Dears,
after staying in Taipei for some days, I would like to visit some places in the island. Because I am young (67) but not very young, I thought to stay in a little town in the middle of the island, and from there make day trips to the various places to visit.
Where should I say?
Thank you for your tips
I just learned about dengue! Surely I will not go to the south. Are there mosquitos everywhere in Taiwan? Or only in the south?
I will g to Taiwan in wintertime. Are mosquitos still alive?
I don’t think dengue fever is a big problem in Taiwan, you have certain communities (Kaohsiung?) where you have cases, but it’s not wide spread.
It’s not a bad idea to stay in a central place and then make trips from there. Problem in Taiwan is if you say in central Taiwan, let’s say Taichung, it’s not the prettiest part of the island and getting to the prettier parts (East Coast) is very inconvenient from there. I probably would stay a few days in the Taipei area, a few days in the Hualien and/or Taitung area, and a few days in the Tainan area. You can make shorter trips to interesting places from there by public transport or with your own ride.
Yeah, don’t worry about dengue fever. There are of course mosquitos in Taiwan but you don’t want to be that kind of tourist that freaks out every time you see one. Absolutely nothing to worry about.
Agreed with hannes’ suggestion of staying in a couple of different places. There are plenty of places to see while you’re here, it’s just getting to them all from a central home base might be troublesome.
I’d invest in mosquito repellent before visiting Taiwan. While dengue itself might not be an issue, I’ve seen people who travel abroad react more severely to local diseases. Some mosquito bites can cause allergic reactions too. It’s best to be safe.
good advice. They don’t sell mosquito repellent here. Also, toilet paper is hard to find too, which is a pity, because down south you often see people on the side of the streets with diarrhea from dengue fever, and many times they don’t have toilet paper
OP, in case it’s not obvious to you, BlownWideOpen is joking. They do sell mosquito repellent here. Mind you, I know sunscreen here is a lot more expensive than it is in North America - perhaps it’s the same deal with mosquito repellent.
Listen to what hannes has said. Taichung seems like an obvious “central” place, but you can’t easily get to the east coast from there (it may look close on a map, but there are really really really big mountains in the way!), and I’m not sure if there are many places that are an easy day trip from Taichung. (Lugang?) Taipei’s definitely a good base, because there’s plenty to do that’s close by Taipei, and Tainan’s worth a few days … but I’m not sure if there’s anywhere else on the west coast that would serve as a base.
Dear young Telerobi,
there are several nice place to stay in the center as well as in the south…
Taichung - already been said - is not a nice city but it is in a good location and the weather is amazing. From Taichung you can easily reach places such as Sun Moon lake or Guguan Hotspring or Dakeng as well as Lugang or Nantou or Puli. High speed train will bring you in about an hour in Taipei or down to the South in Kaohsiung… So it’'s a good starting point for your day trips. You can easily reach Penghu island in 30 minutes and spend the week end there.
Said that - Taichung is not a little town but it offers good connections and transportation ( except for Taroko Gorge !).
Let me know if you need any suggestion from here. I work in a Travel agency and live in Taichung!
Thank you all for useful informations!
For Annalisa a private message