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Daan Forest Park (大安森林公園) is commonly compared to New York City's Central Park or London's Hyde Park by laowai (老外) because each is the largest park in the center of their respective cities, and it attracts some attention from tourists and travel writers alike as a result. An observant traveler, or a landscape architect, though, would notice that Daan Forest Park, at roughly 65 acres, is much smaller and more manicured than Central Park or Hyde Park, and it has a significantly different and more intimate feel as a result.

Nevertheless, based on many a morning jog through the park — okay, more like many a morning breakfast — tourists rarely, if ever, overwhelm the place as they can at other sites like the National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (國立國父紀念館) and Taipei 101 (台北101). Even on a weekend afternoon during a special event, most of those in the crowd are locals.

Although it thankfully has received some well-deserved appreciation in architecture circles, Daan Park Station (大安森林公園站), specifically, should receive far more attention and appreciation from tourists than it does. When travelgasm.com first wrote this piece, Daan Park Station wasn't considered an attraction at all on the big tourist advisory websites, and on the world's search engine, all the reviews were Chinese except for one.

Designed by local Taipei architecture firm Che Fu Chang with the nicely achieved objective of "converging" the city and park, Daan Park Station effectively brings the park inside a lovely atrium within the station and likewise brings the station outside into a sunken garden within the park. The surest sign of its success is that the station itself has become a destination for locals to meet or sit and read a book rather than merely a place to pass through as a commuter. Take the time to appreciate it as a visitor, too.

If you would like to grab a quick breakfast to enjoy in Daan Forest Park or the Daan Park Station atrium, either one, there is a branch of the respectable Cama Café as well as a 7-11 immediately outside Exit 1. The best way across the unpleasant street is to use the station itself. Make your purchases and then duck back through the station to the park on the other side.

If you feel like eating a more substantial meal, there are many local restaurant options to the east of the park including the well-known, but not particularly famous internationally, Ruian Soy Milk (瑞安豆漿) for a local breakfast of soy milk (豆浆机) and youtiao (油条) or an American-style breakfast at the original location of the popular, and appropriately named, The Diner. Both offer breakfast all day.

How to Get Here: Take the Red Line (Line 2, Tamsui-Xinyi Line) to Daan Park Station (大安森林公園). Exits 2, 3, 4 and 5 all enter directly into the park. If you wander into the neighborhood to the east, the closest MRT station is Technology Building (科技大樓), an elevated line and could make sense if you're headed somewhere not on the Red Line; but on a nice day, we prefer to walk back through the park to Daan Park Station.

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