Taipei: 5 days Muslim Friendly Itinerary When Travel with Your Parents

Taipei is the capital city of Taiwan. I have the opportunity to explore Taipei with both of my parents. I was glad everything went smooth and as per planned. Talking about my itinerary, as I traveled with my parents over 60 years old, the schedule is more leisure and not too hectic. I had read a lot of guides and honestly, the best guides I get are from Agoda's Travel Guide. If you are planning for your next destination, I am suggesting pick a city from their comprehensive articles to find more information.

Where to stay?

If you ask me, the best area to stay is Ximending. Ximending is famous for its fashion street. So if you feel bored at night, you can just take a short walk to feel the busy environment. 

Halal section during breakfast at Amba Hotel Ximending

Last time, I stayed at the Amba Hotel Ximending which is located in the middle of the Xiamen Street. It is one of the Muslim friendly hotels with a Halal certified restaurant.

For more hotels, you can read my previous blog post: 5 Taiwan Muslim Friendly Hotels with Halal Breakfast

Transportation?

I was worried about transportation around Taipei at first. Surprisingly, it is easy and convenient to travel around Taipei using Metro, bus or high-speed rail. Every attraction is connected with public transport or only a short walk from the bus/metro station. Inside the Metro, bus or at the station, the sign is in Mandarin and English. For your convenience, you can get your Metro Card or known as Easycard.

My parents inside the Taipei metro. 

Day 1

National Theatre & Concert Hall; Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall

National Palace Museum

Lunch at Halal Beef Noodles House

Chiang Kao Shek's Shilin Residence Park Map

Shilin Market

Start your journey by visiting and stroll around National Theatre & Concert Hall and next to it is the amazing Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial hall. Just remember to bring your own umbrella during summer to protect yourself from the sun. 

Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall 

Next, continue your journey to the National Palace Museum to see all the important artifacts and Chinese Arts. National Palace Museum is a really big building and you can easily spend two hours inside there. 

National Palace Museum

Halal Beef Noodles House is the best place to have your lunch and not to be missed out. If you are looking for local cuisines, then you should definitely try their iconic beef noodles! The beef noodle soup is an original dish by the Chinese and Taiwanese but the city of Taipei is known to provide the best of its kind!

Halal Beef Noodles House

Do not miss out Chiang Kai Shek Shilin Residence Park! The former residence of Chiang Kai-shek and his wife Soong Mei-ling, the Shilin Official Residence is a designated historical site open to the public as a museum to celebrate their accomplishments as well as their contributions to the growth of Taiwan in the modern era. Besides the main residence, other buildings within the compound include the guesthouse, Victory Chapel, Ciyun Pavilion, and numerous gardens open to the public.

 

Shilin Market - A Foods Heaven

End your day by enjoying the foods at the Shilin Night Market. You can find a lot of interesting items at this night market and it is one of my favorite night markets. If you are looking for souvenirs, here is the place. 

Alternatively, you can check out Agoda’s Guide on Taipei’s Night Market.

Day 2

Yehliu Geopark

Gold Museum

Jioufen Old Street

Shifen Waterfall

Dinner at Halal Bismilla Restaurant

Day TWO will require more travel with public transport and most of the places are located at the Wanli District in the New Taipei City. Start your journey as early as you can and drop by the Yehliu Geopark - one of the unique places to visit and you do not to miss out. It is a landscape of honeycomb and mushroom rocks eroded by the sea. Well-known formations named for their shapes include the Queen’s Head and Dragon’s Head.

 

 Yehliu Geopark - A very unique scenery

Then, you can continue your journey by visiting the Gold Museum and make a stop to explore Jioufen Old Street. The view there is amazing! As we had a limited of time, we did not spend so much in in Jioufen.

Amazing Jioufen view.

Continue your journey using the bus to the Shifen Waterfall, one of the most photographed waterfalls in Taiwan. Thereafter, you can head back to Taipei and have your dinner at the Halal Bismilla Restaurant. I can guarantee that all the dishes are really tasty.

Having a dinner at HALAL Bismilla Restaurant

Day 3

Leofoo Theme Park & Animal Safari

Lunch at Aladdin Muslim Friendly Restaurant

Yangmishan National Park

TaipeiEYE

Start your day three in Taipei by exploring Leofoo Theme Park. I am sure you will get your adrenalin rush with all the extreme rides inside. The best thing is you can have your lunch at the Aladdin Muslim Friendly Restaurant inside this theme park. 

