Saved
Taiwan — hero

Asia

Taiwan

Asia's most seamless bleisure island: high-tech Taipei by day, misty mountain trails and hot springs by night, with the world's best night-market food in between.

Currency
New Taiwan Dollar (TWD)
Language
Chinese
Best time
November – April
Visa
Visa-free (up to 90 days). Complete the online Taiwan Arrival Card (TWAC) within 3 days before you arrive; passport valid 6 months from arrival

The FCDO has no advisory against travel to Taiwan.

Still current at: 13 November 2026 Updated: 28 August 2026

Source: UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office — the definitive source. Check it close to your travel dates.

Flight cancelled or delayed because of this? Your rights under UK261 / EU261 →

Why visit

Why Taiwan

Asia's most seamless bleisure island: high-tech Taipei by day, misty mountain trails and hot springs by night, with the world's best night-market food in between.

  • Taipei 101 & the night markets
  • Taroko Gorge
  • Sun Moon Lake
  • Lantern-lit Jiufen old street
Read more

Taiwan is where high-tech city life meets wild mountain country in a single, compact island. Fast trains, universal 5G and a famously welcoming culture make it one of Asia's most frictionless destinations for families and remote-working travellers alike.

Base yourself in Taipei for world-class night markets, temples and glittering skyscrapers, then trade the metro for marble gorges, alpine forests and steaming natural hot springs within a couple of hours. It is a country that rewards curiosity at every turn.

With a strong push toward regenerative mountain tourism and seamless digital travel, Taiwan offers polished, high-value experiences without the crowds of its bigger neighbours. Easy, safe and endlessly delicious.

A pillar, not a footnote

Eat your way through Taiwan

The single reason many travellers come back — the food culture worth reshaping a trip around, and the dishes to seek out region by region.

Taiwan

Night-market street food, a national bowl of beef noodle soup, and the island that invented bubble tea.

Come hungry to a Taiwanese night market — Shilin, Raohe, Tainan's lantern-lit lanes — and graze: an oyster omelette griddled with sweet-potato starch, a folded gua bao bun packed with braised pork belly and peanut dust, the notorious hot waft of fried stinky tofu. This is Asia's street-food island, where the small eats, xiaochi, are the whole point and dinner is a dozen stalls.

The national bowl is niúròu miàn, beef noodle soup — noodles in a dark, star-anise broth under meltingly soft stewed shin — a recipe Sichuan and Shandong refugees brought in 1949. Alongside it sit the layers of Taiwan's history: Din Tai Fung's soup-filled xiao long bao, Japanese-era railway bento, Hokkien braised pork rice. And the island's gift to the world is in your other hand — bubble tea, tea shaken with chewy tapioca pearls, invented here in the 1980s and now everywhere.

Dishes to seek out
  • Beef noodle soup (niúròu miàn)
  • Lu rou fan (braised pork rice)
  • Xiao long bao (soup dumplings)
  • Gua bao (pork-belly bun)
  • Oyster omelette
  • Stinky tofu
  • Bubble tea (pearl milk tea)
Plan your own trip to Taiwan
When to go

Weather & timing in Taiwan Right now RIGHT NOW 29°C cloudy

Best Jan–Feb, Nov · Shoulder Mar–Apr, Dec

Units

Next 7 days

Forecast · Met Office · Powered by Met Office data

Typical · climate data

Best time to visit

November – April

Best for
  • Culture
  • Cuisine
  • Landscape
  • History
At a glance
Sunshine 7.4 hr/day
Rainfall 139 mm/mo
Wettest May · 250.6mm
Driest January · 51.3mm
Part of East Asia →
By season

Units

Spring (Mar–May)

What to expect — Daytime highs average about 26°C with overnight lows near 19°C, with plenty of rain.

What's best — Warm, then Shoulder season. Mar and Apr are among the best months here (warm, sun and cloud).

Summer (Jun–Aug)

What to expect — Daytime highs average about 33°C with overnight lows near 25°C — the wettest stretch of the year.

What's best — Wet, then Hot.

Autumn (Sep–Nov)

What to expect — Daytime highs average about 28°C with overnight lows near 22°C, with plenty of rain.

What's best — Wet, then Shoulder season, then Warm. Nov is among the best months here (warm, sun and cloud).

Winter (Dec–Feb)

What to expect — Daytime highs average about 20°C with overnight lows near 14°C.

What's best — Shoulder season, then Mild, then Warm. Jan and Feb are among the best months here (mild, sun and cloud).

Live forecast map · Windy.com · temperature with wind, °C and km/h
A little context

A little history

To read what you're looking at — the empires and eras that shaped Taiwan's food, art and streets.

Austronesian indigenous peoples were joined by Hokkien and Hakka settlers from Fujian, the base layer of the culture and food
fifty years of Japanese colonial rule (1895–1945) left railways, bento and lasting tastes
Chiang Kai-shek's defeated Nationalists retreated here in 1949, bringing mainland regional cooking
now a self-governing democracy and a global tech powerhouse
Before you book

Know before you go

The practical back-matter — safety, earthquakes & tsunamis, drones and the essentials, in one place.

Safety

No FCDO advisory against travel FCDO advice →

Official UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office guidance is the definitive source — check it close to your travel dates.

Earthquakes & tsunamis

Taiwan lies on the circum-Pacific seismic zone, where earthquakes are frequent, and some coasts have a recorded history of tsunamis.

When the shaking starts

  • Drop, cover and hold on: get down low, protect your head and neck, and hold on until the shaking stops.
  • Expect aftershocks, and drop, cover and hold on again each time.
  • Then follow instructions from local authorities and your hotel staff.

Near the coast

  • If you are near the coast and feel shaking that makes it hard to stand, or a rolling quake that lasts a minute or more, move to high ground or as far inland as you can as soon as the shaking stops.
  • Do the same if the sea suddenly pulls back or rises, or you hear a loud, unusual roar from the water.
  • Don't wait for an official warning. Walk or cycle if you can, and stay away until the authorities give the all-clear.

On arrival When you check in, look at your hotel's evacuation map and note the nearest high ground or evacuation route.

Coasts most exposed to tsunami Northern coast around Keelung and New Taipei (historical tsunami damage); possible records on most other coasts, incl. the east coast and Penghu

Official sources to follow
General guidance, not a live alert · Sources checked Nov 2026 FCDO advice for Taiwan →

Drone rules (sub-250g)

  • Taiwan
    Drones are legal but bureaucratic for visitors. A sub-250g drone skips CAA registration, but foreigners are widely reported to need advance CAA approval to fly regardless of weight, filed weeks ahead. Limits: below 120m, daylight and sight, clear of crowds and buildings. ⚠ Much of urban Taipei is restricted; riverside parks need about 15 days' government approval, and every national park (Taroko, Yushan, Kenting) requires advance permits. Check the CAA portal (drone.caa.gov.tw) and confirm foreigner rules with the CAA before travelling. Rules checked: Jul 2026

National parks, protected sites and religious/heritage venues often have their own rules and permits — always check the specific site before you fly.

The essentials

Plug & voltage Type A/B · 110V
Daily budget Budget-friendly
Region Eastern Asia