We live in Hong Kong but have a day and a half in Hsinchu, staying at the Sheraton. Any suggestions for things to do? We generally like outdoor things - hiking, biking, wandering around old or interesting townships etc. Not interested in eating, shopping. Won’t have a car. Any ideas?
Take the train (a spur line from Hsinchu station) to Neiwan.
It’s supposed to be a good area for biking, too.
Expect crowds if you go on a weekend.
Xinzhu has a lovely 17km seaside bike path which should connect with the Miaoli ones now so maybe 30-40km of paths. You can take a bus or taxi or to the harbor where it starts. Bike rentals available.
go into the central mountain range, there are plenty of hot spring resorts to soak away the day at, with beautiful views.
Thanks for these suggestions! Someone else also suggested Lion Rock Mountain which apparently has a tourist shuttle from my hotel, so I will look into that too. Very helpful.
With the time limit you mentioned, I would second the suggestion to consider heading out to Neiwan and wandering around. The “old street” will be crowded on weekends but it’s easy to escape the crowds.
Beware that the Sheraton is not in Hsinchu proper–it’s up in Zhubei. This is not the end of the world but it will take more time to get to some transport connections including, should you head in that direction, the line out to Neiwan.
Enjoy!
Guy
This is one of my favourite haunts with various trails ranging from paved to all day in the woods. It’s not somewhere I would specifically point a tourist to but if you are looking for some quiet time in the outdoors it’s a good choice.
This is one of my favourite haunts with various trails ranging from paved to all day in the woods. It’s not somewhere I would specifically point a tourist to but if you are looking for some quiet time in the outdoors it’s a good choice.[/quote]
+1…I hiked or cycled there almost every week during my 18 months in Hsinchu.
[quote=“afterspivak”]With the time limit you mentioned, I would second the suggestion to consider heading out to Neiwan and wandering around. The “old street” will be crowded on weekends but it’s easy to escape the crowds.
Beware that the Sheraton is not in Hsinchu proper–it’s up in Zhubei. This is not the end of the world but it will take more time to get to some transport connections including, should you head in that direction, the line out to Neiwan.
Enjoy!
Guy[/quote]
If you’re at the Sheraton and want to go to Neiwan it’s not necessary to go into downtown Hsinchu. Take the branch line from Liujia TRA Station (the conventional railway station next to the high-speed station) to Zhuzhong, and change there for the train to Neiwan. There are actually more Zhuzhong-Neiwan services than Hsinchu-Neiwan services.
If you want a bit of culture, try New Tile House (新瓦屋) in Zhubei on Saturday or Sunday, as they usually have live performances of Hakka traditional music and/or dance.
Beipu is good for a day trip: guidegecko.com/taiwan/villag … ,608184910
This is one of my favourite haunts with various trails ranging from paved to all day in the woods. It’s not somewhere I would specifically point a tourist to but if you are looking for some quiet time in the outdoors it’s a good choice.[/quote]
I think it’s Lion’s Head Mountain (not Lion Rock Mountain) and yes, I like the place too. There are direct buses from Hsinchu high-speed railway station in Zhubei.
Without a car would be tough at the Sheraton. If money is of no issue, I suppose you could just use the Taxi. The starting price is 90NT, which is about 3 bucks, and if you go anywhere far, the price racks up pretty quickly.
I would suggest you check out the Taiwan Tourist shuttle (it is a government program):
taiwantrip.com.tw/Besttour/
Any tour around Hsinchu and MiaoLi are probably doable. I have never took it myself, but the bus comes once an hour, which is a decent time at each stop. Find a tour and check out the iteniary.
As for Neiwan, I am suprised it wasn’t on the routes offered by the tourist bus. If you really couldn’t find a way to go directly, you could get to Neiwan by train. Since Sheraton is likely to have shuttles to the High Speed Rail station, you can get to the high speed rail station, then goto the “rapid transport” station connected to it (which is just a regular rail station).
There you would take the train towards Hsin Chu city, the make a transfer at Zhu-Zhong station towards Nei-wan.
Thanks for all the tips. In the end figuring out how to get to Lion Head Mountain was too hard (and we really didn’t have enough time) so we tried Neiwan. Hmm. I wouldn’t have called it a place for biking - could not find any bike rental shops or bike paths or anything. Not sure what it was really - - the main street was PACKED full of people and stalls, we enjoyed the street food but that was about it really. The train was SOOOO slow … and only one an hour even though the place was clearly a huge attraction (for some reason that still escapes me). It was “an experience” anyway! This morning we tried the glass museum in Hsinchu city itself, but it was shut; and were underwhelmed by the city gate (now in the middle of a roundabout).
I think we needed more time (unfortunately had commitments that made it hard this trip). But the Sheraton was a nice hotel, the the HSR is a good way to get to the airport … although it would be better if it actually went TO the airport (I find it very odd that it does not, but there you go!).
Well, you didn’t ask about sights or people could have told you museums are closed on Mondays. If you are in town on a weekend the best museum, and one of Taiwan’s best collections, is at Guqifeng about 15 minutes from downtown. Life size jade beds and panels, marble horses, ivory 2m dragon boats, incredible miniature scale trad villages, statues galor, mini version of terra cotta warriors, incredible dragon wood sculptures, and so on.
And try the oceanside bike paths. They do have rentals.
[quote=“Mucha Man”]Well, you didn’t ask about sights or people could have told you museums are closed on Mondays. If you are in town on a weekend the best museum, and one of Taiwan’s best collections, is at Guqifeng about 15 minutes from downtown. Life size jade beds and panels, marble horses, ivory 2m dragon boats, incredible miniature scale trad villages, statues galor, mini version of terra cotta warriors, incredible dragon wood sculptures, and so on.
And try the oceanside bike paths. They do have rentals.[/quote]
I’m under the impression Guqifeng has been closed for a long time. Or perhaps there’s a conspiracy to deny me the treasures within!
[quote=“StevenCrook”][quote=“Muzha Man”]Well, you didn’t ask about sights or people could have told you museums are closed on Mondays. If you are in town on a weekend the best museum, and one of Taiwan’s best collections, is at Guqifeng about 15 minutes from downtown. Life size jade beds and panels, marble horses, ivory 2m dragon boats, incredible miniature scale trad villages, statues galor, mini version of terra cotta warriors, incredible dragon wood sculptures, and so on.
And try the oceanside bike paths. They do have rentals.[/quote]
I’m under the impression Guqifeng has been closed for a long time. Or perhaps there’s a conspiracy to deny me the treasures within![/quote]
I was there two years ago and a Google search shows a foreign blog post from May of this year.
The place is only open weekends I think.