How do I get from the airport to Taipei?

Taoyuan International Airport (TPE) sits about 40 km west of central Taipei in Dayuan District. The Taoyuan Airport MRT Express is the right answer for most arrivals. From Terminal 1 or Terminal 2, the purple express train runs to Taipei Main Station in about 35 minutes for 160 TWD ($5). Trains leave every 15 minutes from roughly 6:00am to 11:00pm. The platform below the terminal is cool and bright after walking out of a humid jet bridge. Single-journey tokens come from the ticket machines, which take cash and credit cards. Mind you, the same line runs a Commuter service that stops at every station and takes about 50 minutes for the same fare. Display boards on the platform mark Express and Commuter trains clearly in English. At Taipei Main Station, you transfer directly to the Taipei Metro's blue, red, or green lines without leaving the underground concourse.

If you land after the last MRT train, the Kuo-Kuang 1819 bus is the backup. It runs 24 hours between TPE and the west side of Taipei Main Station for 140 TWD ($4.30), taking 55 to 70 minutes depending on freeway traffic. The buses have reclining seats and luggage racks, and the low hum of the engine on the elevated highway might put you to sleep after a long flight. You'll find the Kuo-Kuang counter on the arrivals level at both terminals. Other companies run routes to specific neighborhoods. The 1840 heads to Songshan, the 1841 to Songshan via Zhongxiao Dunhua. To be fair, the bus is 20 TWD cheaper than the MRT but slower and harder to predict. The only strong reason to choose it is a landing between 11pm and 6am.

Metered taxis line up outside arrivals at both terminals. The fare to central Taipei runs about 1,200 to 1,500 TWD ($37-46), including a 50% late-night surcharge between midnight and 6am plus highway tolls of about 60 TWD. Taiwan's taxi drivers tend to be honest on airport runs, which is a relief if you've arrived from cities where that isn't the case. The yellow cabs smell faintly of betel nut air freshener, and the drivers will usually have a Mandarin-language radio station filling the quiet. Uber operates in Taipei but dispatches licensed taxi drivers rather than private cars, so pricing and experience are similar. For groups of 3 or 4, splitting a taxi can undercut the per-person MRT fare and you get dropped at your hotel door. That matters when the humidity currently sits around 86% and the air feels thick enough to chew.

Some international flights from Tokyo Haneda, Seoul Gimpo, and Shanghai Hongqiao land at Taipei Songshan Airport (TSA) instead. Songshan sits inside the city in Songshan District. The brown Wenhu MRT line connects directly at Songshan Airport Station, and you're 5 stops and about 12 minutes from Zhongxiao Fuxing, a major transfer hub. No taxi needed. One practical note for either airport. Pick up a prepaid SIM or activate an eSIM before you leave the terminal. The Chunghwa Telecom counter at TPE arrivals sells unlimited data plans starting at 300 TWD ($9) for 3 days. Having Google Maps and Google Translate working before you step outside is worth more than any paper map, and the Taipei Metro's signage, while bilingual, gets harder to parse the further you get from the main tourist stations.