When we travel with the family, we use it as a learning experience for the kids to get to know more about the heritage and culture of the place through its food, unique attractions, and fun activities for the kids.
We visited Taiwan with the family last 2013 with our friend Meg Koh back when we only had our 3 boys Aidan, Joshua, and Raphael.
Now, we are planning to go back to Taipei with Yugi for a fun 5-day family trip. This time around, we’re DIY-ing our itinerary using Agoda travel guides.
First Things First
Flights Manila to Taiwan
The first thing you need to book would be the flights. For long weekends, we would normally go on a 5-day trip from Friday to Tuesday. We always get the first flight out around 6:00 AM to Taipei, then the last flight out around 7:00 PM or later back to Manila.
Taiwan Hotel
After the flight, you have to lock down your accommodations. Look out for properties near attractions for moving around easily. We prefer to book hip local hotels with a location score of 9.0 from Agoda and a feedback rating of 8.4 or above so we know we’ll get great service and accessibility won’t be an issue.
AMBA Hotel
77 Section 2 Wuchang Street Taipei City, Taiwan
HOME Hotel
No. 90, Songren Road, Xinyi District, Taipei City, Taiwan
Trip Proper
DAY 1: Arrival – First Impressions
6:05 – 8:30 am | Manila to Taiwan
9:00 – 10:00 am | Travel to Hotel via Train
10:00 am | Early Check-In (Leave luggage in the Hotel)
11:00 am – 2:00 pm | Mala Hot Pot for Lunch with the Family!!
2:00 pm | Check-in Hotel (Get Settled In and Rest)
5:00 pm | Ximending Shopping and Taiwanese Street Food Trip!
6:00 pm | Toilet Restaurant Dinner
DAY 2: Authentic Modern Taiwan
8:00 – 9:00 am | Hotel Breakfast
9:00 – 11:00 am | Rest/explore the Hotel and prepare for afternoon sight-seeing
11:00 am – 3:00 pm | FOOD TOURS! Check out the Xinyi District Backstreets Food and book an Authentic Taipei Food Tour.
4:00 – 7:00 pm | Creative Park Rounds: Visit Creative Park Inspiration, Huashan 1914 Creative Park, and Songshan Cultural and Creative Park
8:00 pm onwards | Shilin Night Market food crawl and check out some of Taipei’s most irresistible snacks
10:00 pm | Back to Hotel
DAY 3: Traditional Taiwan Trip
8:00 – 9:00 am | Hotel Breakfast
10:00 am | National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall visit
11:00 am | Witness the Changing of the Guards
12:00 nn – 2:00 pm | Lunch at Original Din Tai Fung Location
or Addiction Aquatic Development
3:00 pm – 6:00 pm | Sunset at Taipei 101
7:00 pm | Taiwan Puppet Dinner / Show
DAY 4: Outside Taipei Tour
7:00 – 8:00 am | Early Hotel Breakfast
8:30 am | Start of Tour
Take a one-day tour of Shifen, Pingxi, and Jiufen to visit and experience Yehliu Geological Park, Jiufen Old Street, and setting off lanterns at Pingxi to name a few.
6:00 pm: End of Tour
DAY 5: Closure
Free day for shopping and for hitting your foodie bucket list.
TAIWAN GUIDE: 10 Authentic Things to Do for First-Time Visitors in Taipei ?
https://awesome.blog/awesome/2017/07/taiwan-taipei-things-to-do-shifen-night-market.html
TAIWAN: Awesome Guide to the Heart of Asia! ?? (2017)
https://awesome.blog/awesome/2017/07/taiwan-kaohsiung-tainan-taichung.html
TAIWAN FOOD: The Ultimate Taipei Food Guide!
https://awesome.blog/awesome/2017/09/the-ultimate-taipei-food-guide.html
TAIWAN: First Timer’s Guide to an Awesome Experience in Taipei! #ComeToTaiwan
https://awesome.blog/awesome/2014/07/taiwan-first-timers-guide-to-awesome-experience-in-taipei-cometotaiwan.html
Late check out by 2pm then head to the airport for the flight back to Manila
FINAL THOUGHTS
Final Taiwan Travel tips!
A few quick tips for a memorable family trip in Taiwan!
— Make sure to support local companies—hotel, tour guides, and organizations during your trip. Explain the importance of this to your kids and influence their travel habits.
— Before the actual travel, excite and entice your kids with Taiwanese food, sights, and places you’ll be visiting so they’ll know what to expect and more.
— Plan your social media strategy and use the trip as a training ground for content creation.
— Take the trains and teach your kids how to navigate a city with their phones. Rent a pocket wifi so you’ll always have internet throughout the trip.
— Check on the best times to visit Taipei and schedule your family trip accordingly.
Live an Awesome Life,
Founder, www.OurAwesomePlanet.com
Disclosure: This post is brought to you by Agoda. I wrote this article with my biases, opinions, and insights.
P.S. It would be nice to time your trip during the Taiwan Lantern Festival.
TAIWAN LANTERN FESTIVAL: Taiwan’s Largest Dazzling Dreamland!
https://awesome.blog/awesome/2018/03/taiwan-lantern-festival.html
The food in Taiwan looks delicious. I would love to try both the street food and hot pot, as well as the night markets. Cheers for this Article!
Hi Anton,
Just stumbled upon tour Taiwan Itinerary. I have never been to Taiwan. However, as a travel agent in Nepal, I have welcomed lots of Taiwanese guests. I always ask my clients who are from different parts of the world, what is the best thing in their country? The first answer that I always get from Taiwanese clients is they say we have a food galore, the best food in the world. The second answer is mysterious Island. The second answer sounds spooky. Did you get a chance to visit these mysterious Islands?
Anyways great work here.
Cheers:)
Hello Sir Anton! I have been reading your blogs but this is the first comment I’m leaving here.
My family is planning a 5 day trip in a Southeast Asian country and were considering Taiwan for this year. This post had given us insights for the trip. Thank you!
You are welcome!