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https://www.nickkembel.com/taiwan-travel-guide/

One of the most common questions about Taiwan that I get from my readers is how to plan the perfect Taiwan travel itinerary.

It’s a common story: people look at the map of Taiwan and see that it’s a pretty small country. So they think 7 days in Taiwan will be enough. Once they start planning their trip, they realize one week is not enough because there are SO MANY things to do in Taiwan. So they book 2 weeks in Taiwan. Then, the more they plan the finer details of their Taiwan itinerary, the more they wish they had actually booked 3 weeks or even one month in Taiwan!

In this article, I’m going to exactly how to plan your Taiwan travel schedule, no matter how many day’s you’ve got. After checking hundreds of people’s itineraries in my Taiwan Travel Planning Group, I’ve come to realize that the way people plan their itinerary varies A LOT. So many visitors cram two weeks of activities into one week or less. So I’m going to give itineraries for both slower travelers and for fast ones. I’ll also give a nature-focused itinerary and a city/culture one.

I’ve been living in Taiwan for over 10 years. I’ve written a book about Taiwan and articles for CNN, National Geographic Traveller, and others. I’ve planned numerous trips around Taiwan so the recommendations in this article are based on multiple first-hand experiences.

KENTING MAP

Taiwan Itinerary

– Read my general Taiwan travel guide and these FAQs about Taiwan. Figure out the best time to visit Taiwan, the top festivals, and which budget airlines fly there.

– Find all your day tours, drivers, discounted attraction tickets, and more on Klook! Use my referral link to get TWD 100 off your first booking. Learn about others apps for traveling in Taiwan and find more private drivers here.

– Buy your SIM card / eSIM / WiFi device, EasyCard, and HSR tickets online before you arrive. Also consider getting a Taipei Fun Pass (read my review of the pass here).

– If you are looking for a customized luxury tour of Taiwan, I recommend Life of Taiwan. Tell them Nick sent you over!

– If you’re visiting Taiwan as a family, I’ve written a similar Taiwan itinerary with kids.

– Learn all about about Taiwanese food and my recommended restaurants and night markets in Taipei.

– See my recommended hotels, hostels, and luxury resorts.

Sample Taiwan Itineraries

Here’s a brief outline of the itineraries I’ll be covering in this article. Since so many visitors only visit Taiwan for one week (I know because I’ve checked so many of your itineraries!), and because I know you try to squeeze in as much as you can, I’m provided both a slower (recommended!) and more rushed itinerary.

Typically, visitors want to squeeze in Taipei, Hualien/Taroko Gorge on the east coast, plus Sun Moon Lake and/or Alishan (on the west coast) in a short period of time. It might look like a quick drive across the island from Taroko Gorge to Sun Moon lake, but it is NOT!

There is a chain of high mountains in the center of Taiwan, with no public transportation. Even if you drive, the cross-island highway is often destroyed by landslides and impossible to cross. This means you’ll need to go from east coast to west coast via Taipei, so keep that in mind!

For the two-week itinerary, I’ve provided a nature-focused one and a city/culture-focused one, with some overlap. The three-week itinerary basically just covers all the stops of these two itineraries.

For each of the below outlines, I’ll explain how to do them in great detail below.

Taiwan in 1 Week: Slow

• Days 1-3: Taipei
• Days 4-5: Day trips from Taipei
• Days 6-7: Short trip outside the city, choose ONE of these: Hualien/Taroko Gorge, Taichung/Sun Moon Lake/Cingjing Farm, Alishan, Tainan, or Kaohsiung

Taiwan in 1 Week: Fast

• Days 1-2: Taipei
• Day 3: Day trip from Taipei (this one covers the top spots in one day!)
• Day 4: Long day trip to Taroko Gorge (details below)
• Day 5: Sun Moon Lake and/or Cingjing Farm
• Day 6: Alishan
• Day 7 Back to Taipei or directly to Taoyuan International Airport

Taiwan in 2 Weeks: Nature-Focused

If you want to do a full circle around Taiwan, two weeks is a reasonable amount of time. You can’t easily hit every stop without rushing, though. This itinerary focused on natural places and skips some of the big cities.

