Taiwan Travel Guide 2026: Visas, EasyCard, YouBike, THSR, Scooters, Taxis & Phrases
The one Taiwan travel guide that actually shows you how to unlock a YouBike with your EasyCard, whether you need a visa, how to survive the Taipei scooter waterfall, how to pay for a taxi, and the Mandarin phrases that make the trip smoother.
Published July 27, 2026·21 min read
Summary
A deep-dive Taiwan travel guide for 2026 — the one that actually shows you how to unlock a YouBike with your EasyCard, whether you need a visa (dated country table), how the Taipei MRT works with a foreign contactless card, how to survive the famous Taipei scooter waterfall, how to hail a taxi with Uber, and the Mandarin phrases that make the trip smoother. Cross-checked against Bureau of Consular Affairs, EasyCard Corp, and Taiwan High Speed Rail.
Do you need a visa? (dated, by country)
Taiwan (Republic of China) runs its own immigration separate from mainland China. Most Western passport holders enter visa-free for 90 days — a few for longer — and get a landing stamp on arrival at Taoyuan or Kaohsiung. The list is maintained by the Bureau of Consular Affairs (BOCA). Note that visiting Taiwan does NOT count as visiting the People's Republic of China, and vice versa.
| Nationality | Visa needed? | Max stay | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | No | 180 days | One of the longest visa-free stays |
| 🇨🇦 Canada | No | 90 days | Visa-free tourism / business |
| 🇺🇸 United States | No | 90 days | Visa-free tourism / business |
| 🇦🇺 Australia | No | 90 days | Visa-free tourism / business |
| 🇳🇿 New Zealand | No | 90 days | Visa-free tourism / business |
| 🇩🇪 Germany | No | 90 days | Most Schengen countries the same |
| 🇫🇷 France | No | 90 days | Visa-free tourism / business |
| 🇯🇵 Japan | No | 90 days | Visa-free tourism / business |
| 🇰🇷 South Korea | No | 90 days | Visa-free tourism / business |
| 🇸🇬 Singapore | No | 30 days | Visa-free tourism |
| 🇭🇰 Hong Kong (SAR) | Online permit | 30 days | Free online travel permit via NIA before travel |
| 🇨🇳 Mainland China | Permit | Per permit | Requires Taiwan travel permit; separate rules apply |
| 🇮🇳 India | eVisa | 30 days | Online eVisa via BOCA; approval typically 3-5 business days |
| 🇵🇭 Philippines | No | 14 days | Visa-free trial extended through 2026 — verify at BOCA |
Source: BOCA. Verify your specific passport at boca.gov.tw before you book.
Fill the Arrival Card before you land
Taiwan doesn't require K-ETA-style pre-arrival authorization, but all foreign visitors must submit an Arrival Card. Fill it online for free at entryform.immigration.gov.tw up to 3 days before landing to skip the paper form on the plane. Takes 60 seconds. Cabin crew will hand out paper forms if you didn't.
Money: EasyCard, LINE Pay, and where cash still shows up
Taiwan runs on the New Taiwan dollar (TWD, NT$). It is a broadly cashless country in the north — Taipei chains, MRT, convenience stores, and hotels all take cards — but Taiwan's food culture lives in night markets and back-alley restaurants that are still cash-only. QR-code apps LINE Pay and JKO Paydominate for locals but tourists don't need them. A useful cash baseline is NT$3,000-5,000 in your wallet for night markets, temples, and the beef noodle spot with no menu on the wall.
