Working Remotely in Taipei, Taiwan
Visiting the Longshan Temple in Taipei, Taiwan
This is part of my remote work travel series where I review places I visit as a digital nomad. Check out the rest of my posts and follow me on Instagram, YouTube, Substack, or on TikTok for more travel content!
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After leaving Kyoto, I had initially planned on bopping around Japan before heading to Istanbul, the next month-long trip on my calendar. But Taipei has been on my radar for a long time as my partner and I are big boba tea fans, so instead of exploring more of Japan we booked a 12-day trip to Taipei.
Taipei is humid, grungy, and full of character. It’s a tropical hipster’s paradise: night market eats are $1-$3 and you can stroll past late-night boba shops or stop in a bookstore or vinyl record bar on the way back to your hotel. This city is part urban jungle, part actual jungle, with parks that feel stripped from a rainforest — and seem out of place next to a high-end mall.
There are also lots of hidden gems: trendy bookstores and cafes that you have to peel back layers of the city to find — but you’ll be rewarded if you do.
Considering working remotely in Taipei, Taiwan? Here’s my travel guide for digital nomads and remote workers to help you get the most out of the city:
Where to Stay in Taipei, Taiwan for Digital Nomads + Remote Workers
View from our balcony at Meander 1948
We stayed at the Meander 1948 hostel (in their Taipei Main Station location) in the Datong District of Taipei. They have great private rooms with desks, balconies, and private bathrooms, and the Datong District was super central — a stone’s throw from night markets, the Longshan Temple, and, of course, the Taipei Main Station which you can take to the airport. I’d recommend staying at this hostel because it’s a stylish, clean accommodation with laundry and nice common areas. There weren’t any Airbnbs that really jumped out during my research, and the other hotels I found looked less impressive and in locations that felt less central.
However, be prepared to be in the thick of the “grunginess” in the Datong District. The charm of Taipei is also something that could be a bit off-putting to some travelers: restaurants and shops spill out onto the sidewalks, and the intermingling scents of cooking meat, floral tea, and… street smell… all combine in a jumble in this area.
In all of my meandering around Taipei, there wasn’t an area that really jumped out to me, so you may want to do your own research about what neighborhood feels right to you.
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What to Do in Taipei, Taiwan for Digital Nomads + Remote Workers
Exploring Jiufen during our day trip here
Taipei is a big city with lots of things to do. And we did do lots of things! But ultimately most of our days were spent exploring the city, eating amazing food, and drinking great tea. I also had some fiction writing deadlines I had to make, so this trip was lighter on the “activities” — despite our days still feeling packed!
With that said, here are the top 3 things I recommend you check out in Taipei:
Take a Free Walking Tour. I Like It Formosa is a local tour company that ran a pretty solid historical walking tour that covers a lot of the must-see places in Taipei, such as the Longshan Temple and Bopiliao Historical Block. Walking tours are a great way to get oriented in a city, and this was a good one to get started with an overview of Taipei and its history.
Elephant Mountain Hike. This popular hike has stunning views of the city and is easily accessible by metro or bus. I’d recommend doing this hike just as sunset hits: all of the lights come on at Taipei 101 once the sky darkens, and it’s a cool thing to see from any of the viewpoints on the hike. The hike itself is pretty short (40-60 minutes total if you just go to the top of Elephant Mountain, but be sure to wear good hiking shoes (especially in the rain) as the stairs can get slippery. There’s no dirt or anything (the hike is entirely paved) but the way you climb up into the jungle is a cool thing to do — even on a cloudy day.
Take a day trip to Jiufen. When it comes to trips outside of Taipei, we did do a day trip to Jiufen which is a village atop a mountain with cute little shops and food stalls. However, it felt just like an extension of Taipei, with less impressive food options in comparison to the night markets. We also arrived in Jiufen when it was cloudy, so missed out on the views. Supposedly, this village is the inspiration for the film Spirited Away, but the only place I was spirited to was a tourist trap with some nice keychains. You can take a bus directly to Jiufen from Taipei, and it’s about an hour outside of the city. Overall, Jiufen is worth a visit if your expectations are appropriately set, but other than that you’re better off just spending time in Taipei and enjoying the city.
If the city wasn’t so hot we would have ventured out for more hikes and hot springs (clearly a must-visit during cooler weather!) but because of the rain and humidity we enjoyed staying in air-conditioned coffeeshops.
