Your First 72 Hours in Taipei: A Landing Checklist

The first 72 hours in a new country set the tone for everything after. Get a few basics sorted early and the rest of the adjustment gets a lot easier. Get them wrong and you'll spend your first week running errands you could have knocked out on day one. Here's what actually matters, in the order you'll need it.

Getting from the airport into the city

Taoyuan International Airport is about an hour from central Taipei, and you've got three realistic ways to make that trip: the Airport MRT (cheapest, runs on a set schedule, involves navigating a train with luggage), a metered taxi from the official taxi stand (straightforward, but you'll want the address of your first night's accommodation written in Chinese to show the driver), or a pre-arranged pickup.

If you're landing after a long flight, jet-lagged, carrying every bag you own, and with zero Chinese, that's exactly the situation where a pre-arranged pickup earns its cost. It's one of our optional add-on services for exactly this reason: someone is waiting at arrivals with your name, and you don't have to think about logistics for the first hour you're in the country. It's not something you need, but if your flight lands at an awkward hour or you're arriving with kids or a lot of luggage, it takes one variable off a day that already has enough of them.

Whichever way you get into the city, have your first destination's address saved in both English and Chinese characters before you land. Wi-Fi at the airport is reliable, but you don't want to be figuring this out with a flaky connection at midnight.

Getting a local SIM card

Do this before you leave the airport, not after. Taiwan's major telecom providers all have counters in the arrivals area, and setting up a local number is usually fast, though you'll need to show your passport. A short-term tourist SIM (a week or a month) is fine if you're not sure yet how long you'll be staying or which plan you'll eventually want once you've settled somewhere. You can always switch to a longer-term plan later once you have an address and, if applicable, an Alien Resident Certificate (ARC).

Having a working local number matters immediately: you'll need it to arrange apartment viewings, order food delivery, use ride-hailing apps, and generally function day to day. This isn't optional the way some other first-week tasks are.

Cash vs. card

Taiwan is more cash-friendly than a lot of newcomers expect, especially coming from places where card or mobile payment is the default. Convenience stores, chain restaurants, and larger retailers generally take cards without issue. But smaller restaurants, night market stalls, traditional breakfast shops, and a lot of everyday transactions you'll do constantly still run on cash. Don't assume you can tap your way through every meal.

Withdraw a reasonable amount of NT dollars at an ATM in the airport or your first day in the city, and keep some on hand at all times. You'll also want small bills and coins for things like the MRT, buses, and 7-Eleven runs. More on the transit card system in a separate post, but the short version is you'll want an EasyCard almost immediately, and you can top it up with cash at any MRT station or convenience store.

Where you'll actually sleep while you look for an apartment

If you haven't signed a lease yet, don't try to do it remotely before you land. Apartment listings move fast in Taipei, and nobody can hold a place or pay a deposit on your behalf while you're still overseas; by the time you'd actually be able to view it in person, it's often already gone. The workable approach is to book 1–2 weeks of short-term accommodation (a hotel, guesthouse, or Airbnb) as your base, then start viewing apartments in person once you've landed.

This isn't wasted time or money. It's the step that lets you actually see a place, judge the neighborhood, and negotiate with a landlord face to face instead of guessing from photos. Most renters who start viewing in person find something within 3–5 days, and almost everyone is settled within two weeks.

Your first 72 hours, in order

1. Land, and either take the Airport MRT/taxi or use a pre-arranged pickup into the city.

2. Get a local SIM card at the airport before you head into town.

3. Withdraw cash and keep some on hand: you'll need it more than you expect.

4. Check into your short-term accommodation and get an EasyCard for transit.

5. Start figuring out your apartment search timeline, ideally within your first few days.

None of this is complicated once you know it's coming. It's just easier to hear it now than to figure it out standing in an arrivals hall at 11pm.

If you want a hand with the apartment search itself once you've landed, our services page walks through how that works.

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