In March 2026 we went on an amazing 16 day trip to Vietnam and Taiwan. We had high expectations for these countries and they easily exceeded them, especially Vietnam! Vietnam was incredible and is one of our favorite countries we’ve ever visited.
This itinerary had a little bit of everything: chaotic big cities, phenomenal food, a little bit of luxury, beautiful landscapes, and unforgettable memories. We covered a ton of ground to fit in as many awesome places as possible, including Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, Ninh Binh, Taichung, Sun Moon Lake, and Taipei – every single stop was fantastic.
If you have any interest in visiting these countries, allow us to tell you about our trip, what we liked and didn’t, lessons learned and some tips to make your visit the best it can be!
Before we get started on our itinerary, here are a few general tips:
- You need a visa to enter Vietnam. Apply at least 2 weeks before your trip!
- You need a Taiwan Arrival Card for entering Taiwan. You are supposed to have this 3 days before arriving, but you can also fill it out on arrival if you forget.
- Don’t drink any tap water in Vietnam! Even in the cities, it’s not worth the risk. We also used bottled water for brushing our teeth to ensure we didn’t get sick.
- The typhoid vaccine is highly recommended for visiting Vietnam. Travel vaccines are not typically covered by insurance and can be more than $250.
- For these areas in Vietnam you don’t need anything for malaria. If you are visiting the central jungles or more rural areas then it is recommended.
- Use Grab in Vietnam for getting around – Uber doesn’t work there. For longer transfers, book a private transfer beforehand through Viator or Get your Guide.
- Pack body sunscreen. They don’t really use body sunscreen in Vietnam so it is very hard to find in stores and very expensive.
- When using a public restroom, make sure to check the stall for toilet paper first. In both countries the toilet paper was often located outside the stall and you had to get some and bring it into the stall with you.
- Some restaurants do accept credit cards, but cash is still very prevalent and many places were cash only. Get some cash from an ATM when you arrive!
Now let’s get into the itinerary!
Table of Contents
*Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission if you make a purchase/booking through a link at no extra cost to you. We hope this information helps you plan your next vacation.
Day 1 – Arrive in Ho Chi Minh City
We left Washington DC on a direct flight to Tokyo on Air Nippon Airlines, one of the best airlines in the world! We had a little less than 2 hours in Haneda, which is a fantastic airport. We did a bit of shopping at the Uniqlo and stocked up on some of our favorite Japanese essentials at the 7/11, and had we been hungry there were several incredible looking ramen places to choose from!
We then boarded our flight to Ho Chi Minh City for our next 6 hour leg. We arrived at 10pm and the airport was packed! We paid for the immigration fast track on Klook ahead of time after reading reviews and it was so worth it! Immigration in Vietnam can easily take 2-3 hours at any time of the day. We ended up waiting only 25 minutes, while the other lines looked to be at least 2 hours long. If you are on the fence about paying for the fast track through immigration we emphatically would tell you to do it!
After clearing customs and picking up our bag we ordered a Grab, the single best way to get around Vietnam. We ordered one and it was a very easy process. The pickup area is clearly defined, and while it is a bit chaotic outside the airport finding our driver was relatively simple. We recommend downloading the app and adding your credit card before your trip! Once we were picked up it took about 25 minutes to get to our hotel.
In Ho Chi Minh City we stayed at La Siesta Premium Saigon, a spectacular five star hotel in a perfect location. We loved everything about this hotel, from the super clean and comfortable rooms, to the incredibly friendly staff, to the most delicious breakfast ever. This is definitely one of the best hotels we’ve ever stayed at and would absolutely advocate for you to stay there on your trip!
By the time we checked in and had gotten ready for bed it was after midnight and we were exhausted. From the US it is always a long travel day to get to Vietnam, but as you’ll see it is so worth it!
Day 2 – Ho Chi Minh City
Our first full day in Vietnam began with an incredible breakfast at our hotel. Truthfully, this is probably the best hotel breakfast we’ve ever had and one of the best breakfasts in general we could imagine. All items on the menu are included, and two absolute musts are the eggs benedict and the beef pho! This was easily the best beef pho we had on the entire trip. The selection of grab and go items, including fresh fruit, was also very good! Just another reason to book a stay here.
We then began exploring the city with a stroll through Tao Dan Park, a fun city park about 9 minutes from the hotel. On a Saturday morning the park was full of families and even some Vietnamese children’s groups that looked like the equivalent of Boy Scouts. S
We continued our walk up to Independence Palace, formerly the Republic of South Vietnam’s presidential residence before 1975. This is also the place where the Vietnamese War officially ended when, in 1975, it was captured by the North Vietnamese and effectively ended the war. You can easily buy tickets on the same day, and they are very cheap. We recommend only buying the tickets for the palace itself, and we’d expect to spend a bit over an hour exploring all the different rooms and doing a bit of souvenir shopping.
Though less well known than Hanoi as a foodie city, Ho Chi Minh had so many amazing restaurants that we struggled to fit them all in! Despite our delicious breakfast only a few hours before, we got an early lunch at the Michelin rated Bep Me In to sample their famous crispy pancake full of shrimp, pork, bean sprouts, and onions. We also ordered their crispy fried chicken wrapped in soft rice noodle with a truffle dipping sauce that was so good. It was all amazing and it was easy to see why this restaurant had a Michelin star.
We then decided to explore a Vietnamese 7/11. In Europe and the US, 7/11s are not typically somewhere we’d spend much time. However, just like Japan and South Korea, there were some really fun treats in this 7/11 including a corn ice cream and pho flavored potato chips!
Next up for the day’s exploration was Cong Ca Phe, a fantastic cafe that’s famous for their frozen coconut coffee and other delicious drinks. There are several around Ho Chi Minh (and Hanoi), but just be aware that it is cash only. Even if you don’t like coffee there are delicious teas available, and it overall is just a really fun experience.
We continued up the street to see the Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica of Saigon, a leftover relic from the French colonial period. Unfortunately it is currently under construction (expected to finish in 2027), so we couldn’t see it as it is covered in scaffolding. The inside is also closed, so it was a overall a bummer.
Just around the corner from the Basilica is the Saigon Central Post Office, another famous building left by the French. Once a major hub for mail and commerce, the post office is now a huge tourist attraction. Many people come here to send postcards home – continuing to use it for its intended purpose – though it is also a great option for souvenir shopping. There are many fun things to look at with prices that aren’t really inflated, and the best part is that no one is harassing you. We bought Robusta coffee grounds, handmade artwork, and the Miss Saigon Heritage perfume here.
The next street over is HCM Book Street, a really cute and picturesque street that was fun to walk down as well. Unfortunately it is impossible to do any shopping here unless you speak Vietnamese, as none of the books are in English. Still, it’s worth at least a quick walk through!
Our next stop was at Ben Than Market, one of the most famous in Ho Chin Minh with over 1500 booths to explore. It can be a little bit chaotic and overwhelming, and we don’t recommend eating here as we were told the food is not authentic and is expensive. It’s definitely worth stopping by to do a bit of shopping, just know you will be harassed by the vendors if you show even the slightest bit of interest in something. The goods are really interesting though, and we ended up buying a beautiful Ao Dai for our niece and the men’s version for our nephew.
For dinner we went to Pizza 4P’s, a lovely restaurant with a fantastic ambience. The food was excellent as well! There are specialty pizzas where you can order half of one type and half of another. We each ordered a pizza so we were able to sample 4 different types! Some of our neighbors had pasta that also looked incredible, especially the creamy crab pasta. If you are looking for non-Vietnamese food, definitely give Pizza 4P’s a shot.
After dinner we walked over to the Saigon Opera House to admire the outside before continuing on to Nguyen Hue Walking Street where City Hall and a statue of Ho Chi Minh are located. The famous Cafe Apartments are also on that street, though to us they seemed a bit overrated so we didn’t end up visiting.
It may have been the time of year, but the street was packed and there were some really cool Vietnamese festivals going on for the lunar new year. We walked the length of the street all the way down to Bach Dang Quay Park along the river before returning to the hotel and calling it a night.