• Days 1-3 :Taipei (including day trip)
• Days 4-5: Hualien and Taroko Gorge
• Day 6-7: Taitung (Chishang)
• Days 8-9: Xiaoliuqiu or Kenting National Park
• Days 10-11: Alishan
• Days 12-13: Sun Moon Lake and/or Cingjing Farm
• Days 14: To Taipei or Taoyuan International Airport

Two Weeks in Taiwan: City/Culture-Focused

• Days 1-3 :Taipei (including day trip)
• Days 4-5: Hualien and Taroko Gorge
• Day 6-7: Taitung city
• Days 8-9: Kaohsiung
• Days 10-11: Tainan
• Days 12-13: Taichung
• Days 14: To Taipei or Taoyuan International Airport

Taiwan in 3 weeks

If you are able to spend more than two weeks in Taiwan, you can visit all the main stops I mentioned above, but add an extra night at each for a more relaxed pace.

Or, you can add more smaller stops and side trips to your schedule. Here’ just one example of what that could look like:

KAOHSIUNG TRAVEL MAP

The Pier2 Art Center

85 Sky Tower

Dome of Light

Xiaoliuqiu

Lambai Island

Travel Guide Cingjing Farm

Trip aDVICE

TAIWAN – MIRACLES NEVER CEASE

We planned for a Taiwan trip for a while and start to check out Nick Kembel and various You tubes ..etc but nothing would prepare us for what we would  encounter.

Medical- Dental Condition

Our flights were on Monday 25 Mar 2024 ( midnight).

Just 2 days before the flight, I develop severe toothache due to infected nerve, such that drinking water is already difficult. On the Sunday before, I tried to get emergency treatment from Advanced Dental but none was available and they refer me to Tan Tock Seng on walk-in basis on Monday morning. Knowing that this is not workable- I tried to reach out to our AIA dental panel and Dr Gerald Tan of Elite Dental tried to squeeze a morning slot for me at 9.15 am. Thank God I was able to do the root canal and enjoy a painless holidays especially the food in Taiwan.

The trip was a cross-island of Northern Taiwan from 26 Mar to 6 Apr 2024 :

TaoYuan – Taipei Station to Chiayi by HSR  follow by shutter bus to Chaiyi  train station. From Chiayi to Taichung, then Yilan and down to Hualien and back to Ruifang  and Taipei and to airport at ToaYuan.

Chiayi- Alisan

Upon arrival at Chiayi- HSR station, we took the shutter bus  to Chiayi Train station. We stopped at the rear gate of the station and has to cross the overhead bridge to walk to the front of the station and checked in  Yoyo hotel which is in front of Chiayi station.

We did a city walk and check out Hinoki Village and arts museum and have a nice dinner at 慶昇.

In preparing for the next day trip to Alisan – we check out the way the bus 7322 departure  schedule at Chiayi train station. We chose the first bus and bought the ticket with pre determined seats for 6 am departure. At Alisan – we took a train inside to see  cypress and multi generational trees since cherry blossoms period is over.

Taking another shutter bus, we  explore Fengqihu old town and shizhao ( famous for their tea plantations)

Taichung-Sun Moon Lake

Next day we depart for Taichung, and after the city walk, we had Vietnamese food for dinner.  On following day, we took tours (with James)  at meet-up point  Miyahara ice cream palace to Taichung city garden and location of first bubble tea,   Gaomei wetlands, Rainbow village….and some temples.

Yilan – Jiaoxi- Tai Ping Shan

Upon arrival at Yilan , we store our luggages at the station and did a city tour of Yilan. Visited Kavalan Whisky factory. We took the train back to hotel in Jiaoxi hot springs area. We explore a presbyterian church at Jiaoxi with local dinner along the way.

The next morning, we followed the tour from Yilan to Tai Ping Shan ( with Steve)- we were almost late due to train timing- Japanese Yeh Liu ( pine)  and Quai shu ( cypress)- with several climbing trials)

Hualien

The Taroko Gorge was  our main purpose in Hualien

 Yilan- Hualien

We were in Hualien on 1 Apr 2024, and while doing city walk , I came across St Paul Pastoral Center  and St Paul  Statue.

