This is my series on our World Schooling Traveling. For more posts, you can check out the index page or subscribe to my Facebook page. You can also subscribe to my Instagram for pics.
We’re going to Taipei for 2 months in a few months and, gasp, I’m actually planning EARLY for once! Since I’m also arranging for my mom’s travel to Taipei this time around, I thought I’d finally write down the logistics of traveling there.
At first I hesitated in writing one, because, shouldn’t one find all this info in Lonely Planet Taipei or something? But then again, I never picked up that book when I was planning……..
So here are the things I would tell my friends about traveling or planning travel to Taiwan with elementary kids. We’re budget travelers who travel in the off season so some of this will not apply to those who can only go during Spring and Summer break.
Best Time to Go?
My ideal weather is 70’s. The best time for these type of weather is late October or mid March. Temperature heads down into the 60s and sometimes 50s by December and back up to 80s by late April.
Pollution from China is particularly bad in the winter months between December and February; so bad that usually I start coughing if we’re out too many consecutive long days.
Taipei starts raining in the winter but amazingly the other cities, especially Taichung, not so much. What’s up with that?
The only down side to going in the winter/spring is that we cannot go to the neighboring islands like 綠島, 野柳, etc. Most people reach it by sea and the waves are too rough and the wind too strong to really enjoy summer sports during the winter.
Vaccinations?
If you follow the US vaccination schedule, you are okay. There are only 2 extra vaccines they get, Japanese encephalitis and TB. Both are things you may consider if you’re staying long term, otherwise at big cities and with the high vaccination rate, I don’t think you need to worry.
But! I’m not a doctor so don’t just take my words for it.
With TB (tuberculosis), the problem is that in the future your kid will always show up as positive on TB tests due to the virus. And anyone working with kids always have to get a TB test. So I wouldn’t get this unless you have major concerns.
We got parts of the Japanese encephalitis shots in Taiwan a few years back because I thought there were chances we may live there for a long time. Asking our pediatricians here in the states weren’t very helpful, honestly, because they just go look up CDC info. I vaguely remember hearing about little outbreaks in Taiwan in recent years but I think you’re fine if you just stick to the big cities.
Flight
Typically we book flights right after Chinese New Year as that’s cheap enough and we still get to enjoy Lantern Festival and some of the CNY festivities.
I’ve been booking flights 6 weeks in advance because I was so bad about advanced planning. The airfare has been cheap then. This year, I booked flights 6 months in advance and it was also cheap!
I also like to tack on side trips when we worldschool to save money. To do this, you have to use an airline whose home base is the stop over city. For example, if you want to stop over in Japan en route to Taipei, then you probably need to fly ANA or JAL. You can also try China Airlines hopping through Hawaii, but I don’t find that to be cheaper.
I usually look at Google Flights for airfare. I limit myself to Eva Air and China Airlines since I have miles there. Fleur doesn’t care and just books whatever. Regardless, we don’t find Expedia, Travelocity, Kayak and the like to be much cheaper. You’d have better luck going through travel agencies sales. In fact, often booking on Eva Air gives us the best deals as their sale fare aren’t always reflected in other websites.
I follow e-Star travel on Facebook and they post fare sales to Taiwan periodically.
Things to Bring onto the Plane?
Nothing! I used to bring stuff, stuff the kids don’t use, till they discovered the flight entertainment system. Now, we only bring a Kindle, iPads and a deck of cards or Uno.
They do a lot of things with that deck of cards, till the sound of shuffling cards drives me crazy and I ask them to stop.
I don’t think Fleur brings much either for her preschooler. In any case, Eva Air typically give the kids a toy package, sometimes it’s a puzzle, other times a coloring page.
The iPad works as a game center and drawing pad. All three things (Eva game, iPad/Kindle, entertainment system) keep my kids occupied for 3-4 hours till I force them to sleep on our red-eye flight.
First Things First at the Airport
- Get money from the ATM
- Get your Yoyo card
- Get your wifi/sim card
Money!
I make sure to have $1000-$2000 NT left before I leave Taipei, to use for my next trip in. It goes to pay for the taxi and of course, food at the 7-Eleven. I can’t resist 7-Eleven.
Taiwan accepts credit cards. But many things are still cash only, including paying for the Yoyo/Easy card.
If you have established an account with Capital One 360, Schwab, Fidelity, or other foreign ATM withdrawal friendly accounts, then find the Bank of Taiwan ATM to withdrawal money when you arrive at Terminal 2.
It had been at the basement close to the Food Court in early 2019. But I think there are other ones around.
I wrote a post about getting money in Taiwan. Fleur opened a Capital One 360 account prior to our WSA19 trip just for this purpose. She was able to successful withdrawal money from the airport with her Capital One ATM card, with no fees.