| Payment method | Where it works | Tourist tips |
|---|---|---|
| EasyCard / iPASS | MRT, buses, THSR, TRA, YouBike, ferries, 7-Eleven, FamilyMart, Hi-Life, some restaurants | Buy at any convenience store or MRT station for NT$100 (non-refundable card fee) + load. EasyCard is now available on Apple Wallet on iPhone in Taiwan too. |
| Contactless credit card (Visa / MC / AmEx) | Chain restaurants, hotels, retail, MRT (rollout in progress) | Tap-to-pay works at chains but skip it at night markets. No FX-fee card recommended. |
| LINE Pay / JKO Pay QR | Locals' default at cafes, some restaurants, taxi apps | Registration typically requires a Taiwan bank account — skip as a short-term tourist. |
| Cash (NT$) | Night markets, temples, breakfast shops, dumpling houses, back-alley restaurants | Withdraw at any 7-Eleven ATM — foreign cards accepted; small NT$100 fee typical. |
| Foreign Apple Pay / Google Pay | Chain retailers, big restaurants, MRT (in progress) | Works via the underlying card — separate from EasyCard on Apple Wallet. |
Tax-free shopping — 5% VAT refund at the airport
Foreign tourists staying under 183 days get a 5% VAT refundon eligible purchases of NT$2,000+ per receipt per store per day, at any store displaying the “Tax Refund” sticker. Two paths: immediate refund at authorised stores (up to NT$48,000 per stay) or refund at the airport via a Tax-Refund kiosk after check-in at Taoyuan or Kaohsiung. Bring passport, receipts, and unopened items if requested.
Trains and MRT: THSR, TRA, and the Taipei subway
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Taiwan has three overlapping rail systems and they solve different problems:
- THSR (Taiwan High Speed Rail, 高鐵)— the bullet train down the west coast. Taipei to Kaohsiung Zuoying station in ~1h30. Standard fare ~NT$1,490 one-way. Book on the THSR app (English, foreign cards work). The THSR 3-Day Pass(~NT$2,400) pays back if you do Taipei ↔ Kaohsiung + one intermediate stop.
- TRA (Taiwan Railways, 台鐵)— the older nationwide network run by Taiwan Railways. Slower but reaches the east coast (Hualien, Taitung) and Kenting via Kaohsiung. Every station takes EasyCard.
- Taipei MRT— the city subway. Fast, cheap, obsessively signposted in English. Base fare NT$20, capped around NT$65 for the longest ride. Tap EasyCard/iPASS in and out. The Airport MRT connects Taoyuan to Taipei Main Station in ~40 min for NT$150.
The YouBike-EasyCard combo (this is the one nobody explains)
Every tourist arriving in Taipei has the same moment: you walk out of an MRT exit, see a rack of 20 identical orange bikes with a small kiosk beside them, and can't figure out how to rent one. The kiosk is in Chinese. There's no obvious credit-card slot. The bikes are locked to the dock. This is YouBike, and it's Taiwan's answer to a functional city bike-share — and it's glorious once you know the trick.
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The step-by-step, one time:
- Get an EasyCard at any convenience store or MRT station (NT$100 card fee + load). Or add EasyCard to Apple Wallet if you have a supported iPhone.
- Register the card with YouBike, one time only. Two options: download the YouBike app(English UI, foreign phone number works), sign in, add card. Or walk to any station kiosk and follow the on-screen registration flow (there's an English toggle in the corner).
- Tap the card on the reader beside any bike, the dock lock releases (audible click), pull the bike out. Ride away. First 30 minutes are free in Taipei; longer rides are NT$5-10 per half hour.
- Return to any other YouBike station in the same city (Taipei / New Taipei / Taichung / Kaohsiung each run their own YouBike networks). Push the bike into an empty dock until it clicks and the light turns green. Tap out with the same card. Fare deducted from EasyCard balance.
YouBike is genuinely the fastest way across Taipei's flatter districts (Xinyi, Da'an, Zhongshan) — the MRT is fast underground but every trip is a walk + wait + walk. On YouBike you go door to door in 10-15 minutes.
Scooters and the two-stage left turn
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Taiwan has more scooters than cars. About 14 million of them for a population of 23 million. You'll see the famous “scooter waterfall” every morning off Taipei Bridge, and every busy intersection will have 30-50 scooters queued up ahead of the cars. This is the transport culture — and it comes with two things every visitor should understand, whether or not you rent one:
The two-stage left turn (兩段式左轉).Because scooters can't safely cut across four lanes of car traffic to turn left, Taiwan requires them (and often bicycles) to turn left in two stages at most large intersections. You ride straight through the intersection into a marked yellow waiting box (機車待轉區) on the far right-hand corner, wait for the light to turn green on the perpendicular road, then ride straight across. Miss this and turn left directly with cars: NT$600-1,800 fine.