Restaurant ideas in Ho Chi Minh:
- Che Choi Nuong Vo Van Tan Entrance of Alley 441 Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street- District 3, grilled banana in coconut sauce (a unique combo!) Open 8:00am-9:30pm
- Little Hanoi Egg Coffee – absolutely delicious!
- Bo Ne Ba Nui- Vietnamese breakfast with beef and egg. 12 min walk from hotel Open 7:00am-10:00pm
- Bánh Mi Me In 136/13
- NOM cultural dining- 43 min walk from hotel, near Thi Nghe Canal. Open 4:30pm-11:00pm
- Ola Hale- across from Tan Dinh Church- 34 min walk from hotel. Open 10:30am-10:00pm
- Bep Me In- in the Michelin Guide, known for pancake with shrimp and pork. 5 min walk from hotel. Open 10:30am-10:30pm
- Cafe Apartments- get an egg coffee
- Cong Ca Phe- excellent coconut coffee. 11 min walk from hotel, near Notre Dame. Open 7:00am-10:30pm
- Ben Nghe Street Food
- Pizza 4P’s- 4 min walk from hotel
- Kocha- Matcha Spot. Try their cloud matcha. Near Tan Dinh Church, 26 min from hotel. 8:30am-10:00pm
- Koi Fish Cafe- Oasis Cafe. 54 mi walk or 18 min drive from hotel
Cocktail Bars:
- Climb- 19 min walk from hotel
- Krystalini- inside the famous Cafe Apartments. Have to book in advance for the secret password and it is a 17 min walk from hotel
- Telephone Bar- have to call on the phone, but there is no menu
- The Arth Saigon
- Tamarind
- Landmark 81- ask to go to the Blank Launch for cocktails with a view
Day 3 – Ho Chi Minh City
We began our second morning in Ho Chi Minh with breakfast at our hotel for the second time – it was just as incredible as the first time!
Then we went to Little Hanoi for an egg coffee, a little less than 10 minutes from our hotel. This cafe is absolutely fantastic and a must when you are visiting this city! It is small and very popular, so we recommend going fairly early in the morning to ensure the queue isn’t too long. We arrived just after 9am and it had a very short line so we were thankful for that. This was easily the best egg coffee Emily had on the trip, and Matt had an iced tea that he loved as well. We didn’t order food but the menu looked delicious for breakfast!
Our first sightseeing stop for the day was the War Remnants Museum, a 14 minute walk from our hotel. This was a very interesting museum which showed the North Vietnamese perspective of the Vietnam War (what they call the War of American Aggression). The museum does not have AC, and it was very crowded when we arrived around 10:30. We spent about 1.5 hours there, just know it is full of anti-US propaganda.
After the museum we walked 25 minutes across the city to Bo Ne Ba Nui for lunch. This incredible restaurant is known for Bo Ne, a dish featuring sizzling steak, pate, onions, and eggs topped with cilantro. The Bo Ne also came with a banh mi to dip in the sauce – it was a spectacular meal! We also ordered a shrimp rice paper dumpling and Emily got a fresh coconut to drink. The restaurant was packed with locals, so we knew it would be very good and it definitely did not disappoint!
After we finished eating we took a Grab to Tan Dinh Church to avoid a 40 minute walk in the heat and humidity. Tan Dinh is a beautiful pink church and after taking several pictures (the inside was closed) we decided to get an Aperol Spritz at Ola Hale across the street. This was a nice modern restaurant, but it was much more expensive than most other restaurants in Ho Chi Minh and we don’t think it was necessarily worth the prices.
After refueling with a refreshing spritz we walked about 10 minutes over to Kocha Matcha Spot. If you love matcha this is an absolute must visit while in Ho Chi Minh City. The ambience feels like you’ve been transported to Japan. Emily ordered the cloud matcha and loved it. Matt got the ceremonial cold matcha in the matcha bowl and it was excellent as well and reminded us of the fun tea ceremonies we did in Japan.
After our matcha we walked 15 minutes to Emperor Jade Pagoda, which had free entry but we felt like it could be skipped without missing too much. We then took a Grab back to our hotel to rest for a few minutes before heading back out for dinner. Some friends had told us about Gyu Shige Japanese BBQ which is a very highly rated and popular restaurant, but unfortunately we weren’t able to get in without a reservation even though we went early. It was definitely a bummer, so we recommend making reservations well in advance.
As we were in the area we stopped by Che Choi Nuong Vo Van for some grilled bananas in coconut sauce. These were definitely unique and fun to try, but they weren’t our favorite dishes and probably wouldn’t go out of our way to get them.
Since we couldn’t get into Gyu Shige we took a Grab to Bánh Mi Me In 136/13, the sister restaurant to Bep Me In. We ended up being really happy we couldn’t get into Gyu Shige as this was easily the best bánh mi we had on the entire trip. We ordered a couple of different types along with a lime soda and it was all excellent!
We then took yet another Grab to Blank Sky Lounge at Landmark 81. This was such a fun experience and we highly recommend coming here one night for a drink. The views over the city are insane, and the atmosphere is lovely. Drinks are more expensive than other places, but the views and ambiance definitely make up for it. We even had a violinist serenade us – the perfect way to end our evening!
Overall, we would recommend 3-4 days in Ho Chi Minh City. This gives you the opportunity to do lots of shopping, see the different districts in the city, get a massage or two, take a day trip outside the city, and try lots of different restaurants and cafes which are truly incredible. This might be a hot take for some, but we think Ho Chi Minh is a better foodie city than Hanoi!
Here are some other things to do in Ho Chi Minh City:
- Day trip to see the Cu Chi Tunnels and Mekong Delta
- Water puppet show
- A show at the Opera House- book in advance as it sells out. Very popular
- City bus tour- go over the bridge that lights up at night
- Massage and or head spa
- Nha Rong Wharf
- Saigon Water bus
- Bui Vien Walking Street for wild night life
- Vinhomes Central Park
Day 4 – Travel to Hanoi
We checked out of our hotel in Ho Chi Minh after an early breakfast and made our way 30 minutest to the airport in a Grab. We arrived at 7:30 for a 10am flight, and we were thankful we did because the line for checking bags was already pretty long. We ended up waiting 45 minutes to drop the bags off, but even as we were standing there the line kept getting longer and longer. We recommend getting there at least 2 hours before boarding to make sure you have enough time!
Our flight to Hanoi was scheduled to depart at 10, but unfortunately we experienced some of why VietJiet has generally bad reviews. Our flight was delayed 4 hours while we were at the airport, so we didn’t end up arriving until after 4pm. Luckily our bag came extremely fast and we were in a Grab shortly after arriving. Our drive to the hotel took about 50 minutes because of heavy traffic.
We arrived at our hotel, L’Signature Hotel and Spa around 5:15 to check in. Breakfast was included in the stay, and we really liked this hotel as well. It was very comfortable and excellently located in the middle of the Old Quarter. We did, however, wish we would have stayed at La Siesta in Hanoi because we loved it so much in Ho Chi Minh!
We explored the Old Quarter outside our hotel for a bit before heading to the meeting point for our walking food tour at 6:30. This tour was about 3 hours long and we loved it! It was a great way to a bunch of different Vietnamese classics including bánh uốn, Vietnamese donuts, Ha Noi beer, bún chả, egg coffee, another báhn mi, papaya salad, and kem xoi. Everything was absolutely incredible and our tour guide was just fantastic and so insightful! We really enjoyed our time and would highly recommend this tour early in your trip to Hanoi!
As we mentioned, trying a bunch of different snacks from 7/11 is an absolute must in Asian countries! Here are some good ones to try in Vietnam:
- Taro milk tea
- Sweet corn ice cream
- Brown sugar cheese toasty
- Pho Bo Ha Noi flavored Lay’s
Types of Vietnamese food from 7/11 to try:
- Hu Tieu- clear broth & chewy noodles
- Banh Canh Cua- thick noodles with crab
- Banh Xeo- stuffed crispy pancake
- Mi Quang Tom- yellow noodles & juicy prawns
- Nem Nuong- grilled pork wraps
- Banh can- crispy mini pancakes
- Banh mi xiu mai- meatball in a broth & a baguette
- Mi Quang -tumeric noodles
- Bun bo cay- spicy beef noodle soup
- Banh Cuon Ba Xuan
- Desserts: Avocado ice cream, tofu pudding, Flan, Chuoi Nuong
Day 5 – Hanoi
We spent our only full day in Hanoi exploring and seeing best of the city! Because it was our only day here we needed to get an early start and see as much as we possibly could. We began the day with breakfast at the hotel which was excellent!
