Win a trip to Santorini for two, $3,000Enter free
Skip to main content

The Best Area to Stay in Taipei, Rated by What Each One Costs You

Taipei is the rare city where the usual question does not apply. Every district here is a measured two to ten minutes from a metro station, so distance is not what separates them. What separates them is noise, price and what the street does after nine o'clock, and that is what this page rates.

By Emma9 min readPublished
Table of contents
Taipei 101 rising above the city at sunset, seen across the wooded hills
Photo: 中岑 范姜 from Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China · CC BY-SA 2.0

In Brief

Which is the best area to stay in Taipei?

Zhongshan for a first visit: quiet at night, on two metro lines, and a short ride from everywhere. Ximending if you want the noise and the cheapest beds, Da'an if you want the best eating, and Xinyi if the trip is shopping and Taipei 101. The one thing not to optimise for is distance, because the MRT makes all seven of these areas about the same.

Key takeaways

  • Measured to the nearest MRT: Zhongshan under a minute, Songshan 2, Ximending 3, Da'an 3, Xinyi 3, Dadaocheng 10
  • The National Palace Museum has no MRT station: our routing puts it 3.1 km and 41 minutes on foot from Shilin
  • A Taipei Metro One-Day Pass is NT$150 and the 24-hour pass NT$180, both from the operator's own ticket page
  • Night markets decide the noise: Raohe in Songshan and Ximending run late, Zhongshan and Da'an do not

Taipei neighborhoods at a glance

The best areas to stay in Taipei, compared for vibe, price and who each suits.

AreaBest forPriceIn a word
Zhongshanfirst timers, food$$The quiet first-visit answer, on two lines and full of coffee
Ximendingbudget, nightlife$The loud one, the cheap one, and the one people mean by young Taipei
Da'anfood, families$$$Where the eating is, and where Taipei feels most like a place people live
Xinyiluxury, shopping$$$Taipei 101, the malls, and the version of the city on the postcards
Zhongzhengbudget, first timers$$Taipei Main Station, and the trade-off that comes with a transport hub
Dadaochengfood, shopping$$The old merchant quarter, and the one that rewards a second visit
Songshanfood, budget$$Raohe night market at the door, which is the point and the problem
Compare all hotels in TaipeiFilter by area, price and map
  • Free cancellation on most rooms
  • No booking fee
  • Prices on Trip.com
Flights to TaipeiCompare airlines and dates

Best areas to stay in Taipei

Ranked best-first, with the vibe, who it suits and an honest catch for each. Tap a filter to match an area to your trip.

Find your area - what matters most?

All 7 areas in Taipei, best first.

  • Zhongshan in Taipei

    Zhongshan

    $$ · Mid-range

    The quiet first-visit answer, on two lines and full of coffee

    Best for:First-timersFood & wineShoppingRomance

    A grid of Japanese-era side streets between Taipei Main Station and the river, now the city's coffee and small-design district, with Xingtian Temple at its northern end. Our routing puts the nearest MRT entrance at 20 metres from the middle of it, which is as connected as Taipei gets, and the station sits on the red and green lines. It is the area we would send a first-time visitor to.

    Good to know
    It has no headline sight of its own, so it can feel like nowhere in particular on the first afternoon. That is also why it is quiet at eleven at night when Ximending is not.
    See Zhongshan hotelsLive prices for your dates
  • Ximending in Taipei

    Ximending

    $ · Budget

    The loud one, the cheap one, and the one people mean by young Taipei

    Best for:BudgetNightlifeShoppingFirst-timers

    A pedestrianised block of neon, street performers, cinemas and cheap food, three measured minutes from Ximen station. It is Taipei's Shibuya comparison and it earns it after dark. Longshan Temple is a measured twenty minutes' walk southwest and Taipei Main Station sixteen minutes northeast, so you can walk out of it in either direction.

    Good to know
    It is genuinely loud until late and the hotel stock is mostly small business rooms rather than anything characterful. Ask for a room off the pedestrian streets, and do not book here if you are travelling with anyone who wakes easily.
    See Ximending hotelsLive prices for your dates
  • Da'an in Taipei

    Da'an

    $$$ · High-end

    Where the eating is, and where Taipei feels most like a place people live

    Best for:Food & wineFamiliesLuxuryRomance

    Tree-lined streets around Daan Forest Park, with Yongkang Street's food strip a measured three minutes from Dongmen station and 240 metres from the middle of it. This is where the beef noodle and xiaolongbao arguments happen. It is the most pleasant part of central Taipei to walk around in the evening and the prices reflect that.