Rental options if you want to ride:
- Traditional 125cc rental— NT$400-600/day. Requires a valid IDP with a motorcycle endorsement (not all countries' auto-club IDPs include motorcycle) + your home licence with a motorcycle class + passport. Some shops accept a car-only IDP but it's technically not legal.
- Gogoro electric scooter share— Taiwan-born battery-swap scooter network. Rentals available in Taipei, New Taipei, Kaohsiung and Taichung via GoShare or WeMo apps. Foreign licence + IDP required; app registration takes a Taiwan phone number in practice, so many tourists skip.
- Bicycle— if you're not comfortable with scooter traffic, the answer is YouBike + the Taipei Riverside Bikeway (100+ km of dedicated bike path along the Danshui, Xindian and Keelung rivers).
Taxis: yellow, metered, and Uber-friendly
Taxis in Taiwan are metered, mostly cashless in cities (foreign contactless cards + LINE Pay accepted at newer cabs), and abundant. Doors are manual— open them yourself, unlike Japan. There is no tipping; rounding up NT$5-10 is common but not required. Taipei flag fall is NT$85 for the first 1.25 km, then NT$5 per additional 200 m. A 20% late-night surcharge applies 23:00-06:00.
Three apps to know:
- Uber— works in Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung. Dispatches regular yellow taxis (Uber Taxi) or Uber's licenced private-hire drivers. Same app you already have; foreign card accepted. Easiest for tourists.
- Taiwan Taxi (台灣大車隊, dial #55178)— the biggest local fleet. Also has an app with English UI. Slightly better coverage in the smaller cities.
- LINE Taxi— if you already use LINE (universal messaging app in Taiwan), the built-in LINE Taxi feature dispatches from partner fleets. Payment via LINE Pay or credit card.
At night in rural areas or the smaller cities, hail a passing yellow taxi — they are everywhere. If it's truly late in a small town, ask your hotel to call one.
Renting a car: IDP, drive on the right, eTag tolls
Renting a car in Taiwan makes sense for the east coast (Hualien, Taitung), the south (Kenting), and a Taroko Gorge day trip — anywhere off the THSR line. In Taipei don't bother; the MRT plus YouBike covers everything, and parking is expensive and scarce. Taiwan drives on the right, steering wheel on the left. Rules:
| Your licence | What you need | Where to get it |
|---|---|---|
| 🇨🇦 CA / 🇺🇸 US / 🇬🇧 UK / 🇦🇺 AU / 🇳🇿 NZ / most EU | 1949 Geneva IDP + home licence + passport, plus a stamp from the local Motor Vehicles Office if renting long-term | CAA / AAA / AA / your national auto club — before you fly. Physical booklet only. |
| 🇯🇵 Japan / 🇰🇷 Korea / 🇭🇰 Hong Kong | Home licence + Chinese translation (Japan/Korea by reciprocity) | Translation done in advance via consulate or accredited agency |
| Everyone else | Must obtain a Taiwan-issued licence (usually not practical for short-term visits) | DMV, requires long-term visa |
On the road: seat belts front and back, zero tolerance for alcohol (limit 0.03%; penalties are severe under the amended Road Traffic Act), speed cameras are common and heavily used. Speed limits: 50 km/h urban, 90-110 km/hon Freeways (Formosa Freeway 1 & 3), lower on the northern coastal roads.
Highway tolls use eTag— a licence-plate-based automatic system. Every rental car has an eTag account tied to it; tolls are calculated by distance and billed to the rental company, who bill you at drop-off. No cash lanes; if your rental doesn't have an eTag, tolls are settled by post — ask at the counter.
Mandarin phrases that will quietly upgrade your trip
Taiwan speaks Mandarin (the standard variety, sometimes called Guóyǔ / 國語, sometimes with Taiwanese Hokkien mixed in) — not Cantonese. English is common in Taipei chain restaurants, hotels and MRT signage; less so in Taichung, Tainan and rural areas. A handful of phrases go a long way.
