Things to Do in Taiwan: 30 Activities Organized by What You Actually Want to Experience

Looking for the best things to do in Taiwan? Forget the same five bullet points every travel blog recycles. Taiwan packs more variety into 36,000 square kilometers than countries ten times its size — and the magic is in how you piece it together. One morning you can hike through marble cliffs in Taroko Gorge, the same afternoon you can soak in a volcanic hot spring in Beitou, and that same evening you can stand under glowing red lanterns at Raohe Night Market with a basket of xiao long bao in hand.

This guide is organized differently than the destination listicles you’ve already scrolled past. Instead of grouping things to do in Taiwan by city, we’ve sorted 30 experiences by what you actually want to feel: food cravings, outdoor adventure, cultural depth, urban buzz, or that delightful weirdness that only Taiwan delivers. Pick the mood that fits your day — Taiwan will take care of the rest.

Why Taiwan Is the World’s Most Overlooked Activity Playground

Taiwan is the size of Switzerland but the variety of an entire region. In a single week you can island-hop through Penghu’s coral beaches, ride the high-speed rail down the spine of the west coast, climb above the clouds at Alishan, and eat your way through Taipei’s eight major night markets — without ever feeling rushed. The island is small, the transport is world-class, and the activities are genuinely affordable. A bowl of beef noodle soup costs less than a fancy coffee in most Western cities, and that same money lets you do more, see more, and taste more than almost anywhere else in Asia.

The other thing Taiwan has going for it: very few activities feel mass-produced. Yes, you can book a Taipei 101 ticket online, but most of the best things to do in Taiwan are things you stumble into — a hot spring tucked into a riverbed, a temple festival happening on the corner, a 4 AM bakery your taxi driver swears by. The whole country is built on the assumption that you’ll be curious. The list below is your shortlist of where to start.

Food Adventures: Night Markets, Iconic Eats, and Tea

If you only do one thing in Taiwan, eat. The island invented bubble tea, perfected stinky tofu, and operates more than 300 night markets — most of which run seven nights a week.

1. Devour a night market end-to-end. Start with Raohe Street Night Market for old-school Taipei energy, hit Shilin if you want the biggest names, and save Ningxia for the Michelin Bib Gourmand stalls. Order oyster omelette, pepper buns straight from the clay oven, mochi bing, and a cup of bubble tea to wash it all down. Our night market food guide breaks down what to order at each stall so you don’t waste a single calorie.

2. Pilgrimage to a tea farm. Take the gondola to Maokong on the edge of Taipei or, if you have a full day, head to Pinglin for the East’s most respected oolong. Sitting in a teahouse with a small clay pot, smelling toasted leaves, watching mist roll off the hills — this is a uniquely Taiwanese way to spend an afternoon. Read our complete oolong tea guide before you go so you can actually taste the difference between high-mountain and roasted varieties.

3. Visit the birthplace of bubble tea. Boba was invented in Taichung in the 1980s, and the original Chun Shui Tang teahouse still serves it from porcelain. Order it the way the locals do — half-sugar, less ice — and you’ll suddenly understand why Taiwan is so possessive about the drink. Curious about the origin? Our Taiwan bubble tea deep dive tells the whole story.

4. Eat a Michelin meal without breaking the bank. Din Tai Fung famously holds Michelin recognition for soup dumplings priced at under $10 per basket. Add an early dinner at Liu Yuan Family Cuisine in Taipei, breakfast youtiao and soy milk at Yong He Dou Jiang, and you’ll have eaten three of Taiwan’s most loved meals before checkout.

5. Take a cooking class in Taipei or Tainan. Half-day classes in pineapple cakes, soup dumplings, and lu rou fan are widely available in both cities. You’ll leave with skills, the recipe card, and a much better appreciation for what’s actually in the bowl.

Nature and Outdoor Escapes: Marble Gorges, Lakes, and Volcanic Springs

Two-thirds of Taiwan is mountain. Once you leave the western plains, the island is essentially a vertical jungle stitched together by some of the cleanest rivers and most accessible national parks in Asia.

6. Hike Taroko Gorge. The Shakadang Trail and Eternal Spring Shrine are the photo stops everyone takes, but the real reward is the Zhuilu Old Trail high above the canyon — permit required, vertigo guaranteed. Reaching the gorge takes less than three hours from Taipei by train.

7. Soak in a hot spring. Taiwan sits on the Ring of Fire and has more hot springs than convenience stores in some prefectures. Beitou is the closest to Taipei, but Jiaoxi has the famous carbonate-rich pools, and Lisong in the wild south is a free natural hot spring right on the riverbank. Our hot springs guide ranks them by mineral content, accessibility, and clothing-optional vibes.

