Danshui/Tamsui(淡水)

Getting there
Tamsui is the last stop on the red MRT line (north), and the station is located right next to the river.

Danshui/Tamsui(淡水) West
The river is the main attraction in Tamsui and inevtiably you will find yourself walking along it. But it is so different if you go East or West, that it feels almost like there are two rivers.
If you go West(Walk straight out of the MRT station) You'll find the bustling, noisy, modern river. There’s a promenade with a lot of seafood-themed street food, and more surprising than tasty: enormous ice-creams. Parallel to the promenade is a busy tourist street that takes you to local attractions like the old British consulate/dutch fort and fishing harbour.

Danshui/Tamsui(淡水) East
If you head East, (go left out of the MRT station and walk along the river towards Taipei) you'll find the ancient, peaceful river. Along this part you can see rickety fishing huts on stilts and crumbling houses in the forests, though the first place of interest is a red-brick Japanese factory. As you continue, you'll find yourself going along a cycle path surrounded by majestic mangrove forests. Here you'll quickly forget the city and it's troubles. It's a great place for a picnic too.

Lin family Mansion & Garden (林本源園邸)

Getting there
Take the blue MRT line to Fuzhong station(府中站) and take exit 1. Go behind exit 1 and walk left down the road, (you'll see exit 2 on the other side of the road). At the big junction, go through the market gate, down Fuzhong Road(府中路）. Take the second right at Wenyuan street （文員街） and walk a few metres before you will see the wall of the mansion on your left, walk along the wall until you reach the entrance.

Lin family Mansion(林本源園邸)
The Lin Family Mansion is an oasis of beauty and tranquility in the hustle and bustle of the modern city. Built in the 19th century by a merchant family, this stately home is surrounded by Alice in Wonderland gardens, ponds and small bridges. There are tall palm trees and lawns and you will quickly forget that Taipei is literally a stone's throw away.

At sunset it's particularly beautiful and you can easily spend over an hour wandering the twisty paths and exploring the different buildings and pavillions. You might even spot some peacocks.
And on top of all this, it's free to get in!!!!

Chiang Kai Shek Shilin residence (士林官邸)

Getting there
Take the red MRT line to Shilin Station and leave out of Exit 2, turn left down the bendy Lane 505 of Zhongshan North Road, and follow it straight until you get to the big Zhongshan North road, cross and continue along Fulin road. You'll see the residence grounds on your right, walk a little further to find the entrance.

Chiang Kai Shek Shilin residence
Originally the heavily militarised residence was actually a flower/botanical centre and there are many installations and nature inspired sculptures, flower gardens and open spaces to walk around and explore.

Wandering through the gardens of Taiwan’s ex-dictator admiring the flowers, make you proud to be from a democratic country. But what’s makes this place really fun to visit, are the abandoned, semi-collapsed buildings which were inhabited (presumably )by CKS's jump-suit clad henchmen. In order to explore them, leave the main paths and head to the more overgrown areas. You will see buildings and ruins poking out of the overgrown vegetation.

On a more serious note, it is interesting to see how the man lived. His military-green painted mansion and his chapel both give a much more insightful view of the man who ruled Taiwan than his propagandistic memorial in the centre of town.

Chiang Kai Shek Memorial (國立中正紀念堂)

Getting there
Just take the red MRT line to the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Station. It's pretty central so you can walk there from other tourist locations like the 2/28 park. It's also possible to walk to Longshan temple & Night market if you're up for a bit of a stroll

Chiang Kai Shek memorial (國立中正紀念堂)
This is definitely an impressive place and is worth visiting just to admire its scale. Inside the memorial are numerous things from CKS’s life and rule, leaving out everything nasty (like the 2/28 massacre or the estimated disappearance of 80 000 people during his reign). His two bulletproof black cadillacs look really cool too.

It’s another great place to escape the noise of the city and you can bring a packed lunch from the best buffet in Taipei, and sit in the grounds while you admire the architecture and listen to the birdsong.

Yuanshan(圓山)/ Grand Hotel (大飯店)

Getting there

Take the red MRT Jiantan station and take exit 2. Walk across the little park to Zhongshan North road, cross and turn right down it(go south). After 10-15 minutes, on your left you will see a little park and path leading up the hillside, to the Grand Hotel.

The Grand Hotel and Yuanshan

If you came from the south, you will probably have seen it from the MRT train the impressive, massive, spectacular grand hotel. This was built in the 50s to wow foreign dignitaries who had nowhere to stay, and to this day (apparently) it is the biggest Chinese classical building. Anyway once you’ve walked around a bit and taken in as much as you can of this architectural masterpiece, go behind the building and follow the signs up the mountain.

There is a viewing deck with spectacular views over to the 101 and if you explore more and reach the top you will be rewarded with more views and a little garden. There are many paths, but its small, so you won't get lost. 

The mountain itself is full of little shrines and temples where people sing karaoke and the Asiatic melodies provide a haunting background and atmosphere to the bizarreness of people going to a temple to sing karaoke.