Practical Information for visiting New Taipei City

The Taipei metro reaches deep into New Taipei, including Tamsui, Banqiao, Xindian and Yonghe, and an EasyCard covers metro, buses, trains and convenience stores across the whole region.

Trains: the Taiwan Railway coastal line runs to Ruifang for Jiufen and the Pingxi branch, and to Fulong. High-speed rail stops at Banqiao.

Buses reach the coast, Yehliu and Wulai, and are the way to the places the railway does not go. Taipei’s bus and metro apps cover them.

Scooters and cars: a hired scooter is the local way to do the north coast, and a car makes the mountain roads easier. An international permit is required.

For Jiufen: train to Ruifang then a short bus or taxi up the hill, which is quicker than the direct bus from Taipei at weekends.

Coverage for mobile networks is excellent throughout with widespread 5G, including on the metro and in most of the mountains.

Prepaid tourist SIM cards with unlimited data are sold at the airports and in convenience stores and are very cheap by international standards.

Free public Wi-Fi is available across Taiwan through a government network, and in every convenience store and cafe.

Signal thins in the deeper mountain valleys and on some hiking trails.

Power is 110 volts on flat two-pin sockets, the same as the United States and Japan.

Convenience stores are on every corner and function as cash machines, ticket offices and parcel points.

Taiwan is one of the safest places in the world to travel, with very low crime and a strong culture of returning lost property. The hazards are natural.

• Typhoons between July and October close roads, railways and flights, and bring landslides in the mountains. Warnings are accurate and widely published; do not travel into the hills during one.
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• Earthquakes are frequent. Buildings are built for them; drop, cover and hold on, and expect an automatic alert on your phone.
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• The coast: rogue waves at Yehliu and the capes have killed people who crossed the safety line. Rip currents on the surf beaches.
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• Mountain trails are steep, wet and slippery, and cloud comes down fast.
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• Scooter traffic in the dense districts.
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• Heat and humidity in summer.

Taiwan has excellent and inexpensive healthcare, and hospitals are used to foreign patients. Visitors pay at the time, and the amounts are modest, but travel insurance is still sensible.

No vaccinations are required beyond routine cover; Japanese encephalitis is sometimes suggested for long rural stays in summer.

Dengue occurs in Taiwan, mostly in the south, with occasional cases in the north after the rains. Use repellent in summer.

Tap water is treated and safe at source, but older pipes mean most residents boil or filter it; bottled and filtered water is everywhere.

Heat and humidity in summer are the most likely problem.

Hot springs: enter gradually, do not stay in long, and avoid them after drinking.

Pharmacies are widespread and well stocked.

Emergency numbers: 110 for police, 119 for fire and ambulance. The 24-hour travel information hotline on 0800-011-765 operates in English, Japanese and Chinese and will help with almost anything.

Medical. Hospitals in Banqiao and across the metropolitan area are good; payment is expected at the time and is inexpensive by Western standards.

Typhoon days are announced by each municipality the evening before, suspending work, school and transport. Check whether Taipei and New Taipei have declared one, as they sometimes differ.

Earthquake alerts arrive automatically on any phone on a Taiwanese network.

In the mountains, tell someone your route; some trails require a permit, and the national park and forest services publish closures after storms.

Most countries maintain representative offices in Taipei.