Taipei eSIM — plans from ₹249.00

Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TPE) handles most international arrivals across its two passenger terminals, while Songshan Airport (TSA) sits inside the city itself and is a very different experience. Taoyuan is famous for its telecom counters in arrivals, and they are efficient, but efficient still means a queue behind three widebodies, a passport check and a form. The alternative is to walk straight past them. An eSIM installed on home Wi-Fi before departure activates when your phone first registers on a Taiwanese network, and validity begins at that connection rather than at purchase. The reason to be connected right away is the Taoyuan Airport MRT, which runs from beneath the terminals to Taipei Main Station on a commuter and express pattern. Uber operates in Taipei if you prefer a car. From Taipei Main you are into the MRT network, and topping up an EasyCard, checking exit numbers and finding a hotel down a lane all go faster with data. See the Taiwan eSIM plans.

Taiwan is one of the better-connected places you can travel with a phone. The three national operators blanket Taipei with 4G and 5G is widely available across the city, so a compatible handset will spend much of its time on it. Unusually, the Taipei MRT has proper in-tunnel coverage, so you stay online between stations rather than only at platforms. Congestion is the real limitation, and it shows up at Ximending on a Saturday night, at Shilin Night Market and in the crush around Taipei 101 at New Year. Day trips hold up well: Jiufen, Pingxi, Tamsui and Keelung are all covered, while signal fades on the higher trails of Yangmingshan and in the gorge country further east.

Download Taipei plus Yangmingshan and the Pingxi valley offline, because the mountain trails immediately behind the city are where coverage finally gives up. Keep data live for the MRT and bus apps, for the real-time YouBike station map, and for translation, since night market stalls and small restaurants often post menus only in Chinese. Public Wi-Fi is genuinely widespread in stations and stores, but it usually wants a registration step, so having your own connection is faster. Hotspot for a laptop works well on Taipei MRT trains given the tunnel coverage. Heavy map and camera use in humid heat drains a battery, so carry a power bank. Related destinations on Asia.