Traveling in Taiwan is generally a joy for the budget-conscious, but the capital city of Taipei can test your ability to tour cheaply if you don’t know where to look.
Granted, public transport is affordable, as is the street food you’ll find at every turn, but the main attractions tend to come with higher price tags. Instead of parting with your New Taiwan dollars (NT$) to climb Taipei 101, here’s how to explore the capital’s untold secrets for free.
Ride the riverside bikeway from Xindian to Tamsui
The easiest of Taipei’s bicycle routes lies along the city’s southeast-northwest axis and follows a designated river path almost the entire way. With 2.6 million residents riding their scooters bumper-to-bumper in the city center, the riverside is one of the few places to escape the engines, providing a bounty of open green space and some of the best views of the city.
Bitan Scenic Area near Xindian MRT station offers the perfect starting point – you can splash out on a swan paddleboat (NT$50) to warm up your leg muscles before a long YouBike ride north (NT$10 per half hour for the first four hours, NT$20 thereafter). Prefer to go on foot? Bitan Suspension Bridge and the various temple trails in the mountains beyond may tempt those who’d rather hike.
It’s more than 30km (19 miles) of pedaling to reach Tamsui, but cyclists can stop at any point along the way, at Gongguan, Ximen, Dadaocheng or Guandu Temple. If you do reach Tamsui, there’s an old street awaiting your patronage, but you can just as easily pack a picnic and eat overlooking weatherworn fishers at the mouth of the river.
Roam Da’an Forest Park
Taipei City’s biggest and best public park, Da’an Forest Park is one to get lost in. Walk just a little way in to lose sight and sound of the city’s traffic, following any one of the winding trails to pass by ponds, gondolas and play areas frequented by unhurried locals and their families.
See bonsai art at Da’an Weekend Flower Market
Hot and humid most of the year, Taiwan is a grower’s paradise, and the capital is where the country’s best agriculturalists show off their green thumbs. The Da’an Weekend Flower Market takes place under an elevated highway above Da’an Park’s northeast corner, offering everything from toy cacti and monstera to oversized bonsai and exotic orchids for minimal prices.
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Stories – Lonely Planet…