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From the guide: Taipei Guide: Cafes, Night Markets, Rent and Nightlife
Taipei Checklist
33 things to do, eat, check and decide. demontemag.com
✈️ Before you land
- Pack a US-style Type A/B adapterTaiwan runs 110V on American plugs. Unusual for Asia
- Base the first stay in Daan or Zhongshan
- Get an EasyCard for the MRT on day one
- Do not pre-pay for coworkingTry cafes first. The culture supports it
- Pack an umbrellaTaipei is genuinely rainy
🌃 Night markets
- Raohe, Songshan District600m along Raohe Street. 17:00 to 23:00. The better one
- ShilinBiggest and most famous. Opens ~16:00, peaks 20:00 to 23:00
- Oyster omeletteThe signature dish. Have it early in the evening
- Large fried chicken filletThe one with the queue
- Gua bao (Taiwanese burger)Pork belly in a folded bun
- Flame-grilled cube steakBlowtorched to order
- Stinky tofu, once, at a busy stall
- Sweet potato and taro balls, or tang hu luThe after-dessert
- Bubble tea — brown sugar or taro
☕ Cafes and working
- Work a full day from a Louisa CoffeeThe chain. Everywhere, reliable wifi
- Find one indie specialty cafe you like
- Walk Zhongshan for the third-wave roasters
- Only then consider coworkingCLBC and JustCo $100 to $180/mo, FutureWard from NT$3,950
🍜 Beyond the markets
- Cold sesame noodles
- Scallion bread
- Eat in the Xinyi backstreets, not the mallsWontons, Sichuan, small cafes, rustic alleys
- Walk Daan Forest ParkTaipei’s Central Park
🍸 Nightlife
- One speakeasy cocktail barExpensive but the quality is genuinely high
- Craft beer in Zhongshan
- A quieter night in Daan or Xinyi
- Shilin if you want young and busy
🗓️ First week, in order
- Day 1 — EasyCard, SIM, walk Daan
- Day 2 — Work a full day from a cafe. Test the culture
- Day 3 — Raohe night market from 17:00
- Day 4 — Zhongshan for coffee and craft beer
- Day 5 — View apartments in Daan and Zhongshan
- Day 6 — Xinyi: Taipei 101, then eat in the backstreets
- Day 7 — Shilin, then decide your area
💸 Rent and costs, per month
| Studio, Daan or Zhongshan | $600 – 900 |
| 1-bed, central | $900 – 1,300 |
| Full market range | NT$15,000 – 70,000 |
| Coworking (CLBC, JustCo) | $100 – 180 |
| FutureWard | from NT$3,950 |
| All in, solo remote worker | $1,500 – 2,200 |
No large key money deposit, unlike Seoul. That makes Taipei a much easier city to start in.
demontemag.com/blog/taipei-guide-cafes-night-markets-rent