• Taipei Taiwan Apartment Rentals: https://www.facebook.com/groups/taipei.taiwan.apartment.rentals
• Taipei (Taiwan) Apartment/House/Room/Home/Flats: https://www.facebook.com/groups/145166676212026/?ref=br_rs

However, the very first group I listed really is the best. Nearly all affordable places you’ll find will be rooms in shared apartments. Taipei is a really social, international city and people tend to enjoy living together. The absolute cheapest room you can get will be in a large shared house or apartment. These are very popular in the university areas of Taipei (Da’an, Shida, Gongguan) however can be found in all areas of Taipei and New Taipei City. A room in a shared house or apartment (shared bathroom) should be between 8,000-12,000 NT. The best thing about this type of accommodation is that the majority of landlords are okay with short-term renters, even just for 1 month. (A man called Peter rents a ton of rooms in shared houses, you can check out his Facebook page or website to view the most recent listings)

A private room in a smaller 2-3 bedroom shared apartment will run you about 12,000-16,000 NT depending upon the area and size of the room. Guting / Da’an / Anywhere near 101 are the priciest areas, with neighborhoods further out being cheaper. Crossing the bridge into New Taipei City will also significantly drop your rent. Private studios run about 16,000 NT and up, if you can find one! It’s even tougher to land one of these jewels short-term, but it’s not impossible. Be as proactive as you can on the Facebook groups to give yourself the best chance possible.

It’s also important to note that with just about any short-term room, you’ll likely be taking over a lease from someone else and you’ll have to also find another person to fill the room when you leave (except for rooms in shared houses). However, lightning does sometimes strike twice! In the past (2018) I was able to sublease an awesome, large studio with a big window overlooking the Guting area (3 minutes from the MRT!) for 13,500 NT (discounted from 17,000!) for just 1 month. For another month I stumbled across a Facebook post in one of the groups I listed above, from a laid back Taiwanese guy that is happy to rent a month at a time, and scored a private room in his house with super-fast Wifi for even cheaper than my previous apartment – just 12,000 NT. (He and I actually became close friends and I am happy to put you in touch with him. Simply send me an e-mail at vagabonddisposition@gmail.com!)

Depending on when you are planning to come, I’d start looking through the groups above about 3-4 weeks before, and start saving some posts and contacting people about rooms. Good deals are jumped on really quickly and it’s totally normal for a room to be rented within 3 hours of being posted. If you really like a room you find, make an effort to go see it ASAP.

Another option which is really only limited to Simplified or Traditional Chinese speakers/readers, is an extremely extensive website called rent.591.com.tw The interface is completely in Chinese, and most landlords are looking for long-term renters (6 months -1 year). However, if you can speak and read Chinese, you may be able to haggle/strike a deal effectively.

Internet/Data

For internet, if you can score a place with Wifi included, then awesome. Any wired connection you can get (included with your rent) will be crazy fast and stable, as Taipei has some of the most impressive telecom of all of Asia. However, if you can’t –  I simply cannot recommend AirAlo enough! AirAlo is a fairly new eSim app that is taking the digital nomad world by storm due to its ease of use, price, and reliability! I have used it extensively in the last year in several different countries successfully. I have even run my phone as a hotspot using AirAlo data to teach my online classes and can confidently confirm it works flawlessly (even for extensive video calls!). Using this link to sign up and create an account, you can get a free $3 credit! (As this is a referral link, I too get a little bonus and would greatly appreciate your support! ) Check out their packages for Taiwan below. They offer 1 GB, 3 GB, 5 GB, and 10 GB packages:

Getting Around Taipei

I’ve never been or lived anywhere with such well organized public transportation as Taipei. You can use 1 card (The EasyCard) for the MRT, bus, train, and Ubike (Taipei short-term rental bike); even the Maokong Gondola! (cable car in the east of the city that leads to the tea plantations). You can get an EasyCard at any 7-11, Family Mart, OK Mart, or Hi-Life. It costs 100 NT, plus 400 NT required balance added at the time of purchase at some locations (though I have received feedback from one of my readers that the 400 NT minimum balance was not required! This requirement seems to depend on what station/7-11 you buy yours at. Taipei Main Station does not require the minimum balance and since it’s most travelers’ first destination from the airport, I recommend getting it there). It’s also worth noting that you can also simply use a debit or credit card for all of these modes of transportation except the Ubike, which requires an Easy Card.

