I’ll be doing the Sun Moon Lake swim this year- well, kind of. My friend who is into triathlons signed me up for the swim the day before the actual swim. So it’ll be a group of around 30 or 40 of us doing the swim before the mass crowds show up.
I’ve never been to Sun Moon Lake and would like advice about getting there and staying in the area. We have a car but I would prefer taking the train. The swim will be in early September so I think we should be able to get train tickets. Is there a nearby train station?
And then after arriving, is there a hotel anyone would recommend? I don’t mind paying a bit because it’ll only be for one night and I’ll be with my wife and two kids. Thanks to anyone willing to give some advice.
there is no train that takes you directly to the lake. the best you can do if nothing goes wrong is taking a train to 集集 Ji-ji. If you start from Taichung, there are many different buses which will take you straight to the lake.
Wow, that’s great info! Thank you! I like the high speed train idea. How early can you book for the high speed train? Or is this something I don’t really need to worry about? I travel mostly to Hualien so this is definitely something you need to consider. But I get the impression that maybe that’s not the case with the high speed train.
hey buddy i lived pretty close to sun moon lake when i was a child. I know literally everything about there.
Like what Mucha Man said, taking the shuttle from Taichung HSR station is the best way to get to Sun Moon Lake. It took about 1 and a half hour to get there. If i remember right, it should be the last station (You might wanna check). As to getting around Sun Moon Lake, renting the scooter is the best way. Don’t worry about the license stuffs, most of the people there don’t understand English, just kinda lie to them that your license is valid for scotter as well. It would be a great experience if you do so! But becareful as your taking children Taking a bus would be another option, it comes every hour or half an hour. There are many hostels around sun moon lake and it won’t be expensive. If you wanna go for a fancy one, try The Lalu (nine.com.tw Don’t know if they have an english version, but will give you some ideas. Hope these help you Have a nice trip there !
[quote=“czack810150”]hey buddy i lived pretty close to sun moon lake when I was a child. I know literally everything about there.
Like what Muzha Man said, taking the shuttle from Taichung HSR station is the best way to get to Sun Moon Lake. It took about 1 and a half hour to get there. If i remember right, it should be the last station (You might wanna check). As to getting around Sun Moon Lake, renting the scooter is the best way. Don’t worry about the license stuffs, most of the people there don’t understand English, just kinda lie to them that your license is valid for scotter as well. It would be a great experience if you do so! But becareful as your taking children Taking a bus would be another option, it comes every hour or half an hour. There are many hostels around sun moon lake and it won’t be expensive. If you wanna go for a fancy one, try The Lalu (nine.com.tw Don’t know if they have an english version, but will give you some ideas. Hope these help you Have a nice trip there ![/quote]
Thanks for that! It must have been cool to have spent part of your childhood in that area. The Formosa Aboriginal Culture Village sounds nice. My wife and I are leaning toward taking the full day off before the swim on Saturday and doing something like this.
By the way, you mentioned an hour and a half to get to SML. Is this the total time (high speed rail + bus)? If so, that’s not bad at all. How does that compare with taking the bus the whole way?
Nonono, one and a half hour on the bus. Where are you coming from anyways? If your coming from Taipei, the HSR to Taichung station will take approximately 50 minutes The Formosa Aboriginal culture park is super cool man, it’s also massive, will take you a day if you wanna take most of the rides, visit the aboriginal villages(There’re 9) and watch the shows they perform. Hope ya’ll have a great time there, and don’t hesitate to ask if u hav any questions
Peace
[quote=“czack810150”]Nonono, one and a half hour on the bus. Where are you coming from anyways? If your coming from Taipei, the HSR to Taichung station will take approximately 50 minutes The Formosa Aboriginal culture park is super cool man, it’s also massive, will take you a day if you wanna take most of the rides, visit the aboriginal villages(There’re 9) and watch the shows they perform. Hope ya’ll have a great time there, and don’t hesitate to ask if u hav any questions
Peace[/quote]
Thanks for that. I guess around two and a half hours total sounds okay. One final question (I’m starting to feel guilty about all of them!): If we go with the high speed rail + bus, should we buy the bus tickets in advance, or can we just walk down and buy them there? I wonder considering our two kids (one under two) if maybe the bus the whole way would be better (like how I snuck that question in?).
usually i walk down there without booking a ticket in advance unless it’s holiday. In fact, i really don’t know where to book it online lol but no worries, the bus from Taichung HSR station to Sun Moon Lake comes every half an hour.If you wanna take a bus all the way to SML, i think u still got to transit, somewhere in Puli town i guess. You might wanna check, i’m not sure abt this yet if u can take HSR, why bother taking bus for hours? (Taipei to SML by car is like 4 hours+)
[quote=“marasan”][quote=“czack810150”]Nonono, one and a half hour on the bus. Where are you coming from anyways? If your coming from Taipei, the HSR to Taichung station will take approximately 50 minutes The Formosa Aboriginal culture park is super cool man, it’s also massive, will take you a day if you wanna take most of the rides, visit the aboriginal villages(There’re 9) and watch the shows they perform. Hope ya’ll have a great time there, and don’t hesitate to ask if u hav any questions
Peace[/quote]
Thanks for that. I guess around two and a half hours total sounds okay. One final question (I’m starting to feel guilty about all of them!): If we go with the high speed rail + bus, should we buy the bus tickets in advance, or can we just walk down and buy them there? I wonder considering our two kids (one under two) if maybe the bus the whole way would be better (like how I snuck that question in?).[/quote]
If you take a bus the whole way from Taipei, there should be a toilet on board. Buses between Taichung HSR Station and Sun Moon Lake may not have toilets on board.
Okay, I think that settles it. I actually like the high speed rail. We’ve already booked the hotel so I’ll have my wife ask them about the bus from Taichung HSR station to the Lake. Thanks everyone for your help!
The trip went off without a hitch! We took the high speed rail and bus. Thank you everyone for helping out with this. Really enjoyed the swim in the cool water!
Taking a bus would be another option, it comes every hour or half an hour. There are many hostels around sun moon lake and it won’t be expensive. If you wanna go for a fancy one, try The Lalu (