Taipei Off the Beaten Path: 6 Day Plan
Six days keeps the 5-day spine , artist village, wetlands, factories, the UNESCO temple, Shezidao, and adds a sixth day built around Taipei’s two weekend-only markets. Time this one deliberately: the market half only exists Saturday and Sunday, so slot Day 6 accordingly rather than treating the days as strictly sequential. Still zero day trips. Get an EasyCard on arrival.
Book these before you go
- Taipei 101 observatory ticket , NT$600 standard
- Maokong Gondola tea house tour , for Day 4
- National Palace Museum timed-entry ticket , NT$350, for Day 3
Day 1: the artist village and the love god
Morning: Treasure Hill, free. Afternoon: Dadaocheng and Xiahai City God Temple, Yue Lao the matchmaker god. Evening: Ximending, then Raohe or Ningxia night market, NT$50-70 stinky tofu, cash preferred.
Day 2: temple smoke to a free skyline
Morning: Longshan Temple and Bopiliao Old Street. Midday: Din Tai Fung, NT$500-800 a head. Afternoon: Taipei 101, NT$600 standard ticket, skip the roughly NT$3,000 add-on. Evening: Elephant Mountain, free skyline shot.
Day 3: the museum and the wetlands
Morning: National Palace Museum, NT$350. Afternoon: Guandu Temple and Nature Park, a cave shrine and a wetland boardwalk over the river confluence.
Day 4: two factories and a temple that dislikes couples
Morning: Huashan 1914 Creative Park. Midday: Songshan Cultural and Creative Park. Afternoon into evening: Maokong Gondola up to Zhinan Temple, tea at a hillside plantation, back down as the lights come on.
Day 5: the UNESCO temple and the island time forgot
Morning: Baoan Temple (a 2003 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Award restoration) and the incense-free Taipei Confucius Temple next door. Afternoon: Shezidao, undeveloped since a 1970s flood-control law, farmland and cycling lanes a short ride from Shilin’s crowds.
Day 6: two markets that only exist on weekends
If Day 6 lands on a Saturday or Sunday, spend the morning under the Jianguo elevated expressway in Da’an, where a flower market fills one side and a jade and stone market the other. Neither runs on a weekday, which is exactly why most short trips miss both entirely. If Day 6 falls midweek, swap the order and use a weekend day earlier in the trip instead; the markets are worth rearranging the schedule for.
Afternoon: Da’an Forest Park, Taipei’s closest thing to a lung, then Yongkang Street for dinner, family-run beef-noodle and dumpling shops that outclass anything with a queue made mostly of tour groups.
Six days at a glance
| Day | Focus | Cost level |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Treasure Hill, Dadaocheng, Xiahai temple, night market | Mostly free |
| 2 | Longshan Temple, Din Tai Fung, Taipei 101, Elephant Mountain | NT$500-800 lunch, NT$600 observatory |
| 3 | National Palace Museum, Guandu wetlands | NT$350 museum |
| 4 | Huashan, Songshan Creative Park, Zhinan Temple | Mostly free |
| 5 | Baoan and Confucius Temples, Shezidao | Free |
| 6 | Jianguo flower/jade market, Da’an Forest Park, Yongkang St | Market goods vary, dinner NT$200-400 |
Do I have to visit the markets on an actual weekend?
Yes, that part isn’t flexible. Both the flower and jade sections of the Jianguo market operate Saturday and Sunday only; a Tuesday visit finds an empty underpass. Build your six days around at least one weekend morning if this stop matters to you.
Is six days too many for a city this size?
Not if you’re skipping the standard checklist the way this itinerary does. Six days at the mainstream sights alone would feel padded; six days spread across nine hidden gems, two UNESCO-adjacent temples, and an undeveloped island barely scratches everything the city has once you stop repeating the same four stops.
Base yourself in Zhongshan or Da’an for the week; both keep every stop above one MRT change away. Keep small NT bills on hand throughout. For the rest of Taiwan once these six days are done, see the Taipei and beyond gateway guide .