Transports
Car
It is possible, as a foreigner, to rent such a vehicle. However, you must be at least 21 years old and have an international permit. Although the car is a convenient, self-contained and safe means of transport, it is advisable to hire a driver who is experienced in local driving. In the event of an accident or any other problem, a local person will always be able to handle the situation better than you !
Ps: in Taipei, if not accustomed to local driving, the situation can quickly become dangerous for oneself but also for the people around. Bail is expensive too.
Taxis / Uber
Probably the safest alternative if you want to enjoy the advantages of the car without the disadvantages. Faster, experienced driver, no problem parking and available anywhere in the cities !
A conventional taxi requires a certain level of Mandarin, or alternatively, the use of the translator. You’ll have to find them or call them on the street, they’re usually cheaper than an Uber. On the other hand, Uber has the BIG advantage of its mobile app, its English version and the costs are calculated in advance (depending on your specific destination) so no bad surprise. I personally used Uber many times when I needed safe and fast transportation. To give you an example, every day I had a 45min commute to work : 10min walk to get to the metro + 2 different metro lines (Ximen 西門) -> Gangqian 港墘 (Neihu 內湖) to get to work. When I was a bit in rush I used to call an Uber : from my building front door to my work -> 20min, 350NTD (10,50€). Honestly, it’s not so expensive and saves a day! Using a conventional taxi, the cost of the same trip is around 300NTD (9€), it’s not a big difference with Uber.
Scooter
Undoubtedly the most common transport in Taiwan. Very convenient in cities because easy to park, takes up little space on the road which allows you to go everywhere and double more easily. The advantage number one, especially in Taipei, is that it helps to unload traffic ! On the other hand, it is so frequently used that we sometimes end up with this kind of situation :
Minquan west road, waterfall of scooters
(Instagram photo from @amariswoo)
In general, if you are in a big city with heavy traffic, be VERY careful with scooter. For example, with the mass emergence of home deliveries, scooters are moving faster and less careful. Traffic conditions are dangerous. Personally, I have never had to use this type of transport in Taipei, because there are so many cheaper and safer alternatives ! The only moment I actually rented a scooter, was on a small island called 小琉球 (xiao liu qiu). Very little traffic, much more acceptable conditions than in the big cities !
Bicycle
Some cities have a bicycle network, with stations strategically located to facilitate their use (pick-up/deposit). An alternative that can be very interesting for short distances, to save time by avoiding waiting in public transport, or for those who love physical activity. The bicycle also offers the possibility to visit at your own pace, while making transfers faster between the different tourist areas. In Taipei, for example, if you have a monthly subway pass, you will have the bicycle option for free.
Metro
It seems to me that at present, only three areas are equipped with it. Taipei/New Taipei + Taoyuan Airport, as well as Kaohsiung and Taichung.
They are really super convenient, inexpensive, and offer real access to all areas. Unfortunately, I don’t have all the prices in mind, but I can already tell you about Taipei.
As far as the basic price is concerned, I mean without a specific subscription, it will depend on the distance traveled. You will often have this type of map to tell you the price:
[Picture with prices coming soon]
Basically, we start at 20 NTD (€0.60) for 1 station, then the price increases progressively with distance, until reaching the maximum rate of 65 NTD (€1.95). You will have the option to pay at interactive kiosks present at each station. You will then receive a token to be used on an ad hoc basis. If you wish to opt for a plan you will probably get a temporary magnetic card to validate at each network entry/exit.
However, the most common way to proceed, when you reside in Taipei, is to buy an EasyCard. It will allow you to use the entire public transport network (metro, bus and bicycle), but also to make purchases in shops displaying the EasyCard logo. It's a rechargeable smart card, reusable at will, into which you can deposit money. With this card, you can also subscribe to a monthly plan including access to the entire network for an amount of 1280 NTD (approximately 39€).
Bus
There are a lot of bus lines in Taiwan. Most of them are unknown to me since this is absolutely not my prediction transport ^^' Buses do not always stop at the right place, do not always mark the stops, and don't respect schedules... well, let’s say it’s complicated 😂 Probably very clear for locals but for me I quickly dropped. On the other hand, there are some super useful lines that I highly recommend ! In general, buses from Taipei to the outlying cities work well and offer real savings ! I would take as an example the bus Taipei (圓山 Yuanshan) - Taoyuan n•9023, which I took every week to give French lessons. A line that works greatly for an amount of 50NTD (1,50€, for 1 way). There is also the Kamalan bus network, which I used to take very regularly to get to Yilan 宜蘭 (140NTD, 4.20€ for 1 way) or Jiaoxi 礁溪 (112 NTD, 3.40€ for 1 way).
For this kind of bus mentioned previously (Kamalan), I mean long distance buses, I recommend this application : “TBS APP”, downloadable from these links ->
IOS下載連結 : TBS appIOS
Android下載連結 : TBS appAndroid.
Attention, everything is in traditional Mandarin ! So you will need to recognize a minimum of symbols to use it 😅 Otherwise don’t panic, you will find all the information you need by going directly to a bus station (e.g. Taipei bus station). You can also visit this website -> Rome2rio.com or use its mobile application.
Train
As far as I know there are 2 types of railway lines : TRA (Taiwan Railway) and THSR (Taiwan High Speed Road). One is slower, sometimes with pauses, frequent stops, the other is super fast ! But also super expensive ! 😅 A bit like the difference between the regional train and the TGV in France. There are too many different destinations to give you exact rates. On the other hand, I can show you the proposed rate/service differential across networks.
Taipei - Kaohsiung with TRA :
The fastest route that is offered is in 3h40 for a cost of 850NTD (26€). The slowest is done in 7 hours for a price of 650NTD (20€)
Taipei - Kaohsiung with THSR :
With this type of line the times don't vary greatly since it's a train without frequent stops. For this trip you can choose between the following times: 1h40 and 2h15, which is half the time required compared to the TRA network ! On the other hand, the price is quite different, you will have to pay around 1500NTD (45€) in standard ticket, which is almost the double of the most expensive trip with TRA network.
For this example I have voluntarily selected the line ends of the THSR network in order to give you the most important rates charged. The less farther you go, the less you’ll pay.
Please note that THSR only serves West Coast cities. For cities in the East, only the TRA network will be available. In terms of price there will be no big differences, the price-distance-duration ratio will be almost the same. By the way, a full tour of Taiwan via TRA will probably cost you the same as a one-way ticket to Taipei - Kaohsiung via THSR.
