Flexi Tour — Departs Any Day

Taiwan — Taipei & the North Coast

One city, four nights, and the whole north of the island within an hour of it. Night markets, a mountain temple, a lantern released over a railway line, and the cheapest good food anywhere in Asia.
From US$335 per person, twin share — four nights in central Taipei and the guided north coast day. Budget separately for flights, the airport transfer and meals, which here cost very little. See what's included
Travel DatesAny day you choose · year-round

Duration5 Days / 4 Nights
DestinationsTaipei · the north coast
Arrival
Fly into Taoyuan International (TPE). The airport MRT express runs to Taipei Main Station in 35 minutes for about NT$160 — there is no reason to take a taxi. Tell us your departure city and we will price the flights with the tour.
Confirmation
Tell us your dates and a hotel tier → we confirm the hotel and your north coast day within 24 hours → a deposit holds them → vouchers by email before you fly. Departs any day. Before we confirm we check your dates against anything the itinerary is built round — museums, markets and monuments keep weekly closing days, and we would rather move a day than spend one at a locked gate.
There is no internal transport to buy on this trip. Everything on this itinerary is either inside Taipei or a day trip from it, which is unusual and is the reason this trip costs what it does. The one guided day exists because Yehliu, Shifen and Jiufen are strung along the north coast in a line that public transport does badly. Everything else is on a metro that is clean, bilingual and costs about a dollar a ride.

The trip at a glance

Taipei

Days 1 & 3–5
01
Taipei
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Arrive Taipei AT LEISURE

  • Into Taoyuan, then the airport MRT express — 35 minutes to Taipei Main Station, about NT$160. Transfers are not included, and on this route you genuinely do not want one.
  • Settle in Ximending, the pedestrian quarter, and let Taipei introduce itself over dinner.
  • Buy an EasyCard at any metro station or convenience store. It works on the metro, buses, the airport line and in every 7-Eleven in the country.
  • Overnight in Taipei.

The North Coast

Day 2 · the guided day
02
North coast
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Yehliu, Shifen & Jiufen GUIDED

  • A full guided day along the north coast, departing from Ximen — a walk from your hotel, which is the whole reason we book this one.
  • Yehliu Geopark first: a cape of wind-carved sandstone, and the Queen's Head that everyone queues for.
  • Shifen Old Street, built along a working railway line. Write a wish on a paper lantern and release it between trains — the trains really do still run, and that is the point.
  • The Golden Waterfall, then Jiufen at dusk — a gold-mining town stacked up a hillside, all red lanterns and tea houses.
  • Jiufen is the reason to do this as a tour rather than alone: the three sit in a line along a coast that public transport serves badly, and getting between them yourself eats the day.
  • Overnight in Taipei.

In your price today — with your guide

  • Yehliu, Shifen & Jiufen north coast day
03
Taipei
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Taipei on foot and by metro AT LEISURE

  • Taipei 101 — half a kilometre tall, and the 660-tonne damper that holds it steady in a typhoon is on public display near the top.
  • Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, with the changing of the guard on the hour. Free, and worth timing.
  • Longshan Temple, founded 1738 — busy at any hour with people praying rather than sightseeing. Also free.
  • Evening at Shilin Night Market. Oyster omelette, pepper buns, and stinky tofu, which smells far worse than it tastes.
  • Overnight in Taipei.

Add to this day — approximate gate prices

  • Taipei 101 observatoryNT$600Book aheadLevels 88–91 and the damper. NT$980 adds Skyline 460, the open-air deck on the 101st floor. Sunset slots go first and the queue is worst at weekends.
  • Chiang Kai-shek Memorial HallFreeFree to enter, and the changing of the guard runs on the hour.
  • Longshan TempleFreeFree, open late, and busiest with actual worshippers rather than visitors.
  • Shilin Night MarketFree to enterYou pay for what you eat, and NT$300 is a generous dinner.

Or let us book it — per person, in US dollars

By bike

Old Taipei by bicycle, breakfast on the way

Four hours through the old west of the city — Wenchang Temple, the Shuanglian market, Longshan, Dadaocheng and Dihua Street — with a Taiwanese breakfast in the middle.

About 4 hours · morning · meet in Datong district

Bicycle and breakfast included

From US$85 per person

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Small group

Taipei’s landmarks in a day, small group

The National Palace Museum, the memorial hall, Longshan Temple, Dihua Street and the deck of Taipei 101, with the tickets in the price.

About 9 hours · morning start · meet at Zhongxiao Xinsheng MRT

Museum and Taipei 101 tickets included

From US$87 per person

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Evening

Shilin Night Market with your own guide

Two hours through the biggest night market in the city with a licensed guide to yourselves, so you eat the right things in the right order.

About 2 hours · evening · meet at Jiantan MRT

Private guide; food as you go

From US$36 per person

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Food tour

Hidden eats around Shida and Yongkang

Eight tastings or more through the Shida night market and Yongkang Street, soup dumplings included, in a small group.

