My brother’s very briefly visiting on a Saturday in June - landing in Taoyuan airport in the morning (after a week on business in Singapore), flying out late that night. He’ll have 12 to 15 hours. Any recommendations for what I should do with him? And, more generally, what anyone else who’s got a long layover could do?
Definitely interesting for some would be the recently restarted free tours offered from the airport, discussed in Focus Taiwan here and promoted here. However, he’s been to Taiwan before - albeit not for twenty years. With a quick look at their website, I couldn’t figure out if it’s possible to get on that bus and then not go back to the airport the same way: with the right timing, I wouldn’t mind getting on one of those buses with him at the airport, but I doubt that’s feasible.
I’m low-key annoyed it’ll be on a Saturday, since I avoid Taipei City on weekends. Oh well, so be it. I’m wondering about something like Wistaria Tea House or a similarly traditional-looking vintage place (like those discussed here), and then dinner somewhere nice. We’re both willing to eat almost anything, although we’ll likely be with my vegetarian spouse: are there any particularly “especially Taiwanese experience” good restaurants that people would recommend? Apparently he’ll have just had some kind of Michelin dining experience in Singapore, but sure, why not another? A quick Google search revealed Toh-A’ restaurant, which seems along the lines of what I’d like, although I’ve heard nothing about it.
If I had to choose right now, I’d opt for Addiction Aquatic Development, but I’ve only been there on weekdays: I know the lines can get bad on weekends, but I don’t know how bad. The Taipei 101 Shin Yeh is the sort of thing I would have headed for, but that’s closed now I believe. Since there will only be two or three of us, that limits the options somewhat, with for example ordering at rechao places being awkward for small parties.
Are there any places people would particularly recommend making a reservation for now, a month ahead of time? We grew up in Vancouver, but now he lives in the Prairies, so his normal international dining options aren’t the best.
I’m mostly not considering any museums - National Palace Museum is great, but far too big a time commitment, plus he did visit it before - but perhaps there’s something more in the central area that would be good for a visit.
For transportation, I’m assuming MRT into town, taxis / MRT around the downtown core (i.e. Taipei Main Station stretching to Xinyi), and MRT back to airport. Slim chance of more of a triangle (Taoyuan airport, taxi to our place in Danshui, MRT into town, MRT to airport - or reversed), but I doubt we’ll bother with that. I dunno, maybe he’ll be eager to meet our cats.
He and his family are well into Lego, so if we’re in Xinyi we’ll be heading to the Lego store there (Facebook link), since I do think their central Lego model of Taipei is impressive. Heading across town to go there, no, but if we’re in the area, yes.
I suppose some kind of day trip with a rented taxi into the countryside nearish the airport is also an option, but I fear there’s too high a risk of spending a day stuck in mountain road traffic. I’d look into that for a midweek layover, but weekend traffic would seem too unpredictable.
So, any suggestions?
