Taipei in 7 Days on a Budget (With Daily Costs)
A week in Taipei means you don’t have to rush anything, temples and museums early, hot springs and a bike ride mid-week, and three more in-city days most guidebooks never mention. EasyCard on day one, non-negotiable. Want the north coast and Sun Moon Lake instead of the back half of this route, see our Taipei + Taiwan 6-day itinerary ; only have six days here, use the 6-day version .
Book these before you go:
- Ximending, Da’an, or Zhongshan stays on Agoda
- National Palace Museum tickets or a guided visit
- Maokong Gondola and tea-house tastings
Where to stay: Ximending for budget and nightlife, Da’an for quiet streets near National Taiwan University, or Zhongshan for a central mid-range base close to Songshan Airport.
Day 1: temples and imperial art
Soy milk breakfast (NT$50-150), then Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, free grounds, free Liberty Square, changing of the guard on a set schedule worth checking online. National Palace Museum, NT$350, three to four hours for the jadeite cabbage, the meat-shaped stone, and one of the world’s great collections of Chinese imperial art. Lunch at Din Tai Fung (NT$500-800, a real queue, and a Taiwanese chain since 1958, not an import from anywhere) or cheaper on Yongkang Street. Longshan Temple in the afternoon, free, oldest working temple in the city. Dinner at Raohe Night Market over Shilin, better food for less crowd, NT$150-250.
Day 2: the skyline, done cheaply
Elephant Mountain in the morning, free, steep, 20-40 minutes, the classic 101 shot without a ticket. Ximending for lunch, NT$100-150. Taipei 101 in the afternoon, NT$600 standard observatory ticket, skip the NT$3,000 Skyline 460 unless the outdoor skywalk specifically matters to you. Correction worth carrying with you: tallest building in the world 2004-2010 only, not now. Dinner at Ningxia Night Market, NT$150-250.
Day 3: hot springs and tea plantations
Beitou by direct MRT, no transfers, free public foot baths, paid spa optional. Maokong Gondola in the afternoon, NT$70-120 one-way by stops, NT$50 more for a crystal cabin, tea at a mountaintop tea house. Dinner around Yongkang Street.
Day 4: Dadaocheng and Tamsui by bike
Morning in Dadaocheng’s old merchant quarter, tea and dried-goods shops, a genuinely photogenic old street. Rent a YouBike (enroll in the free bicycle injury insurance through the app first, mandatory since January 1, 2026) and ride the flat riverside path to Tamsui. Iron eggs and a-gei (NT$50-100), sunset over the harbor, then MRT straight back.
Day 4 spend: roughly NT$100-200, the cheapest day of the week.
Day 5: the design-district day most itineraries skip
Bopiliao Historic Block in Wanhua first, a preserved run of Qing-dynasty and Japanese-era shophouses near Longshan Temple, free and far quieter than the temple itself. Songshan Cultural and Creative Park next, a converted 1937 tobacco factory turned free exhibition space. Afternoon in Da’an Forest Park, then coffee on the surrounding streets. Dinner at Shilin Night Market on purpose this time, now that you’ve spent four nights comparing Raohe and Ningxia against it.
Day 5 spend: roughly NT$150-300.
Day 6: temples and neighborhoods off the tourist map
Morning in Datong district: Taipei Confucius Temple, quiet and free, next to Dalongdong Baoan Temple, an ornately restored Qing-era temple with a fraction of Longshan’s crowds. Both sit near Dalongdong and Yuanshan MRT stations. Afternoon wandering Zhongshan’s design lanes and boutique streets. Dinner at Shida Night Market near National Taiwan Normal University, smaller and more student-priced than the week’s other markets, most items NT$50-150.
Day 6 spend: roughly NT$100-250.
Day 7: a slow finish and the flight home
Morning at the National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, free grounds and its own changing-of-the-guard ceremony, quieter than the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial and an easy MRT ride from Xinyi. Spend what’s left of the morning back in whichever neighborhood won you over this week, Ximending for one more people-watch, Da’an for a last specialty coffee, rather than chasing something new on your final day. For a last dinner, return to whichever night market you liked best rather than starting over.
If you’re flying out the next morning, the Airport MRT Express to Taoyuan runs 35-38 minutes for NT$160, tapped off your EasyCard, budget at least 3 hours before your flight to cover the ride plus check-in.
Day 7 spend: roughly NT$100-250 for a last dinner and MRT fares, the memorial hall itself is free.
| Day | Focus | Rough spend |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Temples, National Palace Museum, Raohe Night Market | NT$1,000-1,400 |
| 2 | Elephant Mountain, Ximending, Taipei 101, Ningxia Night Market | NT$850-1,000 |
| 3 | Beitou hot springs, Maokong Gondola, Yongkang Street | NT$300-600 |
| 4 | Dadaocheng, YouBike to Tamsui | NT$100-200 |
| 5 | Bopiliao, Songshan Cultural Park, Da’an Forest Park, Shilin | NT$150-300 |
| 6 | Confucius Temple, Dalongdong Baoan Temple, Zhongshan, Shida | NT$100-250 |
| 7 | Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, favorite-neighborhood revisit | NT$100-250 |
How much does a full week in Taipei cost on a budget?
Total spend across the seven days lands around NT$2,600-4,000 for food, tickets, and MRT fares, before your hotel. Four of the seven days come in under NT$300 each, this itinerary front-loads the paid sights (museum, observatory) into days 1 and 2 and coasts on free temples, parks, and neighborhoods for the rest of the week.
Things to know across the week: MRT runs about 6am-midnight and bans eating or drinking, water included, past the fare gates, fines NT$1,500-7,500. Cash matters at every market regardless of how EasyCard-friendly everything else feels. Typhoon season runs June through October, peak August-September, mainly a factor for flights rather than anything on this in-city route.
Last practical note: don’t book Skyline 460 tickets in advance for a specific day this early in the week. Wait until you’ve seen the weather, then decide if the NT$3,000 splurge is worth it over the free view you already got from Elephant Mountain on Day 2.