“Hello” — the universal polite greeting — say it walking into a shop, restaurant, taxi
“Thank you” — say it to shop staff, taxi drivers, restaurant servers, whenever anyone hands you anything
“Excuse me / sorry (multi-purpose)” — the single most useful phrase — flag a waiter, apologise for bumping someone, get someone's attention politely
“Sorry (real apology)” — stronger than bù hǎo yì si — use if you actually stepped on someone or broke something
“This one” — point at the plastic-food model / picture menu / night-market stall — universal ordering hack
“How much?” — at night markets and small shops where prices aren't tagged
“Bill please” — the local variant — jié zhàng (結帳) also works. In most small restaurants you go to the counter to pay, but this works if you can't spot it
“Where is the toilet?” — answered with a point 90% of the time
“Do you have an English menu?” — in tourist-adjacent restaurants they often do, hidden behind the counter
“Delicious (food)” — say this during a meal at a small night-market stall or family-run restaurant — huge compliment
“Not spicy” — Taiwanese food isn't as spicy as Sichuan but some dishes surprise you — say this if you can't handle heat
“We've arrived / I'm here” — in a taxi when you spot your destination — driver pulls over
Cultural norms: the eight things that catch visitors out
- Don't tip. Not at restaurants, not in taxis, not at hotels. Better restaurants automatically add a 10% service charge to the bill; nothing more is expected.
- Absolutely no food, drink, or gum on the MRT. This includes chewing gum, water, and coffee. Actively enforced with NT$1,500-7,500 fines. Finish it before you tap in.
- Two hands for anything important.Business cards, restaurant bills, gifts — hand over and receive with both hands. Common courtesy across Greater China.
- Shoes off in temples and homes. Some restaurants with tatami-style rooms too. Watch for the shoe rack at the door.
- Don't stick chopsticks vertically in a rice bowl. Funeral association. Rest them across the top of the bowl or on the chopstick rest.
- Queue rigorously. Taiwanese queues are orderly at MRT platform doors, bus stops, and popular restaurants. Cutting is very visible.
- The scooter waiting box is not decorative. If you rent a scooter, use the yellow 機車待轉區 for left turns. Missing it is an easy ticket.
- Cash for temples.Incense, ofuda, blessings, temple maps — NT$100-500 in cash. ATMs aren't typically at temples.
Night markets, convenience stores, coin lockers — the little Taiwan experience
These are the daily-use systems that make Taiwan feel unusually functional — and they save first-time visitors a lot of money.
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Night markets (夜市).Taiwan's food culture peaks after 6pm at the night markets: Shilin, Raohe, Ningxia, Tonghua in Taipei; Ruifeng in Kaohsiung; Fengjia in Taichung; Huayuan in Tainan. Come hungry. NT$500-800 for two people eats you full. Cash only at 95% of stalls — hit the 7-Eleven ATM around the corner first. Bubble tea from the source (春水堂 Chun Shui Tang in Taichung), oyster omelette, stinky tofu, pepper buns, deep-fried chicken from Hot-Star (豪大大雞排). Point + say zhè ge— nobody minds.
Convenience stores (便利商店).7-Eleven, FamilyMart, Hi-Life and OKMart run ~13,000 stores across the island — the highest density per capita on earth. You can eat for NT$100 (rice balls + hot coffee + dumplings), reload EasyCard, pay bills, print, use the ATM, buy an umbrella, top up an eSIM. Every one has clean toilets. If it's 2am and you're not near an open restaurant, you're near a 7-Eleven.
Coin lockers.Every MRT station and every THSR / TRA station has a wall of lockers — small NT$20-30, medium NT$50, large NT$70. Newer lockers accept EasyCard and issue a receipt with a barcode. Perfect for luggage on your check-out day before the flight.
Toilets.MRT stations, chain 7-Elevens and department stores all have clean free public toilets. Older night-market ones can be squat-style — bring tissue.
Staying connected: skip the roaming bill
Your home carrier's Taiwan roaming add-on runs C$12-15 or roughly US$10 per day — for a two-week trip that's $150+ just to open Google Maps and search for the next night market. A Taiwan travel eSIM gets you the same Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan Mobile or FarEasTone network for a few dollars total.
The setup that works best: install the Taiwan eSIM on Wi-Fi before you fly, keep your home SIM in the phone with roaming off so your number still receives SMS two-factor codes, and set the eSIM as your data line. Land at Taoyuan, walk out, Google Maps knows where you are. Related reads:
- Best Taiwan eSIM 2026 — buying guide
- Korea Travel Guide 2026 (companion post)
- Hong Kong Travel Guide 2026 (companion post)
- Japan Travel Guide 2026 (companion post)
FAQ
QDo I need a visa to visit Taiwan in 2026?
