Taipei 2026: the Asian city nobody puts on their list but should

Complete Taipei 2026 guide: night markets, Taipei 101, Da'an for digital nomads, Jiufen and everything practical for living or travelling in Taiwan's capital.

The first time I evaluated Taipei as a remote work base, I disqualified it on the first screen. East Asia. UTC+8 time zone. Nine hours ahead of Madrid, eight ahead of London. For a nomad with European clients, that means either very early mornings or afternoon-evening work sessions. Not ideal.

I went anyway. And it took three days to understand I had made an analytical error.

Taipei as a remote work base: the honest analysis

The internet: Taiwan has the highest average download speeds in Asia and is among the world's top ten. At Da'an cafés, the university neighbourhood, I routinely found speeds of 200-400 Mbps. Several cafés explicitly welcome laptops during off-peak hours — something that in tourist cities like Bali or Barcelona has almost vanished.

Cost of living: between €900 and €1,300 per month for a nomad with a moderate lifestyle — decent accommodation in Da'an or Zhongzheng, metro transport and eating well, including the occasional restaurant dinner. More expensive than Southeast Asia (Bangkok or Chiang Mai are €600-900), considerably cheaper than Tokyo (€1,800-2,500) or Seoul (€1,400-1,800).

Safety: Taipei has one of Asia's lowest crime rates. I walked back to the hostel at 2am through Da'an and didn't think about safety once. That doesn't happen in many cities.

The people: Taiwanese people are, consistently, the most helpful I've encountered anywhere in Asia. Not in a performative or tourist-oriented way — it's genuine. When I got lost looking for Ningxia Night Market, three different people walked me to the right street.

Night markets: why they matter more than they seem

Taiwan has dozens of night markets. Shilin is the largest and most famous — and justifiably so. Arriving at 17:30, when stalls are opening and density is still manageable, is the right strategy. By 20:00 the crowd is such that moving between stalls requires planning.

Must-try dishes at Shilin: oyster vermicelli (a thick soup with oysters and sweet potato), bubble tea (the original Taiwanese version is different from what you know from international chains — lighter, with more real texture in the pearls), and stinky tofu. The fermented tofu smells like advanced blue cheese from ten metres away. It tastes considerably better than it smells.

The Raohe Night Market, in the east of the city, is my preferred alternative for a second market night: more local, less touristy, with a black pepper and pork stall that has a constant queue.

Taipei 101 and Xinyi: the skyline from inside

Taipei 101 is Taiwan's most photographed building and one of Asia's most recognisable. The lift to the 89th floor — the outdoor observation deck — takes 37 seconds to cover the 382-metre journey. The tuned mass damper inside, a 660-tonne steel sphere suspended from steel cables on floors 87-92, is the world's largest and most publicly accessible seismic engineering device. Don't skip it.

The Xinyi neighbourhood around the 101 is Taipei's most commercial and modern. Useful for shopping malls and metro access, less interesting for authentic gastronomy.

Da'an and the National Palace Museum

Da'an is the neighbourhood I'd live in if I stayed more than a month in Taipei. Universities, parks, the city's highest density of speciality cafés and restaurants of every type at reasonable prices. The MRT metro is the backbone of transport and Da'an sits at the intersection of the main lines.

The National Palace Museum deserves half a day without rushing. Seven hundred thousand pieces from the Beijing Palace moved to Taiwan in 1949 — the world's largest collection of Chinese imperial art. The pieces everyone looks for are the Meat-shaped Stone and the Jadeite Cabbage. Both are on the main ground floor; they carry a 20-30 minute queue in high season but are worth the time.

Jiufen: the lantern village

50 minutes by bus from Taipei Main Station, Jiufen is the kind of place that appears in every Taiwan photograph and still exceeds expectations. The staircase streets, the food stalls, the teahouses with Pacific views and the red lanterns in every alley. The practical recommendation: arrive on a Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon, avoiding weekends when buses from Taipei fill up and the village gets overwhelmed.

The practical stuff: the EasyCard covers metro, buses and some convenience stores (Taiwan's 7-Elevens are a cultural phenomenon in their own right). Taxis are cheap for long distances. The no-drinking rule on the metro is strictly enforced — a fine of 1,500 TWD (around €45) if you're caught with a drink, even water.