Read Before You Go ! - Taiwan Travel Guide
At Topology Travel, we make sure that our guests are well taken care of for their entire stay in Taiwan. Thus, we provide a list of Taiwan travel tips and useful guide below for your reference when planning for Taiwan tour.
Weather
Luggage
Capacity
Basic Packing Tips
Money Exchange
& Daily Budget
Tipping
Etiquette
SIM Card
& WIFI
Electricity
Emergency
Safety
Eating Habit
Language
Holiday
Free & Easy Tips
Taiwan Weather
■ Temperature:
Take Taipei for example, the average temperature is 25~30 °C from May to October; 15~25 °C from November to April.
■ Precipitation:
■ Rainy season:
- Northern Taiwan: May to June.
- Southern Taiwan: June to August.
■ Typhoon season: July to September.
■ Snowy season: Late December to February (only in some specific high mountains)
The weather may be unsettled sometimes, so to make sure that you bring the suitable clothes, please check the weather forecast before departure.
Taiwan Central Weather Bureau http://www.cwb.gov.tw/eng/index.htm
Luggage Capacity
Your trip can be incredibly light and easy with the right packing.
How you pack your luggage depends on how long and in what season you will be traveling. Whether the transportation that you’re going to use during the trip can carry all of your luggage or not is also another important factor that you need to consider when packing.
Therefore, here’s the luggage capacity of the vehicles that we use for private tour. We hope this can help you pick the right suitcase.
■ Luggage size guide
Specification
Size (Height x Width x Depth)
Travel Days
Carry on or Check in
20 inches
55 x 40 x 20 cm
3-5
Carry on
24 inches
67 x 44 x 26 cm
5-7
Check in
27 inches
70 x 45 x 29 cm
above 7
Check in
29 inches
74 x 47 x 31 cm
above 7
Check in
■ 5 seater sedan (passengers: 1~3 pax)
e.g: Toyota Camry or Toyota Wish
+
+
OR
maximum
seating capacity
maximum
seating capacity
■ 8 seater van (passengers: 4~7 pax)
e.g: Volkswagen T5 Caravelle or Hyundai Starex
+
maximum seating capacity
■ 21 seater bus (passengers: 8~16 pax)
■ 43 seater bus (passengers: 17~40 pax)
x 16
x 16
+
x 40
x 35
+
Basic Packing Tips for Taiwan tour
Summer
√ Sunglasses
√ Hat
√ Sunscreen
Mountain
√ Jacket / long-sleeve clothes
√ anti-mosquito measures
! Please avoid wearing colorful clothes and perfume to prevent wasp attacks.
Rainy Season
Beaches
√ Umbrellas
√ Raincoats
√ Shorts / Bikini
√ Sandals
√ Sunscreen
! Due to safety concern, please follow the tour guide’s instructions. You may not be allowed to play around in some sea areas.
Hot Spring
■ Public hot spring pool
√ Swimming Suit / Pants
√ Swimming Caps
√ Towels
! You are not allowed to wear any clothes in Japanese nude bathing hot spring.
Money Exchange & Daily Budget
■ Money Exchange
Taiwan’s unit of currency is the New Taiwan Dollar (NTD or TWD).
The most convenient place to exchange money is at the airport because the window for exchanging money is easy to find and it is open 24/7. In general, if you exchange money at the Bank of Taiwan (operated by our government; Taiwanese also exchange money here when we go aboard), the rates at all the branches are the same no matter you exchange the money at the airport or in the city. The only difference is that the branch at the airport will charge the processing fee of 30 NTD (around 1 USD) per time (no matter how much you exchange at one time.) Since the processing fee is pretty small, we recommend you to exchange the money at the airport. Besides, you don’t have to waste time finding a bank in the city. Please note that it is not easy to come across a bank in the countryside.
Most importantly, If you are planing to exchange with US Dollar, please bring new USD banknotes to exchange. Otherwise, the bank will charge you the old banknotes processing fee which is 0.3 TWD per 1 USD old banknotes. This means that if you bring 100 USD old banknotes to exchange, the bank will charge you 30 TWD processing fee which is around 1 USD.
Please note that the rate at the hotels, department stores or in the Taipei 101 may be lower than the one at the bank.
Most ATM machines in Taiwan accept international systems like Cirrus and Plus. Therefore, withdrawing cash from ATM machines will be the easiest way to get money. Before you leave home with your ATM card, please make sure that the Cirrus or PLUS networks are readily available where you’re going.
Traveler’s checks are not commonly used in Taiwan.
■ Daily Budget
The standard of living in Taiwan lies in the middle among Asian countries. It’s lower than Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong; but it’s a bit higher than China and the rest of Southeast Asian countries.
- Coca Cola 600 ml: 29 NTD (nearly 1 USD)
- Mcdonald’s combo meal: about 3-5 USD
If your tour fee includes meals, you only need to prepare 500 NTD per person per day for local snacks/drinks and souvenirs. If your tour fee excludes meals and entrance fees, we suggest you prepare 1,500-2,000 NTD per person per day.
Price in Taiwan are generally reasonable. Travelers don’t need to worry about being ripped off. Therefore, bargaining is uncommon in Taiwan. Generally speaking, we don’t bargain in department stores and shops. Sometimes, We do bargain a bit in night markets or with street side vendors in tourists spots. As a gauge, the reasonable range for bargaining is 5-10% discount. It’s likely that the more you buy, the more discounts you can get.
