I’m planning a 3 days / 2 nights trip to Taiwan’s North-East coast late this month (September’ 05). This is my first long scooter touring trip in Taiwan and I have a few questions. Hopefully some of the most guys in this forum can give me some suggestions:
Day 1 [Taipei ~ Taroko Gorge] :help:
I’ll use the airbus bus service to Hualien and stop at either ShinCheng or Ching Shuei. I believe you can take your scooter with you on the bus, so I’ll bring mine along and ride my way up from there to Taipei.
Upon arrival I’ll head towards Taroko and will tour the park using route 8. I’ll spend the first night at the park or surrounding areas.
Day 2 [Taroko ~ Ilan]
Here I have two itinerary options:
Option 1 ~ Route 8 >> Route 7 >> Ilan
I’m not sure about the road conditions on route 7 considering the recent typhoons and how long will take me to reach Ilan.
Is there any place that you guys recommend to stay overnight along the way?
Option 2 ~ Route 9 >> Suao >> Ilan
I didn’t read any good thing about route 9’s conditions, but probably this option will be easier and faster to ride. I might be able to ride further north that same day.
Day 3 [Ilan ~ JioFen ~ Taipei]
I want to ride route no. 2 along the north-east coast (i believe the scenery is great) and stop along some of the beaches. Then head towards Jiofen for lunch and then to Taipei.
I am not sure what route to take from JioFen to Taipei, or whether it’s a better idea to go back to route no. 2 to Keelong and then Taipei. If so, what route do I take from Keelong to Taipei?
I’ll appreciate any of your comments and replies to my questions.
I’m planning this trip for my friend who is coming to visit me from Spain. So far it’s only the two of us so, If any of you guys want to join in, it’ll be great to have some company.
The road conditions from Hualian to Su’ao are fine. I would definitely avoid Route 9 from Su’ao to Toucheng if at all possible as it has a lot of construction. But if you’re looking for some place to overnight, there are plenty of hotels along Route 9. Best bet would be to overnight in Su’ao or Luodong, then take side roads over to Route 2, which is much more pleasant (and if anything quicker) than the 9.
Why use a bus at all? Why not just ride down from Taipei to Taroko on your scooter? I can do Taipei to Taroko in roughly 11 hours. So Taroko should be about half that time on a scooter. The east coast roads are beautiful…you should have fun riding them both ways.
The road from Yilan to Su’ao is nothing special. But from Su’ao to Hualian is spectacular. It can be demanding riding though, due to traffic and road conditions.[quote=“alidarbac”]The road conditions from Hualian to Su’ao are fine.[/quote]Are they fine at the moment? Both times I’ve been along that route there were sections that had been really chewed up by the gravel trucks. Do-able but not great.
I’ve been on the Suao gong lou in the last 3 weeks…The road is in great shape.
You also asked about doing the 8 to the 7 and then coming back down to Ilan…It’s a hell of a long ride, but beautiful.
I wouldn’t recommend the 9 through Ilan or Bei yi for that matter…It’s full of pyscho truck drivers and many people in a hurry. Might I suggest taking the Bing-hai road (highway 2) up to Fulong and then heading back to Taipei on the 102/106. There are a couple of threads on the route including directions.
