Taiwan Travel Costs: Daily Budget, Prices and Trip Totals

These per-person figures assume two people sharing a room outside Taipei; solo travellers in private rooms should add 30 to 40 percent, and for the capital use our Taipei costs guide.

Rooms take 40 to 55 percent of most budgets, transport 15 to 25 percent on a moving trip, and food 25 to 35 percent. Entry fees are a small line, because Taiwan’s national parks, most temples and the best hikes are free.

Rooms are Taiwan’s main expense and are dearer than in Southeast Asia. A hostel dorm costs NT$450 to NT$800 ($15 to $26), with capsule-style bunks, curtains and good lockers the norm. Budget private rooms in business hotels and family guesthouses run NT$1,100 to NT$2,000, often small and windowless in the cheaper bands; it is worth paying NT$200 more for a window.

Mid-range is NT$2,000 to NT$3,500 outside Taipei. In Tainan that buys a boutique hotel or a restored townhouse B&B in the old city; in Kaohsiung and Taichung a modern chain hotel near a metro station, often with breakfast. Four and five-star hotels start around NT$4,000 in the southern cities and NT$5,000 to NT$6,000 in Taipei. Hot-spring resorts in Beitou, Jiaoxi and Zhiben charge NT$5,000 to NT$15,000 for rooms with spring-water tubs, and a lakeside hotel at Sun Moon Lake costs NT$4,000 to NT$12,000 at weekends.

Three price rules matter more than the area. Friday and Saturday nights cost 20 to 50 percent more than weekdays in tourist areas such as Sun Moon Lake, Alishan, Jiufen and Kenting, so do the cities mid-week and the countryside at weekends. Lunar New Year (late January or February), the summer school holidays (July and August) and long weekends push prices up by 50 percent or more and fill rooms weeks ahead. Mountain lodges at Alishan and B&Bs in the gorge towns near Taroko book out early, while the city business hotels almost never do.

Taiwan is one of the cheapest places in the developed world to eat well, because most people eat out. Breakfast shops sell egg crepes (dan bing) for NT$40 to NT$60, soy milk for NT$25 and a full breakfast for under NT$100. Lunch at a noodle shop or a bento counter is NT$80 to NT$150: braised pork rice NT$35 to NT$60, a lunch box with rice, a main and three sides NT$90 to NT$130, beef noodle soup NT$150 to NT$300. Night markets sell snacks at NT$50 to NT$120 each, so four or five of them make a NT$250 to NT$400 dinner.

Restaurants with table service usually add a 10 percent service charge. Tainan is the cheapest city for food and has the best traditional snacks, many for NT$30 to NT$80. Convenience stores are a real budget tool, with rice balls, tea eggs, sandwiches and hot meals for NT$30 to NT$120, plus seating and microwaves. Imported wine and spirits are the only things priced like Europe.

Transport is where you choose between time and money. The High Speed Rail is quick but costs about twice the TRA or bus fare; official HSR standard-reserved fares from Taipei are NT$700 to Taichung, NT$1,080 to Chiayi, NT$1,350 to Tainan and NT$1,490 to Zuoying for Kaohsiung. Early-bird tickets cut up to 35 percent, foreign visitors get 15 percent off one-way tickets, and the HSR 3-Day Pass at NT$2,200 pays off on any Taipei to Kaohsiung return. The full maths is in getting around Taiwan.

City transport is cheap: metro rides NT$20 to NT$65, buses NT$15 to NT$30, YouBike NT$10 per 30 minutes, and taxis start at NT$85 to NT$100 depending on the city. A scooter, rented with the licence and International Driving Permit the law requires, is the cheapest way round Kenting, Green Island, Orchid Island and Penghu at NT$400 to NT$700 a day plus about NT$100 of fuel.

Taiwan’s best sights are mostly free. Taroko National Park, Yangmingshan, Kenting, the east coast and the temples, including Lungshan Temple in Taipei and Fo Guang Shan near Kaohsiung, charge nothing. Paid sights are modest:

• Taipei 101 observatory: NT$600 ($19).
• National Palace Museum: NT$350, free for under-18s.
• Alishan National Forest Recreation Area: a few hundred NT$ per person, plus the Alishan Forest Railway from Chiayi if you ride it (book ahead on the railway’s site).
• Sun Moon Lake: boat day passes around NT$300 to NT$400, the ropeway to the aboriginal culture village a few hundred more.
• Hot springs: under NT$100 at public baths, NT$500 to NT$1,200 for hotel baths, private family tubs from about NT$1,000 for 90 minutes.
• Tours: a Taroko or Jiufen and north-coast day tour NT$1,800 to NT$3,500; a whale-watching boat from Hualien NT$800 to NT$1,000; a two-tank dive on Green Island NT$2,500 to NT$3,500.

