My boyfriend and I did a 4D3N Taipei trip, 4 days and 3 nights, over a long weekend in early July, and between flights, the hotel, and a lot of eating, we spent just over S$1,080 combined. That works out to about S$540 each for the whole trip, flights included. Below is exactly where the money went, day by day, plus the one day trip that was the actual highlight of the whole thing.
How much does a 4D3N Taipei trip cost?
We flew Scoot direct from Singapore, so this is a fairly typical budget-carrier trip, not a luxury one. Here's the full breakdown for the two of us, with a note on which numbers are exact and which are my best estimate.
| Category | Cost (SGD) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Flights (Scoot, round trip) | S$500 | S$250 per person, both tickets |
| Airport Express train (Taoyuan → Taipei Main Station) | ~S$13 | S$6.50 per person, one way for two |
| Hotel (3 nights, Caesar Park Taipei) | S$330 | Booked on Klook, one room for two |
| Food (tracked meals) | S$164 | DimDimSum, Sushi Express, Niku Niku Oh Kome, Sober & Burger, Din Tai Fung |
| Street food, night markets, pineapple tarts | ~S$50 | Estimate, we didn't keep every receipt |
| MRT rides in the city | ~S$25 | Estimate, tapped in with Apple Pay each time |
| Total (2 people, 4 days) | ~S$1,082 |
So that's around S$146 a day for the two of us once you take out the flights, or about S$73 each per day for transport, hotel, and food. Taipei is genuinely one of the cheaper city breaks you can do from Singapore, and a chunk of that S$1,082 was food we didn't need to eat as much of as we did.
One thing that's missing from that table on purpose: the Shifen, Jiufen, and Yehliu day trip. I'm not including the exact price here, but it's bookable through GetYourGuide and I get into what it covers further down.
Getting from Taoyuan Airport to Taipei
We took the Airport MRT Express straight from Taoyuan into the city, and it only took about 35 minutes to reach Taipei Main Station. It cost NT$160 per person, roughly S$6.50, which is a lot faster and cheaper than a taxi for the same distance. Since we were staying right at Taipei Main Station anyway, we didn't need a transfer or a second train once we got off.
Where we stayed: Caesar Park Taipei at Taipei Main Station
We stayed at Caesar Park Taipei, which cost us S$330 for 3 nights, booked on Klook. If you use the code ALYDIGITALKLOOK, you get 5 to 10% off, which is worth doing regardless of which hotel you end up booking. You can browse Taiwan hotels on Klook here.
The hotel sits right at Taipei Main Station, which turned out to be the best base for this specific trip. It's about a 15 minute walk to Ximending, there's a huge underground mall and food court directly beneath the station for rainy days, and every MRT line we needed connected from there. We didn't stay anywhere else, so I can't compare it to a Ximending or Xinyi base directly, but for a first trip where you want to be centrally located without paying Xinyi prices, it worked.
Browse Taiwan hotels on KlookGetting around: do you need an EasyCard?
We didn't buy one. We used Apple Pay and Google Pay directly on the MRT gates, tapping in and out like we would at home, and it worked every single time. If your phone supports contactless transit payments, you can skip the EasyCard line at the airport entirely.
Beyond the MRT, we walked a lot. The hotel being 15 minutes from Ximending meant plenty of our "transport" was just walking there in the evening heat, which, going in early July, is humid enough that you'll want to budget extra time to cool off before you're presentable for dinner.
Day 1: Taipei Main Station, Ximending, and Peace Park
We landed, checked into Caesar Park Taipei, and stayed close to the station for the first stretch. Taipei Main Station's basement level has a genuinely good food court, and DimDimSum there ran us S$27, Sushi Express another S$23. Both were fast, cheap, and exactly what you want after a flight.
From there we walked to 228 Peace Park, which is a quiet, shaded break before the chaos of Ximending. Ximending itself is Taipei's answer to a teenage shopping district crossed with a night market: neon signs, street food stalls, secondhand clothing shops, and enough foot traffic that you just let yourself get carried along by the crowd for a while. We grazed on street food there rather than sitting down for a proper meal, which is honestly the better way to do Ximending anyway.
Day 2: Yongkang Village, Xinyi District, and Din Tai Fung
Yongkang Village is a much calmer neighborhood than Ximending, and it's where we had one of my favorite bites of the whole trip: a Tian Jin onion pancake from a stall there, hot, crisp, and cheap enough that you'll want two.
