streets and... well just be adventurous! Maybe can go Partyworld too (which I heard must book in advance?).
Day 7
- Back home
A few more misc queries (if you guys don't mind)...
- Generally, do shops/night market stalls open on Mondays?
- The free Easycard given by Taiwan Tourism Board in Singapore does not have any amount in it right? So essentially we are just saving on the "deposit" (which we have to pay upfront if we buy the card in TW, and have to forfeit it IF we want to keep the card) and getting to keep the card?
- Are there a lot of mosquitoes in Taipei during summer?
- Apart from malls, are public toilets easy to find in Taipei? My bladder can be a bit 不争气 at times...
Thanks in advance!
I'm heading to Taiwan for the very first time next month, so needless to say I'm pretty excited now already. I've done some research here and in TA forums, but I still have some queries which I hope some of you gurus here can roughly guide me with.
I'm going with a friend (who has never been there before), and generally we are only interested in the food and shopping. Hence our itinerary lacks scenery visits or museums. We also believe in having a flexible holiday, so we don't really fix timings on what time to wake up, where to go, MUST BE at this place at x:xx time, etc... And since both of us are there only for the first time, we decided to only stick to Taipei, leaving the rest of TW for future trips.
So here's our rough itinerary and my queries in blue:
Day 1
- Morning flight from SG, will reach TPE around 1pm.
- Buy prepaid data sim card from airport, then take Freego bus (to check if the bus will stop by our hotel or anywhere near our hotel) to XMD.
- Check in hotel at 3pm
- Head to Wufenpu, and then Raohe NM.
Day 2 (Probably the only day I will drag my friend up in the morning)
- Head to Houtong Cat Village, then to Shifen (for sky lantern), then Jiufen, then Keelung Miaokou NM.
OK here's my queries for this day:
1) Is this actually doable in a day for someone who's never been to TW before? Some people say yes, some people say no. I'm a little apprehensive.
2) From my understanding, this is how it goes - I should buy the unlimited train rides on Pingxi Line card at TMS, then take the train (with Easycard) to Ruifang, tap out (with Easycard), then tap in again with the Pingxi Line card, then wait for the train to Houtong. After spending some time at Cat Village, take the train to Shifen for the sky latern, and then back to the station to take the train back to Ruifang. Alight and take bus 1062 to Jiufen. When leaving Jiufen, take the same bus (presumably) back to Ruifang station and take the train to Badu, alight there and board the train to Keelung. Is this correct?
Day 3
- To go Danshui around noon. Slowly savour the food, discover the shops, visit Fisherman's wharf, Lovers' bridge, etc.
- Late evening, take the metro to Shuanglian and alight for Ningxia NM.
Day 4
- Attend Computex!
- At night, will head to Shilin NM.
Day 5 (IT/Gadget day)
- To head to Guanghua digital plaza and explore the rest of the "IT street"
- Visit the Longshan/Huaxi night markets in the evening (or should I go Shida NM?)
Day 6
- Totally free & easy day. Nothing planned. Probably just shop around Taipei, explore malls and streets and... well just be adventurous! Maybe can go Partyworld too (which I heard must book in advance?).
Day 7
- Back home
A few more misc queries (if you guys don't mind)...
- Generally, do shops/night market stalls open on Mondays?
- The free Easycard given by Taiwan Tourism Board in Singapore does not have any amount in it right? So essentially we are just saving on the "deposit" (which we have to pay upfront if we buy the card in TW, and have to forfeit it IF we want to keep the card) and getting to keep the card?
- Are there a lot of mosquitoes in Taipei during summer?
- Apart from malls, are public toilets easy to find in Taipei? My bladder can be a bit 不争气 at times...
Thanks in advance!
Just a few days ago, I only heard of the more common ones like Shilin, Shida, Ningxia, Raohe... but thanks to Gixxerfield and twosix (that ipeen site is awesome!), I now know there's actually others.. just lesser known to tourists. Now reading up all over again and gonna discuss with my travel kaki to see which ones interest us more. 