Home >> Taiwan >> How to plan a tour around the island of Taiwan?
We asked many Taiwan locals about the best itinerary to travel around the Taiwan island. Most of the answers for the best number of travel days were around ten. The best travel time choices are March-May and October-November each year. That is because there are typhoons from June to September and cold streams from December to February. Here is the itinerary for a 10-day trip around the island of Taiwan. We hope this Taiwan travel guide will help you on your journey.
Taipei night market
If you assume that there is only one thing to do when you come to Taiwan, it must be to visit the night markets. Every city in Taiwan has night markets. Night markets gather all the people’s livelihoods and feature food from each region. The night markets, large and small, have become not only sightseeing spots for tourists but also a daily part of local people’s lives.
Taipei’s most recommended night markets are Shilin Night Market, Ningxia Night Market, and Raohe Night Market. The following are the must-eat food in these three night markets.
Shilin Night Market: Small sausage in large sausage, Stone pot
Ningxia Night Market: Pork liver soup, Sacha beef, Oyster vermicelli soup, Stinky tofu, Lo bah png(marinated pork rice), Roasted apricot mushrooms
Raohe Night Market: Squid soup, Oyster omelet, Ta-a noodles, Shawarma, Meat-rice dumplings, Stir-fried crab meat, Stewed pork ribs with herbs
Michelin Guide has continuously recommended many Taipei night market stalls for years. For the best Taipei street food, please read the article: The complete guide to Michelin Taiwan street food in Taipei night markets
Taipei National Palace Museum
The National Palace Museum in Taipei has a collection of over 700,000 Chinese national treasures. There are calligraphy, ancient paintings, inscriptions, bronzes, jades, ceramics, scholar’s objects, carved lacquer, enamelware, sculptures, embroideries and kesi, books, documents, and other categories. It is known as the “treasure house of Chinese culture.”
Taipei 101
Taipei 101 is a landmark building in Taipei, named after the 101 floors in total. With a height of 508 meters, it has been the tallest building in the world for six years after its completion. From the ground floor to the 6th floor, the building is a large shopping mall, which includes the world’s gourmet food and famous brand stores. The 6- floor above is the office area. The top floors are a sightseeing area with a panoramic view of Taipei.
Dinner
In addition to night market street food, Taipei also has many recommended restaurants. Please read “List of the best Taiwan restaurant in major destinations” for details.
Take the high-speed train from Taipei to Taichung in the morning. The ride takes about 1 hour. Take a bus at Taichung High-Speed Rail station to Sun Moon Lake. The bus ride takes about 2 hours. After finishing the tour of Sun Moon Lake, you can take the direct bus of Easy Go! to Qingjing Farm at 4:30 pm. Stay overnight at the B&B in Qingjing Farm.
Sun Moon Lake
Sun Moon Lake, Taiwan’s largest natural freshwater lake, lies on the mountain between Mount Yu and Mount Ali. Surrounding the lake are heavy mountain ranges. The sun shines diagonally from the valley, shining on the lake’s lingering waves. It has a beautiful earthly beauty.
Sun Moon Lake has one of the ten most beautiful bicycle paths in the world. Riding along the lakeside trail on a good day is an excellent choice.
Qingjing Farm
In Renai Town, Nantou County, Qingjing Farm is a 700-hectare premium pasture at an altitude of 1,748 meters. Every year, many tourists visit the farm to stay in the unique B&B and experience the idyllic scenery of the mountains.
After an early morning walk on the Qingjing farm, you can unpack your bags and head to the next stop. You can ask the B&B owner to book a car to Taichung High-Speed Rail station. Take the THSR from Taichung to Kaohsiung, then transfer to the Kenting Express to Kenting. The latest train on the Kenting Express is at 19:10. If you have enough time, you can make a short stop in Kaohsiung. There are free bicycles for tourists to ride in Kaohsiung. Dinner can be very satisfying while walking at the Liuhe Night Market.