Our first stop of the day was at St. Joseph’s Cathedral, the oldest church in Hanoi. It was finished in the 1880s and was designed to mimic the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris – a connection that is very obvious as soon as you see it. You can go inside the church for free!
After looking around the cathedral we took a 15 minute Grab to Tran Quoc Pagoda on the shores of Tay Lake. Tran Quoc is the oldest pagoda in the city and was originally constructed in the 540s! Monks still live on the grounds, mostly performing their religious ceremonies early before visitors begin arriving.
When you visit make sure you have your shoulders and knees covered. This was a beautiful area with incredible views of Tay Lake and one of the coolest temples we’ve seen. It was free to enter and we saw a few groups of people wearing traditional Vietnamese garb, making the experience that much better.
We then walked about 25 minutes to Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the resting place of Ho Chi Minh that was modeled after Lenin’s Mausoleum in Moscow. In order to enter the complex you have to buy a ticket and clear security. This is a huge landmark! There is a museum that’s included with the ticket, though we didn’t end up exploring it because we didn’t have enough time. We just wanted to see the mausoleum, but unfortunately the inside was closed when we visited. If you do get to go inside you’ll be able to see the embalmed body of Ho Chi Minh, the first Communist leader of Vietnam.
We then took a 20 minute Grab for lunch to Bun Cha Huong Lien, the famous bun cha restaurant where President Obama ate during his visit to Vietnam. They have pictures of him all over the walls and they even preserved the table he ate at with the dishes he used on one of the floors.
We were worried it might be overhyped due to this fame but it is definitely not! It is Michelin recognized and was our favorite bun cha we had for our whole trip. The restaurant is large with 5 floors. When you arrive you can take a table on any level. You pay in cash at the door on your way out. They offer an Obama Combo that includes bun cha, one fried seafood roll, and a Hanoi beer – what he had during his visit.
After lunch we took a Grab 15 minutes back to the Old Quarter where we went to Cong Ca Phe. This was easily Emily’s favorite coffee in Ho Chi Minh City, and she really wanted one more frozen coconut coffee before leaving Hanoi. This was just as good as the ones before!
We then walked around Hoan Kiem Lake, stopping first at Turtle Tower and the Ngoc Son Temple. Turtle Temple was built in 1886 to honor Le Loi, a national hero who, according to legend, here returned a magical sword that he had used to defeat the invading Chinese. Hoan Kiem is the historical home to a rare species of the giant softshell turtle of southeast Asia. The last known turtle in the lake, however, sadly died in 2016.
Next we walked to the Temple of Literature, Vietnam’s first university established in 1070 and dedicated to Confucius. This is a huge complex focused on learning that was really fun to explore! We spent about an hour there, and this is another location where shoulders and knees need to be covered. We bought tickets on the day of at the ticket booth with no problem. There was also a man doing Chinese calligraphy on scrolls for sale if you were interested!
We decided to do one more coffee stop as Emily wanted to get one more egg coffee. It’s really that good! Specifically, we wanted to try the original egg coffee at Cafe Giang, the place where it was invented! We really liked it and even though it was popular there was a ton of seating and it was definitely worth checking out. Matt got their egg matcha because he doesn’t like coffee and he loved it. Their egg coffee was great but Emily’s favorite was still from Little Hanoi Egg Coffee in Ho Chi Minh.
After our coffee and matcha we continued to explore the the Old Quarter and do some souvenir shopping. This was the perfect place to buy ground Vietnamese coffee to bring home as gifts for our friends and family!
Along the way we stopped at King Roti to try their famous sweet roll. They have 4 flavors: Coffee Chocolate, Coffee Butter, Vanilla Milky, and Matcha Roti. We got the matcha roti and it was delicious. If we had been hungrier we would have tried some of their other flavors as well. This is a must get snack while in Hanoi!
We had planned to skip Train Street, but in the moment we decided we might as well check it out. Going in the evening was definitely a mistake as it was so packed. The trains also don’t seem to run on a predetermined schedule, so it was a bit frustrating waiting for a long time for the train.
If you want to go, we highly recommend sitting at the upper level of one of the cafes with a balcony. The lower area was chaotic and they force you to get up and pack into one side thanks to tourists getting hit over the last few years, so your view is not going to be like what you see in Instagram videos. The food and drinks at these cafes are also extremely overpriced. We thought this was totally skippable, and we heard rumors that it would be shutting down at some point in 2026 anyway. Of all the things we did in Vietnam, this was probably our least favorite.
After the disappointment we walked over to Bit Tet Ngoc Hie for dinner. This restaurant includes views of the train on the third floor, so definitely go here instead of the chaos of Train Street. They serve sizzling steak skillets similar to Bo Ne Ba Nui, though not quite as good. Emily loved the báhn mi bread and cucumber salad it came with. This version came with french fries on the sizzling plate as well. Very tasty but we thought the beef was a bit tough and over cooked so not quite as good as we hoped.
We ended the night with the dessert we were introduced to on our walking food tour – Kem Xoi at 95 Hang Bac. It is pandan sticky rice – which Emily loves love – and coconut ice cream with toasted coconut shavings on top. So delicious and refreshing, and Matt even liked it despite not liking coconut!
Can’t miss food in Hanoi:
Bít Tết Ngọc Hiếu Cs 4 – Hàng Cót – Vietnamese breakfast that includes sizzling beef steak with pate, soft fried egg, and a soft baguette. Open 9:00am-10:00pm and has a secluded view of train street.
Bánh Cuốn Bà Xuân – Soft steamed rice rolls filled with pork, eggs, and shallots. Make sure to dip in the fish sauce! 20 min walk north from the hotel and open 6:30am-11:30pm.
Bánh Cuốn Nong – 5 min walk from the hotel.
Bánh Xèo Tôn Đức Thắng – Known for their very crispy rice pancake with turmeric filled with bean sprouts and shrimp. 30 min walk west of the hotel, right by the Temple of Literature. Open 4:00pm-10:00pm.
Pho Bo Au Trieu – Michelin Guide, beef bone stock pho. 6 min walk west of the hotel but is only open 6:30am-10:00am.
Pho 10 – Known for beef pho which made the Michelin Guide. 6 min walk from the hotel and open 6:00am-10:00pm.
Pizza 4P’s- Just up the street from our hotel, open10:30am-11:00pm. Would need a reservation to sit inside but you can also get it to go!
Báhn Mi 25- 10 min walk north of hotel and open 7:00am-9:00pm.
Báhn My Mama – A small but highly rated stall.
King Roti – Sweet filled bread similar to melon pan. Just 4 minutes from the hotel (hard to miss with the line!) and open 7:00am-11:00pm.
Bun Cha Dac Kim – Make sure to get the bun cha combo set which includes charred pork in a broth with a side of noodles. Open 9:00am-9:00pm.
Bun Cha restaurant – Very highly rated. 7 minute walk from the hotel, open 10:00am-1:30pm.
Bun Che Huong Lien – Famous for a visit from President Obama in 2016. Can get the Obama special. 24 min walk south and open 8:00am-8:00pm.
Bun Bo Nam Bo – Cold rice noodles, crunchy peanuts, grilled beef, and veggies. 9 minute walk from the hotel, open 7:30am-10:30pm.
Tam Vi – Michelin starred featuring traditional Vietnamese food. 21 min walk west from the hotel.
Cafe Pho Co – Upper terrace has a view of Hoan Kiem Lake. 4 minute walk from the hotel.
Bangcong Cafe – Get the egg or coconut coffee and desserts!
Fuku Coffee & Matcha – Pandan coconut matcha close to the temple of literature.
Loading T Cafe – Many coffee concoctions close to the hotel.
Lam Coffee & Tea – Coconut coffee
Cafe Dinh or Cafe Gian – The creator of egg coffee. 10 minute walk from the hotel.