    Good to know
    It is the most expensive of the seven and the least dramatic. If your trip is three days of sights rather than a week of eating, you are paying for something you may not use.
    See Da'an hotelsLive prices for your dates
  • Xinyi in Taipei

    Xinyi

    $$$ · High-end

    Taipei 101, the malls, and the version of the city on the postcards

    Best for:LuxuryShoppingNightlifeFirst-timers

    The planned business and shopping district under Taipei 101, three measured minutes from the Taipei 101 station and sixteen minutes' walk from Taipei City Hall station at the other end. Wide pavements, department stores, the best hotel stock in the city and the Elephant Mountain trailhead close enough to walk to for sunset.

    Good to know
    It is a business district, which shows on a Sunday morning and in what a coffee costs. It is also the furthest of the seven from the old Taipei most people came to see.
    See Xinyi hotelsLive prices for your dates
  • Zhongzheng in Taipei

    Zhongzheng

    $$ · Mid-range

    Taipei Main Station, and the trade-off that comes with a transport hub

    Best for:BudgetFirst-timersSightseeing

    The government and transport core: the Presidential Office Building, Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall a measured eight minutes from its own station, and Taipei Main Station itself, where the metro, the high-speed rail, the conventional railway and the airport line all meet. If you are moving on to Tainan or Kaohsiung, sleeping here removes a journey.

    Good to know
    The blocks immediately around Taipei Main Station are the least charming part of central Taipei, and the station itself is a genuinely confusing building with multiple levels and operators. Give yourself longer than you think for the first departure.
    See Zhongzheng hotelsLive prices for your dates
  • Dadaocheng in Taipei

    Dadaocheng

    $$ · Mid-range

    The old merchant quarter, and the one that rewards a second visit

    Best for:Food & wineShoppingRomance

    Dihua Street's nineteenth-century shophouses, now dried-goods merchants, tea sellers, fabric shops and a growing number of small bars, running down to the river at Dadaocheng Wharf, a measured twelve minutes from Beimen station. It is the most atmospheric street in Taipei and the least like everywhere else.

    Good to know
    It is the only area here where the walk to the metro is real: ten measured minutes from the middle of Dihua Street to Beimen. It also closes early, so it is a daytime and early-evening neighbourhood rather than a late one.
    See Dadaocheng hotelsLive prices for your dates
  • Songshan in Taipei

    Songshan

    $$ · Mid-range

    Raohe night market at the door, which is the point and the problem

    Best for:Food & wineBudgetNightlife

    The eastern district around Songshan station, two measured minutes from Raohe Street Night Market and the Ciyou Temple beside it. Raohe is the night market we would send you to over Shilin: it is one straight covered street rather than a maze, and the food is better. The station is on the green line and the airport bus stops nearby.

    Good to know
    A night market operates until well after midnight and the smell of stinky tofu carries. That is a feature if you booked for it and a problem if you booked on price alone.
    See Songshan hotelsLive prices for your dates

Safest area to stay in Taipei

Taipei is among the safest large cities anywhere, and the honest ranking here is about quiet rather than crime. Zhongshan, Da'an and Zhongzheng are the calmest places to sleep: residential or institutional, well lit, and empty of nightlife by midnight. The risk you should actually plan around in Taipei is not theft, it is typhoons and heat.

  • Zhongshan is a residential grid of side streets that empties after the cafes close, with the best metro access in the city at the end of it.

  • Da'an is tree-lined and residential around Daan Forest Park, and its evening crowd is people eating dinner rather than people drinking.

  • Zhongzheng is government and institutional, so its streets are quiet and heavily lit after office hours, if a little lifeless.

Two things are worth more of your planning attention than crime. The first is typhoon season, roughly June to October, when a direct hit closes the metro, the trains and the airport, and the city declares a typhoon day at short notice; if a warning is issued, the day trips on this site's Taipei day-trips page stop being possible. The second is heat and humidity in July and August, which is what makes the difference between an area three minutes from the metro and one ten minutes away feel much larger than it looks. Taipei's other genuine hazard is scooter traffic at crossings, which moves faster and closer than most visitors expect.

