Taipei MUST DO!! (reccs by a student on budget😔)

Just came back from my 9d8n taipei trip which my friend and i planned all by ourselves (2 17year olds all alone😓😓) We had to save our own money for this trip and paid for everything (except flights🥰✌️) Surprisingly even tho we only went around taipei area i felt that we could’ve spent even longer there. Although alot of people recommended places like shilin, jiufen and ximending, i find crowded areas vv stressful and things are often more expensive😔. Here are some budget friendly hits and my thoughts on certains misses i wouldnt explore again…

📍Fuhe flea market(top) 永春二手市集(bottom)

I felt that alot of posts recommended places like zhongxiao and 2nd street which are usually either curated vintage or 2nd hand luxury items which are still very expensive ($40++). Although the pieces are still discounted from retail they dont fit my budget. A great place to thrift in taipei would be going to the many flea markets they have. Not only can you find clothes, bags and shoes but there are wet markets, jewellery and old tech ^^

📍Xiao Chu is flying!

This is not your usual cafe, the menu is made up of postcards of each item and you bring the postcard you want to order to the counter and get to keep it!! The interior is very cozy and they sell many postcards, keychains and stickers. What we enjoyed the most was that you can write a postcard and they’ll mail it to the address you put 1 or up to 3 years later. There was a station with so many stamps, gel pens and wax seals.

Fyi there is a minimum order of 1 drink per pax✨

📍Stamp collecting

One of the main reasons i wanted to visit Taipei was cause there are stamps at every train station ^^ i enjoyed my stamp collecting in Japan so much i was looking forward to the stamps in taipei!!! This was so fun to do and free ig😈😈every stamp is different and is designed to showcase what the area is known for. The stamps can be found either near the gantry outside or inside the station but if you can’t find it you could ask the staff as there is a chance they kept it in their office :)

Fyi not only station have stamps but tourist destinations like qingtiangang grasslands had so many pretty stamps at the visitor centre and even dintaifung has their own stamp at the cashier….

📍TankQ Cafe & Bar

Cutest cafe and concept!! You get to pick your own cup character when you order a drink and the drink came with cereal and cheesecake (w a gummy on top) and each main comes in a type of box(brunch set-suitcase, burger-toolbox, pasta-shipping container) and the sides like fried food came in a shopping cart whereas salads were in a boat😸😸 While waiting for your food you can make custom keychains and we went a lil overboard (we made 6…) and there were so many characters and snack themed charms(even alcohol/bbt) there is definitely something for everyone☺️🌈

Most pricey recommendation out of all but hear me out😓 We spent a total of roughly 80sgd. The 6 keychains were ~$28 sgd (almost $5 for 1). There is also a minimum spending of $12sgd per pax but we clearly over ordered as we were not prepared for this huge box( salad+main+fries&nuggets+yoghurt+mashed potatoes+toast+sauces:ketchup,honey mustard and mango sauce for the yoghurt) we both ordered the beef stew and it was soooo good and worth the $$ we paid the beef stew may look small in the pic but there were many big chunks of beef and some carrot&radish.

📍Qingtiangang Grassland

A 1.5hour journey from Da’an (by train+bus) there’s a grassland full of water buffalos and it was a great escape from the scorching heat. It was not the foggy cold weather depicted in posts because it was summer but it was breezy and the absence of fog gave a clear scenic view :) we packed onigiris from 711 and sat on the grass to munch😋 Although its a tourist attraction it wasn’t crowded other than the bus ride (to be fair we took a small shuttle bus and people who lived in the village area were taking it too)… to enter it is free admission and there were many stamps to collect here😍 if you are hungry there is also a gift shop selling snacks, postcards and ice cream!

📍David& Alpaca

On the way back to Taipei’s city area from the grassland we stopped by David&Alpaca for a bite, food is pretty mediocre but i’d stop by for the alpacas :) they were really cute and didn’t smell at all, the owner and staff are super welcoming so the service was great. He let us feed and pet them while waiting for our food and the alpacas freely walk around the restaurant sometimes so don’t be surprised if they come up to you while eating🙂🙂

📍Tonghua Night Market

If you’re planning on stopping by shilin or raohe night matket but you dont like crowded places that may be a little bit marked up,, you should try tonghua night market😋 we were lucky that it was a minute walk from our accommodation and there was so much to eat!! besides eating there were shophouses down the road so you can munch and shop at the same time. We visited this night market multiple times and we enjoyed it more than our trip to shilin 🤗

#taipei #taipeitravel #Taiwan #travel #MyFreeTime