We were also considering heading to Taichung to explore the city that is the origin point for boba tea, but ultimately decided to stick around Taipei instead as some of the “original” boba tea shops have locations in the city.
What to Eat in Taipei, Taiwan for Digital Nomads + Remote Workers
Hands down my favorite night market
The Da’an District had a bit of a monopoly on trendy coffeeshops and brunch places, but we were able to find some great places in the Datong District as well.
Here are my top recommendations for food, coffee, and boba tea in Taipei:
For Brunch: Brun. I hadn’t realized how deeply I missed a bougie LA brunch spot until I came to Brun! This trendy brunch spot has several different locations, and this one in the Datong District is located in a clothing store on the top level. On a Saturday morning, so many Taiwanese women were sporting their “off-duty model” looks with straightened hair under baseball caps and designer clothes. The latte I had here — I think it was a honey latte? — was one of the best lattes I’ve had in the city. Maybe all year. I also found some really cute clothes for a good price in the clothing store that takes up 4 levels of this building, so be sure to reserve some time to do some shopping after your meal. Our brunch was a little pricey here, but still cheaper than California prices.
For Brunch: Heritage. This brunch place/bakery is the place to go for an amazing cinnamon roll. The shakshuka was a little meh, but their other brunch items were great. This brunch place was also pricey, but worth it for the freshly baked bread in all of our dishes.
For Coffee/Lunch: Vers. This coffee spot has several different locations (I think?) but the Da’an District location I linked here is filled with natural light and nice chairs and tables for co-working, along with bar seats. It was pretty empty when we arrived at around 10am, but it got busy in the afternoon. It’s laptop-friendly and a good place to get breakfast, lunch, coffee, or all of the above.
For Coffee: Swell Cafe. Swell Cafe is by far my favorite co-working cafe that’s also very laptop-friendly — so many locals were camped out working here for most of the day! — and it had a great tropical smoothie and beachy/surf aesthetic. This cafe is one of the few that actually has chairs that are an appropriate height for the tables — even Vers had chairs that were just slightly too low for the tables, so not great for typing. Swell has a warm, earthy vibe and was great on a rainy day.
For Tea To-Go: The Oolong Project. Are you a tea lover? You must stop at one of The Oolong Project’s locations in the city. The tea is fabulous: and the cheese foam with a spring oolong was my go-to order. You don’t need a straw for this drink, and don’t drink it with boba: just drink the tea straight. This is a great one to enjoy with a cute little tea holder. Get less sugar and less ice for a refreshing, tea-forward drink that’s not too sweet. (In fact, I’d recommend always getting 30% sweet and less ice for all tea drinks across the board.)
For Tea or Boba Tea: WooTea. WooTea’s best drink is WooTea with Cream, and I recommend that here — again, with less sugar less ice.
For Tea or Boba Tea: Goldfish Bubble Tea. The best Thai Tea is here. Try it with their signature gold boba — you won’t regret it and you may just feel like you’re in Thailand.
For Dinner: Din Tai Fung. Known for their soup dumplings, you may have run into this iconic restaurant in Los Angeles. It’s just as good here in Taiwan — and a bit cheaper. You can also order on Uber Eats if the line is crazy: we had to go on a weekday at 5pm in order to wait less than an hour for a table. Try and get your ticket early and meander around the mall — just be aware the wait time moves fast, so don’t stray too far from the display where they show what numbers are being seated.
For Dinner: Go Night Market Hopping. The Raohe Market is the best street market in Taipei, but each market has its charms. Raohe is cleaner and has a ton of options, but the Ningxia Market in all of its bustling glory is still worth a visit. At Raohe, we loved the watermelon juice, baked corn, and “Chinese Pizza” — that was essentially a scallion pancake with cheese on top. At the Ningxia Market, my partner Kyle was obsessed with the ice cream with peanut shavings that was wrapped in a crepe. I was obsessed with a scallion pancake wrapped around a fried egg. Bring cash and patience as these night markets can get busy, but they’re the main attraction in Taipei and the food is worth the wait.
For Dinner: Pizza Has a Face. This trendy pizza place has limited seating but limitless flavors. I loved the cheese-and-truffle-and-mushroom pizza, and it cured my cheese and bread craving for the day.
