Must see places before leaving Taiwan

Travel Taiwan Travel
1

Soon I will be leaving this wonderful place.
What are some must see places?
Places that you should not leave Taiwan without seeing.

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I think it would help to know a bunch of the places you have been to so that we can avoid saying those if you are looking to avoid repeat visits.

Otherwise we’re shooting blindly.

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Good point.
Part of the reason I am asking is because I have basically seen none as of yet.
I’ve been to elephant hill and to the top of Taipei 101 (that’s about it).

Slightly embarrassing, but better to see later than never.

4

One of the places I like to relax in is Dasi’s historic town centre. It has two old streets and a density of coffee shops that would make Tim Hortons in Canada blush.

I was gonna suggest some other stereotypical cafe snobby dense cities as part of my joke, but it turns out Taipei is already on the BBC’s top list of most cafe-dense cities.

:idunno:

Who knew!

Back to Daxi, the DPP has put in major restoration efforts into restoring some of their old vintage Japanese houses and turning them into museums as well. Daxi also features Chiang Kai Shek’s mausoleum deeper into the woods and is a quick, inexpensive ride by taxi.

It makes a fine, relaxed day trip.

Focus Coffee has interesting trinkets, food and drinks/coffee.

The pet cafe has dogs and cats in it.

Take the Tao709 bus from MRT Yongning Station

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Taroko

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:neutral_face::neutral_face::open_mouth:

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Take TRA train #1 and circle the island the slow way. or if your still here in June this:

Also 3 day rail pass $1800.

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8

Alishan, Tainan, Hualien, Taitung are some of my favorite places.

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9

and how long have you been here?

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Where’s that? Is it this place?

Edit: Never mind - I commented before reading the rest of your post (on my phone and didn’t scroll down).

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How long have you been in Taiwan.

I would recommend and road trip down the west coast and up the east coast. Visiting tourist sites along the way.

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Yes.

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I’m just astonished that’s all somebody could see given how easy it is to get around.
In my first year here I saw a tonne of stuff and we didn’t have GPS or Google or easy to use transport back then.

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oops, I didn’t intend to ask you, ha ha, I wanted to ask the one who has only been to two places
 :flushed:

cause I am astonished too

especially someone who is
 curious? :thinking:

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15

Wanli has both paragliding and Yeliou Geopark.

I’m not done. I’m going to make you regret leaving soon. lmao.

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16

How much time do you have? Do you have access to a car?

If you want to do day trips from Taipei, I’d recommend visiting Jiufen, Tamsui, and/or Wulai.

Farther afield, you can’t go wrong with going down to Hualien and visiting Taroko National Park. The city of Tainan is also highly recommended, with great food and lots of historic sites, having been Taiwan’s capital city prior to 1885.

For inspiration on a round-Taiwan adventure trip, check out The Budgeteers’ Taiwan series on YouTube.

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I know you’ve continued to travel a lot, but I think that “first year” point is key for a lot of people. If you travel a lot when you first arrive, you’re going to see a lot - but if you don’t do much in that first year, you’re never going to do it. I did tons in my first 2-3 years, when I was living in Tainan. But I think it’s been at least a few years since I left the greater Taipei area on a trip!

I’d say Taroko Gorge is Taiwan’s premiere attraction. Absolutely world class scenery. I’ve always accessed it by renting a scooter in Hualian - I’ve never tried getting there by public transport.

For towns / traditional stuff, Tainan is worth a couple of days. Not that traveling between the two is the least bit convenient 
 but I’d put those as the top two places to get to. Tainan is barely doable as a HSR day trip from Taipei, although I wouldn’t recommend it that way.

If you’ve got one weekday to do something, Jiufen is nice, but - even moreso than many other places - it’s a lot more appealing midweek than on the weekend. It’s a good mix of “Oo, traditional fancy Asian stuff!” and nice scenery. For that matter, Danshui has a similar appeal (he grudgingly admits about his home).

Thanks for that Daxi stuff @Marco. I had no idea.

@curiousteacher, if you just give us a brief list of interests and dates, you’d probably get a million possible itineraries. The damn forum is full of travel addicts who’ve been mostly stuck close to home for over a year now. Armchair travel planning? Oh yeah. This is the place to ask.

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UBus takes you right to the entrance and then continues down to Hualien’s city centre.

From Nangang Main Station.

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19

Not a fan of Taroko but Nantou is splendid.

I have never seen Alishan but it would be fantastic without the crowds.

Tainan and Chiayi for a taste of old Taiwan
and great food.

Taichung for cafés. Lukang for impressive temples.

If possible and affordable, try Kinmen. Very interesting character.

Lots of cycling routes. Huadong valley is a must. At least take the train down to Taitung, see Chishang and other small towns by the railroad.