I will never get tired of Taiwan! You can get a mix of city and nature experience in Taiwan — also very budget friendly! If you are starting out your solo travel adventures, I think Taiwan is a good place to start!

Photos are by Theo Paolo Amora Lim

Go to Taipei if you want to:

1. Go up Taipei 101 to see the view
2. See Bugcat!
3. Take pictures in Jiufen Old Street that inspired Spirited Away
4. Have a budget friendly trip. I always say that Tiawan is a cheaper version of Japan — vibes & Japan goodies are also available here.

Top Unique Experiences in Taipei:

• Cafe Acme in Taipei 101: Having coffee with a nice view will always be my favorite activity!
• Jiufen Old Street: Inspired the movie Spirited Away. The view and area is very lovely — make sure to go here in off peak hours!
• Bugcat: I don’t mind giving my money to Bugcat hehe

How to get around?

1. Train – There are several train stations within Taiwan. They also have bullet train making it easier to jump between cities
2. Taiwan Tourist Bus – The government makes it very easy for tourists to go around and have designated buses for tourist spots — like Jiufen, Sun Moon Lake and Alishan!
3. Hotel – As much as you can, book one near a train station

Sample Itinerary:

Day 1: Taipei 101!

Time	What to Do	Kyle Notes
Morning	Fly In & Settle Down
Afternoon	Taipei 101 & Cafe Acme	Cafe Acme is in Taipei 101. No entrance fee

I’m not a big fan of paying entrance fee to go up a very tall building — instead, I look for cafes or restaurants in the same building (but also very high up). It makes the “entrance fee” consumable — so I was happy to see Cafe Acme is there. The coffee & pastries were very good and the view made it extra nice! There are several cafes in Taipei 101, just so happen that Cafe Acme didn’t have a long line (but we still waited for our turn!).

Day 2: Taichung

Taichung is a very hip and trendy town — I wish we could’ve gone around more but I woke up late and needed to see bugcat before the trip ends! If given another chance, I would go here and stay overnight then go straight to Sun Moon Lake or Alishan!

Time	What to Do	Kyle Notes
Morning	Rainbow Village	Ride the bullet train to Rainbow Village. Be sure to book in advanced so you can get reserved seats!
Afternoon	Bugcat Pilgrimage	I live for bugcat

Rainbow Village

Very small photospot area with colorful murals. Tourists come and go so you will have the place to yourself at some point.

Bugcat Pilgrimage

Bugcat is a Taiwanese local character that I have been following for more than 10 years now — so seeing bugcat merch everywhere and going to the main branch was very fulfilling for me. The main Bugcat branch is in Taichung — I’ll be honest, the food is cute but not super good… but it’s bugcat so I wouldn’t care (Take my money)!

Day 3: Jiufen Old Street

This is already my second time in Taipei so I have seen the mainstream destinations like Shifen — I wanted to go back to Jiufen with less crowd and have a meal in one of the restaurants there. It’s easier to do this via tour — but I prefer skipping some destinations & handle my own time so we did it DIY. It’s definitely doable!

Also another tip, if you plan to do DIY – check the Klook tours to know where to go & when they will go there. This means that the Klook time will be the peak time for the area. For example, the tour for Jiufen will come in the afternoon — so we went in the morning and had the place to ourselves!

Time	What to Do	Kyle Notes
Morning	Jiufen	DIY! Try to go against the tour flow
Afternoon	Zhengbin Fishing Port	Non Touristy Photospot 🙂

Jiufen Old Street

We took the train and bus going to Jiufen Street — make sure to check the timetables before going here to make sure you catch the right timeslot! Merch & food is a bit expensive (but not super!) since it’s a tourist spot — but the view & overall vibe makes up for it.

Zhengbin Fishport

Not your regular tourist spot & tour buses to go here much — but definitely worth a visit! Locals go here for a picture in the colorful buildings & the very nice themed bus stop. Since this area is surrounded by water, a lot of restaurants serve seafood.