Taipei Travel Costs: Daily Budget, Hotel, Food and Ticket Prices

These per-person figures assume two people sharing a room; solo travellers in private rooms should add 30 to 40 percent.

Accommodation takes 40 to 60 percent of most budgets. Backpackers who eat at night markets can live on NT$500 to NT$700 a day for food; mid-range travellers spend NT$1,000 to NT$1,500.

Taipei has fewer cheap guesthouses than Bangkok or Hanoi and more compact, well-run mid-range hotels. Rooms are small by Western standards, but clean, quiet and almost always within a few minutes of an MRT station.

Ximending and the streets around Taipei Main Station in Zhongzheng are the cheapest central areas, at NT$2,000 to NT$3,500 for a mid-range double. Zhongshan and Da’an run NT$2,800 to NT$5,000. Xinyi, around Taipei 101, is the most expensive at NT$4,000 to NT$7,000 for a decent room. Beitou’s hot-spring hotels start at about NT$4,000 and many pipe spring water into in-room tubs. For the cheapest beds near good transport, look at Banqiao across the river in New Taipei, 10 minutes from Main Station on the Blue Line.

Rates rise 30 to 50 percent over Lunar New Year, New Year’s Eve (the Taipei 101 fireworks) and big trade-fair weeks at Nangang, and weekends cost more than weekdays. The full area-by-area comparison is in where to stay in Taipei.

Eating well in Taipei is cheap if you eat like a local. A traditional breakfast shop serves soy milk (NT$25-40), egg crepes (danbing, NT$40-60) and fried dough sticks; a lunch of braised pork rice and a bowl of soup at a neighbourhood stall costs NT$80 to NT$120; a beef noodle soup is NT$150 to NT$300 depending on the cut and the shop’s fame. Convenience stores sell rice balls, tea eggs and microwave meals for NT$40 to NT$120.

Night markets are where your money goes furthest. At Raohe, Ningxia or Shilin, most snacks cost NT$50 to NT$120: a Fuzhou pepper bun NT$60 to NT$70, oyster omelette NT$70 to NT$100, grilled squid NT$100 to NT$200, a large fried chicken cutlet NT$90 to NT$120, mango shaved ice NT$150 to NT$250. Four or five items make a full dinner for NT$250 to NT$400. Most stalls are cash only.

Restaurants cost more, and most sit-down places add a 10 percent service charge. Din Tai Fung’s xiaolongbao run about NT$250 to NT$300 for ten, so a filling meal there is NT$500 to NT$900 a head. Hotpot buffets are NT$500 to NT$900, a Japanese or Western mid-range dinner NT$600 to NT$1,200, and tasting menus at Taipei’s Michelin-starred restaurants NT$3,000 to NT$8,000 and up, before drinks.

Drinks are where budgets leak. Taiwan Beer is NT$40 to NT$60 a can in a 7-Eleven but NT$150 to NT$250 in a bar, cocktails at Xinyi and Zhongshan bars cost NT$300 to NT$600, and a cafe latte NT$120 to NT$180. Bubble tea is NT$50 to NT$90. The city’s tap water is treated but most people drink filtered or bottled water; refill stations are common in MRT stations and parks. The Taipei food guide lists what to order where.

Transport is the smallest line in most Taipei budgets. MRT rides cost NT$20 to NT$65, with most central trips NT$20 to NT$35, and city buses NT$15 per segment. A day of four or five rides on an EasyCard (NT$100 for the card) comes to NT$100 to NT$150, so the NT$150 One-Day Pass rarely saves much; the maths for each pass is in getting around Taipei.

Taxis start at NT$85 for the first 1.25 km, plus NT$5 per 200 m and NT$20 between 11pm and 6am. Two or three people sharing a short cab ride pay little more than the MRT.

Many of Taipei’s highlights cost nothing: Lungshan Temple and the city’s other temples, Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Liberty Square, Da’an Forest Park, 228 Peace Memorial Park, Dihua Street, the Elephant Mountain hike and the trails of Yangmingshan. The paid ones are fairly priced.