Taiwan’s high-mountain trails, including Yushan, need free national park permits and paid mountain hut or campsite bookings (a few hundred NT$ a night), and most visitors hire a guide for NT$3,000 to NT$6,000 a day per group.

Island trips cost more than the main island because of flights and summer pricing. Penghu in July and August, during the fireworks festival, sees B&Bs at NT$2,500 to NT$5,000 and flights near NT$2,500 each way; in spring and autumn rooms fall to NT$1,500 to NT$2,500. Green Island and Orchid Island are reached by ferries from Taitung’s Fugang harbour (roughly NT$1,000 return to Green Island and NT$2,000 to Orchid Island) or 19-seat Daily Air flights; budget NT$2,000 to NT$3,500 a night for rooms in peak summer, plus scooter rental and dive or snorkel trips. Kinmen and the Matsu Islands are cheaper and quieter, with rooms from NT$1,500.

Taiwan is still a cash country at street level. Night markets, breakfast shops, noodle stalls, many B&Bs, island scooter rentals and rural taxis take cash only, so carry NT$2,000 to NT$3,000 in small notes. Hotels, department stores, chain restaurants, the HSR and convenience stores take Visa and Mastercard, and Apple Pay and Google Pay work at 7-Eleven and FamilyMart. An EasyCard or iPASS also pays at convenience stores, which avoids breaking NT$1,000 notes.

ATMs inside 7-Eleven, FamilyMart and bank branches accept foreign cards around the clock; some add a local fee shown before you confirm, and your home bank’s foreign-withdrawal fee usually matters more, so withdraw larger amounts less often. Change US dollars, euros or yen at Bank of Taiwan counters in Taoyuan and Kaohsiung airports for fair rates.

Tipping is not expected. Sit-down restaurants and hotels add a 10 percent service charge, and taxi drivers, stall holders and guides do not expect more than rounding up. Visitors can reclaim the 5 percent VAT on purchases of NT$2,000 or more in one store on one day at shops with the Tax Refund sign; bring your passport.

• Use the HSR pass or early-bird fares: the 3-Day Pass at NT$2,200 beats a full-fare Taipei to Kaohsiung return by NT$780, and early-bird tickets save up to 35 percent.
• Take TRA and buses for short or scenic hops: Tze-Chiang trains and intercity buses cost about half the HSR, and on the east coast TRA is the only train anyway.
• Travel mid-week: hotels at Sun Moon Lake, Alishan, Kenting and Jiufen cost 20 to 50 percent less Sunday to Thursday.
• Eat like locals: breakfast shops, bento counters and night markets feed you well for NT$500 a day.
• Do the free sights: Taroko, Yangmingshan, Elephant Mountain, temples, museums’ free days, coastal cycling.
• Avoid Lunar New Year: prices spike, transport sells out and many small restaurants close for up to a week.

Per person, two travellers sharing a room, excluding international flights and insurance. One week covers Taipei, Taichung or Sun Moon Lake, and Tainan with Kaohsiung by HSR; two weeks adds the east coast (Hualien and Taroko, Taitung) by TRA and an island or Kenting.

A sample mid-range week: six nights in NT$2,500 rooms shared (NT$7,500 each), the Airport MRT both ways (NT$320), an HSR 3-Day Pass (NT$2,200), metros, buses and a Sun Moon Lake shuttle (NT$900), food and drink at NT$1,100 a day (NT$7,700), Taipei 101 and the Palace Museum (NT$950), a hot-spring soak and a boat pass (NT$1,500) and a SIM (NT$500), about NT$21,500 or $700. The two-week version adds TRA expresses to Hualien and Taitung (NT$1,300), a Taroko tour (NT$2,500), an island flight or ferry (NT$2,000 to NT$5,000) and seven more nights.

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