Kem Trang Tien – For unique ice cream flavors
Ne Boong Ke – Cocktail bar on the world’s top 50 bars list
Other things to do and see in Hanoi:
- Flag Tower
- Hoa Lo Prison – “Hanoi Hilton” – famous for housing POWs from the Vietnam War, including John McCain
- Could see a water puppet show- 30 mins long
- Imperial Citadel of Thang Long
- Presidential Palace
- Head Spa
Day 6 – Ha Long Bay Cruise
After a quick breakfast at our hotel, we checked out and were picked up and driven out to Ha Long Bay around 8am. About an hour and a half into the drive we stopped for a 30 minute bathroom and shopping break. This stop was home to the Viet Pearl company which makes beautiful jewelry from the pearls found in Ha Long Bay.
There are beautiful pearls of all colors including white, yellow, blue, pink, and dark pearls. Emily made a pair of earrings that used the shell to resemble a flower and she was even able to pick out some pearls. The jewelry was all so beautiful and it’s a great place to shop for gifts for other people. Just be prepared to shop quickly as you’ll at most have just 40 minutes!
We hopped back into the car and drove another 30 minutes to the port for our Ha Long Bay Cruise. Our luggage was tagged and loaded for us, so we didn’t have to mess with any of that on the boat. We had about 45 minutes before boarding so we walked around the shops and found an excellently priced Arcteryx and North Face jacket! Each was only $15!
We then were taken by speed boat to the cruise ship, the Elite of the Seas. This was definitely expensive, but was one of the most incredible experiences we’ve had and was absolutely worth it!
On arrival we were greeted by the crew and given spectacular (nonalcoholic!) welcome drinks. We then were treated with an excellent coursed lunch. The jasmine panacotta was one of the best desserts we had all trip. The views from the boat were breathtaking, and their is a personal steward and waiter assigned to you for the duration of your trip. Our guide went over the printed itinerary with us to make sure we knew exactly what was happening and when – so well organized!
After lunch we had a bit of free time to get settled into our room and explore all the ship had to offer. Each room has spectacular views and is just lovely!
In the mid-afternoon our ship docked and we were able to take the kayaks out to explore a bit on the water. We kayaked for around 40 minutes before returning. Some other ships include a slide if you want to go for a swim, but kayaking was fun as well!
Back on board we were treated to professional photos and even a drone video of us on the top deck at sunset. Everything was included in the price of the cruise and it all turned out fantastic!
We decided we wanted to get massages the next morning during our free time so we scheduled that ahead of time. It was super simple – just show up and tell them what time you want to have your massage!
At 6 we went to the happy hour where bottles were 10% off. Even on board wine is pretty expensive, but we splurged. Some basic drinks are included in the cost of the cruise at dinner and lunch, but wine is not unfortunately. With our wine in hand we checked out the putting green area which was fun. Then we did a small cooking demonstration where they showed us how to make spring rolls – another great experience!
At 7 we enjoyed our included dinner. There were two menus to choose from – the Western dinner and the traditional Vietnamese dinner. We chose the Western dinner mostly because it looked a bit better than the traditional menu and we knew we would be having Vietnamese breakfast each day. It was absolutely fantastic and had so much delicious food!
After dinner there is a live band that plays music on the pool deck for about 2 hours. The music was so fun and we enjoyed just drinking our wine and enjoying the lovely sounds. You can also do squid fishing off the back of the boat, which we tried but ultimately failed. Some people did catch some that were then cooked up and served at breakfast the next morning!
Day 7 – Elite of the Seas Cruise
Our first morning on the ship we woke up at 5:40 to catch the sunrise tai chi demonstration on the top deck at 6am. This was a lovely way to start the day! The bay is so still and peaceful – it’s almost hard to describe how serene it truly was. Regardless of whether you do the tai chi or not, we highly recommend getting up early to experience the tranquility of the early morning.
After the tai chi – which took ~30 minutes – we were treated to a traditional tea ceremony with black tea. Our guide walked us through the ceremony, emphasized the meanings of each item and tea in general, and then invited us to enjoy the tea with him. It was fantastic!
After we enjoyed our tea we decided to go for a quick swim in the heated pool for about 30 minutes. No one was in the pool yet so it was almost like a private plunge for us. The pool is heated which is necessary on the cool mornings but made it even more relaxing!
At 8am we made our way to the massage area for our 75 minute couples massage. At the time it was $100 total, so $50 per person. It was amazing and super relaxing, especially after our morning tai chi! They asked us if we wanted strong, medium, or light pressure and we both opted for strong. The massage was very thorough and even included a nice face massage. We highly recommend adding on the optional massage!
After the massage we were treated for our buffet brunch on the boat at 9:45. There was an excellent selection of hot food, fruits, and drinks. You can order any kind of eggs and on this morning they had multiple types of pho and pork bun cha, all if which was delicious. Their fresh squeezed orange juice and Vietnamese doughnut holes are a must!
At 11am we were taken by the speed boat to Cat Ba Island where we disembarked and picked up bikes for a tour around the island. Specifically we cycled along the road to Viet Hai Village and made several stops along the way. One of the stops included a shop where you can stick your feet in water for a “foot massage” – little fish in the water immediately surround your feet and begin eating the dead skin off of them! It felt really funny!
Overall this was a great experience! The stop for lunch was great and the food was fantastic, but we weren’t very hungry after our huge breakfast. The bike riding is also not difficult at all, so don’t be intimidated if you don’t feel like you’re a strong biker! We learned a bunch of Vietnamese history on the island as well, including seeing a traditional home made of mud and branches.
After we finished our cycling tour we were transported 5 minutes over to a natural beach of the Three Peaches Islet in Lan Ha Bay. It was so nice to have some time on the beach, we just wish we could have had a bit more as we were only there for about 45 minutes. The water was very cold, but the beach itself was nice and so pretty!
Around 4pm we returned to the main cruise ship and enjoyed some free time. We bought a bottle of wine and relaxed while enjoying the view from the boat just as the sun was starting to set. It was truly gorgeous, like something straight out of a dream.
At 6pm there was another cooking demonstration, though we decided to skip this one and instead head up to the top deck to finish our bottle of wine. Somehow we were the only people up there for an entire hour as the sun was fully setting!
At 7pm we returned to the dining room for dinner, and once again we chose the Western course menu. It was phenomenal once again! Dessert was fantastic again!
After dinner we enjoyed the live band (they are incredible!) and went squid fishing again. Once again we failed but others were more successful!
Day 8 – Ha Long Bay and Ninh Binh
Our second morning we debated waking up early for the tai chi and tea ceremony, but we were so happy we did! It was so peaceful and was such an amazing way to start the day.
At 7:30 we went on an excursion to the Dark and Bright cave. The locals row you in a boat that fits 8 people to a beautiful cave where you can try to spot the Cat Ba species of the langur monkey. The Cat Ba monkey is one of the rarest species on the planet with less than an estimated 70 remaining. We were very lucky and happened to see 3!
We returned to our boat around 9am and, unfortunately, had to have our bags packed and check out of the room by 9:45. Before checking out we enjoyed one last incredible meal onboard and sadly sad goodbye to everyone. We easily could have spent another night on the cruise and next time we’ll book the 4 day 3 night version!
If you do one thing on your trip to Vietnam, book this cruise with Elite of the Seas! It was amazing in every way and we had a truly perfect time. We met some really awesome people from all over the world and the crew was so friendly and attentive. We can see why this was a 5 star cruise!
At 11 we left the ship (so hard to do!) and were picked up by a 10 person van for our 3 hour drive to Ninh Binh. We had a few more people to pick up before getting on our way by 12pm.
Unfortunately we were one of the last drop offs, so we didn’t get to our hotel until almost 4:30pm. It took quite a bit of time that we could have saved if we booked a private transfer, which we would recommend instead. It’s a bit more expensive but the time saved and comfort is probably worth it!
We checked into our hotel, Tam Coc Peaceful Nature. The hotel includes breakfast and free bike rentals! We really liked the hotel, especially how “peaceful” it really was at the base of some mountains. The exterior is gorgeous and the breakfast was delicious. The only thing we didn’t like was that the bed takes up nearly the entire room, and they were having an issue with the hot water in the shower while we were there.