Tipping Etiquette in Taiwan
We want our customers to be able to tip whatever amount they are comfortable with. Normally, we suggest tipping around 300-500 NTD per guest per day to show appreciation for excellent performance. It could be more if you are extremely satisfied with our service.
SIM Card & WIFI in Taiwan
It’s convenient to get a prepaid mobile SIM card at the airport. There are various packages with varying data and airtime to meet your different needs. Each SIM card costs about 500-1,000 NTD. Please prepare 2 Identification Documents(ID) such as your passport or driver license when buying a SIM card. Remember to inform the counter your device’s model so that you can get the right SIM card.
The Taiwanese government has built an iTaiwan WiFi system to provide free WiFi service to foreign visitors. Free WiFi in Taiwan has more than 4,400 hotspots available in public areas such as government agencies, hospitals, airports, transport systems, etc. To access the free iTaiwan WiFi, you need a cell phone number to activate it in two easy steps.
iTaiwan website http://itaiwan.taiwan.net.tw/
Electricity in Taiwan
Taiwan’s electrical voltage standard is 110 Volts/60 Hertz with two-pin plugs (Type A). If your appliance does not support 110V/60 Hz, you should prepare a voltage converter.
Emergency number in Taiwan
■ For police : 110
■ For fire department or ambulance: 119
For non-emergency cases, please call 0800-024-111. It is a 24-hour free hotline for foreigners with English and Chinese service.
Safety
Taiwan was ranked the second safest country in the world in 2015 due to the friendly citizens and low crime rate. The report described Taiwan as: “Tourists seldom face any violence in Taiwan and never need to be worried. It is the perfect place with many beautiful spots to lead a safer life. This is a result of an advanced industrial economy that experience rapid economic growth and industrialization."
Read more about the report: http://www.presscave.com/top-safest-countries-in-the-world/
Eating Habit in Taiwan
Noodles and rice are the main staples in Taiwan. Chicken, pork, beef, lamb, fish, and all kinds of vegetables are all common ingredients for our everyday dishes. We accept different cultures with open arms, so finding vegetarian or Halal restaurants in Taiwan is not a problem at all!
Survival Language in Taiwan
■ Hello: nĭ hăo
■ How are you: nĭ hăo mah?
■ Good/ok: hăo
■ Not good: bù hăo
■ Thank you: xiè xie
■ You are welcome: bú kè qì
■ Excuse me/sorry: duì bù qĭ
■ Bye-bye: zài jiàn
■ How much is it: duō shăo qián
■ Please help me: qĭng bāng zhù wŏ
■ I don't understand: wŏ tīng bù dŏng
■ I want to go to the toilet: wŏ yào qù cè sŭo
■ Tones in Mandarin Chinese
ā: first tone (flat)
á: second tone (going up)
ă: third tone (down and up)
à: fourth tone (going up)
ā: neutral tone (light)
Holidays in Taiwan
■ Date in 2019
- Republic Day: 29 Dec, 2018 - 1 Jan, 2019
- Chinese New Year: 2 Feb - 10 Feb
- 228 Memorial Day: 28 Feb - 3 Mar
- Tomb Sweeping Day: 4 Apr - 7 Apr
- Dragon Boat Festival: 7 Jun - 9 Jun
- Student’s Summer Vacation: 1 Jul - 31 Aug
- Mid-Autumn Festival: 13 Sep - 15 Sep
- National Day: 10 Oct - 13 Oct
■ Date in 2020
- Republic Day: 1 Jan, 2020
- Chinese New Year: 24 Jan - 29 Jan
- 228 Memorial Day: 28 Feb - 1 Mar
- Tomb Sweeping Day: 3 Apr - 6 Apr
- Dragon Boat Festival: 25 Jun - 28 Jun
- Student’s Summer Vacation: 1 Jul - 31 Aug
- Mid-Autumn Festival: 1 Oct - 4 Oct
- National Day: 10 Oct - 11 Oct
Free & Easy Tips in Taiwan
■ How to Get around the Taipei city
- Metro (MRT) Taipei
Single-Journey Ticket: from 20 NTD - 65 NTD
EasyCard: You can buy one in all Taipei Metro Stations at the Information Counters and convenience stores.
Each card costs 100 NTD. Once the card is charged, it can be used immediately. The cards can be used to pay for transportation fees, small purchases at convenience stores, and YouBike rental fee.
To get the route map, please check the official website.
Metro Taipei http://english.metro.taipei/
- Taxi
For the newest taxi pricing, please check
Department of Transportation Taipei City Government http://english.dot.gov.taipei/
- YouBike
It is a city-wide bike rental service. It charges 5 NTD for the first 30 minutes in Taipei City. After that, it is 10 NTD per 30 minutes within the first 4 hours. Please check the official website in case of any change in rate.
YouBike http://taipei.youbike.com.tw/en/index.php
■ Recommended Activities
- Taipei Eye: Traditional Chinese (Beijing) Opera
- Night Market Tour: Have a local dinner
- Sweet Potato Mama: Volunteer tour & job experience
- Beijing Opera Makeup: Become an actor/actress in the Traditional Beijing Opera
- If you are traveling with your family and are looking for things to do in Taiwan with your kid(s), this blog: A Toddler in Taipei: Explore Taiwan with Kids (https://www.atoddlerintaipei.com/) provides abundant resources for fun ideas for exploring Taiwan with child, such as parks and outdoor activities, swimming pools & water play and family restaurants. It is worth taking a look!