How to Get Around Northern Taiwan

The Taipei Metro is excellent — clean, frequent, cheap and comprehensive — and reaches Beitou, Tamsui and the zoo. Use an EasyCard, which works on the metro, buses, trains, convenience stores and the bike share.

YouBike public bicycles are everywhere and integrate with the EasyCard; Taipei’s riverside cycle paths are extensive.

Trains: the high-speed rail runs down the west coast from Taipei to Kaohsiung in about ninety minutes. Conventional TRA trains serve Keelung, Yilan, the north coast and the Pingxi branch line, and are the way to reach Jiufen via Ruifang.

Buses reach Yangmingshan, the north coast and Wulai from the city.

Taxis are metered, plentiful and cheap; Uber operates.

Do not hire a car for Taipei. Scooters dominate the roads, parking is difficult, and the public transport is better.