achuang24

Traveling to Hualien over Chinese New Year. My flight arrives in Taiwan's Taoyuan airport with domestic flight leaving out of Songshan airport in Taipei city center.

I only have 3 hours to make the connecting flight. What is the fastest transportation mode to Songshan in the afternoon once I clear customs? Stuff the taxi driver a bunch of cash?

jimbo99

I would say car - ie taxi or limo from the desk (provided they have one - they sometimes "push" you to upgrade if not).

It should take 40mins to 50mins unless you hit traffic - unlikely during the afternoon.

SirJman

There is an express bus. 150NT I believe.

achuang24

Thanks for the estimated time. It makes me feel better. I will probably take the taxi just to play it safe.

rbAA

The taxi ride is rather expensive (50% surcharge for airport pickups) and depending upon the time of arrival, subject to traffic delays. TPE has a shuttle bus to the Taoyung High Speed Rail station and from there it is 20 minutes to the Taipei main station. From there, MRT or taxi depending on your luggage situation.

Info here:

http://www.taoyuanairport.gov.tw/eng....jsp?cnid=1226

dtsm

There are 4 options:

1. taxi, about NT1300, maybe more with holidays
2. private car, i can recommend driver/mercedes for NT1100 [pm me]
3. bus - NT$150, clean, safe and reliable and you do have time for this option. straight shot from CKS airport to Songshan airport, runs regularly [15-30 minute intervals]
4. shuttle to train, then taxi when you get to taipei - that would be last on list of choices.

c1mth0g

Does the bus have a website? Mostly interested in how late it runs until. Am considering an overnight connection arriving TPE late in the evening and leaving from TSA early the next morning.

achuang24

Came back from Taiwan two weeks ago.

Eva Air has a bus division (長榮客運) that offers transportation to downtown Taipei (really close to Songshan) for about NT $150. It runs until 1am.

Here is their list of stops if you can read Chinese.

http://www.evergreen-eitc.com.tw/eit..._4/c_4_3_0.jsp

Bus tickets can be purchased at the main bus counter (many options to choose from). When you exit out of security, go toward the right. You will see a right hall way that leads to the exit. Bus counter is right before the exit.

Or just follow the sign at the airport for ground transportation.

jimbo99

Indeed the Evergreen bus is my preferred way when heading for Taipei. Not many foreigners use it, but the counter staff speak "nervous" English and take care you know where to get off. I usually connect at Shuanglian for the Chungho MRT line (hadn't noticed it ran particularly close to the domestic airport).

However, it can add up to 15mins to your journey just because of the frequency, plus probably another 10mins if you are going from T2 because it calls at T1 afterwards.

JohnnyColombia

Hi FTers

I have almost 5 hours between landing at TPE and taking off from TSA

I was wondering if it is possible to combine any of the transport options above with a little bit of sightseeing or photography?

Either get a bus to somwhere or get a private driver and tack on 90 mins for a nose around in Taipei

Any thoughts anyone?

glennaa11

In theory I think you should have plenty of time depending on time of day of course. Maybe something like the Confucius temple and Baoan temple are photogenic and not far from TSA. They're right in the flight path. I enjoyed watching the planes coming in to land while waiting for the MRT after visiting the temples.

JohnnyColombia

Flights are 1pm at TPE and 6pm at TSA roughly. I basically have an afternoon. I also have hand luggage only and biz check in so I would imagine I can be fairly swift at the airport.

Does Taipei have anything resembling a rush hour? Is that a stoopid question?

Thanks for the temple suggestions

lin821

Rush hours in Taipei? Hellooooo! Taipei won't be Taipei without rush hours.

Unfortunately your timeframe seems to fall right into rush hours around TSA. Traffic knots at TSA surrounding area, starting around 5:00 pm during weekdays, so you don't really have an afternoon, probably just an hour or two to take a stroll in the city with good planning. If I were you, I probably would choose sighting around East District after entering the city. The good news is (almost) everywhere you want to go, including TSA, is accessible via MRT. MRT beats Taipei traffic but not crowd during rush hours. Everyone is basically in the sardine can taking MRT during rush hours, if you manage to get onto MRT.

This Taipei wikitravel guide shall give you some pointers for Taipei. Even though you don't have as many hours during your transit, you may be able to fish out some good spots that fit into your tight schedule from the following thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/asia/...ts-taipei.html

Good luck & welcome to Taipei!

JohnnyColombia

Hi all

I finally did this trip today and decided to just get on the TSA-TPE bus, TPE isn't the quickest so I am glad I did this.

I seem to have misremembered that I could pay for the bus with a credit card. Not the case so I had to switch up 1000 YEN for it and now have about 170 Taiwanese dollars for my first beer when I come for a proper visit.

Bus was exactly 50 mins. Plus another 20 mins wandering aimlessly around TPE looking for the check in counters. Didn't see much traffic at all

Thanks all for your help

Mrp Alert

Uber appears to be operating on this route now around 900NT$. Has anyone used this? I have 2.5 hours total between my inbound Air Asia and my JL departure. I'm OWE will check in online (if I can) and am traveling without checked luggage.