8. Cross Sun Moon Lake by bike. The lake’s 30-kilometer perimeter loop is one of CNN’s “Top 10 Most Beautiful Bike Rides in the World.” Combine it with a Thao Aboriginal village visit and a cup of Ruby Black Tea — the variety only grown on these shores. Background reading: our Sun Moon Lake feature.

9. Climb (or train up) Alishan. Catch the heritage Alishan Forest Railway at dawn to watch the sea of clouds roll over the cypress forest. Pair it with a stay in a Tsou indigenous tea farm and you’ve made one of the most photographed sunrises in Asia your morning routine.

10. Island-hop to Penghu, Green Island, or Lanyu. Penghu has the basalt columns and bioluminescent plankton. Green Island has Asia’s only saltwater hot spring. Lanyu (Orchid Island) is home to the Tao people and looks like nowhere else in Taiwan. Summer is the season — book ferries early.

Cultural and Spiritual Experiences: Temples, Festivals, and Indigenous Heritage

Taiwan has more religious diversity per capita than almost anywhere on earth. Folk Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, Catholicism, Indigenous animism, and a dozen syncretic local sects all share the same blocks — and they all throw incredible festivals.

11. Visit Longshan Temple in Taipei. The 1738 Buddhist temple is best at dusk, when the smoke from incense urns curls under the carved roof and locals chant alongside tourists who don’t quite know what they’re doing. Bring a few NT$10 coins for the divination blocks and let chance decide your day. Our overview of Taiwan’s temple density explains why this little island has more temples than 7-Elevens.

12. Walk part of the Mazu Pilgrimage. Every spring, hundreds of thousands of devotees walk hundreds of kilometers behind a palanquin carrying the sea goddess Mazu. It’s the largest religious procession in the world by some measures. Read our Mazu Pilgrimage guide — you can join for a single day even if you can’t walk the whole route.

13. Float a sky lantern at Pingxi. The old mining village of Pingxi has been releasing painted paper lanterns into the night sky since the Qing dynasty. The big festival is around Lantern Festival in February, but you can write your wish and send it skyward any night of the year.

14. Spend a day learning about Taiwan’s Indigenous peoples. Sixteen officially recognized tribes have lived on the island for 6,000+ years. The Taitung Indigenous Cultural Park, the Atayal villages outside Wulai, and the Bunun harvest songs of Taitung county are all worth the detour. Our Indigenous peoples guide is the place to start.

15. Catch a Daoist temple parade. Tainan especially is famous for its god-procession parades where teenagers in painted faces dance in masks of Ba Jia Jiang generals while firecrackers shower the streets. Check local schedules — these happen surprisingly often.

If you fall in love with the symbols, the colors, and the typography of Taiwan’s temple culture, we wear it. Our Din Tai Fung Chinese Characters T-Shirt turns the same red-on-cream typography you see hanging from temple eaves into something you can throw on with jeans.

Urban Adventures: Modern Taipei and the Cities You Underestimate

Don’t sleep on Taiwan’s cities. Taipei is one of the most underrated urban destinations in Asia — clean, walkable, scootable, deliciously efficient — and Kaohsiung, Taichung, and Tainan each have their own personality worth a full day.

16. Ride to the top of Taipei 101. The world’s tallest building from 2004 to 2010 still has the second-fastest elevators on earth and a 660-ton tuned mass damper visible through glass. Pick a clear evening, time your visit to 30 minutes before sunset, and watch the city light up in real time. Our observation deck guide walks through every ticket tier, including the new Skyline 460 outdoor platform.

17. Get lost in Ximending. Taipei’s pedestrianized fashion district is sometimes called “the Harajuku of Taipei” but it’s much more itself — vintage record stores, indie tattoo studios, street performers, and dessert shops. Stay until 11 PM for the best people-watching.

18. Belt out songs at KTV. Karaoke in Taiwan is a sport, a social ritual, and an excuse to drink Taiwan Beer at 3 AM. Try Cashbox Partyworld or Holiday KTV for the full experience — private rooms, endless food orders, and a remote that runs everything. Our deep dive: why KTV hits different on the island.

19. Beat the claw machines. Taiwan has the highest density of claw machine arcades on earth — over 8,000 across the island. Skill machines are everywhere from Ximending to Kaohsiung. Our claw machine guide tells you which arcades are legit and how to spot rigged setups.