We passed by the Narci Resort Tam Coc hotel which looked gorgeous and was in an excellent location. We probably would try that hotel out next time, especially because it looked more glamorous. It also has really great reviews!
After dropping our bags off we decided to make the most of the time we had left in the day to hike up Nui Ngoa Long (Lying Dragon Mountain) to the Hang Mua Viewpoint. This area is open from 6am to 6pm and we bought tickets at the gate – no need to purchase them in advance. To get to the top you must climb 500 steps!
We took a 10 minute Grab ride from the hotel, though you can also bicycle there. If you do, ignore the “parking attendants” waving you down. Your entrance ticket already covers parking so just head to the official lot and don’t let them badger you in to paying more.
The views here are spectacular and the 500 steps really aren’t that bad, but we’d recommend going in the morning. You want to avoid the middle of the day due to the heat but the evening is apparently when all the tours arrive and hike up. It was absolutely packed when we went up! We tried to get up around the dragon, but it is incredibly crowded and most of the rocks are pointed and slippery. We didn’t feel like it was very safe with that many people.
After exploring here we went back to town for dinner at Chookies Beer Garden. We loved this place and highly recommend getting dinner here one night. Their drinks, food, and ambience are great. It is very popular so we’d recommend going earlier in the evening to avoid longer waits for food. We shared a pizza and burger that were excellent!
We walked around the downtown area of Tam Coc after dinner, exploring some of the great shops in the area.
Highly rated restaurants in Tam Coc:
- Chef Hien Restaurant
- Lanterns
- Xa Ot Noodle Bar
- Coffee Cat
- Mint coffee and food
- Tam Coc cozy garden
- Chookies Beer Garden
- Langs Salad/Sisterfields
- Coffee Lan Drink and Food- on the river- egg matcha
Day 9 – Ninh Binh
After being on the go early for several days, we decided to sleep in a bit this morning. We got breakfast at the hotel, which was excellent and had awesome views!
At 11 we made our way to Trang An for a classic boat tour. The tour cost 300,000 Vietnamese dong per person no matter which of the 3 routes you choose from. There is a boat trip in Tam Coc as well, but it is less well organized and gets bad reviews for aggressive merchant peddlers that pester tourists. We didn’t do any research beforehand, but we ended up choosing route 3 as that is what the ticket lady recommended.
We did not research any of the routes and they all see different things. We chose Route 3 as that is what the lady at the ticket counter recommended. You get in a boat with 4 people total. If you are on the short side like me or just want an unobstructed view make sure to sit in the front row.
We loved this route. The boat tour took about 2 hours and 30 minutes and had 3 different stops to exit the boat and explore some things on land. Each route has different caves and temples that it visits – with some overlap – and we’re sure that each of them is absolutely amazing!
We then took a Grab back to Tam Coc for lunch at Lan Coffee Drink & Food. This restaurant has a row of seats right along the river, but also has inside seating if it’s bad weather. It was a very cute place and was nice just to sit there and enjoy the scenery with some good food. We ordered the bun cha (still Matt’s favorite dish in Vietnam!), a banana smoothie, egg matcha, and an egg coffee – all of it was fantastic!
We also passed a restaurant nearby with similar views selling báhn mi sandwiches, so we decided we’d stop in real quick for a sandwich as well. It was good, but nothing super special.
We then headed to Bich Dong Pagoda, a hugely important and famous cultural site in Vietnam. Originally built in 1428 as a small temple for Buddhist worship, it has gradually expanded and has evolved into a major tourist destination, especially after being featured in the film Kong: Skull Island. It is generally open 7:30-4:30 and we sadly didn’t arrive until 4:40, but luckily the gate keeper was super nice and still let us in. We explored for about 30 minutes and it was really cool and worth stopping by.
After exploring Bich Dong Pagoda we took a grab 30 minutes to Hoa Lu Ancient Capital (Pho Co Hoa Lu), a recreation of traditional Vietnamese architecture and culture located on the first capital site of Vietnam during the late 900s.
We highly recommend walking around this area in the evening as the large pagodas are lit up and the lanterns spanning the bridges make it truly magical. There are also a ton of restaurants here so you could easily get dinner if you wanted to (and many people were!). There is also some really great shopping for your souvenir needs!
We felt like we had the perfect amount of time in Ninh Binh. We were able to see everything we wanted to without ever feeling bored. Though we could see spending another day or so here to relax and enoy some spectacular views.
Other things to see in Ninh Binh:
- Bai Dinh Pagoda – Open 6:00am to 9:00pm. Largest Buddhist temple in Southeast Asia. About 40 minutes away from Tam Coc.
Day 10 – Fly to Taiwan
The next morning we started very early to make it to the airport for our flight to Taichung, Taiwan. We arranged for a private transfer to the Hanoi Airport through Get Your Guide, and it honestly was a super easy and painless process. It took 2 hours to get to the airport and we were there by 9:20, though be prepared as traffic can sometimes push that closer to 3 hours.
We also had paid $20 per person ahead of time for the Noi Bai International Airport Fast Track Service on Klook. This does not get you through bag drop off any faster, and you’ll still need to stand in line to check your bags. It is only for immigration, which wasn’t super busy when we were there and the lines weren’t very long. It didn’t feel like it was absolutely necessary, but the peace of mind ahead of time was worth it.
After clearing security and immigration we had a little over 2 hours before boarding our flight, so we decided to get food in the airport. The airport had many good food options and souvenir shops! We went to Two Tigers for beef pho and pork bun cha along with iced coconut coffee, a matcha latte, and a delicious fresh squeezed orange juice. It was shockingly more expensive than typical meals in Vietnam, but the portions are huge and it was very good.
At 1:30 our flight left for Taichung. It was a 2.5 hour flight on VietJet Airways, and this time we had a much, much better experience. Everything was very smooth and we arrived in Taichung at 5pm.
When entering Taiwan you need to have a Taiwan Arrival Card filled out at least 3 days in advance. We, unfortunately, were completely unaware of this – we just didn’t see that mentioned anywhere! Thankfully we were able to fill it out upon arrival, and it only took a few extra minutes. However, if immigration was packed this easily could have been a huge delay in our plans!
We picked up our rental car from Hotai Rental Car right across the street from the airport. To find it you just exit door 7 of the airport (very clearly marked), and cross the street – it’ll be right in front of you! It was very easy to find and the pick up was simple. Just make sure to have an international driver’s permit!
One quick note, and we aren’t sure if it’s unique to Hotai or just how car rentals work in Taiwan – the company provides you with a card that you are required to fill up the gas tank with which makes the cost of gas much more expensive. After looking into it we were sure they were basically charging you for the miles, even though “unlimited mileage” was included in the booking.
We didn’t realize we had to use the card. We thought it was just an option to use to fill the tank, so we had used our credit card to fill up right before. When we returned the car they charged us for the “gas” (really the miles) and it was almost double the actual cost of gas we had bought. Luckily we had our receipt so we got a refund for that, but it was still very annoying.
After picking up our car we drove an hour and 20 minutes to Sun Moon Lake. We checked into the Hu Yu Lakeview Hotel, which we really liked other than breakfast being pretty disappointing. The location and view were fantastic though!
Something to keep in mind about Sun Moon Lake is that it is sleepier than major cities – it is a mountain lake after all! Everything closes by 8:00pm. We got in around 7:45pm and ended up eating a light dinner from 7/11 as everything right in the area was closed.
Day 11 – Taichung
This morning we skipped breakfast at our hotel in order to save plenty of room for food in Taichung. Before leaving we picked up a coffee at Lealea Coffee and Tea right on the lake before getting our car and driving the hour and 20 minutes back to Taichung.
In Taichung we parked in the garage attached to Park Lane by CMP, a very large shopping center. The garage is in the perfect location and had free bathrooms on the 5th floor which was very useful after the drive. You pay for the machine before returning to your car, and even in this very central location it was just 400NTD for almost 8 hours.
