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.