What should I pack for Taipei?

Taipei's June plum-rain season (梅雨, meiyu) drops measurable rain on roughly 15 of 30 days. The pattern is predictable. Mornings start hot and hazy around 28°C, the air heavy with moisture you can almost taste. By 2-3 PM, a downpour drums on the metal awnings over sidewalk vendors for 20-40 minutes before clearing. The humidity stays at 80-90% even after the rain stops. Cotton clings and stays damp for hours. Pack 3-4 quick-dry shirts and 2-3 pairs of quick-dry shorts or lightweight pants. A packable rain jacket matters more than an umbrella, because you'll need both hands free in the tight lanes around Shilin Night Market and on the steep handrail stairs at Longshan Temple. To be fair, the rain itself is warm, around 26-28°C. Getting caught in it won't chill you. You'll dry fast once the sun returns.

Your shoes might be the single most important packing decision for Taipei. The city's sidewalks are paved with smooth ceramic tile that turns slick as soap in the rain. One pair of closed-toe walking shoes with proper tread and one pair of sandals covers every situation. The walking adds up. A typical sightseeing day between the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, the 228 Peace Memorial Park (established 1900, the city's oldest public park), and the Ximending shopping district covers 12,000-18,000 steps on hard tile that echoes underfoot in the MRT corridors. Elephant Mountain (Xiangshan) involves roughly 500 uneven stone steps over 1.5 km to reach the Taipei 101 viewpoint. Yangmingshan National Park, founded in 1985 about 40 minutes north by bus, has sulfur-crusted volcanic trails where ankle support prevents a nasty fall. Flip-flops work fine at hotels and casual night-market runs, but don't plan on them for the major sites.

The temperature gap between outdoors and indoors in Taipei is startling. Outside, June air sits at 28-36°C with a feels-like temperature that regularly touches 38°C. Step into the MRT, and the chilled air hits your damp skin within seconds. One lightweight long-sleeve shirt or a thin hoodie fixes this. You'll pull it on at the National Palace Museum (founded 1925, allow 3-4 hours, the building is kept cool for artifact preservation), at Din Tai Fung's original Xinyi Road location where the AC runs full blast, and in every taxi. Taiwan runs on 110V with Type A and B outlets, the same flat two-prong plugs used in the US and Japan. American travelers need zero adapters. European, UK, and Australian travelers need a plug adapter and a voltage check on any 220V appliances like hair dryers. Most modern laptop and phone chargers auto-switch between 110-240V, so check the fine print on the charging brick before buying anything.

Skip packing several things you'd instinctively throw in a suitcase. Taipei has more convenience stores per capita than almost anywhere in Asia. FamilyMart and 7-Eleven sit on nearly every block in districts like Da'an and Zhongshan. Umbrellas cost NT$80-120 (about US$2.50-3.75). Mosquito-repellent patches, the stick-on-your-collar kind that work well in Daan Forest Park, run NT$60 for 12 at Watsons. Cooling wet wipes are NT$50-80. One thing worth bringing from home is Western-formula deodorant. Taiwanese pharmacies stock mostly lighter Asian formulas that won't hold up through a humid afternoon at the Raohe Street Night Market. Sunscreen is a split decision. Japanese and Taiwanese sunscreen at Cosmed and Tomod's tends to be lighter on the skin with fewer white-cast problems, but it runs NT$300-500 per bottle (US$9-15). If you already own SPF 50+ sunscreen you trust, bring one bottle and restock at Cosmed in the Da'an or Zhongshan MRT station malls.