Photo: Man Ng · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
🇹🇼 Taiwán
Taipéi
Taipei is Asia's most comfortable city to work from: safe, cheap for what it offers, with 24-hour street food and mountains twenty minutes away by metro.
Score breakdown
Cost of living
8.0Cost of living
Weight 25%
Internet & work
9.0Internet
Weight 15%
Safety
10.0Safety
Weight 15%
Nomad community
6.0Community
Weight 15%
Weather
5.0Climate
Weight 10%
Paperwork & visa
8.0Bureaucracy
Weight 20%
What it really costs
Prices checked on the ground by Zabelers. Each line shows when it was last verified.
Accommodation
500–800 €
Studio in Da'an
2026-09 · 591.com.tw
Groceries
220–300 €
Monthly single basket
2026-09 · Numbeo
Restaurant
2–4 €
Street food dish
2026-09 · precios locales
Transport
~30 €
Monthly EasyCard
2026-09 · Taipei Metro
Coworking
130–220 €
Monthly desk
2026-09 · webs de coworkings
Where to live
Da'an
Céntrico, verde y con metroGood for: Total convenience
The catch: The priciest
Zhongshan
Cafés de especialidad y galeríasGood for: Working outside home
The catch: Noisy streets
Beitou
Aguas termales a 25 minutos del centroGood for: Calm and nature
The catch: Away from the buzz
Where to work
Coworkings
- CLBCVarias sedes con comunidad local fuerte
The most social
Cafés with wifi
- Fika Fika CafeCafé nórdico premiado en Zhongshan
Fast wifi and wide tables
Time zone: CST (UTC+8), no daylight saving
What living here is really like
Editorial synthesis of public experiences
The recurring theme is comfort: eating well for two euros, moving around effortlessly and never worrying about safety. The constant humidity is the downside.
- Best part:
- Food and safety
- Worst part:
- Humidity
Sources: Travel Taipei · Numbeo Taipéi
Editorial synthesis of public experiences
Long-stayers highlight the Gold Card as a comfortable legal route and the mountain escapes; in exchange the nomad scene is small next to Bangkok or Bali.
- Best part:
- Gold Card
- Worst part:
- Small scene
Sources: Taiwan Gold Card
Day to day
- Internet
- Chunghwa 300 Mb fibre ~25 €/month
- Safety
- One of Asia's safest cities; lost items get returned
- Healthcare
- Top-tier cheap public healthcare; private visit ~25 €
- SIM / eSIM
- Chunghwa 30-day unlimited SIM ~25 €
- Best season
- October to April; summer is stifling with typhoons
- Community
- Small but very welcoming international scene; lots of teachers and tech folk
Living here legally
Visa
90 visa-free days for EU; the Employment Gold Card grants up to three years for qualified profiles
Check your visa →Tax
Tax resident after 183 days; income tax 5–40%, favourable treatment of foreign income
Flights & connections
TPE connects cheaply to Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia
Lisbon vs. similar cities
Transparency
Last checked: 2026-09-18
Official sources
Prices are checked against the dated sources shown. Editorial experience summaries cite their public sources; verified Zabeler accounts are identified separately. Official procedures always take precedence.