Taiwan - Planning + Costs

Two months ago today we left for a quick trip to Taiwan to see my grandma who turned 100 this year! The last time I was in Taiwan was almost 10 years ago, so I thought this was the perfect opportunity/reason to go back and show Eric around as well, as he has never been to Asia. This would also be my first time going back on my own which was exciting and (I don’t know why but) slight nerve-wrecking hah

It doesn’t matter where we go, I try to book trips at least half a year in advance in order to get cheaper flights and hotels. The base flight we booked via Air Canada was less than $1000 (after we selected our seats and such, it came to $1300/person which honestly, still isn’t too bad. Although I have to mention, there were two layovers… One at Vancouver (of course), and one in Japan. At first, I thought it was a great idea but after we arrived in Taiwan, I had a small regret lol I can’t believe the travel took ONE full day; we left our house at 7am on the 18th, and we arrived in Taiwan on the 19th at 7am (Edmonton time) and then through out the trip, I had the worst jet lag I’ve ever had… Eric, on the other hand, had no issue at all lol

(hotel lobby)

Art’otel is the boutique hotel we stayed at, 10 minute walk from the Ximend Metro Station, super convenient. There’s also a McDonald's 3 min away. However, I contemplated and we ended up paying $630 for 5 nights (again, not that bad but if I had book earlier, it would’ve been less than $100/night… BOOK EARLY lol)  I wasn’t sure if Taiwan has Uber so we took cabs to places that were a bit hard to get to or would’ve taken too long; however, the cab drivers do not speak English (because they’re all older generations) so I’d really recommend staying close to the Metro stations to have easier access to wherever you need to go.

Overall, minus some delays, the flights went smoothly. No visa needed, if anyone was curious. The weather was great, average L23 - H29 °C everyday. And we flew by Mount Fuji on the way there!