Taiwan Useful Information

I’ve been to Taiwan twice: the first time on holiday, and the second time when my partner was studying Mandarin in Tainan. I stayed for two months, which gave me the chance to not just travel around but also live there a little.

 

To me, Taiwan feels like a mix between Japan and South Korea. It has the openness and lively social atmosphere you find in Korea, but with the friendliness and structure of Japan. That combination is why I love it so much. Taiwan has vibrant cities with endless temples, but its nature is equally incredible, definitely worth adding hiking and wildlife to your itinerary.

Arrival in Taiwan

Most travellers will arrive at Taoyuan International Airport (Taipei). It’s very straightforward to navigate, and immigration is surprisingly fast, I was out in less than 20 minutes (and yes, they still give passport stamps, which I love).

 

The airport is about an hour from Taipei Main Station, the city’s central hub for trains and MRT connections. To get there, head to the basement level and take the Airport MRT. You’ll find two options:

  • Express line (purple) – about 45 minutes.

  • Commuter line (blue) – about 1 hour, with more stops.

 

Both cost 160 TWD one way.

EasyCard

Definitely get an EasyCard from the machines (500 TWD: 100 TWD for the card + 400 TWD credit). You can’t load a smaller amount at the beginning, so it has to be 500. The EasyCard is basically your golden ticket, it works for metro, buses, and even in convenience stores across the whole country.

 

Cash vs. Card

Unlike many other countries in Asia, Taiwan still runs heavily on cash. You’ll need it for MRT tickets, train tickets, and smaller shops or food stalls. Some bigger places take card, but don’t count on it everywhere.

 

Getting Around in Taiwan

From Taipei Main Station, you can easily hop on the MRT to explore the city or transfer to high-speed trains (HSR) and regular trains for trips around Taiwan. The HSR makes longer distances very manageable, e.g., Taipei to Kaohsiung in under 2 hours, however, they are significantly more expensive than the regular trains.

You can look up the train schedules and buy train tickets on these websites:

https://tip.railway.gov.tw/tra-tip-web/tip?lang=EN_US

https://en.thsrc.com.tw

 

Make sure to buy the high speed rail tickets in advance as seated tickets sell out very fast (otherwise, it will be a standing ticket).

SIM Cards and Internet

This was a surprise for me: SIM card prices have gone up quite a lot since my first trip. For unlimited data for 30 days, you’ll pay around 1600 TWD. I ended up choosing an eSIM instead, which was cheaper and more convenient. For 20GB valid for 30 days, I paid 710 TWD.

 

Luckily, most hotels, cafés, and even convenience stores have WiFi, so you don’t need endless data unless you’re working remotely.

 

Safety in Taiwan

This part is important, especially for women traveling alone. While Taiwan is very safe in terms of theft and crime, it’s one of the countries in Asia where I personally felt the most uncomfortable in terms of harassment.

When I first visited alone, men often came up asking for pictures or my Instagram. Sounds harmless, but during those “pictures” they’d try to cross boundaries. It wasn’t constant, but it happened enough that I always kept my guard up in less crowded or poorly lit areas, especially at night.

 

That said, Taiwan has some excellent safety measures in place, like “Safe Waiting Zones” for women in MRT and train stations, which are well-lit and monitored by cameras.