For Dessert: Tofu Pudding. Origin Tofu Pudding was exactly what I needed on a hot day. The tofu tastes like flan, and I recommend getting the sweet potato and I think the taro balls if I remember correctly. Great dessert or afternoon snack — with the benefit of some extra protein, too.
Taipei is a foodie city, for sure — but most of the great food can be found at night markets. Don’t bother with the expensive places: skip them in favor of the must-visit food spots I’ve listed above.
Overall Thoughts on Taipei, Taiwan
If you don’t have a boba tea holder you’re not one of the cool kids here
At first, I was a bit underwhelmed by Taipei and the grunginess of the Datong District. I also didn’t fully understand why people called this city such a tea and coffeeshop mecca — until I really put in effort to find the hidden gems.
While cities like Buenos Aires are more obvious in their overflowing love of coffee and coffeeshops, Taipei feels like a town of takeaway boba teas that you drink on the street — not to be enjoyed in a modern, cute coffeeshop.
Taipei is a bit sprawling, but it’s worth taking time to discover the non-obvious places to eat amazing food and drink some incredible tea and coffee.
12 days ended up being a perfect amount of time to explore the city. Just enough time to look beneath the surface, but not too much time to grow weary of the city’s many gifts.
My Ratings of Taipei, Taiwan as a Digital Nomad
Affordability: ⭐️⭐️ 2/5 stars. Taipei isn’t the most expensive place to be — especially if you make a habit out of exploring night markets. Boba tea is also very cheap here — maybe $3 or $4 per tea compared to $9 or even $11 back in the U.S. But the accommodations felt more pricey than what they were necessarily worth, so knocking off some stars there.
Food Quality: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5 stars. The food quality is really solid here, with some amazing street food vendors. But I found it hard to get non-fried vegetarian food here and the city is lacking healthy options beyond the sit-down places.
Vegetarian Options: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5 stars. Din Tai Fung is carrying the vegetarian category in this city with some epic vegetable dumplings and buns. However, it was still a bit of a challenge to find non-vegetarian restaurants that also had veggie options, so while not impossible this city is still not as vegetarian-friendly as others I’ve been to. The night markets had some good options for vegetarians, which is what earns Taipei 3 stars instead of 2.
Adventures/Day Trips: ⭐️⭐️ 2/5 stars. While you can visit villages like Jiufen or neighboring cities like Taichung, I wasn’t particularly impressed by the day trips near Taipei. In cooler weather I could see hiking and hot springs as a bigger draw, but I’ve been to cities with better access to things to do.
Cafes/Co-Working Space Availability: ⭐️ 1/5 stars. Taipei is not a cozy city, or at least not the neighborhoods I explored. Coffeeshops with good seating are pretty rare — and coffeeshops with a more modern aesthetic were even more scarce. If you put in the legwork you can find some decent places to drink coffee and maybe do some work, but cities like Seoul and Buenos Aires had way better coffee and cafe scenes. Taipei did seem to have some co-working spaces, but I didn’t get a chance to explore them.
Digital Nomad-Friendly City: ⭐️ 1/5 stars. Taipei is pretty easy to get around, but I can’t imagine spending a whole month in this loud, busy city. Especially because there aren’t very many cafes and coffeeshops where you can get away from the bustle and focus on your work. There are other cities with better setups for nomads, so I’d skip Taipei for long trips.
Value of Accommodations for Remote Workers: ⭐️ 1/5 stars. While the prices for accommodations in Taipei were slightly better than Tokyo, the lack of cute Airbnbs knocks down this city to one star. There weren’t a ton of hotels or hostels to pick from that were located in good, walkable areas, and I think other cities have better value for accommodations.
Air Quality: ⭐️⭐️ 2/5 stars. The air quality wasn’t as bad as Seoul, but it was at unhealthy levels according to the air quality index for the entirety of our trip.
Water Quality: ⭐️⭐️ 2/5 stars. The water quality wasn’t too bad, but could have been better.
Overall Rating: ⭐️⭐️ 2/5 stars. There’s a lot to love about Taipei, but this is a city better appreciated in smaller doses. Definitely take a trip here if you’re a boba tea fan or are hankering for some incredible night market eats, but look elsewhere for cities to work remotely in for extended periods of time.
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