“Do one thing every day that scares you.” ― Eleanor Roosevelt
Rooftopping in Taipei has become a bit more difficult in recent years because of popularity on social media, but it's still fairly easy to access some epic spots here.
H&M Rooftop
TAIPEI MAIN STATION — This rooftop use to be a staple for every up and coming Instagram photographer. I followed suit and tried to get some nice shots here when I was chasing the IG dream. Sadly now both my dreams of Instagram fame and access to this rooftop have died. I don't use Instagram anymore and there is a big gate blocking rooftop access here.
However I've got these great pics to console me. And there's still plenty of other rooftops to explore nearby.
📍 Address: No. 2號, Guanqian Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, 100.
XinPu Station
BANQIAO DISTRICT — Here's place with not much else but rooftops. I used to work in this area and I hated it. It was loud, polluted, and overpopulated. Plus it doesn't really have any of the major attractions Taipei has. But the building had an awesome rooftop view.
I can't give the specific location, but if you're familiar with Taipei you could figure it out. But for those new to Taipei I will just advise take the MRT to XinPu Station and use the map and these photos wisely you could pinpoint it quite easily.
📍 Address: 220, New Taipei City, Banqiao District, Section 3, Minsheng Road, 2號B1.
ZhiShan Rooftop
SHILIN DISTRICT — This rooftop bridge is very easy to see from ZhiShan Station on the Red Line MRT. The view from the top is epic enough. Add in the bridge and a wide angle lens and it's perfect. I really enjoyed shooting this place. I even tried to go back but I was stopped by security.
Guess I'll have to make a friend who lives here after I get that super wide angle I've been dreaming of.
📍 Address: No. 98, Fuguo Road, Shilin District, 111.
True Yoga Building
XINYI DISTRICT — Multiple visits here allowed me to finally get the shot above which is one of my favorites of all time. As I mention frequently, I don't have the proper wide angle lense to take the type of rooftop shots I'd like to, but for the shot above my limitation ended up being an advantage. For the shots below, not so much. They're pretty mediocre, but hopefully they give you a general feeling of what to expect on this rooftop.
📍 Address: 110, Taipei City, Xinyi District, Section 4, Zhongxiao East Road, 563號8樓.
SongShan Old Railway Station
XINYI DISTRICT — There's this rooftop above a Carrefour near the SongShan Old Railway Station that provides a pretty cool view of Downtown Taipei. Everybody was playing with prisms and reflections on Instagram at the time I went here, so I followed suit with the photo above. There's plenty to work with on this rooftop. There's a cool billboard to climb. There's a couple of ladders going up to higher areas.
📍 Address: 5, No. 37號, Dongxing Road, Xinyi District, Taipei City, 105.
DaPingLin Station
XINDIAN DISTRICT — I can't say the exact building I'm up on here, but any high rise will give you this epic view of condos against the mountains. This is a truly remarkable view with some pretty crazy architecture.
This is one of the more densely populated parts of town. As you can see there are a lot of old buildings mixed with new. It's rumored that the former president of Taiwan lives around here too. Maybe I could have found him had I brought my binoculars.
📍 Address: 23143, New Taipei City, Xindian District, 北新路3段190號.
Far Eastern Mall Building
DAAN DISTRICT — Luckily you don't have to do much sneaking to get to this view. There's a restaurant that lets you sit right next to it. Both times I came to shoot here nobody bothered me and I hear they even have pool parties here in the summer.
The building itself is also quite beautiful so I recommend getting a few shots of that as well.
📍 Address: No. 201號, Section 2, Dunhua South Road, Da’an District, Taipei City, 106.
Tutor ABC Rooftop
ZHONGZHENG DISTRICT — I brought a few friends up here to shoot a couple years ago. The spot is ideal for looking down below at the traffic, or just capturing the surrounding urban vibes. There used to be a huge neon sign which was what attracted me in the first place, but now it's gone.
📍 Address: No. 5號, Section 1, Heping West Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, 100.
KGI Futures Building
ZHONGZHENG DISTRICT — I came up here with one of the cool rich kids of Instagram and showed him around. His photos got way more likes than mine even though mine were great too, but I'm definitely not bitter. Not by any means bitter enough to write about it on my website 2 years later. No not at all.
Anyway, I'm pretty sure this place has been closed off because of us. People used to smoke up here but now they have the door locked. But if you can get on a building nearby you're in for a treat.
📍 Address: 100, Taipei City, Zhongzheng District, Section 1, Chongqing South Road, 2號13樓.