AFor short-term tourism, citizens of most Western countries can enter Taiwan visa-free — Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, Singapore and most Schengen countries for 90 days; the United Kingdom for 180 days. Mainland Chinese passport holders need a separate Taiwan travel permit. There is no ETA/ESTA-style application, but tourists are strongly encouraged to submit the free online Arrival Card at entryform.immigration.gov.tw within 3 days of departure — otherwise a paper form is handed out on the plane. Verify your passport at boca.gov.tw before you book.
QHow do I unlock a YouBike with an EasyCard?
AFirst register your EasyCard once — either in the YouBike app (English UI, foreign phone number works) or by tapping your card at any station kiosk and following the on-screen registration. Then just tap the card on the reader beside any bike; the lock releases, you cycle to any other station in the same YouBike system, and tap again to return. First 30 minutes are free in Taipei (subject to change city-by-city); after that fares are pennies per half hour. YouBike is the fastest way to cross Taipei's flatter districts and every MRT exit has a station.
QDo I need cash in Taiwan?
ASome. Taipei's chain restaurants, convenience stores, MRT, and tap-to-pay-enabled shops are cashless — EasyCard or credit card works. But Taiwan's night markets, most local breakfast shops, dumpling houses, temples, and bandit-esque back-alley beef noodle spots are still cash-only. A useful baseline is NT$3,000-5,000 in your wallet, then use EasyCard or a foreign contactless credit card for everything else. Withdraw at any 7-Eleven ATM — foreign cards work with a small fee.
QWhat's a 'two-stage left turn' in Taiwan?
ATaiwan has ~14 million scooters — more scooters than cars. To keep intersections safe, most large intersections require scooters to make left turns in two stages instead of cutting across traffic. When you want to turn left, you ride straight through the intersection into a marked yellow waiting box (機車待轉區) on the far right corner, wait for the light to turn green on the perpendicular road, then ride straight across. If you rent a scooter as a foreigner, missing this and turning left directly with cars is a NT$600-1,800 ticket. It also applies to bicycles at some intersections.
QShould I tip in Taiwan?
ANo. Tipping is not customary in Taiwan — restaurants, taxis, hotels, tour guides and hairdressers don't expect it. Better restaurants add a 10% service charge to the bill automatically, similar to Hong Kong. Rounding up a taxi fare to the nearest NT$5 or NT$10 is common but not required.
QWhat's the cheapest way to get mobile data as a tourist in Taiwan?
AA Taiwan travel eSIM installed on your unlocked phone runs on Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan Mobile or FarEasTone for a fraction of the C$12-15 / US$10 per day most home carriers charge for a roaming pass. Install it on Wi-Fi before you fly, set it as your data line, and keep your home SIM active for SMS two-factor codes. Airport SIM booths at Taoyuan are still there but an eSIM is set up before you land.
Photo credits
In-post photos are used under their respective Creative Commons or Public Domain licences. Full source pages are linked in each caption.
- Taipei 101 at twilight — Jack View, CC BY-SA 2.0.
- Taiwan High Speed Rail 700T — Jiang, Public domain.
- Airport MRT fare gates at Taipei Main Station — MiNe, CC BY 2.0.
- YouBike station outside a Taipei MRT exit — Kiyoteru Awaji, CC BY 4.0.
- Taipei Bridge scooter waterfall — Tze Chiang Hao, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Raohe Street Night Market — Yosomono, CC BY 2.0.
- Yellow Taiwan taxi — pommes king, CC BY 2.0.
Bottom line
Taiwan rewards a small amount of preparation with an outsized amount of ease. Before you fly: confirm you don't need a visa at boca.gov.tw, submit the free online Arrival Card, download the YouBike app and the local Uberapp if you don't have one, and set up a Taiwan eSIM so your phone is online before you leave Taoyuan. On the ground:buy an EasyCard at the first 7-Eleven, register it with YouBike, don't tip, don't eat or drink on the MRT, go to a night market hungry, and say xiè xie a lot. Everything else works out.