Renting an electric motorcycle and making a day trip to Kenting by electric motorcycle is the most relaxing way to play.
The Pacific Ocean borders Kenting to the east, the Taiwan Strait to the west, and the Bus Strait to the south. It has a tropical climate, with an average annual temperature of 25 degrees, and the long half-year-long falling mountain winds blowing, creating the unique topography of Kenting. The landscape has diversity, with beach shells, crumbling cliffs, sand waterfalls, group skirts, stalactite caves, rare plants in the tropical rainforest, insects, and butterflies, and a six-month-long migratory landing site for migrating birds.
Hebe Haven: Hebe Haven is well known for the movie Life of Pi, directed by Ang Lee.
There is no direct transportation from Kenting to Hualien, so renting a car is the ideal and most comfortable way to get around. Because the previous Kenting and the subsequent Hualien to Taipei are both ocean views, it is recommended that Kenting to Hualien take the valley route, the Hualien Highway. The attractions along the way are Dora Station, Ikegami Bento, Burang Avenue, Tropic of Cancer, Ruisui Ranch, and Yunshan Water.
Hualien Harbor
Hualien Harbor is the top place to see whales in Taiwan. The best season to go out to sea for whale and dolphin watching is from May to October every year.
Qixingtan Beach
The Qixingtan Beach is near Taroko National Park, the East Coast, and the Huadong Zonggu National Scenic Area. Here you can see the ‘Ch’ing-shui Cliff’ from afar while having the most beautiful sunset and starry night view.
Taroko National Park
Taroko National Park is different from other parks. Here you can experience the changing climate from subtropical to subcool and spring, summer, autumn, and winter in one day while seeing the natural landscapes of different climate zones and the ruins of the Taroko tribe.
Ch’ing-shui Cliff
The Ch’ing-shui Cliff refers to the approximately 12-kilometer-long section of the Suhua Highway between Heeren and Chongde. This section of the highway is the most beautiful place on the whole Suhua Highway, with its winding, cliff-facing, thrilling, magnificent landscape.
Take the train from Hualien to Ruifang Railway Station and then transfer to the Pingxi Line. The Pingxi Line is a 12.9-kilometer-long single-track railroad branch line. It runs through the Ruifang and Pingxi districts of New Taipei City. Along the way, we recommend getting off at Houtong Cat Village and Shifen Old Street. You can release sky lanterns with your wishes at Shifen Old Street. The tour will take half a day.
Take the Pingxi Line back to Ruifang Station and transfer to a bus to Jiufen. Since Jiufen is in the mountains, it is recommended to leave your big luggage at Ruifang station and pick it up on the way back. Jiufen is a mountain town that gets more beautiful as the night goes on, and it is also the inspiration for the scene of Hayao Miyazaki’s animated film “Castle in the Sky.” It is an excellent choice to enjoy the night view of the mountains while drinking tea in a teahouse at night. Stay overnight in a B&B in Jiufen.
In the morning, take a walk through Jiufen Old Street, where there are many delicious street foods. Please read the article “List of the best Taiwan restaurant in major destinations” to learn more about Jiufen food. In the afternoon, return to Ruifang Railway Station and take the train to Taipei.
On the last day of your Taiwan tour, you can walk around the city and experience the city’s culture while shopping. You can also head to Beitou District for a hot spring to relax from the exhaustion of the trip.
Beitou Hot Springs
Beitou is located on top of the Datun Volcanic Group. The “green sulfur hot springs” contains a small amount of the radioactive element radium, which gives them a jade-like emerald color; the “white sulfur hot springs,” like many hot springs in Japan, is an acidic sulfate spring, both which are effective in treating many chronic diseases. Because Japan colonized it for a while, most of the buildings in Beitou are in Japanese style. And one of them, a small building with a Japanese wooden structure plus an English country house style, is the home of the Beitau Hot Spring Museum. The museum describes the history of Beitou Hot Springs. Beitou District is also home to one of the “most beautiful libraries in the world.
