[quote=“amandaucsc”]Hi all,
I have a weird break that falls in the middle of March (Mar 14-24 or so) and am looking for stuff I can get to around Taiwan that is outdoors, like hiking, swimming, biking, for which I will not need to have a car in order to get to–e.g. the train and bus will have to do. I was briefly in Jia Le Shuei and loved it, but have no idea if it is possible to get there without a car or scooter.
NOTE! I do NOT have an international driver’s license and have been told it is not possible to rent a scooter to get any of these places. If anyone knows of a place that would rent to me based on a passport id and a US driver’s license, and an ARC if they want that too, then please tell me. I would love to be able to go to Hualian and Taroko and especially some day Kending but cannot find an easy way to get around there yet… sigh…
Thanks! 
~Amanda[/quote]
I grew up on Taiwan and I didnt have a car until I was 30. So definitely you can get all around Taiwan and do stuff without having a car. YOu can take public transport all over !!
You could do a round the island trip kinda thing. Take the train or plane to Hualien. And local bus to Taroko and hike the 19 best kilometers of it right there, or take the bus to Tienshiang.
From Hualien to Taitung you could take a train as well. Taitung to Fengshan you can take a train as well. Then you are in the Kenting area and there are local buses you can catch to the lighthouse . Maybe a scooter rental will let you rent one, Im not sure on that one. From the Kenting area, plenty of buses to Kaohsiung. And of course from Kaohsiung back up to taipei, you can take the regular train , buses, or high speed train or plane.
IN northern taiwan you can take the train to TaoYuan or ChungLi and take a local bus to SHI MEN DAM. Thats worth a one day trip. Its a pretty dam with a nice reservoir on top where you can get on a one hour boat ride for not much money. Well worth it.
And from Taichung you can take a bus to SUNMOONLAKE and hire a rowboat and row across the lake in about an hour. I used to go there and row to the island in the middle of the lake and then onwards to the other side and back. Thats a lot of fun. Places to stay there as well.
From Taichung (itself worth a visit) you can take a bus to KUKUAN and enjoy a hot spring hotel.
Theres one (I forgot the name) that is very nice and you walk across a small suspension bridge to get to it. Not cheap, probably bout 2000nt a nite now I guess.
From Chiayi , you can take the tiny toy like train (alishan railway) up to Alishan. And thats quite scenic. STay overnite in chiayi. Cheap places around.
And you can visit GREEN ISLAND from Taitung OR even ORCHID ISLAND from taitung by barf boat (because everyone seems to barf riding it) or by small plane (very scary they say).
You can fly to Penghu by plane from Taipei sungshan or kaohsiung . But probably very windy and not a whole lot to do in March tho.
From taipei you can take a train or plentiful buses to keelung and from there you could visit a number of places. Ging gwah shih or fulung (you can take the train to fulung too). Or from keelung you can take a bus to YEHLIU and thats a nice day trip. SEe some cool shapes made by nature .
Take the gondola up to MAOKONG.
Take the train or bus to CHIAO SHI in Ilan and take in some hot springs. Take a local train or bus to NAN FAN AO (tAIWANS largest fishing port) and eat some fresh steamed crabs and other seafood?
ok, i will let others chime in here