Taipei 101’s observatory is open 10am to 9pm daily (official tickets); clear late afternoons give daylight and the night view on one ticket. The Palace Museum holds free-admission days on some public holidays and has had evening openings on Fridays and Saturdays, so check its calendar before you go. If you plan to visit both plus other paid sights, the Taipei Fun Pass Classic Version (NT$950, an EasyCard plus both tickets) or an Unlimited Pass may save a little.

Beitou, 30 minutes from the centre on the Red Line and its Xinbeitou branch, is Taipei’s hot-spring district, and you can soak at almost any budget.

• Public open-air bath: the municipal Millennium Hot Spring by Beitou Park charges under NT$100 for a soak in tiered outdoor pools. Swimwear is required, sessions close for cleaning every couple of hours, and queues build at weekends.
• Hotel public baths: day-use entry to a hotel’s gender-separated nude baths costs about NT$500 to NT$1,200, often with towels, a sauna and a cold plunge.
• Private rooms by the hour: many hotels rent private tubs for couples or families from about NT$1,000 for 90 minutes for two, rising to NT$2,500 to NT$4,000 at the smarter resorts.
• Overnight: hot-spring hotels with spring water piped into in-room tubs start around NT$4,000 a night and pass NT$10,000 at the top end.

Yangmingshan’s sulphur springs at Lengshuikeng and the hotels around Xingyi Road have similar tiers. The free Beitou Hot Spring Museum and Thermal Valley are worth combining with any of these.

Taipei is still a cash city at street level. Night markets, breakfast shops, noodle stalls, small temples’ donation boxes and many taxis take cash only, so carry NT$2,000 to NT$3,000 in small notes and coins. Hotels, department stores, chain restaurants, convenience stores and the MRT gates accept Visa and Mastercard, and Apple Pay and Google Pay work at 7-Eleven, FamilyMart and the metro.

ATMs inside 7-Eleven and FamilyMart stores and at bank branches accept foreign cards around the clock. Some add a local fee, shown on screen before you confirm, and your home bank’s foreign-withdrawal fee usually matters more, so withdraw larger amounts less often. Exchange counters at Taoyuan Airport and Bank of Taiwan branches give fair rates for US dollars, euros and yen.

Tipping is not expected. Sit-down restaurants and hotels add a 10 percent service charge, and taxi drivers 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 showing the Tax Refund sign; bring your passport.

• Eat the local way: breakfast shops, lunch boxes (biandang, NT$90 to NT$130) and night markets keep food under NT$600 a day.
• Stay near Main Station or Ximending: the same comfort costs NT$1,000 to NT$2,000 less a night than in Xinyi, and transport is better.
• Use free viewpoints: Elephant Mountain’s 20-minute climb faces Taipei 101 head on and costs nothing.
• Skip passes you will not use: a stored-value card beats the One-Day Pass on most sightseeing days.
• Day trips by public transport: Jiufen, the Pingxi Line, Tamsui and the north coast cost NT$200 to NT$500 return by bus and train, against NT$2,000 or more for a tour.
• Drink from convenience stores: a can of Taiwan Beer at 7-Eleven costs a quarter of the bar price.
• Travel midweek: hotel rates and the gondola and Jiufen queues drop from Monday to Thursday.

Per person, two travellers sharing a room, excluding flights and including the Airport MRT both ways and a tourist SIM.

The 3-day plans cover Taipei 101, the National Palace Museum, a temple and night-market day, and an evening in Beitou; backpackers use the public bath, mid-range travellers a private room for two, and comfortable travellers a resort soak and a taxi to and from the airport. The 5-day versions add a day trip to Jiufen and the Pingxi Line, the Maokong Gondola and a Yangmingshan hike. For how to arrange those days, see the Taipei itineraries.

Taipei travel guide · Food · Getting Around · Itineraries · Where to Stay