On 2 Apr 2024 we were on Taroko tours- - starting with Qixingtang, then at Taroko we did Yan Zi Gou, Shakadang trail and Buluowan and suspension bridge.

Earthquake in Hualien

On 3 Apr 2024, we depart Hualien on Train 207 towards Ruifang at 7.26am. we were at the train station around 7 am after we check out from San Sui Hotel around 6.50 am.  The earth quake happen at 7.58 am.

The first miracle was that we were in Taroko one day before the 403 earthquake earlier to enjoy Taroko- as the earthquake devastated the entire scenic region gorges and trails. Had we delayed one day we could be trapped in Taroko or buried under the rubbles.

      Impresssions of Taroko

  2 APRIL 2024

   Shakadang Trail  

      YanZiKou

          The Carp       The Face

 JiuShiDong

       Chang Chun  

The second miracle was at Dongdamen.

We were there for early dinner for first day and later on second day.

It would be the epic center of the earthquake in Hualien.

   Pic taken a day before

    Uranus bldg collapse to a tilt.

The third miracle is the escape from Hualien on that fateful morning- that Express train 207 was to be the last train out of Hualien.

Our train booking out of Hualien to Ruifang on 3 Apr 2024 was originally for 9.45 am train but somehow earlier in Chiayi- we change the train to an earlier train at 7.26 am. Previously 9.45 am was the earliest available train.

When we reach Nanao around 7.58 am- we received Presidential alert on earthquake and the train float and sway from left to right and came to a halt.

The last earthquake was in 1999 or 921 earthquake  ie Sep 21^st- so it came as a surprise and shock.

The train stopped for 3 hours ( we were told that cables has snapped and it took several hours to repair them) and we continued to experience several tremors while sitting in the train.

We tried to contact our friends – one group of 3 Vietnamese ladies was to go Taroko on Wed 3 Apr 2024  that morning and another Singapore couple/ Doris  was to visit Ocean dophin viewing trip. We were told by Doris that it was frightening  with hundreds of tremors throughout the day and there was no more train to Taipei as the earthquake has damaged the tracks between Hualien and Yilan up north towards Taipei.    

The Four Miracle was the completion of all the tours and trips in accordance with our plan.  Whilst friends were affected by the earthquake – we also change our plans of going to Ruifang- Shi fen and Jiu Fen by ourselves. We did 2 things – extend our train to Taipei ( while on the train with the conductor)  and take the local tour from Taipei – we just managed to book the tour  at 7.57 am before all signals were lost.

We managed to reach Ruifang and due to the chaotic situation we purchases additional ticket to go to Taipei instead of Ruifeng. We change the itinerary and book the tours from Taipei- Ximending. It was a miracle as we managed to book the tour  for Shifen, jiufen and Yehliu while on the train at 7.57 for the credit card to process before the earthquake at 7.58 am.  We were able to go to Yeliu,  Shifen  and Jiufen.

 SHIFEN

   JIUFEN

In Taipei, we did the elephant Mountain on the first day and also visited Xinbeitou  hot springs on the second day.

.           Xiang san

    Tamsui  River

Xinbeitou

The fifth miracle is when God never give up on us

When we were about to go to TaoYuan Airport from Neijiang Hotel ( next to Ximending ie take the blue line to Taipei station to transfer to Taoyuan via train)  –  around 6 pm while doing our final check,  we realise the passports was not in my backpak. We lost our passports.

We have a limited window until 9 pm as checking in time was about 10 .30 am. Without the passports, we did several things.

-        Contact the Trains stations to check lost and found

-        Contact Scoot air to reschedule flights

-        Contact the Singapore Trade Office for advice ( to issue a DOI for me to fly back)

-        Go to Police station in Ximen Station exit 4 - to make a  Police report

-        Freeze the WISE card and block the credit cards.

