Originally Posted by
Sandeep1
That's a very fair point. To add some context, I will have about 3 months in Asia (Thailand, Taiwan, Philippines, S. Korea, and Japan). So I allocated 12 days to Taiwan since it will be my first time there and who knows when I'll go back. If you don't think it's worth it, I can add more time to Korea which is currently 9 days but that felt like a decent amount. I can add more time to the Philippines although I've been there a bunch of times as well.
Thanks for that added context! Since you're spending so much time in Asia, it seems like you have a lot of time to actually travel around Taiwan and other destinations without feeling rushed. That said, I would plan out your days in a very detailed manner. If you find yourself running out of things to do (and keeping in mind that some spontaneity is good as far as I'm concerned), that could be a sign to shorten your time in Taiwan.
Just as an example of some of the things we did in Taipei earlier this year, the below is a small list (with a few additions) of things we did across a few days, though you can definitely break spread things out across more days. Note, we had a friend who is stationed in Japan visit Taiwan for the first time, so we were primarily showing her around.
Taipei 101 (went up to Taipei 101 observatory and ate at A Joy buffet . . . I do not recommend that buffet, FYI)
Daan Park
Xinyi Shopping District
Maokong Gondola
Yongkang District
Dinner at Shangri-la options: we ended up eating at Cafe Far Eastern
Night market options: Shilin Night Market, Ningxia Night Market, Raohe Night Market
Mt. Elephant hike
Xinyi Assembly Hall (四四南村)
Sun-Yat Memorial Hall
National Palace Museum
Yongkang District Have a light lunch
Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall
Taipei Main Station
228 Peace Memorial Park
Dihua Street Market
Yong-le Fabric Market
Hotpot options: Emperor House, Mala Hotpot
Tour Jiufen town (this is a pretty special treat)
Ximending Shopping District
The Red House
Grab a drink at the Red House
High Speed Railroad (HSR) train to Chiayi (spouse's hometown, but you can take the high speed rail to a host of places)
Sun Moon Lake
• Old town
• Indigenous tribes
• Food tour/lake tour