Elsewhere in Taipei, it’s a hit or miss. We find most Bank of Taiwan ATMS to accept Capital One. ATMs are everywhere, so just try a few.
Yoyo Card?
The Easy Card, or as I like to call it, Yoyo Card is your one stop card for many things. Use it to pay for your purchases at 7-Eleven, pay for all pubic transportation, get into the zoo, whatever. It’s accepted in so many places that you must get this first.
There are other cards you can buy, issued by the convenience stores. For example, I thought I had to get an iCash card for some reason. Big mistake. Don’t bother unless you want rewards and discounts at 7-Eleven.
Get that Yoyo card for yourself, and a concession card for your kids over 6 at a 7-Eleven at the airport, or the MRT station.
Tip #1: that you don’t get a discount on the MRT for having a Concession (children) card. You only get the discount on buses and entry fees.
Tip #2: The first thing I do when we get all our cards is to put our name stickers in the back. Get some ID lanyard from Daiso or stationary store. I make my kids carry their cards. Just don’t put too much money on it as they will lose them. But that’s practical life skill right? They don’t understand how to take care of their belongings otherwise.
Tip #3: If you’re a budget traveler, traveling by bus with kids is cheaper than MRT. Sometimes it’s even faster because you’re not walking a long time in and out of a station.
Sim Card?
Right outside of customs in International Terminal 2 is a kiosk for Chunghwa Telecom 中華電信. You can buy a 30 day unlimited data plan for $1000 NT. I used to buy my simcard in Taipei, but since we stay in Taipei for so long and need data, this is actually the cheapest. The caveat is you cannot renew past 30 days.
I’m sure if you speak the language and know how to search those Chinese vendors you can get it cheaper. But coming from the US and not knowing all these vendors, this is a good enough option for us.
A sim card is essential if you need a local phone number. I try not to interact with real people as much as possible, so I install whatever apps I need to get around the city (like Taxi apps), and those usually require a local number for activation. Fleur doesn’t and sometimes she forgoes the sim card altogether and we share one.
Why? We pop the sim card into a second iPhone and use it as a wireless router; basically our DIY Pocket Wifi.
Pocket Wifi?
During our WSA18: 6 weeks around the island trip, we bought a 60 day Pocket Wifi from iVideo.com for $30 USD? Split between 2 families it was super cheap and met our needs. The added bonus was that you can order ahead in the US and pick it up when you arrive at the airport.
A pocket wifi may be useful if you have multiple devices that need to be connected at the same time. We did not get it during WSA19 because Fleur and I weren’t always together so we couldn’t share the expenses.
Transportation to Hotel/Airbnb
Taking the MRT
We took the MRT to our AirBnB for WSA19 because 1) Fleur and I arrived separately into Taipei, 2) I had 2 carryons only and we were staying in Ximending that first night. The Airport MRT drops you off at the Taipei Train Station (red line) or you can stop earlier at Beimen (green line).
Travel time can be about the same as taking a taxi but slightly cheaper ($160NT /adult, $120NT/kid). Add in a taxi ride ($100-$150) if you’re lazy like me and don’t want to try and take a bus to your hotel.
I say slightly because it’s more cost effective to take one van taxi than MRT. Or it’s more cost affective when you add in the ending taxi ride plus extra time getting in and out of MRT stations when you’re so tired after 13+ hours of flight.
To I find the Line contact info of random taxi companies and arrange in the States before we leave. Some will even do English. The cost isn’t so different as to spend hours looking for the cheapest. They fall between $700-$100. Our has been around $800, plus or minus $100 NT.
Tip #1: The Airport MRT is technically NOT part of the Taipei MRT system. It’s the Taoyuan MRT company.
Tip #2: For those who live close to the Green Line, like Ximendiing 西門町, you can get to/fro the Airport MRT (Taipei Main Station) by entering/exiting through BeiMen 北門 MRT station! Just follow the signs.
Taking the Taxi
I typically arrange a taxi before I arrange through Line. Line is your friend. Costs are $800-$1000 to Taipei central area. I tell them approximately what time to pick me up. The airport has Wifi, so you can Line them when you’re there for specific pick up area.
How to find that taxi company? For every taxi I’ve taken, I just ask for the company’s Line ID and arrange it that way. I’ve gone through multiple companies since the little mom and pops keep going out of business.
Make sure you always tell them how much luggage and people you have, that’s how they determine taxi size.
This is the current one I use: 台灣遊Go讚 . Their Line and Wechat ID is 0903895895. A company that has an English interface is Tripool. But I havn’t used them.
What’s next?
There, the post should get you to your AirBnB and hotel.
The first thing we do after we check in is go to our local 7-eleven and buy some snacks! The children love 7-eleven rice balls (onigiri) even if it’s not the best ingredients in the world.
Check out my post on the apps I can’t live without while traveling in Taiwan to get around the city.
Awesome post! Keep up the great work! 🙂