The main thing we wanted to do in Taichung was go to Minimal, a Michelin starred ice cream shop. The best way to do that is to arrive before opening, where there is bound to be a queue. The shop is only open Monday to Friday from 1-5pm, so we wanted to make sure we were in line by 12:30.
First though, we were hungry and wanted to get a small bite to eat. We went to Louisa Coffee just around the corner from Minimal and shared a veggie and cheese pocket omelet. It was very good and quick, so it was perfect!
At 12:30 we lined up for Minimal. When we arrived there were only 6 people in line, but it quickly filled up behind us. It’s very important to get there early as they only make a certain amount each day and once they are out, they’re out. You get to choose 2 flavors for each small cup, and they only have 6 flavors – 3 sorbet and 3 gelato.
We ordered 3 cups to try all 6, which we highly recommend because the cups are small and the ice cream is delicious. Our favorites were the tangerine and whiskey, though the flavors when you go will likely be much different.
For lunch we walked 13 minutes to Karuizawa Gongyi, an absolutely incredible hotpot restaurant. We loved eating here and it is a beautiful ambiance with extremely high quality meat. We ordered one pot to share as we didn’t want to be too full, but it looked like most people were ordering one pot per person.
For us, sharing one pot was plenty. The hot pot came with a ton of fresh veggies and we included two meats – the premium sirloin and the Iberian pork shoulder. Both were phenomenal, but we loved the beef a bit more and would definitely order extra beef rather than the pork next time. The meal comes with one selection of meat per pot, but you can order extra as much as you want.
After lunch we continued walking down the street to Wu Wei Tsao Tang Teahouse. This is an absolute must while in Taichung. The setting is sublime – it feels like a slice of Japanese tranquility in the middle of the city. We ordered a tea set that came with 2 loose leaf tea bags of your choice, and we chose the Ali-Shan Oolong tea. We ended up only using one of the bags and took the other home. We were there for an hour enjoying the peace of this teahouse!
At this point we decided we wanted one more cup of Minimal ice cream because it was truly that good. We got there around 4:50 and there were only 6 people in line once again. By this time they had run out of 3 of their flavors, so we highly recommend going as early as you can. It was just as good the second time!
If you want dessert but aren’t interested in ice cream, then head next door to the Douhua Shop Yunaichuan for traditional tofu pudding. It has a beautiful bamboo structure and was highly rated, we just decided we’d want ice cream again. You can’t go wrong with either choice!
We then took an Uber 10 minutes to the Painted Animation Lane, and while it was cool to see and close to our next destination we wouldn’t recommend going out of your way just to see this.
After spending about 5 minutes strolling through Painted Animation Lane we walked 10 minutes to the original store of Chun Shui Tang, famous for creating boba on Siewei Street. We had to wait about 10 minutes for a table in the early evening.
Some of the must get drinks are uva black tea and buble tea with tapioca pearls on the bottom – absolutely delicious! You can customize your sugar level (we did 10% sugar), and add in honey, lemon, or the tapioca pearls (which you must!). We wouldn’t recommend doing much more sugar to that unless you love your drinks super sweet.
The small size was plenty, so unless you want a ton we would go with small over large. Both of the drinks were delicious! We also got an order of the spicy wontons in chili oil that were amazing. They are so good and flavorful – probably the best spicy wontons we’ve ever had.
After enjoying our bubble teas we took another Uber 15 minutes to the Night School for braised pork rice. This is a Michelin star restaurant famous for braised pork rice. There is always a queue, but luckily ours was very short (10 minutes at most). It is an extremely popular restaurant for good reason!
When you arrive you fill out a paper with what you want to order – pink is for to-go, and green is for dine in. The menu is entirely in Chinese, so you need to have Google or a similar app to translate it. We ordered 2 small braised pork rice bowls, an egg for each, and shared a bowl of miso soup. After ordering at the counter you sit and wait for your number to be called – which, admittedly can be difficult if you don’t know Chinese numbers. We had a very nice couple tell us when our number was called. This was a fantastic restaurant that is absolutely a must!
Other things we did not get to in Taichung:
- Canal Lane
- Shen Ji New Village
- Chin Chih Yuan- crispy fried pork ribs- always has a queue
- Feng chia Night Market- get fried sweet potato balls
Day 12 – Sun Moon Lake
Today was a full day in Sun Moon Lake, one of the most beautiful places in Taiwan. We started with breakfast at the hotel which, as we mentioned, was not our favorite but at least it was included.
At 10:15 we bought combination bike rental and round trip ferry tickets to take us around the lake. We bought these from the ticket office right in front of the pier, though you can also buy them in advance online if you’d prefer. One of the other main things to do is to take the Sun Moon Lake Ropeway which is just a 10 minute walk away from the hotel. We recommend doing the ropeway first because it closes earlier than the ferry, which unfortunately we didn’t realize at the time.
The Sun Moon Lake ferry runs in a triangle and your ticket includes a stop at each of the points. Our first stop was directly across the lake to Shuishe – the main hub on the lake – where we could pick up our bikes. There are many shops and restaurants on this side of the lake, and it generally seems a bit nicer than the side we stayed on.
We loved taking the bikes around! The path is beautiful with stunning views of the lake the entire way. The designated path is very easy to follow with little elevation change, at least for the first several miles (we turned back before it started to get hilly). There are several bathrooms along the way. At one point we saw monkeys right off the path and stopped to watch them for several minutes. It was such a cool experience! In total we biked for about 1.5 hours.
We recommend getting lunch on this side of the lake either before or after biking as the options looked way better than those at Ita Thao Pier where our hotel was located. This also ensures you won’t be hungry at the next ferry stop, Xuanguang Temple, where there are no restaurants. The main thing to do at Xuanguang is to hike, so you’ll want to be nice and fueled up for that!
We then ferried to Xuanguang Temple. Once we disembarked the ferry we had a 20 minute uphill hike to the temple, which isn’t overly difficult and the path is nice in the shade the entire way. Unfortunately, there is no food here other than tea eggs and popsicles. We bought a lover’s fruit popsicle and it was so delicious and refreshing!
You can then hike an additional 1100 meters (~3500 feet) from the Temple to see the Ci’en Pagoda which offers sweeping, unobstructed views over the lake. It is open 24 hours a day and is highly rated, but we didn’t complete the hike up because we were getting hungry and needed to return to Ita Thao to ensure we had time to ride the ropeway before it closed at 4pm. If we had eaten lunched and planned the day better (i.e. done the ropeway first) we would definitely have made the hike!
After returning to Ita Thao we picked up some street food for a quick lunch, though it wasn’t very good. There aren’t a ton of options here so don’t expect the best cuisine! We did, however, get amazing black tea soft service ice cream and a ruby black milk tea with tapioca pearls. So delicious! Ruby black tea is widely grown around Sun Moon Lake and is one of the better teas we’ve ever had.
We walked 10 minutes from the pier along the shore of the lake to the ropeway entrance. It was not busy at all so we were able to walk right on to one of the clear floor gondolas which ordinarily have a wait and are only every 3 or 4 cars. The top of the ropeway includes a stop at the Formosan Aboriginal Cultural Village, a theme park with several rides and that generally looked pretty interesting.
It cost $30 which didn’t seem too bad, but unfortunately we didn’t budget enough time for it so we rode the gondola back down. Another reason to do the ropeway first! There is a road up to the theme park as well if you Uber or want to take a taxi!
After returning to the base station we walked back to town and bought some souvenirs, including some ruby black teabags to take home. We are sad we can’t get these as easily in the US because they are so good!
For dinner we went to one of the small hole in the wall restaurants. We ordered a braised beef noodle soup and braised pork rice, along with some meat soup dumplings. It was pretty good, but nothing special. We considered driving over to Shuishe for dinner, but the drive is fairly long because of how slow you have to go on the winding road, so we decided it wasn’t worth it.
Day 13 – Taipei
Before checking out of the hotel we had one last breakfast in Sun Moon Lake. We then went back to the same stand for another ruby black milk bubble tea because it was so good and we wanted to enjoy it on the drive to Taipei!
The drive to Taipei is easy and took about 3 hours. Driving in Taiwan is simple and very similar to the US. Even in the cities Matt didn’t think it was too bad!
