Taiwan has 7 distinct cities worth visiting beyond Taipei. Tainan wins for food, Hualien for nature, Jiufen for atmosphere. Fly from Singapore from S$150, no visa needed, and use the HSR to connect them all in a week.
Best Things to Do in Taiwan Beyond Taipei's Night Markets
Taiwan sits just three hours from Singapore by plane, yet most Singaporeans barely scratch the surface — spending all five days in Taipei before flying home stuffed with scallion pancakes and regret. There are at least 7 distinct cities worth your time, each with its own food scene, personality, and reason to book a return trip. If you think you've seen Taiwan, you've probably only seen one-seventh of it.
This matters to you personally because Taiwan is accessible, affordable, and genuinely rewarding short-haul escapes from Singapore. Flights from Changi to Taoyuan start around S$180 return on Scoot or Jetstar, and your Singapore dollar stretches surprisingly far once you land. The real tragedy would be flying all that way and missing Tainan's century-old beef soup stalls, Jiufen's rain-soaked lantern alleys, or the volcanic hot springs of Beitou. Here's the city-by-city breakdown you actually need.
Taipei: Still the Best Starting Point for First-Timers
Yes, everyone starts in Taipei — and for good reason. The capital packs Din Tai Fung's original flagship on Xinyi Road, the jaw-dropping Shilin Night Market, and the National Palace Museum into a single, highly walkable MRT grid. But even seasoned Taipei visitors miss the Beitou hot spring district, a 30-minute MRT ride north where you can soak in sulphuric green waters for as little as NT$40 (roughly S$1.70) at a public bathhouse. Beitou's Thermal Valley — a boiling jade-green lake — is free to enter and surreal sights in all of East Asia.
For food, skip the tourist traps near Ximending and head to Yongkang Street for a bowl of beef noodle soup at Liu Shandong (NT$180, about S$7.50). The broth has been simmering since 1950. Pair it with a cup of hand-pulled tofu pudding from a street cart, and you've had one of the best S$10 meals of your life.
Liu Shandong Beef Noodles
📍 17 Jinshan South Road Section 2, Da'an District, Taipei
⏰ Mon–Sat 11am–8pm
Tainan: Taiwan's Oldest City and Its Greatest Food Town
If Taipei is Singapore's Orchard Road, Tainan is its Chinatown — older, slower, and far more flavourful. Founded in the 17th century, Tainan is widely considered the culinary capital of Taiwan, and locals will tell you this with the kind of quiet confidence that only centuries of cooking tradition can produce. The city's signature dish is a bowl of milky, slow-simmered beef soup (牛肉湯) served from 5am at stalls like Fu Ji Beef Soup, where the raw beef is flash-cooked tableside in boiling broth. A bowl costs NT$120 (S$5) and it will ruin all other beef soup for you permanently.
Beyond beef soup, Tainan is the birthplace of coffin bread (棺材板) — a deep-fried toast box filled with creamy seafood chowder — and danzi noodles (擔仔麵), thin wheat noodles in a shrimp-and-pork broth that have been sold continuously since 1895. The city's Anping district adds a colonial-era Dutch fort, mangrove kayaking, and some of the best shrimp crackers you'll eat standing up on a street corner.
Jiufen, Hualien, and the Cities That Deserve Their Own Trip
Jiufen isn't technically a city — it's a hillside former gold-mining village above the northeast coast — but it earns its place on this list because no other place in Asia looks quite like it after dark. The red lanterns, steep stone staircases, and sea-mist atmosphere inspired the aesthetic of Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away (though Miyazaki has never confirmed this directly). Arrive after 4pm to beat the tour groups, order taro ball dessert (芋圓) from Ah-Zhu Taro Ball for NT$60, and find a window seat at a teahouse overlooking the Pacific.