Din Tai Fung's original Yongkang Village location is a few minutes' walk from there, so we joined the queue while we were in the area. It was about a 1 hour wait, but they hand you a number so you're not stuck standing around the whole time. We used it to keep wandering Yongkang Village and came back when we were close to being seated. It ran us S$50 for the two of us, and it's still the meal people ask about when we tell them about this trip.
In the afternoon we headed over to Xinyi District, which is Taipei's glass-and-steel side, with Taipei 101 rising over everything. We didn't go up the tower, we just walked around the base and the surrounding mall district, which is worth doing on foot even if you skip the observatory. For dinner we went to Sober & Burger in Xinyi, S$24 for the two of us, a solid non-Taiwanese option if you need a break from noodles and dumplings for one night.
Day 3: the Shifen, Jiufen, and Yehliu day trip
This was the best day of the trip, and it's the one thing I'd tell anyone doing 4 days in Taipei to prioritize over almost anything else on this list.
We booked a day trip covering Shifen, Jiufen, and Yehliu through GetYourGuide rather than trying to string together trains and buses ourselves, since all three stops are in different directions from Taipei and doing it independently eats most of your day just in transit. If you book through GetYourGuide, the code ALYDIGITAL5 takes 5% off. I go deep on the tour-versus-DIY math in my Jiufen, Shifen & Yehliu day tour guide.
First stop was Shifen Waterfall, which is a short walk from Shifen Old Street. Shifen Old Street itself is where you write your wishes on a sky lantern and release it, which is the postcard image of Taiwan you've probably already seen, and it's worth doing even though it's a little touristy.
We also tried the chicken stuffed with glutinous rice from a stall there, which isn't something I'd have thought to order but ended up being one of the better street food moments of the whole trip.
Jiufen Old Street was the most crowded stop by far. If you go, walk past the main tourist strip to street 155 and take the roughly 40 steps down from there. That's where the actual iconic red-lantern photo spot is, and the crowd thins out noticeably once you're off the main drag. Last was Yehliu Geopark, a coastal park full of wind-eroded rock formations, including the famous Queen's Head. It's a slower, quieter close to the day after Jiufen's crowds.
Day 4: Raohe night market and pineapple tarts
Our last full day was lighter on planned sightseeing and heavier on eating. We headed to the Songshan area for Raohe Street Night Market, which is smaller and less overwhelming than some of Taipei's bigger markets, easier to actually walk end to end without feeling like you're being swept along.
We also stopped at Chia Te for pineapple tarts, which made a good, packable souvenir since they hold up fine in a suitcase. And we had Niku Niku Oh Kome at QSquare, right by Taipei Main Station, S$40 for the two of us. QSquare being attached to the station made it an easy stop to slot in whenever we were passing back through.
Is 4D3N enough for Taipei?
Yes, 4D3N was enough for us, but only because we treated the day trip as one full day rather than trying to squeeze it into an afternoon. Going in early July means you're technically in typhoon season, and I'd braced for the trip to get rained out. It didn't. It was hot and seriously humid, the kind of humid where you feel it the second you step outside, but it stayed bearable the whole time and we didn't lose a single activity to weather.
If I did this again, I'd probably add a fifth day specifically so the Shifen, Jiufen, and Yehliu day trip didn't have to carry the entire "day trip" slot alone. There's more within reach of Taipei than we had time for. But for a long weekend, 4D3N covered the city center, one full day trip, and enough food that we came home needing a break from eating.
FAQ
Is 4D3N enough for Taipei?
Yes, if you pair a couple of central neighborhoods with one day trip outside the city. 4D3N (4 days, 3 nights) comfortably covers Ximending, Xinyi, Taipei Main Station, and a full day at Shifen, Jiufen, and Yehliu without feeling rushed.
How much does a 4D3N Taipei trip cost?
Budget around S$540 per person for flights, 3 nights of hotel, food, and local transport from Singapore, based on what we spent. That doesn't include shopping or the day trip tour cost.
Do I need an EasyCard for the Taipei MRT?
No, not if your phone has Apple Pay or Google Pay set up for contactless transit. We used our phones the entire trip and never bought a physical EasyCard.
How do you get from Taoyuan Airport to Taipei city center?
The Airport MRT Express is the easiest option, about 35 minutes to Taipei Main Station for NT$160 (roughly S$6.50) per person, and it's faster and cheaper than a taxi.
How do you get to Shifen, Jiufen, and Yehliu from Taipei?
You can do it by public transport, but it takes real planning since the three stops are in different directions. A day tour that covers all three, like the one we booked through GetYourGuide, is the simpler option if you only have one day to spare.