Leofoo Village Theme Park

 Don’t forget to visit their animal safari inside the theme park. We had a chance to explore the sight-seeing inside the safari. You can find a lot of cute and adorable animals inside. 

After a fun day at the theme park, you can continue your journey to the Yangmingshan National Park. We visited the Volcanic Landform of Xiaoyoukeng the last time, but the mist is too thick so we barely get to see anything and it is quite cold here. So do remember to bring your sweater!

Volcanic Landform of Xiaoyoukeng, Yangmingshan

When it hit the night, my parents and I enjoyed the Chinese Opera performances at the TaipeiEYE. Even though we don’t really understand what they are saying, but we know exactly what it is all about. Nice show and worth watching!

TaipeiEYE performances

Day 4

Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall

Taipei 101 Observatory Hall; Lunch

Shop at Taipei 101

Visit Grand Hotel

Taipei Grand Mosque

Dinner at Royal Restaurant

We started our morning at the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall. Designed by local architect Wang Da-hung, this memorial hall was established in memory of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the father of the Republic of China. The hall is surrounded by a large park, further making it a popular weekend escape for city residents.

Garden at Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall with a backdrop of Taipei 101

From the memorial hall, we walked towards Taipei 101 - one of the most iconic buildings in the world. Don’t forget to visit the Observatory Hall and deck with the fastest elevator in the world. The tickets are expensive but it is worth it. The damper here is one of the magnificent engineering structures. The giant damper is to enhance the safety and comfort by vibration isolating and energy dissipating.

In front of the iconic building of Taipei 101

Taipei 101 Observatory Hall                                                             Taipei 101 Damper

You can shop till you drop at Taipei 101, which feature all the luxury world-renowned boutiques. Do not forget to apply for the Tourist card before you shop as you can get many discounts inside Taipei 101.

The Grand Hotel

Next is to visit The Grand Hotel. There is a free shuttle bus provided at the YuanShan MRT Station. Be mesmerized with the buildings and architecture of the hotel. We did not spend much time hanging around the hotel. There is schedule for the shuttle bus to/from the hotel. Just plan your itinerary properly.

Taipei Grand Mosque is not to be missed for Muslims if you are in Taipei. The best time to visit the mosque is during the Friday prayers because there is small food bazaar inside one of the hall area where you can find a variety of halal food after the prayer. 

Taipei Grand Mosque after Friday Prayer

Next to the mosque, there is one halal restaurant called Royal Restaurant which serves Indonesian dishes. The workers are from Indonesia. The food there is tasty and price is affordable.

Day 5

Visit Vigor Kobo

Lunch at Tajin Restaurant

Gloria Outlets

Xiamen Street

If you are looking for pineapple tarts for souvenirs, Vigor Kobo is the place for you. You can learn and join the class to make the pineapple tart in Vigor Kobo. There is also an interesting and interactive area where you can learn more about pineapple tarts. This place is the best because it sells Halal Pineapple tart. All you need to do is to inform the staff that you are looking for Halal Pineapple tarts and there are a few choices.

Pineapple tarts Cooking Class at Vigor Kobo

Take a break and enjoy your lunch at Tajin Restaurant where you can enjoy the Morocco dishes. The restaurant is Instagram worthy and the food is delicious!

Lunch at the Morrocon-style restaurant @ TAJIN RESTAURANT

Since this is your last day, you can spend your money at the Gloria Outlet. It is a premium factory outlet, just like our Johor Premium Outlet or Mitsui Premium Outlet. You can find many luxury brands here such as Coach, Kenzo, Jimmy Choo and etc. For the price, some of the items are worth buying. 

Shopping till drop at Gloria Outlet

If Gloria Outlet is not the one for you, have a look at Agoda’s recommendations on the popular Taipei shopping destinations.

At night, do not forget to stroll over to Xiamen Street, also known as teenagers Fashion Street. You also can find many small Boba drink shops there.

Xiamen Street also known as fashion street for teenagers

Conclusion

There you go! That’s my 5 days Muslim friendly itinerary. Thank you Agoda helping me to plan the things to do, eat and places to stay with the travel guides.