Where to stay in Taipei: six areas compared, with the Airport MRT route

Taipei is an easy city to base yourself in. The MRT is the backbone, the city is flat except at the edges, and almost every area a visitor uses is a short ride from Taipei Main Station. No area on this list is a bad base. What changes is the character of your street after dark, how many transfers you make with luggage, and how much you pay for a room of the same size. This page sits under the wider Taipei guide and the Taiwan overview.

One question settles most choices. Will you use Taipei Main Station a lot, for the Airport MRT, the high-speed rail or day trips by train? Then stay one stop from it, in Zhongshan or Ximending. If you want to walk out into food and quiet side streets, Da'an costs a little more and suits slow, food-led trips. If you are in town for a conference or shopping, Xinyi is the polished option, and if you are watching your budget, Wanhua is the cheapest of the six.

The price bands below are a rough relative guide to a standard double, not live rates, so check the price for your dates. Rooms in Taipei are compact, so look at the room size and the walk from the station before you look at the price. Check whether a quoted rate includes tax and any service charge, and compare totals, not headlines.

Zhongshan runs north from Taipei Main Station along Zhongshan North Road, and it is the strongest all-round base for a first trip. Zhongshan Station is one stop from Taipei Main on the red line, so the Airport MRT, the high-speed rail and the trains toward Keelung and Ruifang, the stop for Jiufen, are all close. A department store stands next to the station, and the lanes behind it are full of small cafés, design shops and places to eat.

On foot you can reach Ningxia night market and Dihua Street in Dadaocheng, the old merchant district by the river. The neighborhood is busy in the day and quiet late at night, apart from the convenience stores. Hotels are mostly mid-range, many of them newer builds with good soundproofing.

The one drawback is scooter traffic on the main roads in the morning rush. Ask for a room on a side street or on a high floor.

Da'an is the leafy residential district south and east of the center, the kind of neighborhood many residents would pick if they could. Yongkang Street, by Dongmen Station, is one of the city's best-known food streets, with dumpling shops, beef noodle places and tea houses. Da'an Forest Park is a large central park, and the lanes around Shida, the university area, have cheap food and bookshops.

It is the best area for walking out of your hotel into daily life. The side streets are quiet at night, with trees and small shops at ground level. Dongmen and Da'an stations put you on the red line toward Taipei Main Station and Zhongshan, the orange line toward Xinzhuang, and the brown line toward Songshan Airport and the Taipei Zoo.

Hotels are fewer and tend to cost more than in Zhongshan, and many are boutique places in older buildings. Book early for weekends.

Ximending is Taipei's youth shopping district, west of Taipei Main Station: pedestrian streets full of sneaker shops, street food, cinemas and arcades, plus the Red House, a restored 1908 market hall. It is busy late every night and loud on weekends. For many visitors that is the point.

Ximen Station is one stop from Taipei Main on the blue line, which makes the airport run as easy as from Zhongshan. Rooms are generally cheaper than in the other central areas, and the choice of small hotels and hostels is wide. Longshan Temple and the old streets of Wanhua are one stop further west, and the Presidential Office Building and 228 Peace Memorial Park are within walking distance to the east.

Pick your street carefully. Inside the pedestrian zone the noise goes on late. A few blocks away, it drops quickly, so check the hotel's exact address on the map.

Xinyi is Taipei's newest district, east of the center, built around Taipei 101, a cluster of department stores and malls linked by elevated walkways, and the bars that fill up on weekend nights. The Elephant Mountain trail, at the end of the red line, is a short climb to the classic view of Taipei 101, best in the evening light.

Hotels here are mostly large and international, and prices reflect it. It is the most polished area on this list and the least like the rest of Taipei. The old city, Dadaocheng and the night markets are a longer MRT ride away, and the airport run needs a change at Taipei Main Station.

Choose Xinyi for a short business trip, a special occasion, or a trip built around shopping and nightlife. For a first trip on a normal budget, Zhongshan or Da'an give you more of the city.

Wanhua is the oldest part of Taipei, along the river southwest of Ximending. Longshan Temple, founded in the 18th century, is its center, busy with worshippers from morning to night. Around it are the restored Bopiliao historic block and two night markets, Huaxi Street and Guangzhou Street.

It is the cheapest area on this list for a clean room, and it has a local, lived-in feel that the newer districts lack. The blue line from Longshan Temple Station reaches Ximen in one stop and Taipei Main Station in two.

Some streets near the park by the temple can feel rough at night, with people sleeping out and a few older bars. It is not polished, so check recent reviews for your exact street. If that bothers you, Ximending is one stop away for a little more money.

Beitou is a hot spring district in the hills at the north end of the city. The Japanese built the first bathhouses here in the early 1900s, and the old public bathhouse is now the Beitou Hot Spring Museum. Thermal Valley, a steaming green pool, is a short walk up the valley. Hotels here pipe hot spring water into private baths in the rooms, and that is why you come.

It is a night, not a base. Xinbeitou Station is on a short branch of the red line, so reaching the center means a change and a longer trip than from any other area. The town is quiet after dinner. It works best as one night at the end of a trip, or the middle of a longer one, rather than a whole stay.

Book a room with its own hot spring bath and check the water type. Some baths are sulfur-rich and cloudy, and the smell can be strong.

Most international flights land at Taoyuan, west of the city, and the Taoyuan Airport MRT is the standard way in. Taoyuan Metro runs two kinds of train on the same line. The express, marked in purple, stops only at Taipei Main Station, New Taipei Industrial Park, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and the airport terminals. The commuter train, marked in blue, stops at every station. Both have a 15-minute headway, and because the departures are staggered, a train leaves Taipei Main Station about every seven minutes.

Taoyuan Metro also lists an In-Town Check-In and luggage handling service at Taipei Main Station, where participating travelers can check in, get boarding passes and send luggage ahead through the luggage car of the express trains. Whether your airline takes part is a question for the airline, so check before you plan a bag-free afternoon. Taipei Main Station is a large complex, so allow extra time to walk from the Airport MRT platforms to the city MRT, the high-speed rail or the regular trains, especially with two large cases. For Zhongshan, Ximending and Wanhua you are then one or two stops from your hotel, and for Da'an and Xinyi you add a change.

Taxis are an option if you land late or carry a lot of luggage, and they run on the meter. If you arrive when the train is not running, ask your hotel about the bus to the center or a pre-booked car. Some regional flights use Songshan Airport, inside the city on the brown MRT line, which is a much shorter ride from most hotels.

The MRT is the backbone. Lines are named and color-coded, and Taoyuan Metro lists single-journey tickets, a one-day pass and stored-value cards among its ticket types, so check what the station machines and your card cover before you buy. Eating, drinking and chewing gum are not allowed in the MRT's no-food-or-drink areas. The Taipei Metro regulations list them as prohibited.

Buses fill the gaps, especially for the National Palace Museum and the hills around Beitou. Walking is easy in Zhongshan, Da'an and Ximending, where covered arcades along many main streets keep you out of the rain and the sun. In summer, plan outdoor walks for the morning and evening and keep a rain plan, because afternoon weather can turn quickly.

Book early for Lunar New Year, which moves between late January and mid-February, and for long weekends around national holidays, when rooms in popular areas sell out and prices rise. At check-in, show your passport; hotels ask for it from every guest.

The Taiwan Tourism Administration says Taiwan uses electric current of 110 volts at 60 cycles, with two-hole sockets, and that appliances from Europe, Australia or Southeast Asia will need an adaptor or transformer. Most phone and laptop chargers handle the voltage, but check the label on hair dryers and other appliances, and pack a plug adaptor.