What's a good 3-day itinerary for Taipei?

Day 1 stays along the MRT Blue Line, covering the oldest parts of Taipei. Liberty Square is best at 8am, when the honour guard performs the changing ceremony inside Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and the 240,000-square-metre plaza is still cool underfoot. Take the MRT two stops to Longshan Temple, founded in 1738, where thick incense smoke fills the courtyard by mid-morning and the air takes on a faint taste of ash. Lunch at Ay-Chung Flour Rice Noodle on Emei Street in Ximending costs NT$65 for a bowl of thick vermicelli in pork-intestine broth. One ingredient, one preparation, NT$65. Afternoon, take the MRT to Beimen station and walk north into Dadaocheng along Dihua Street, where brick shophouses still sell dried goods, loose-leaf tea, and Chinese medicine. The tea shops on Dihua Street let you sit and taste for free. Lin Hua Tai Tea on Chongqing North Road Section 3 has been operating since 1883. End the day at Ningxia Night Market by 6pm, a two-block strip running north from Nanjing West Road. The taro ball stall Liu Yu Zi has had a queue every night for decades.

Day 2 moves east to Xinyi and Da'an. Start at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, opened in 1972, by 9am for the guard ceremony, then walk 10 minutes north to Taipei 101. The observation deck on the 89th floor costs NT$600 and opens at 9am on weekdays. On a clear morning you might see past Keelung to the coast. That said, Taipei's humidity tends to blur the horizon by noon, so the 9am slot is the one that counts. Walk or take the MRT to Dongmen station for lunch on Yongkang Street. Din Tai Fung's original location sits on Xinyi Road Section 2, and the wait runs 30 to 60 minutes at midday. Yong Kang Beef Noodle across the street serves hand-pulled noodles in a dark, soy-braised broth for NT$250, and the wait is likely under 15 minutes. Spend the afternoon in Da'an's lanes, then head northeast to Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, a converted 1937 tobacco factory that houses the Eslite Spectrum bookstore and rotating exhibitions. By evening, walk 10 minutes east to Raohe Night Market. The pepper pork bun stall Fuzhou Shizu at the entrance arch has had a line every night since 1960.

Day 3 heads north on the MRT Red Line to Beitou, about 35 minutes from Taipei Main Station. The Beitou Hot Spring Museum, a 1913 Japanese-era bathhouse with dark timber beams and stained-glass windows, opens at 9am and costs nothing. For an actual soak, Millennium Hot Spring charges NT$40 for its outdoor public pools, where retired locals sit in 40°C sulfuric water before 8am. The sulfur smell at Millennium is strong. You get used to it after about 10 minutes. From Beitou, ride the MRT south to Shilin for the National Palace Museum, founded in 1925 and home to 700,000 pieces from Beijing's Forbidden City. The Jadeite Cabbage and the Meat-Shaped Stone sit on the third floor. Budget 2 to 3 hours and NT$350 for admission. By 5:30pm, Shilin Night Market is a 10-minute walk from Jiantan MRT. The basement food court is air-conditioned and less frantic than the open-air stalls above. Hao Ji Dan Bao, known for its crispy fried egg pancakes, has operated in the market for over 40 years.

Taipei's MRT runs from 6am to midnight. A stored-value EasyCard, available at any station for a NT$100 deposit, covers trains, buses, and YouBike rentals. The three days total about 25 kilometres on foot plus 5 or 6 MRT rides per day. June brings Taipei's heaviest rainfall, with averages around 326mm for the month, so a packable rain jacket is non-negotiable. Afternoon storms typically last 20 to 40 minutes before clearing. At 28°C with 86% humidity, the warm, heavy air presses against your skin the moment you step outside. Mind you, every 7-Eleven and FamilyMart runs fierce air conditioning, and Taipei has over 12,000 convenience stores, so a cold reprieve is never more than 2 blocks away. Taipei tap water is not drinkable, but filtered water dispensers appear in every MRT station and most public parks.