Old Taipei lives in Dadaocheng - tea merchants, herb shops and deco facades - and the metro puts it minutes from everywhere. A heritage walk, and where to stay.
Most visitors meet Taipei in the glass-and-neon of Xinyi, but the city's soul is older and further west, in Dadaocheng. This was the merchant quarter that made Taipei rich on tea, herbs and fabric in the 19th century, and its baroque-deco shophouses still line Dihua Street much as they did a century ago. It is the best heritage walk in the city - and thanks to Taipei's superb metro, it is fifteen minutes from anywhere.
This guide pairs that history with a practical truth: Taipei is one of the easiest cities in Asia to get around, so you can base yourself by a transit hub and reach the old town, the night markets and the mountains with equal ease.
The Dadaocheng walk
Start at the south end of Dihua Street and walk north. The street is a living museum of the dried-goods trade - sacks of mushrooms and dried seafood, apothecaries weighing herbs on brass scales, and the heady smell of loose-leaf tea from century-old merchants. Interspersed are a new generation of design shops and cafes that have moved into the restored shophouses without erasing them.
- Dihua Street - the dried-goods and tea trade, plus restored design boutiques.
- Xiahai City God Temple - tiny, incense-thick, and the city's temple of matchmaking.
- A tea-merchant tasting - sit for a formal brewing of Taiwanese oolong at a heritage shop.
- Dadaocheng Wharf - sunset over the Tamsui River, with a pop-up bar scene in season.
Why transit is the secret
Taipei's metro is clean, cheap, punctual and signed in English, and a single EasyCard works across metro, bus, the riverside bikes and most convenience stores. From a base near Taipei Main Station you can be in Dadaocheng in ten minutes, at the Raohe or Shilin night markets in twenty, at Beitou's hot springs in forty, and at the high-speed rail for Tainan or Taichung without changing stations. It turns the whole island into a series of easy day trips.
Stay near the trains and Taipei rearranges itself around you - old town, night markets and mountains all a turnstile away.
Where to stay
For transit convenience with character, Palais de Chine is a lavish, antique-filled landmark beside Taipei Main Station; Caesar Metro sits directly over a major interchange for effortless day trips. Compare them below, each with live rates for your dates.
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