Taipei Walking Tour: 50 Free Video Stops

This Taipei walking tour links 10 sights and 50 short video stops narrated by Clarissa, from the white marble halls of Liberty Square to the top of Taipei 101. The notes below turn those stops into practical day plans, with walking order, timing, the metro, etiquette, food and the free sights worth knowing before you go. For official visitor information and events, also check Taipei Travel, the official tourism site of the Taipei City Government.

Route 1, the government district (stops 1 and 2). Start at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, opened in 1980, where the National Theater and the National Concert Hall face each other across Liberty Square. Climb the marble stairway to the great bronze statue and watch the honour guard change on the hour during the day. Then walk north past the red-brick Presidential Office Building, finished in 1919 under Japanese rule, into 228 Peace Memorial Park, which remembers the uprising and crackdown of 1947, and finish at the domed National Taiwan Museum.

Route 2, old Bangka (stops 3 and 4). Walk west to Ximending, the pedestrian shopping district that grew up outside the old West Gate, with the octagonal Red House of 1908 at its edge. Continue south to Lungshan Temple in Wanhua, founded in 1738 by settlers from Fujian and dedicated to Guanyin, the goddess of mercy. Afterwards, look into Herb Alley beside the temple and the restored brick shophouses of the Bopiliao Historic Block.

Route 3, Dadaocheng and the night market (stops 5 and 6). Take the metro or a taxi north to Dihua Street, lined with restored merchant houses selling dried mushrooms, herbs, tea and fabric. Step into the small Xia-Hai City God Temple, where many visitors pray to the matchmaker god Yue Lao, then walk down to Dadaocheng Wharf for sunset over the Tamsui River. In the evening, walk east to Ningxia Night Market for oyster omelettes and taro balls.

Route 4, Zhongshan and the art museum (stops 7 and 8). From Zhongshan metro station, wander the leafy lanes and the linear park, with cafés, design shops and the workshops of Chifeng Street. SPOT Taipei Film House is housed in the former residence of the American ambassador. Then follow Zhongshan North Road to the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei Story House and the Expo Park, with a view of the red-roofed Grand Hotel on the hill.

Route 5, hills and the tower (stops 9 and 10). In the afternoon, ride the Maokong Gondola from Taipei Zoo up to the tea houses of Maokong, or climb the steep stairs of Elephant Mountain, beside Xiangshan metro station, for the classic view of the skyline. End this Taipei walking tour at Taipei 101 in Xinyi, finished in 2004 and the tallest building in the world until 2010.

If you only have one day, combine Routes 1 and 2 in the morning, then Route 3 and Ningxia Night Market in the evening. A two-day Taipei walking tour adds Zhongshan and the art museum on day two, followed by Elephant Mountain at sunset and Taipei 101 after dark.

Autumn and spring are the most comfortable seasons for a Taipei walking tour. Summer is hot and humid, with afternoon thunderstorms, and typhoons can arrive between about June and October. May and June bring the plum rains, and winter is mild but often grey and damp. Carry an umbrella in every season, for rain and for sun.

Opening hours change, and the Maokong Gondola closes for regular maintenance and in bad weather, so check the official websites before your Taipei walking tour. The honour guard ceremony at the memorial hall happens only during opening hours, and temples are busiest on the 1st and 15th days of the lunar month and at festivals.

The Taipei Metro, called the MRT, is clean, fast and easy to use, and almost every stop on this tour is close to a station. Buy a rechargeable EasyCard for the metro, buses and the YouBike public bicycles. Taxis are yellow, metered and good value for short hops, such as Dihua Street to Ningxia Night Market at the end of the day.

Festivals add colour. Around the Lunar New Year, in January or February, Dihua Street fills with market stalls and the temples with worshippers, and the Lantern Festival follows about two weeks later. Dragon boat races are held on the Keelung River at the Dragon Boat Festival in early summer, and New Year's Eve ends with fireworks launched from Taipei 101.

Use the Map button at each stop to check walking time. The old districts of Wanhua and Dadaocheng are flat and easy to explore on foot, but the city is large, so plan your Taipei walking tour one district at a time and use the MRT between them.

Temples are active places of worship, so walk around worshippers rather than in front of them, keep your voice low and don't block the incense burners for photos. You will see people throwing pairs of red moon blocks on the floor to ask the gods a question. Ask before you photograph anyone praying. Eating and drinking are not allowed in metro stations or on the trains, and the dark blue priority seats are kept for people who need them.

For food, try beef noodle soup, braised pork rice, xiaolongbao soup dumplings, oyster omelettes and pepper buns, and finish with bubble tea, which was invented in Taiwan. Night markets are the cheapest way to sample many dishes, so share small portions and move on. Tea from the Maokong hills is famous, especially Tieguanyin and Baozhong.

Taipei is one of the safest big cities in Asia, even late at night. The main risks are scooters, which can turn across crossings, and slippery tiles in the rain. Watch your belongings in crowded night markets, and on hot days drink plenty of water on your Taipei walking tour.

Wear light clothes and comfortable shoes. The Elephant Mountain trail is a steep stone staircase, and some temple floors and lanes can be slippery when wet, so shoes with a good grip help.

Many stops cost nothing at all. Liberty Square and the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, 228 Peace Park, Ximending, Lungshan Temple, Dihua Street, Ningxia Night Market, the Zhongshan lanes and the Elephant Mountain trail are all free. The Taipei 101 observatory, the Maokong Gondola and the museums need tickets. That is why this free walking tour Taipei visitors can start at any hour works so well: the 50 videos are free, and you only pay for what you choose to enter.

Look out for free extras along the way. Ximending fills with street performers at weekends, Dadaocheng Wharf has one of the best free sunsets in the city, and Dihua Street turns into a huge market of snacks and decorations in the weeks before the Lunar New Year. Always confirm current prices and opening hours on each official website before your Taipei walking tour.

A little history helps the stops make sense. Taipei grew in the Qing era from river ports at Bangka, now Wanhua, and Dadaocheng, where tea merchants grew rich. Japan ruled Taiwan from 1895 to 1945 and left buildings such as the Presidential Office and the Red House. In 1949 the government of the Republic of China moved to Taipei, and the city later became one of Asia's great modern capitals.

For accessibility, the MRT has lifts at its stations, and the memorial hall, the Fine Arts Museum and Taipei 101 are accessible to wheelchair users. Liberty Square, Zhongshan and the riverside parks are flat. Elephant Mountain is stairs only, and the crowds at Lungshan Temple and the night markets can make wheelchairs and strollers slow going.

When you finish this Taipei walking tour, carry on with more free walks: the Tokyo walking tour, the Seoul walking tour and the Hong Kong walking tour. You can browse every city on the Free City Tours home page.