My brotherās 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. Heāll have 12 to 15 hours. Any recommendations for what I should do with him? And, more generally, what anyone else whoās 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, heās been to Taiwan before - albeit not for twenty years. With a quick look at their website, I couldnāt figure out if itās possible to get on that bus and then not go back to the airport the same way: with the right timing, I wouldnāt mind getting on one of those buses with him at the airport, but I doubt thatās feasible.
Iām low-key annoyed itāll be on a Saturday, since I avoid Taipei City on weekends. Oh well, so be it. Iām wondering about something like Wistaria Tea House or a similarly traditional-looking vintage place (like those discussed here), and then dinner somewhere nice. Weāre both willing to eat almost anything, although weāll likely be with my vegetarian spouse: are there any particularly āespecially Taiwanese experienceā good restaurants that people would recommend? Apparently heāll have just had some kind of Michelin dining experience in Singapore, but sure, why not another? A quick Google search revealed Toh-Aā restaurant, which seems along the lines of what Iād like, although Iāve heard nothing about it.
If I had to choose right now, Iād opt for Addiction Aquatic Development, but Iāve only been there on weekdays: I know the lines can get bad on weekends, but I donāt know how bad. The Taipei 101 Shin Yeh is the sort of thing I would have headed for, but thatās 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 arenāt the best.
Iām 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 thereās something more in the central area that would be good for a visit.
For transportation, Iām 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 weāll bother with that. I dunno, maybe heāll be eager to meet our cats.
He and his family are well into Lego, so if weāre in Xinyi weāll 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 weāre 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 thereās too high a risk of spending a day stuck in mountain road traffic. Iād look into that for a midweek layover, but weekend traffic would seem too unpredictable.
So, any suggestions?