In Taipei we returned the car to a location right outside of Taipei Songshan Airport, the smaller airport in the city. The rental car return is not at the airport itself! We easily caught an Uber and made our way to our hotel, the Comma Boutique Hotel in Taipei.
We really liked this hotel! It was spacious and in the perfect location. We’d highly recommend staying here during your trip to Taipei. After dropping our bags off we explored the area directly outside of the hotel, including finding the iconic rainbow painted Taipei Crossing.
We recommend getting an EasyCard to use the metro – it’s also good for the Maokaong Gondola as well! You need cash (as of early 2026) to fill up the EasyCard at one of the self-service machines. The metro is open from 6am to 11:30pm and is extremely convenient. Using the EasyCard is super nice as well because you can just tap when you enter and exit without needing to buy an individual ticket. The metro is also super clean, safe, and always on time.
For lunch we took the metro to YongKang Street, a famous street in Taipei known for local eats and souvenirs. We went to Tian Jin for an onion pancake – an extremely flaky, delicious scallion pancake. This is a street stall that is very popular, so there can be a wait – trust us, it is extremely worth it! Luckily there was a very short line when we arrived.
Another food shop you absolutely must stop at when visiting YongKang Street is the Smoothie House for some delicious mango shaved ice. It was easily the best shaved ice we’ve ever had! It’s also huge and we definitely recommend splitting it!
Other popular eats on this street are Bai-Shui Tofu Pudding, Din Tai Fung, Yong Kang Beef Noodle, and L’Atelier Lotus for their famous nougat cracker.
Taiwan is known for high quality umbrellas, and this street features several shops to find the perfect umbrella to take home. This is a really great souvenir because it will not only remind you of your trip it also is incredibly practical. Emily got an umbrella that she loves and uses all the time!
From YongKang Street we walked 20 minutes to Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, the expansive site dedicated to the first leader of Taiwan. The grounds are enormous and so beautiful. The Chiang Kai-shek memorial was built to mirror a similar memorial in Nanjing, China, and we saw some similarities to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. We think this was one of the most fascinating and beautiful places to visit in Taipei. We were able to see the changing of the guards and the lowering of the flag at 5pm – a really awesome experience!
For dinner we took the metro to the Raohe Night Market, open daily from 5-11pm. This was probably our favorite night market and there was so much delicious food! Make sure to bring cash as pretty much every stall is cash only.
Some food to try at the Raohe Night Market:
- Fuzhou black pepper buns cooked in clay oven – a must, one of our favorite things at the night market. Hard to miss as it is towards the front and will definitely have a line.
- Hometown barbecue chicken: fried chicken with sweet and spicy sauce – some of the best chicken we’ve ever had
- Fresh squeezed orange and kumquat juice
- Pan fried dumplings
- Fried sweet potato balls – there were at least 8 stalls selling these and they were delicious
- Peanut ice cream roll
- Thai Pandan cake- little soft cakes. Emily loves Pandan flavor and will sample it any chance she gets
Day 14 – Maokong
Our next day was dedicated to tea, specifically the tea in Maokong. At one point Maokong was the biggest tea growing region of Taipei, but now it attracts tons of tourists wanting to sample some delicious tea. The best part of Maokong is that it is easily accessible via public transportation.
To get there you take the MRT brown line to the Taipei Zoo station, then exit and walk 5 minutes to the Maokong Gondola. Built in 2007 to provide easy access to the Maokong tea houses and the far side of the zoo, the Gondola is a scenic ride that takes about 30 minutes to cover 4 stops. It is open every day but Monday from 9am to 9pm. You can use your EasyCard or just buy a ticket at the station.
When we arrived we walked to Maokong Teahouse to try some of their famous tea infused ice cream. We ordered one of the green and one of the brown oolong tea infused soft-served ice creams – both are absolutely delicious! You can also sample tea here or buy some loose leaf tea to take home!
After our ice cream we started our tea experience at Sunyang Cha Zhuang. This place has an incredible view over Taipei and of Taipei 101 specifically. They usually sell hot food here, but unfortunately they weren’t selling any on the day we visited. Instead we ordered a tea set and stayed for about 45 minutes enjoying some delicious tea. Unfortunately we had very low clouds the day we visited so we weren’t able to see Taipei 101.
We then walked next door to Sih Ye for lunch. This restaurant was very highly recommended for their delicious food. The inside is very cute, and our table was in a traditional style where we sat on the ground at a very low table! We ordered the tea fried rice tower, smoked tea chicken, and two different oolong milk teas with tapioca pearls – everything was so good! We highly recommend eating here for lunch.
After lunch we walked down the road exploring some of the different tea houses, before eventually decided to go in Found Your Tea. This was an excellent teahouse as well, with a wonderful atmosphere and great views over the city. The staff explained all of the tea options so well, and there were so many great teas! We ordered two different loose leaf teas but didn’t finish either of them, so the staff packaged them up and we were able to take them home. We highly recommend going here!
Before heading back to the gondola we popped into Ice Climber as their matcha cake looked really good and unique. We bought a slice to share, but we didn’t really like it that much so we wouldn’t recommend going here just for that.
A few quick notes on Maokong:
- For Hiking, follow the staircase with the cat statues going up directly opposite the station
- You can hike to Yinhe Cave & do the Waterfall Trail.
- If you only go one way from Maokong Station, choose right (west) from the station for the closest teashops with views and to access the best hike in the area.
- To see a tea farm up close, follow a small scooter road down to the right, with a sign saying Camphor Tree Trail. Camphor Tree Trail goes down to a small pond and tea plantation
- The main teas produced in the Maokong area are baozhong tee, which is a lighter oolong with subtle melon fragrance, and tieguanyin tea, which is a slightly darker oolong with a roasted flavor.
After returning to the MRT station via the gondola, we took the subway to Din Tai Fung, one of the most famous and popular restaurants in Taipei (there are multiple locations). We arrived at 5:20 thinking it wouldn’t be too busy, but at that point it was already a 2 hour wait! We were shocked, but we really wanted to eat here so we put our name on the list and walked over to the Ningxia Night Market to try a couple of smaller dishes before dinner.
There are about 200 stalls in this night market which features several Michelin starred food items. However, we didn’t like Ningxia nearly as much. We did try papaya milk at one of the vendors which was delicious, and we bought a couple more small items but nothing that was super memorable. While not in the market itself, just across the street is Curly Mama’s Crispy Donuts which was outstanding! Easily one of the best donuts we’ve ever had.
We returned to Din Tai Fung and were seated right at 7:20 for a super accurate wait time estimate. It was absolutely worth the wait! The food and experience were excellent. You order on your phone by scanning the QR code on the table and you can order as many rounds as you’d like. We tried their spicy noodles, cucumbers, many different xiao long bao (soup dumplings) – the truffle pork were the best – shrimp wontons, and their chocolate dessert xiao long bao. Everything was incredible. The waiters constantly refill your hot oolong tea throughout the dinner. This is an absolute must while in Taipei!
Day 15 – Jiufen
Our next day we left Taipei for the coastal mountain town of Jiufen, most famous for being the town that inspired the animated Spirited Away film. To get there you take the a 45 minute train to Ruifang, then catch a taxi for the final 10 minutes into town. You’ll want to get dropped off on the top side of town (near the 7/11) so that you are able to walk downhill during your visit!
One thing to note is that you definitely need to bring cash! Nearly all the shops and tea houses are cash only, and there is only a single ATM in town at the aforementioned 7/11. We almost ran out of cash at one point and were pretty stressed!
For our visit we took the 8:52 express train from Taipei Main Station to Riufang, then took a 10 minute taxi to Juifang for a flat rate of 220 NTD. Before hopping on the train we got a small breakfast of an egg salad sandwich and a mineral pack from the Family Mart in the station – not quite as good as Japanese 7/11s, but still delicious!
Upon arrival we made our way straight to A-Mei Teahouse, probably the most famous and picturesque location in Juifang. A-Mei was originally a blacksmith shop when the town was known for mining before being converted to the teahouse that is there today. It’s very quaint, with multiple levels offering different vibes depending on what you are looking for. It is walk in and cash only, and you definitely want to get there early as it will fill up later in the morning. It opens at 9!