After getting an Easy Card, I strongly recommend getting your Ubike registration set up, as it is 100% the best way to get around the city. To register your card with Ubike, visit any Ubike station kiosk and sign up using your Taiwan phone number. Ubike is also free for the first 30 minutes if used within 30 minutes of exiting an MRT station, and also free for the first 30 minutes if your journey begins in New Taipei City. As I lived in New Taipei City all of last August, my Ubike usage was almost totally free!

Quick Ubike tips: 1. Check the tires before checking out a bike. 2. Make sure the seat will adjust. Sometimes it’s stuck! If it’s OK, adjust to your height and make sure it holds/doesn’t move. 3. You can tell how new (or old) a Ubike is by looking at the yellow back wheel cover. Try to pick one that is clean and not beat up! 4. If the seat of a Ubike is turned around/all the way down, it means something is wrong with the bike. Don’t take it!

The best (and really only) way to get out of Taipei and around the rest of Taiwan is to take the train. Honestly I found the online train booking system daunting at first, though I assure you it’s actually really easy. First, go to http://twtraffic.tra.gov.tw/twrail/EN and look up your departure city and destination. Just search “all types” for train type and pick your date. On the next page, you’ll be shown the overall timetable for the date chosen. Keep in mind the “departure” and “destination” for each train will probably look different than what you have chosen, though that is only showing the terminal stations on either end of your route. If you click “train number,” you will see where your actual departure and destination is in each route.

Once you’ve picked out what train you want to take, you’ll need to make sure it’s available. Next, go to http://railway.hinet.net/Foreign/US/index.html and click One Way or Round Trip booking, and enter the information as follows. If the train isn’t full yet, you will see your booking is successful. If the train is full, unfortunately you can’t take that train. You’ll then be prompted to pay for your ticket by credit card, or by taking your confirmation to the nearest train station or 7-11 to pay for your ticket (+8 NT at 7-11. But they will do everything for you, as you have to print it out from a kiosk) I’d suggest simply doing it by credit card if you have a fee-less international card.

Food / Night Markets in Taipei

Taipei is a true night market mecca, boasting at least 7 large markets in Taipei alone (even more counting New Taipei City!). I prefer to go to them because there are normally pictures of stuff you can point to if you don’t speak Chinese, and there’s tons of choice. My personal favorites are the Gongguan Market in Taipei (at MRT Gongguan on the Green Line) and the Lehua Market in New Taipei City (near MRT Dingxi on the Yellow Line).

Most quick snacks run 50-60 NT, bowls of noodles about 70-90 NT, and plate of rice + meat/seafood 100 NT and up. I highly recommend trying the Le Cordon Bleu-like dish below at the Curry Prince at Lehua, and getting shaved ice for dessert (didn’t take the name of the shop, but it’s on the left hand side walking from Yonghe Road).

I found traditional Mom n’ Pop restaurants to be hard to get food at (well, to get exactly what you want, I mean). Typically you’ll find very few places with English menus or pictures for you to point at, and you won’t find any middle-age to older Taiwanese cook that speaks English. But, such is genuine cultural exchange 😉 Of the traditional spots that did have semi-English menus, bowls of noodles start at about 80 NT for vegetable/chicken/pork, about 90 NT for duck, and 100 NT+ for seafood. Plates of rice + meat/seafood also start about 100 NT.

Taipei surprised me with some incredible foreign/Western food as well. I recommend Burger Talks for cheap, though tasty and fresh cheeseburgers and crispy fries. Nala’s Mexican does incredible burritos fairly cheap, and 原味屋 for legit Thai food from a genuine Thai cook. For some absolutely mouth-watering fried chicken, check out what I have officially dubbed “TFC” (Taiwan Fried Chicken), not far from the Gongguan Night Market.

Burn off all the calories from this decadent food by hiking the nearby mountains around Taipei!

As you can see, Taipei has become a very ideal destination for digital nomads, due to its overall affordability, super-fast internet and 5G data, ease of public transportation, and extensive food selection. If you’ve spent time long-term in this great city before and feel I’ve missed anything, or wish to add your own recommendation, please do feel free to comment below!

V.D.’s Hostel / Private Room Recommendations for Taipei

I’ve already done the hard work of scouring Agoda and these spots have the best overall combination of rating / location / low price in the city.

Hostels

Private Rooms

For all other hotels in Taipei, simply have a look at what’s available here.