I have driven the route at least 10 times. It’s a beautiful drive with extraordinary views. The drive to Wuling is high mountain and then turns to high plateau when approaching Wuling with a dramatic decline leading down the valley into Yilan. Quite a few hiking trailheads along the way. Saw monkeys a few times after crossing onto highway 8 who were quite shy and didn’t come close to car. They only sit in trees and watch.
Very few places to stop for food or drinks along the way. Stock up on drinks and snacks. Lishan has a few simple roadside restaurants and noodle shops. Lots of fruit stands along the way with a large variety of fruit. Not many hotels, homestays or B&B but there are a few along the way. Wuling has the nicest resort type hotel along the drive.
Under the best of conditions 1) no traffic, 2) no road construction and 3) perfect weather, the total driving time from Chingjing to Taipei 101 is 7 hours via highways 14, 8, 7, 5. Not including stops.
- Chingjing to Lishan, 2 1/2 hours
- Lishan to Wuling, 30 minutes
- Wuling to Yilan, 3 hours
- Yilan to Taipei 101, 1 hour
If deciding to drive for road trip, recommend departing early morning because clouds typically start rolling in around lunch time which begins to limit views. Try to time drive when weather is nice and sunny. Be prepared for scheduled or unscheduled road construction any day and traffic especially on weekends. Try to avoid heavy raining seasons which easily could close roads with mud and rock slides.
