The capital of Taiwan is both friendly and simple to navigate, with excellent public transportation and taxis that you can effortlessly hail via a ride-share app. However, going beyond major attractions like the National Palace Museum and Liberty Square is hugely rewarding, and because of the language barrier, it can be difficult without a guide.

The Travel Office helped organize two memorable tours for us in Taipei: an exclusive look at the upscale Songshan neighborhood and a guided graze through a low-key night market. Both helped me feel more connected to the city, and just as important, both were great fun.

Deep in Songshan

I knew that the Capella Taipei runs the private Songshan Reverie walking tour, but I was surprised when the hotel’s general manager, Dennis Laubenstein, introduced himself as our guide (it turns out that he designed the itinerary). He led us northeast from the hotel into what looked, initially, like a pleasant but unremarkable neighborhood — one my guidebook barely addressed. But the tour proved to be utterly fascinating, and it gave us access to places we never would have found on our own.

For example, Dennis showed us Songshan’s oldest remaining building, a crumbling brick farmhouse. The owners disagree about what to do with it, and so it slowly disintegrates. Farther on, we stopped at what appeared to be a high-end tailor. In fact, the little haberdasher was the secret entrance to a speakeasy that served superb butter cookies instead of cocktails. We had a snack before continuing on to a wonderful stationery shop hidden in what looked like an apartment building. The gregarious owner had collections of antique pencil sharpeners and staplers, as well as a huge selection of art prints and unique greeting cards. Other stops included a tiny temple, a chic art gallery and two more bakeries.

Dennis was a highly engaging guide, and this experience makes for a delightfully intimate counterpart to tours of Taipei’s major sights.

Easy Night Market Exploration

Everyone says you have to visit a Taipei night market to try the street food, but doing so sounds daunting. The markets can get quite crowded, it can be hard to determine which stalls to visit, and once you do, communication might be difficult. I asked the Travel Office to make things simple, and my advisor booked us spots on a tour organized by Taipei Eats.

Our cheerful little band of two Americans, one Canadian and two Germans were some of the few Westerners in the Yansan night market. It encompasses both brick-and-mortar restaurants and food carts, and according to our guide, Miranda, it’s popular with locals after finishing their day at work.

Miranda started us off with slices of savory glutinous rice sausage and chewy smoked shark (an apparently not-endangered species). A steaming-hot “chicken roll” was actually a wrap of pork and water chestnut, a recipe developed to use up leftovers. At one critically acclaimed hole in the wall, we shared a Miaoli-style bowl of pork-and-fish broth with delectably chewy stuffed rice dumplings. Other delicious items included stir-fried beef with water spinach, a classic oyster omelet and fried sweet-potato balls topped with sour plum powder.

By the end of the tour, we’d tried no fewer than 14 different dishes. Quite the feast! My travel advisor could have booked us a private tour with Taipei Eats, but joining a small group allowed us to sample more foods. We also had a great time getting to know our fellow participants, and it was amusing to observe their reactions to the more esoteric items we tried. I was particularly impressed by the group’s unfazed response to a plate of (surprisingly tasty) beef penis with onion.