Hualien, on Taiwan's dramatic east coast, is the gateway to Taroko Gorge — a marble canyon so steep and narrow that the road through it took 3,000 workers four years to carve. The city itself has a thriving indigenous Amis food culture, excellent craft beer at Hualien Brewing, and night market stalls selling scallion flatbreads stuffed with pork that cost NT$30. From Taipei, the Puyuma Express train takes under two hours and the scenery alone justifies the ticket.
Taiwan has 22 million people and more than 100,000 registered food and beverage businesses — that's roughly one eatery for every 220 residents, a density that makes even Singapore's food scene look restrained.
A Quick City Comparison: Where to Go Based on Your Travel Style
- Taipei — Best for first-timers, shoppers, and museum lovers. Don't miss: Shilin Night Market, Beitou hot springs, Din Tai Fung original.
- Tainan — Best for serious food travellers and history buffs. Don't miss: Fu Ji Beef Soup at dawn, Anping Fort, danzi noodles.
- Kaohsiung — Best for nightlife, waterfront bars, and the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas at Lotus Pond. Don't miss: Pier-2 Art Centre, Ruifeng Night Market.
- Jiufen — Best for photographers and slow-travel romantics. Don't miss: Ah-Zhu Taro Ball, A-Mei Teahouse, the old street at dusk.
- Hualien — Best for nature seekers and adventure travellers. Don't miss: Taroko Gorge, Hualien Brewing, Amis night market stalls.
- Taichung — Best for art, coffee culture, and the Rainbow Village. Don't miss: Miyahara ice cream parlour in a century-old eye hospital, Fengjia Night Market.
- Kenting — Best for beach lovers and surfers. Don't miss: Kenting National Park, fresh seafood barbecue on the beach, sunset at Eluanbi Lighthouse.
Plan Your Taiwan Trip From Singapore Right Now
The smartest move is to fly into Taipei and out of Kaohsiung (or vice versa), using Taiwan's High Speed Rail to connect cities without backtracking. A one-way HSR ticket from Taipei to Kaohsiung costs NT$1,490 (about S$62) and takes 90 minutes — faster than the MRT across Singapore. Book your HSR pass as a foreigner before you fly; the Taiwan Rail Pass for tourists offers unlimited rides for NT$3,600 over three days and is only available outside Taiwan.
Scoot and Jetstar both fly direct from Changi to Taoyuan daily, with fares regularly dipping below S$150 one-way during sales. Set a fare alert on Google Flights and watch for the late-October to mid-November window, when Taiwan's weather is at its clearest and the crowds thin out after Golden Week. That's your sweet spot — book it, eat everything, and come back with opinions about which city's beef soup is actually superior. (It's Tainan. It's always Tainan.)
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best things to do in Taiwan outside of Taipei?
The top experiences outside Taipei include eating beef soup at dawn in Tainan, hiking through Taroko Gorge from Hualien, watching the sunset from Jiufen's old street, and exploring Kaohsiung's Pier-2 Art Centre. Taiwan's High Speed Rail makes all of these reachable within a single trip.
How long do you need to see Taiwan properly?
A minimum of 7 days lets you cover Taipei, one or two southern cities like Tainan and Kaohsiung, and a coastal stop like Hualien or Jiufen. Ten days is ideal for a more relaxed pace that includes Taichung and Kenting.
Is Taiwan easy to travel from Singapore?
Yes. Direct flights from Singapore Changi to Taipei Taoyuan take around 4 hours and are available daily on Scoot, Jetstar, Singapore Airlines, and China Airlines. No visa is required for Singapore passport holders for stays up to 90 days.
What is the best food city in Taiwan?
Most Taiwanese and food critics point to Tainan as the country's culinary capital. The city is the birthplace of several iconic Taiwanese dishes including danzi noodles, coffin bread, and the famous early-morning beef soup culture that draws visitors from across the island.
What is the best time of year for Singaporeans to visit Taiwan?
October to November is widely considered the best window — temperatures drop to a pleasant 20–25°C, typhoon season has passed, and the crowds from Japan's Golden Week have thinned. Cherry blossom season in late February to March is also spectacular but significantly more crowded.