20. Spend a day in Tainan. Taiwan’s oldest city has more historical landmarks per block than Taipei does in entire districts. Anping Old Fort, the God of War Temple, and a bowl of danzai noodles at Du Hsiao Yueh in the same morning is a perfect day.

Quirky Only-in-Taiwan Experiences You Won’t Find Anywhere Else

This is the section that turns first-time visitors into lifelong Taiwan obsessives. These are the things to do in Taiwan you’d never plan for — and then think about for years.

21. Visit Houtong Cat Village. An hour outside Taipei, a former coal-mining town reinvented itself by welcoming stray cats. Now there are over 200 felines and a small economy of cat-themed cafes and merch. Read our cat village guide for the best train transfer and feeding etiquette.

22. Hear the garbage truck play Für Elise. Taiwan’s garbage trucks announce themselves with classical music — Beethoven or Maiden’s Prayer, depending on the city. Residents wait at the curb with bags in hand. It is a ritual and an instantly recognizable Taiwan sound.

23. Photograph the leaning postboxes of Taipei. Typhoon Soudelor in 2015 tilted two mailboxes on Longjiang Road. Chunghwa Post left them there. Now they’re an Instagram landmark and a Taipei in-joke.

24. Ride the high-speed rail end-to-end. The THSR can get you from Taipei to Kaohsiung in 96 minutes. The train cars are spotless, the announcements are in four languages, and the route reveals farms, mountains, and ocean in the same window. Our HSR guide has tips for foreigner discounts.

25. Soak feet at a fish spa. A holdover from the early 2010s, fish foot spas where toothless garra rufa nibble dead skin off your toes are still everywhere in Taipei and Wulai. Bizarre, ticklish, and oddly relaxing.

26. Spend a night in a Cingjing sheep farm guesthouse. The mountain town of Cingjing sits at 1,700 meters elevation and was settled by retired Yunnan soldiers in the 1960s. Now it’s New Zealand-on-Taiwan with sheep-shearing shows and high-altitude tea farms.

27. Try stinky tofu at Shenkeng. The “stinky tofu capital” is a tiny town outside Taipei dedicated entirely to fermenting and frying soybean curd. If you’ve never tried it, this is where the smell is strongest and the texture is best.

Things to Do in Taiwan: Planning, Budget, and FAQs

Here are the questions we get most often when people start mapping their first trip — short answers, no fluff.

How many days do I need in Taiwan?

Five days is enough for Taipei + a Taroko Gorge day trip. Seven to ten days lets you do Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, and either Kaohsiung or Hualien comfortably. Two weeks lets you add Sun Moon Lake, Alishan, and one offshore island.

What’s the best month to visit Taiwan?

October to early December is the sweet spot — dry, mild, no typhoons. April is gorgeous too, especially for cherry blossoms at Alishan. Avoid mid-June through mid-September unless you want monsoon rain and 90% humidity. Our month-by-month travel guide has the full breakdown.

Is Taiwan expensive?

No — Taiwan is one of the best-value destinations in Asia. A solid mid-range day with hotel, food, transit, and one paid attraction runs around US$80–$120 per person. Street food meals are US$3–6, MRT rides under $1, and even Taipei 101 tickets are under $20.

Do I need a visa for Taiwan?

Citizens of the US, UK, EU, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan get 90 days visa-free on arrival. Bring a passport valid for the duration of your stay. Some passports also require a Taiwan Travel Authorization — check current rules before booking.

Is English widely spoken?

In Taipei and major tourist sites, yes. Outside Taipei, less so — but Google Translate handles it. Younger Taiwanese in their 20s and 30s often speak strong conversational English. Older generations, especially outside the capital, generally do not. Saying “ni hao” and “xie xie” goes a long way.

What should I pack?

Comfortable walking shoes, a light rain shell (it can drizzle any month), a power adapter for Type A/B plugs at 110V, and a refillable water bottle. Most convenience stores have free water refills.

Final Thoughts: Pick a Mood, Trust the Island

The best things to do in Taiwan aren’t really things — they’re moods you fall into. The mood of a slow afternoon in a Maokong teahouse. The mood of a 1 AM bowl of beef noodles at the corner stand. The mood of standing at the base of Taipei 101 and realizing you understand maybe one percent of what’s happening around you, and that’s somehow exactly the right amount.

Don’t try to do all 30 things on a single trip. Pick three from this list, leave room for the things you’ll stumble into — because in Taiwan, the unplanned moments are always the ones you tell your friends about. Then book the next flight, because there are 27 more things waiting.