Taoyuan Airport to Taipei: MRT, Taxi, Uber or Bus (What I'd Actually Take)

By Kevin · Last verified: 2026-07-10 · 10 min read

The short answer

For most people: take the Airport MRT express to Taipei Main Station. NT$160 (about US$5), 36-39 minutes, trains until around 11:35pm, and you can just tap a contactless credit card at the gate. Door-to-door with luggage? Taxi or Uber runs NT$1,100-1,600 (US$35-50), around 40 minutes without traffic. Landing after midnight, the 1819 bus is your friend. Full details below.

Getting from Taoyuan Airport (TPE) into Taipei is genuinely easy, but a few things changed recently and most guides haven’t caught up. Here’s the current picture, checked July 2026.

Before you land: the online arrival card

One thing to handle before your flight: Taiwan killed the paper arrival card in October 2025. Everyone now fills out the Taiwan Arrival Card (TWAC) online, up to 3 days before arrival. It’s free and takes a few minutes on the official immigration site. Do it on your phone before you board. People who show up without it end up doing it on airport WiFi while everyone else walks past them.

Immigration itself is manned counters for most tourists (the arrival e-gates need pre-enrollment, and only a handful of nationalities qualify). Budget about an hour from deplaning to standing outside with your bags. Off-peak it can be 30 minutes; land with the early-morning North America wave (5-8am) or the evening rush (6-9pm) and it stretches toward 90.

Small consolation: on your way out of Taiwan, any foreigner can use the departure e-gates. No signup needed.

Which terminal am I in?

Two terminals, plus a third being built around them. T2 is the newer, nicer one — EVA, ANA, Singapore Airlines, United and most long-haul flights live there. T1 is from 1979 (renovated since, it’s fine) and handles most of the budget carriers, Cathay, and regional flights. Annoyingly, China Airlines and Starlux split across both terminals depending on route, so check your specific flight.

Heads up if you’ve read older guides: the free Skytrain between T1 and T2 stopped running July 1, 2026 for Terminal 3 construction. To move between terminals now you take the free 24-hour shuttle bus (every 15-20 minutes), or ride the MRT one stop — it’s free between the terminal stations. And if your gate says D11-D18, that’s the new Terminal 3 north concourse, which is really just an extension of T2. The full Terminal 3 isn’t due until late 2027.

The MRT (what most people should take)

The Airport MRT is the easy answer. Two kinds of trains, same price:

Express (purple): 36 minutes from T2 to Taipei Main Station, 35 from T1. Proper airplane-style seats, luggage racks, USB ports, free WiFi.
Commuter (blue): stops everywhere, about 50 minutes. Regular metro benches.

Both cost NT$160 to Taipei Main (about US$5). Note that’s NT$160, not the NT$150 you’ll see on a lot of blogs — the discount ended in January 2025. They alternate, so a train leaves roughly every 7-8 minutes during the day. Take whichever comes first if you’re impatient, but with luggage the express is worth the short wait.

Trains run from about 6am to 11:35pm leaving the airport (first express from T2 is 5:55am). Miss the last one and you’re in bus or taxi territory, covered below.

Paying is easier than it used to be: the gates take contactless credit cards (Visa/Mastercard/JCB, or your phone wallet) directly, on a separate reader pad next to the EasyCard one. The Taipei city MRT started accepting them too in July 2026, so you can technically ride everything on your phone now. There are also single-journey tokens from the machines, cash only.

Get an EasyCard anyway

Even with credit card tap working on the trains, get an EasyCard. It’s Taiwan’s tap-everything card: MRT, buses, regular trains, 7-Eleven, FamilyMart, supermarkets, YouBike. It works like a little debit card at convenience stores, which you will be in constantly, everyone is.

The card costs NT$100 (non-refundable, that’s the card price, not a deposit) and you load whatever on top. Grab one at the MRT station service counter in the airport basement, or the vending machines next to it (they sell a NT$500 package: NT$100 card + NT$400 loaded). Landing late? The 24-hour convenience stores in the terminal basements sell them at the register too. Top-ups are cash only pretty much everywhere, so keep some bills.

When you leave Taiwan you can refund whatever’s left on it at any metro info counter (NT$20 fee for short visits), or honestly just spend it down at a 7-Eleven on the way out.

Taxi and Uber

Taxis queue 24/7 right outside arrivals at both terminals. Airport taxis charge the Taipei meter rate plus 15%, plus highway tolls, which lands most trips to central Taipei at NT$1,100-1,500 (US$35-47), sometimes more to the far side of the city. Around 40 minutes without traffic; more like 60-90 in rush hour (weekdays 7-9am and 5-7:30pm). Cards accepted, and the dispatch counters have English-speaking staff. Drivers themselves, hit or miss on English — showing your destination on your phone works fine, that’s what everyone does. Night rides after 11pm add a whopping flat NT$20, not the “20% surcharge” some sites claim.

Uber is legal, works well, and picks up right at the curb outside arrivals — no hunting for a rideshare lot in a parking garage. The app assigns you a numbered pillar (T1 uses 15/17/20/23, T2 uses 24/26/29). Figure NT$1,400 or so (about US$45) to Taipei Main, ranging NT$1,100-1,600 with demand.