-        We took the train to back track to Xinbeitou areas -hot springs where we have lunch, and visit their rail museum,..etc even seach the lost and found section of the rail museum and view the CCTV video footage of me at the entrance to the hot springs.

The hotel staff was very kind and helpful to contact Scoot to inform that we need to cancel and rebook flights on Monday , and also help us contact Ms Siew Han at Singapore Trade office at Taipei for assistance on issuance of DOI ( Document of Identity)  for flying. They also help us check Lost and Found at  the Police stations and MRT/metro  stations at Xinbeitoiu and Taipei Stations

As it was  the national Children day and also Cheng Meng Tomb sweeping day – Taiwan was on extended holidays and we will need to stay another 3 days until offices start working again.  As we were at hot springs in Xinbeitiou we backtrack to those locations that we visited- the rail museum, restaurant, hot springs  and even see the CCTV if we drop the pouch containing the passports.  When all hopes were lost we tried to book new tickets with Scoot but we were not able to do it as we have already check in online. The Singapore Rep also explain the steps to me to go to ICA website to report loss and seek the issuance of DOC and inform their once we have request for travel doc. It was irreversible ie if our passport were found they will be cancelled. We decided to wait for while until Sunday. The bigger concern was my wife with Indonesian passport as it was Lebaran and Indonesia embassy was far away and they may not open due to Lebaran and the prospects of differing timing for passport processing meant we have to wait for the latter to travel back together. We also tried to reach out to our insurance company Etiqa.

 As we were totally lost and only need to wait- we only knew we would not be able to fly that early morning at 1.30 am without the passports.

We decided to go back top the police station to update the declaration on  report of loss as we only mention passport whereas there were 2 credit cards and an iphone. Upon entering the police station for the second time, we were pleasantly surprised that we were immediately informed by the Police officers – our passports have been located at Taipei station police station. We also received the incoming call on the good news at around 11 pm.

 Location to collect passport at Taipei Train Station ( West Gate level 1)

As it was already close to 11 pm  at night, we wasted no time to rush back to our hotel to collect the luggage and then to Taipei station to pick up our passports and to Taoyuan Airport ( another hour away by train).

As our flight was 1.30 am it was already 11 pm and time was running. As we were walking back, at the traffic lights, there was a miracle  God send taxi in front of us  alighting some guests- we approach it to send us back to hotel to collect our luggage and then proceed to Taipei Metro Poilce station to collect our passports and then head straight to the Taoyuan International Airport T1. It was a miracle that God send the taxi infront of us to enable us to reach the airport on time. Despite  the immigration having long queue and boarding at 0.45 am- we managed to board smoothly.

This  fifth miracle was really a series of divine help - - -

Even as we have given up hope and already arranged the police report on loss of passports, book an extra day stay at hotel, we still managed to fly back to Singapore.

Firstly - as we have checked in online, therefore  our flights cannot be cancelled or rescheduled for next week.

Secondly Singapore Rep Siew Han ‘s kind help and advice that once  declared lost of passport is done online on ICA website- I cannot fly even if we were to find it back later  and we have to wait for issuance of DOI next week. I did not follow the declare loss route.

Thirdly, miracle taxi to take us on the last mile ( 3 locations – hotel, Taipei train station to collect passports and then to Taoyuan airport)

Fourthly, friendly Taiwanese hospitality from  Neijiang Hotel, the Police and Metro station staff – all rallying behind us.

Even as we reach home safely – flying scoot on time on both flights – and landed and reached home safely- the aftershocks and new tremors continue in Taipei and Taroko.

With God, there's always an appointed time for things, and when you put Him first, trust in His timing, and keep the faith, miracles happen! Every moment is His miracle. Miracle is never ending and it still happens. Every moment of life is like a sacrament in which we can receive God - to allow Him to speak to us and direct us. Even when we give up, God  never give up on us. Therefore, above all, dont fear difficult  moments. the best comes from them. God will not give up on us. With the spirit of humility, it is not I who lives . it is Christ who lives in me. Vivi ego, iam non ego. Vivit vero in me Christus!.There is no limit to the amount of good He can do for us and through us as testimony.