• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
Devour.Asia

Devour.Asia

Better Asian recipes for home cooks

  • Recipes
    • Cuisine
      • Chinese
      • Japanese
      • Korean
      • Thai
      • Vietnamese
      • Taiwanese
      • Filipino
      • Indonesian
      • Malaysian
      • South Asian
      • Fusion
      • Street Food
    • Ingredient
      • Poultry
      • Seafood
      • Meat
      • Rice & Grains
      • Noodles
      • Vegetables
      • Tofu
      • Mushrooms
      • Bread
      • Eggs
      • Fruits
    • Course
      • Breakfast
      • Snacks
      • Salads
      • Soups
      • Main Courses
      • Side Dishes
      • Sweets
      • Drinks
  • Kitchen
  • Stories
  • Cuisine
    • Chinese
    • Japanese
    • Korean
    • Thai
    • Taiwanese
    • Filipino
    • Indonesian
    • Malaysian
    • South Asian
    • Fusion
  • Main Ingredient
    • Poultry
    • Seafood
    • Meat
    • Rice & Grains
    • Noodles
      • Noodle Soups
      • Noodles Stir Fry
      • Instant Noodles (Ramen)
    • Vegetables
    • Mushrooms
    • Tofu
    • Bread
    • Eggs
    • Fruits
  • Course
    • Breakfast
    • Snacks
    • Salads
    • Soups
    • Main Courses
    • Side Dishes
    • Sweets
    • Drinks
  • Street Food
  • Kitchen Tales
  • Food Tales
  • About
  • Privacy
You are here: Home / Travel Tales / Navigating Taipei by MRT with an EasyCard

Navigating Taipei by MRT with an EasyCard

Before we flew to Taiwan, I bought two essentials online — two sets of SIM cards and EasyCards.

The SIM cards were a convenient way to stay in touch with our girls back home 24/7 even when we’re outside the hotel and Wifi may not be available. The specs:

  • Carrier: Far EasTone Telecom
  • Internet speed: 4G
  • Data limit: Unlimited
  • Signal coverage: Entire Taiwan (including Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu islands)

EasyCard (uses, topping up and refund)

Exploring Taipei via MRT

I bought the EasyCards so we would’t have to buy train tickets every time we wanted to go somewhere. Who wants to count bills and coins each and every time, right? With an EasyCard, just pass the card through the sensor at the fare gate (a.k.a. turnstile) of the MRT upon entering and after exiting.

The EasyCards came with no value and we just topped them up at the Taoyuan International Airport. TWD500 for each EasyCard.

How to use Easycard to ride MRT in Taipei

Although we used the EasyCards for train rides, they can also be used on buses, taxis, some convenience stores, supermarkets and department stores, and even to enter the zoo! The exact fare or purchase price is deducted so you don’t have to carry a lot of cash. Just keep topping up to make sure it won’t get declined.

Topping up is… Well, it can be done almost everywhere — at the airport, train and bus stations, at convenience stores… If, at the end of your trip, the EasyCard still has unused value, you may get a refund (a handling fee of TWD20 will be deducted) at any Taipei MRT Station.

So, after clearing Immigration, we looked for the Klook stall at the airport and picked up our SIM cards and EasyCards. We proceeded to the train station and located the machines to top up the EasyCards. Fortunately for us, there was an employee beside the machines to assist tourists. We just handed her the bills, she topped up the cards and we were ready to take the train to the hotel.

Inside the Taipei Airport MRT
Inside the Taoyuan Airport MRT

About Taipei Main Station

Taipei Main Station is a hub. A huge hub. If you’re not in a hurry, you can walk around Taipei Main Station, have a snack or a meal (there are plenty of food shops and there is even a food court) or start shopping. Yes, shopping. There are four malls connected to the station. Station Front Metro Mall, Taipei City Mall, Taipei New World Mall and Zhongshan Metro Mall.

(We were tempted, truth be told. But we wanted to dump our bags first. It is much easier and more comfortable to explore without pulling and pushing trolley bags. So our priority was checking in at the hotel.)

Taipei MRT
Taipei MRT

To get to your destination from the Taipei Main Station, you have five options.

  1. Take the Taipei MRT.
  2. Take the Taiwan HSR (high-speed trains).
  3. Take the TRA trains (regular trains).
  4. Cross Civic Boulevard (using the underground tunnels) to the Taipei Bus Station and take a bus.
  5. Go up the ground level and take a taxi from there.

We didn’t have to do any of that, switch lines or take a bus or a taxi, I mean, because our hotel was just across the Taipei Main Station. All we had to do was locate the correct exit, walk a few meters and we were there. I chose the hotel for that very reason but that’s another story.

Taipei MRT

But why the train? Why not taxis or Grab? There’s no Grab in Taiwan. Between taxis and the train, the latter is faster and more economical. As a rule of thumb, if there are four of us traveling, taxis are generally the more economical way to get from point to point. Taxi fare is fixed regardless of the number of passengers.

Taipei taxi
Taipei taxi

But since there were just Speedy and myself on the Taiwan trip, the train was ideal. Besides, the last time I was in Taiwan, I found the train system impressive. Well, confusing and intimidating too. But after experiencing the more complex train system in Japan, I was sure that we could figure out the Taiwan trains without too much hassle. And we did, actually.

The Taipei MRT has five main lines. The sixth, the Taoyuan Airport MRT, is a special line between the airport and the Taipei Main Station — a comfortable 35-minute ride.

The MRT lines are color-coded on the map and inside the stations. We carried the map everywhere we went. We simply checked the color of the line we needed to take to get to every destination then followed the color-coded arrows inside the train station to find the correct platform.

It’s not hard at all. It took us our first afternoon in Taiwan and three train rides to get the hang of it. The next day, we didn’t look like lost tourists anymore.

Published: May 30, 2019 • Last modified: May 30, 2019 ♥ Travel Tales, Taiwan
Further Reading
Chinese-style fried rice in white ramekin

How To Cook Chinese-style Fried Rice

Fried and skewered quail eggs. Tamsui Old Street, Taiwan

Quail Eggs in Asian Cuisines

Mandarin oranges

Symbolic Food for the Lunar New Year

Sidebar

Experience Asia

Thai Hot and Sour Soup (Tom Saap) Garnished with Chili

Thai Hot and Sour Soup (Tom Saap)

Thai cucumber salad garnished with peanuts and cilantro

Thai Cucumber Salad with Sweet and Tangy Chili Dressing

Japanese sakura rice bowls

Two Reasons to Go Back to Japan

Sam Veneracion making pottery. Bat Trang Village, Vietnam.

The Authentic Bat Trang Ceramic Village Tour and Pottery Class

Thai meatballs in curry sauce

Thai-style Meatballs in Coconut Curry Sauce

  • About
  • Privacy
  • Archive

Inspiration

“A full belly conquers all.”

From the film Saving Face
Popular Posts
  • A Guide To Ramen Broth: Shio, Shoyu, Miso and Tonkotsu
  • 3 Soy Sauce Braised Pork Belly
  • Steamed Pompano With Ginger Sauce
  • Tofu in Oyster Sauce
  • Slow Cooker Chinese-style Beef Tendon
Not So Fine Print

Devour Asia does NOT work with “brands”.

Devour Asia does NOT accept guest posts.

Devour Asia does NOT outsource recipe development, writing, photography and videography.

Except for the occasional stock photo and blockquote, everything © Devour Asia. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.