Where not to stay in Taipei

There is no part of central Taipei we would tell you not to book, and the real mistake here is a different one: choosing on distance. Every district on this page is a measured two to ten minutes from a metro station, and the MRT gets you across the city faster than any walk would, so optimising for proximity to Taipei 101 or Longshan Temple buys you very little. Choose on noise and price instead. One genuine planning trap worth knowing before you book anything: the National Palace Museum, which is the city's headline museum, has no MRT station at all. Our routing puts it 3,087 metres and 41 minutes on foot from Shilin station and 3,915 metres from Jiantan, so it is a bus or a taxi from the metro whichever way you come.

Getting around Taipei

The MRT is the whole answer and it is the reason this page rates areas on noise rather than distance. Buy a stored-value EasyCard, which the metro operator lists at NT$100 to NT$120 and which works on the metro, buses, the Maokong gondola and in convenience stores. If you are riding heavily, the operator sells a One-Day Pass at NT$150, valid until the end of service on the day, and a 24-hour Taipei Metro Pass at NT$180, both covering the Taipei Metro and the New Taipei Metro Circular Line. Single fares are distance-based and the operator does not publish a flat figure on its English ticket pages, so use its own fare enquiry tool rather than a blog's number. One naming trap: Shilin Night Market is closer to Jiantan station, a measured seven minutes, than to the station that shares its name, which is ten.

Where to stay in Taipei: FAQ

The questions travelers ask most when choosing an area.

Zhongshan, and the reason is that it removes the two things that go wrong on a first Taipei trip. It is quiet at night, which Ximending and Songshan are not, and it sits directly on two metro lines with the nearest entrance a measured twenty metres from the middle of the district, so nothing in the city is more than a short ride away. It has no headline sight of its own, which is the trade. If you want a sight on the doorstep instead, Zhongzheng puts you beside Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Taipei Main Station, and Xinyi puts you under Taipei 101.

They are opposite answers to the same question. Ximending is the cheapest area here, three measured minutes from Ximen station, pedestrianised, and loud until late; it is where you stay if you are young, on a budget, or actively want the neon. Xinyi is the most expensive, three minutes from the Taipei 101 station, full of malls and the city's best hotel stock, and effectively silent by ten because it is a business district. Ximending is twenty minutes' walk from Longshan Temple and the old city; Xinyi is as far from that Taipei as you can get and still be central.

You will be near one wherever you book, which is what makes Taipei different from most cities we cover. Our routing from the middle of each district here gives Zhongshan 20 metres, Songshan 158, Ximending 194, Xinyi 207, Da'an 236 and Dadaocheng 773, so the worst case among the seven is a ten-minute walk and the rest are under four minutes. That is why this page rates areas on noise and price. The one place proximity genuinely matters is Dadaocheng, where the ten minutes is real and worth knowing about in August heat.

Da'an for sit-down eating and Songshan for night markets, and they are different trips. Da'an has Yongkang Street, a measured three minutes and 240 metres from Dongmen station, which is where the beef noodle and soup dumpling arguments actually happen, plus the tree-lined side streets around Daan Forest Park. Songshan puts you two minutes from Raohe Street Night Market, which we would pick over Shilin because it is one straight covered street rather than a maze and the queues move. Dadaocheng is the third option and the most interesting, though it closes earlier than either.

Not on foot, and this is the single most useful thing to know before you plan a Taipei day around it. The museum has no MRT station. Our pedestrian routing puts it 3,087 metres and 41 minutes from Shilin station, and 3,915 metres and 52 minutes from Jiantan, so you take the metro to Shilin and then a bus or a taxi for the last leg. Budget for that in both directions. The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday 09:00 to 17:00 and closed on Mondays, and general admission is NT$350.

Taipei is among the safest large cities anywhere and street crime is not the thing to plan around. Two other things are. Typhoon season runs roughly June to October, and a direct hit shuts the metro, the railways and the airport, with the city declaring a typhoon day at short notice, so build slack into any tight connection in those months. And July and August are hot and humid enough that the difference between a three-minute walk to the metro and a ten-minute one is much larger in practice than on a map. The everyday hazard most visitors underestimate is scooter traffic at crossings.

Continue Planning Your Trip

Photo credits (7)

Photos via Wikimedia Commons, used under their respective licences.

Taipei hotelsSee hotels