Now the warning I wish someone had given me: UberXL in Taiwan can mean a Toyota Sienta. Not a Sienna. A Sienta — a compact minivan that technically seats seven. “Seven seater” here means about one briefcase fits in the trunk, and everyone rides squished. With four people and four airport-sized suitcases, an XL Sienta is a tragedy. Uber knows: in late 2025 they launched UberXXL, which guarantees six passengers plus four 28-inch suitcases. If your group has real luggage, book that tier, not XL.

The bus (late-night hero, and the cheap seat to Xinyi)

The Kuo-Kuang 1819 to Taipei Bus Station runs 24 hours — roughly every 15-25 minutes in the day, about hourly overnight. NT$155-164, comfy reclining 3-row coaches, around 55 minutes. It used to be the budget option; these days it actually costs a touch more than the MRT, so its real job is the overnight shift. Land at 2am and this is your NT$160 ride into town while everyone else pays NT$1,300 for a taxi. In Taipei it now arrives at Taipei Bus Station, 4th floor, platform 409 (it moved in January 2025 — older guides still show the old curbside stop).

Staying in Xinyi near Taipei 101? Bus 1960 goes there directly (NT$160-200), which saves you a transfer at Taipei Main.

Heading south? Don’t go into Taipei at all

If your first stop is Taichung, Tainan or Kaohsiung, skip Taipei entirely. Take the MRT two-ish stops the other direction to A18 Taoyuan HSR station (NT$35, about 15 minutes) and get on the high-speed rail: Taichung is 40 minutes (NT$540), Kaohsiung about an hour and a half (NT$1,330). Going into Taipei first backtracks and burns an hour or two of your life.

Money at the airport

Here’s one where Taiwan defies the usual travel advice: the airport exchange counters are actually fine. Bank of Taiwan and Mega Bank run 24-hour counters in both arrivals halls, and they post the same rates as their city branches, plus a flat NT$30 fee. That’s it. You don’t need to dodge them like at most airports.

If you have a no-foreign-fee card (Wise, Revolut, Schwab and friends), the arrivals hall ATMs are marginally better: near mid-market rate, with a local fee around NT$100 depending on the machine (Cathay United ATMs usually charge nothing). Either way, if an ATM or card terminal offers to charge you in your home currency, decline — always pick TWD.

How much cash? Card and tap-to-pay cover most modern restaurants and every chain store. Cash is for night markets, street stalls, small traditional restaurants and traditional markets. NT$3,000-5,000 out of the airport is a comfortable start for most people.

SIM cards and eSIMs

All three major carriers (Chunghwa, Taiwan Mobile, FarEasTone) have counters in both arrivals halls with genuinely unlimited-data tourist SIMs — Chunghwa runs NT$300 for 5 days, NT$500 for 7-10 days. Two gotchas: the counters take cash only (exchange or withdraw first), and they close around 9:30pm. Landing on a red-eye means no SIM counter until morning, so if that’s you, load an eSIM before you fly.

Luggage: lockers, storage and a trick for your flight out

Lockers: self-service smart lockers at both terminals, NT$40-80 per 3 hours depending on size, EasyCard or cash, 3-day max. Good for a short stash; the per-3-hour billing gets silly overnight.
Staffed storage: Pelican Express counters (24h at T1 and T2 arrivals) cap at NT$320-720 for the first day by size, half price per day after. Cheaper than lockers for anything past ~6 hours.
Send it ahead: Pelican also delivers bags to your hotel — next-day island-wide from NT$140 per bag, or same-day to Taipei hotels for NT$500.

And for your flight home: in-town check-in at Taipei Main Station (B1 of the Airport MRT station) lets you check bags for China Airlines, EVA, Starlux, Cathay, Mandarin and UNI flights between 6am and 9:30pm, as long as you finish at least 3 hours before departure. Drop the suitcases, spend your last day hands-free, stroll onto the train. One of Taipei’s best little tricks.

FAQ

What’s the cheapest way from Taoyuan Airport to Taipei?

During the day, the MRT at NT$160 (about US$5). Overnight, the 24-hour 1819 bus at NT$155-164 — it’s the only public transport running between roughly midnight and 6am.

I land at 1am. How do I get to my hotel?

The MRT will be closed. Your options are the 1819 bus to Taipei Bus Station (about hourly overnight, NT$155-164) or a taxi/Uber for NT$1,200-1,600. The taxi queue runs all night, and the night surcharge is a flat NT$20, so don’t fear it. Just remember the SIM counters close around 9:30pm — sort your eSIM before flying.

Is the currency exchange at Taoyuan Airport a ripoff?

No, and this surprises people. The Bank of Taiwan and Mega Bank counters use the same rates as their downtown branches with a flat NT$30 fee, and they’re open 24/7. Exchange what you need on arrival without guilt.

Is the NT$5,000 arrival lottery still running?

No. The “Taiwan the Lucky Land” NT$5,000 draw for foreign tourists ended September 30, 2025. Posts still promising airport lottery money are out of date.

How early should I get back to the airport for departure?

The standard advice is 3 hours for international flights, and TPE security plus its long walks can eat time. If you’re on China Airlines, EVA, Starlux, Cathay, Mandarin or UNI, consider the in-town check-in at Taipei Main Station (finish 3+ hours before departure) so you’re not dragging bags. Departure is also where every foreigner can use the e-gates, which keeps that side moving.

Do I need to book the Airport MRT in advance?

No. Buy a token, tap an EasyCard, or tap a contactless credit card at the gate and get on. It’s a metro, not a train you reserve.