Unfortunately, though A-Mei is known for stunning views we came on a drizzly, cloudy day so our view of the coast was obstructed. We arrived at 10am and decided to sit outside on the lower level which, because of the weather, was more aesthetic than the upper terrace. We ordered the tea set that comes with snacks and the High Mountain Alishan Oolong tea, all of which was fantastic. We loved this teahouse and will definitely come back one day.
After our first tea of the day we perused some of the shops along the narrow streets. One thing we absolutely had to buy was a “no face” souvenir due to the town’s connection to the famous character in Spirited Away. After getting this souvenir we stopped by a small restaurant (unfortunately we didn’t catch the name) right across from Jiufen Teahouse for a light lunch of two very good sushi rolls.
Next we headed to the oldest and most aesthetic teahouse – Jiufen Teahouse. It opens at 11am and features an area for tasting some of their different teas (reminiscent of a wine tasting experience) or a more formal seated tea experience. There are a bunch of different snacks you can order as well to go along with your tea.
We opted for the seated experience and had a lovely time. It was hard to choose from the many different options because they all sounded so good! We would have picked multiple teas to try if we had more time, but instead we opted for the Baozhong – very good! We also ordered the oolong tea cheesecake and the osmanthus chocolate and settled in for a cozy experience.
When you go to Juifen make sure to sample the Alishan High Mountain Oolong tea, known as the most popular and best tea in Taiwan. We can confirm it is amazing! You also must try the Baozhong – a light green oolong, Dong Ding – a nutty roast green oolong, and Ruby Red #18 – a bold fruity black tea.
Another highly recommended food item to sample is the taro ball dessert from Lai Ah Po Taro Balls. You can get this either hot or iced. We did end up ordering this but we didn’t love it, so we wouldn’t get it again.
Before heading back to Taipei we returned to A-Mei Teahouse to buy their beautiful tea set to take back home. We then called an Uber to take us back to the train station in Ruifang to catch the train back to Taipei.
Back in Taipei we were ready for a quick bite to eat, so we made our way to Lao Shan Dong, a Michelin starred restaurant famous for handmade noodles in a rich beef broth. It’s a bit hard to find on the -2 level food court of an indoor mall, but it’s worth it! We wanted only a little bit to eat, so we each ordered a small and it was still huge. The beef was incredibly tender and the flavor was very yummy. It is also cash only so make sure you have some!
After our quick meal we made our way to Xing Fu Tang, an extremely popular shop serving brown sugar bubble “tea”. It’s impossible to miss as the line is always 20+ people. We really liked it, but it’s not really tea at all. It’s filled with milk and cream, so it was heavier and more of a dessert than a true tea. Still very good though!
For our actual dinner we went to Shilin Night Market, the largest night market in Taiwan! This one is open from 4pm to midnight and is a bit more spread out than the others we’d gone to so far. Here are some of the recommended food to try in Shilin:
- Hometown barbecue chicken: fried chicken with sweet and spicy sauce
- Er San Si Korean Pancake- fish
- Chung Chia steamed beef and cheese buns
- A Hui Vermicelli – thin noodles. These are a must get! Make sure to top it with cilantro
- Rolled taro and plum ice cream with peanuts and cilantro
- Cold peanut noodles
- Sausage wrapped in sticky rice sausage
- Aloha orange juice
- There are also pork pepper buns here as well, it’s just a much smaller stall than the one at Raohe
Day 16 – Cooking Class and Taipei 101
Our last day in Taipei began with an incredible cooking class in the city. We met at the cooking studio at 10am for the 3 hour cooking experience. We made pork xiao long bao, chicken noodle soup, bubble milk tea, and more in this traditional Taiwanese class. The cost was also extremely reasonable at just $65 per person.
Overall it was such a fun experience! Making xiao long bao was much more difficult than anticipated, but it was still really fun. Our guides were excellent and truly made this class one that we won’t ever forget! It is very hands on and you make everything that you eat which made it even better.
We loved this cooking class. The location is great as it is pretty close to Taipei 101, so when we finished we walked over to Tsuei Heng Pagoda and the surrounding park for excellent pictures. We also saw the Sun Yat Sen Memorial, a beautiful building completed in 1972. It’s free to enter and if we had more time we might have explored it, but instead we just admired it from the outside.
Our next stop was on the other side of the city, so we took the metro to Dihua Street, the oldest shopping street in Taipei! It’s a historic trading hub known for traditional shops and architecture. There are so many shops to buy souvenirs – anything from traditional Chinese goods to more modern boutiques – and a large number of food vendors to get traditional Taiwanese street food. It is a very long street so we didn’t even make it through the entire thing, and you can easily spend a couple hours exploring it.
For dinner we went to Taipei 101, specifically to the luxury buffet at A Joy. We booked our table for 6pm and it was reserved for us for 3.5 hours. It was pricey at $150, but the website promised over 300 food items and amazing views of the city. It also looked incredible on Klook!
Overall it was a really cool experience, but we agreed we wouldn’t pay $150 to do it again. If you aren’t a fan of seafood this is not the buffet for you. The sushi was very good, there was some good wagyu (though in very small portions so only a little at a time), and overall the food was pretty good. Some drinks were included, but no wine and it was incredibly expensive to add on!
Eating on one of the top floors of Taipei 101 really is awesome, and we had a wonderful table in the corner with sweeping views of the city. If you are looking to go make sure you book at least a month in advance as it will most likely sell out!
Some of the best restaurants in Taipei:
- Fu Hang Dou Jiang – Michelin recognized for delicious Taiwanese breakfast- xiao bing, you tiao fan, Tuan dan bing, and tian dojang
- Fu hang Soy Milk – Michelin starred- Long line as well
- Lao Shan Dong – Michelin approved handmade noodles in rich beef broth, very close to the hotel
- Tian Jin Onion Pancake- Flaky, fluffy scallion pancake. Usually has a long wait but is absolutely worth it
- Bai-Shui Tofu Pudding
- Horokoa Cafe
- Crispy Milk Donut- Go to 2nd location in Zhongxiao for a shorter line. Get the original and the taro filled brioche
- Ichiran Ramen – Famous Japanese chain near Taipei 101
- Fu Dau Pastry Studio – Fluffy pancakes with oolong tea flavor
- Wulao Hot Pot
- Din Tai Fung – Iconic xiao long bao, silky noodles, shrimp wontons in a spicy chili oil, steamed pork buns, chocolate dessert dumplings – so, so good!
- Chun Shui Tang for bubble tea
- Xing Fu Tang- bubble tea
- Speakeasy: Antique Bar 1900 – Converted from an old Pharmacy, but closed Tuesday and Wednesday
- Bar Weekend for cocktails
- Taro soft serve ice cream from Family Mart
- Taiwanese shaved ice
- Taiwanese Peanut & Cilantro Ice Cream Roll
- Papaya milk
Other things to see in Taiwan we did not get to:
- Kaohsiung City
- See Taipei Guest House
- Hike up Elephant Mountain
- Takemura Izakaya- view of Taipei 101
- Chifeng Street (Zhongshan) for handmade goods
- Lungshan Temple
- Go to Don Don Donki- A discount Japanese store very similar to Don Quixote
- Wuji Tianyuan Temple- 40 minute drive north from the hotel
- Innovate Scalp Care for head spa
- Yingge- Pottery capital an hour and a half outside of the city
- Ximending Walking District- a lively street of shops and street food- bubble tea, fried chicken, oyster rice noodles
Day 17 – Return home
Unfortunately, at this point our trip came to an end and we flew back home to DC. Our flight left at 10am and, with a layover in Seattle, we landed back home at 3:30. The airport in Taipei has lots of very good food if you’d like to eat there!
That wraps up our incredible trip to Vietnam and Taiwan. We easily could have spent more time in each country, but this was an awesome little sample of the best of the two states. Vietnam in particular far exceeded our expectations and is one of our favorite countries we’ve been to. We hope this convinces you to plan a trip to one or both of these amazing nations!
Be sure to check out our trip to Japan and South Korea for another amazing itinerary to southeast Asia!