Sunday, August 4, 2019

Accommodation, Shopping and Transportation in Tainan

Place to stay
Tainan is a peaceful city. The streets are safe and clean, day and night. So even with a simple map we got from the hotel, we had no problem to walk around the town area on our own. In Tainan, most of the tourist spots are out of reach of public transport system. So staying in the middle of the city is important- we can walk to several places of interest, and easier to get taxi to move further away from the city. 

We stayed in ECFA Hotel, located at the middle of the city. We could walk to many places- 5 minutes to Chihkan Tower, 5 minutes to Hayashi Department Store, 10 minutes to Tainan Judicial Museum and Confucius Temple, 15 minutes to Nanmen Park and Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Mall. There are many eateries around the area as well.

There was no public transport available nearby the hotel. We had to get a taxi to visit places such as Anping Old Fort, Anping Old Town, and Eternal Golden Castle. The hotel rate was very cheap during our visit. 

Ground floor of the hotel. We need to take lift to the lobby.

The lobby of ECFA Hotel (upper left), with free flow of cold drinks and hot coffee (upper right). The room was nicely decorated (lower right). The hotel is located at one of the main streets in Tainan City.

Shopping
There are a few malls nearby our hotel. Hayashi Department Store was built in 1932 during the Japanese occupation. It was one of the earliest building in Taiwan equipped with elevator. The building was restored in 2014. Now, it is occupied by stalls selling local food, clothes, souvenirs, and handicrafts.

Hayashi Department Store is called "five-storey building" (upper left). Each level of the building is uniquely decorated (upper and lower right). We can see the scenery around the area on the top of the building.

Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Mall is the biggest shopping mall in Tainan. It is filled with special brand outlets, and several Japanese and Western restaurants. As we came to Tainan for local food and products, the mall was not attractive to us. One good thing about the mall- fully air-conditioned and really cooling. In hot middle of May, is was like the oasis in a desert.
The outlook of Shin Kong Mall (entrance facing Yongfu Road). The mall has another entrance facing Ximen Road. There are several food streets scatter nearby Ximen Road, including Bao'an Road and Guohua Street.

Old streets around Anping Old Town area are full of shops selling snacks, souvenirs, clothes, handicrafts, and many more.
Most of the streets were quiet due to the hot weather. We enjoyed walking down the streets without squeezing crowd.

Shopping street at night.

Transportation
There are several choices to move around old town and Anping area- by foot, by bicycle, or by taxi. All the taxi in Tainan is charged by meter. Extra NTD 10 will be charge on baggage. Most of the taxi can carry up to 4 passengers, while some of them can carry up to 6 with extra charges.

The streets are safe and pedestrian friendly. We can walk freely as long as we have a map and an umbrella. This photo was taken in Anping Old Town, when we were taking a short cut to Eternal Golden Castle.

Motorbikes and pedestrians moving around in a narrow street, without any problem. Photo taken at the junction between Bao'an Street and Guohua Street.

Signage of tourist attractions with distances are given. 

 We came over several booths with bicycles for rent.


Tainan Central Train Station- the place where we took the commuter train between Kaohsiung and Tainan. Tickets can be bought on site.

The commuter train with designated seat is more comfortable, spacious, faster, and more expensive. The commuter train with free seating (like MRT) is more crowded and slower (more stations).

Read more about our experience in Kaohsiung and Tainan:


More about our experience in Taipei: 



Labels: ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)