About 3½ hours · afternoon or evening · meet at Taipower Building MRT

8+ tastings included

From US$56 per person

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Tell us which you want when you confirm. Gate tickets travel with your documents; anything we book goes into your price at the figure shown, and the voucher comes from us. Prices as at 10 September 2026.

04
Taipei
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Beitou & Elephant Mountain AT LEISURE

  • Beitou — sulphur hot springs at the end of a metro branch line, 25 minutes out, steaming publicly in the middle of a park.
  • Public baths cost a few hundred NT dollars; private rooms more. The Thermal Valley is free to look at and too hot to touch.
  • Late afternoon, Elephant Mountain — twenty minutes of steps for the photograph of Taipei 101 everyone recognises. Free, and busiest an hour before sunset.
  • Overnight in Taipei.

Add to this day — approximate gate prices

  • Beitou public hot springNT$60The Millennium Hot Spring is municipal and costs almost nothing — NT$60, plus NT$20 for a locker. Bring a swimsuit; these are mixed public pools, not private rooms.
  • Beitou Thermal ValleyFreeFree to look at, and far too hot to touch — the water leaves at around 90°C.
  • Elephant MountainFreeTwenty minutes of steps, no ticket, and the best view of Taipei 101 there is.

Or let us book it — per person, in US dollars

Day trip

Yangmingshan and Beitou, small group

The volcano park’s grasslands, fumaroles and Qingtiangang, then Beitou’s Thermal Valley and the hot spring museum, with a foot bath on the way.

About 9 hours · morning start · meet at Zhongxiao Xinsheng MRT

Guide and vehicle included

From US$87 per person

Ask us to add this

Tell us which you want when you confirm. Gate tickets travel with your documents; anything we book goes into your price at the figure shown, and the voucher comes from us. Prices as at 10 September 2026.

05
Departure
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Taipei → onward AT LEISURE

  • A Taiwanese breakfast — soy milk, egg crepe, and a fried dough stick — costs about a dollar and is the correct last meal.
  • The airport MRT express from Taipei Main to Taoyuan takes 35 minutes. Some airlines let you check bags in at the station, which is worth asking about.

Restaurants worth trying

No meals are in the price on this trip, so all of them are yours to choose. Here is where we would eat. We do not arrange any of these and you would pay for them yourself. They are simply places we rate, near where the trip goes. Tick any you like and they appear on the map.

    Suggested, not included. Opening hours and prices are theirs, not ours — and a place that is busy at eight will be busy whether or not you booked through us.

    Hotels & price

    Four nights in central Taipei, twin share, in Ximending or within a couple of minutes of a metro station. Every property is independently rated 8.0 or better by recent guests. One hotel for the whole trip — everything here is a day trip, so there is no packing and moving.

    Comfort · 3★

    3-star hotel for the whole stay

    from US$335 per person · single supplement +US$220

    You will know exactly where you are staying before you pay a balance. We name the property in your confirmation, in writing, as soon as the room is held — and if it is ever unavailable for your dates we substitute at the same tier or better, never below it.

    All prices are per person, twin share, in US dollars — the figure on each tab is what you pay us. The tiers differ by hotel only. These are website estimates, confirmed against live availability for your actual dates. Two tiers, not our usual three — a 5-star tier is quoted live rather than listed.

    Hotel tierPer person, twin shareSingle supplement
    Comfort — 3★, twin sharefrom US$335+US$220
    Deluxe — 4★, twin sharefrom US$455+US$310
    5★ — quoted liveon requeston request
    Seasonal pricing. September is shoulder season and these rates come from it. Typhoon season runs roughly July to October — a direct hit is rare and passes in a day, but it can close the north coast day, so travel insurance earns its keep here. October to April is the pleasant stretch and prices firm up accordingly. Avoid Lunar New Year, when much of the island shuts and the rest of it travels.
    Included
    4 nights in central Taipei, twin share, in Ximending or beside a metro station · the guided north coast day — Yehliu Geopark, Shifen Old Street, the Golden Waterfall and Jiufen at dusk, with a guide and coach throughout · a day-by-day self-guided plan for the other days, naming the exact metro lines and fares
    Not included
    International flights · airport transfers — the airport MRT is about NT$160 and takes 35 minutes · breakfast, which Taiwanese hotels vary on · meals, though you will struggle to spend NT$300 a head · Taipei 101 observatory · Beitou hot spring entry · metro fares, rarely more than NT$100 a day · travel insurance · any visa
    How the flexi tour works. Choose any departure date and a hotel tier → we confirm availability and the exact price within 24 hours → pay a deposit to hold it → your final documents and vouchers arrive by email a week before you fly. There is no group to join and no fixed departure day.

    Start your booking

    Tell us who you are and when you want to go. We’ll reply within 24 hours with the price and what’s available. A deposit holds it, and comes back in full if we can’t get your dates.

    Prices are per person, twin share. One person to a room costs the single supplement shown above. Under 2s normally travel free — tell us in the box below.

    How should we reply?

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