I am planning a visit to 陽明山.
Any suggestions how I could go about it?
I don’t have a car and intend to use public transport [bus or taxi]. How should I plan my trip?
I read that there is a hot spring there too. Good to check it out?
Bus 260 from Taipei Main Station.
There are many options for the hot springs, definetively check them out, but the ones in Beitou -on the way- are nicer.
Also I think you can go to Shilin or Jiantan MRT station and then take Red 15 Bus (not positive one that one).
From Shipai MRT you can catch 508 bus which takes you to the top of Hsinyi road. 2 stops before the top, there are some hotspring hotels on the right, and 1-2 have outdoor bathing areas (nekkid, segregated m/f). After reaching the end of the route at the intersection, get off the bus and walk/taxi up the road to the right.
There are some other bus options, mainly small buses-esp near Peitou and Shipai. You can also go from Shilin MRT on large buses. However, these are usually crowded and noisy with old folks, or you have to wait a long time, or they’re slow. The way I mentioned is the easiest and quickest. Still, I hope someone else can give exact details on these other bus options…
EDIT: don’t be afraid to hitch, I average 2-3 minutes getting a lift. People are very willing to help out.
Trying to visualise and plan ahead…
[I am assuming]…Taking the public transport, it will take us to YangMingShan vicinity ie bottom of the mountain. Thereafter, I have to trek my way up to the mountain peak or is there some sort of ferry services. 
Would half a day trip do the job? 
Red No. 5 from Jiantan or Shilin MRT is the way to go. It runs most frequently and takes you to the main entrance. It might take some hunting for the right stop at the MRT stations, maybe ask the station staff; they love to help lost foreigners. Seating is more an issue coming back as there are long queues for these buses.
Note: Yangmingshan is not a mountain…it is a mountain area. The main mountain is Seven Star (qixingshan). Its doable in a half day but its quite a hike in hot weather so you better be fit. You can descend the back side and check out the fumeroles too. Jump on a little shuttle bus to get back to the main park.
Another option from Shipai MRT is the Red 19 (I think( R-19, which goes to Chungshan N Road Section 7. From there, walk straight up to Wenhua Uni, around to Shamao Shan, and Up and over to 7 star Mountain. You can do the whole in about 2 hours if fit…
I wouldn’t worry about the crowd or the long lines of people at the bus stop if you’re going on a weekday.
In summer hols you can still get queues in the avo when everybody heads down the mountain. But yeah OP wants a real Taiwanese experience so don’t worry about it.
Alternatively get the 230 to Beitou after you finish climbing and enjoy a hot spring.
Exciting!!! I am going to start my ‘adventure’
I have been living in Taipei for about 1.5 years now and there are many places that I wanted to see. So I thought to start with YangMingShan - I think it should be quite accessible.
My other half usually say it is too hot or it is raining or it is too crowded etc etc…I gave up [hahahaha] and decided that I want to do it on my own :discodance:
Thank you all so much for your input!
Since you seem genuine I’m goig to try to develop this thread a little.
There is the 260 bus, but I can’t read Chinese-someone will need to help out:
mtcbus.com.tw/line_detal.php?line=216
There’s this, not sure where it routes thru:
royalbus.com.tw/
capital-bus.com.tw/busline/index.htm
The Small 15 from both Jiantan and Shilin MRT:
capital-bus.com.tw/busline/m … busmap=s15
There’s the Small 16 from Jiantan/Shilin MRT:
capital-bus.com.tw/busline/m … busmap=s16
There’s the Small 17 from Jiantan/Shilin MRT:
capital-bus.com.tw/busline/m … busmap=s17
There’s the Small 18 from Jiantan/Shilin MRT:
capital-bus.com.tw/busline/m … busmap=s18
dnbus.com.tw/line.htm
There’s this #230 which seems perfect, but someone with better Chinese needs to edit my post (mods, please, to give MRT starting points…)
dnbus.com.tw/line/230%E8%B7% … 9C%96.html
Also the 535 and small 25 are perfect:
dnbus.com.tw/line/535%E8%B7% … 9C%96.html
dnbus.com.tw/line/%E5%B0%8F2 … 9C%96.html
Also these next 4 are from Peitou: small 6, 7, 8 and 26
dnbus.com.tw/line/%E5%B0%8F6 … 9C%96.html
dnbus.com.tw/line/%E5%B0%8F7 … 9C%96.html
dnbus.com.tw/line/%E5%B0%8F8 … 9C%96.html
dnbus.com.tw/line/%E5%B0%8F9 … 9C%96.html
dnbus.com.tw/line/%E5%B0%8F2 … 9C%96.html
There you go, have a good time.
[quote=“Water Dragon”]Exciting!!! I am going to start my ‘adventure’
I have been living in Taipei for about 1.5 years now and there are many places that I wanted to see. So I thought to start with Yangming Shan - I think it should be quite accessible.
My other half usually say it is too hot or it is raining or it is too crowded etc etc…I gave up [hahahaha] and decided that I want to do it on my own :discodance:
Thank you all so much for your input![/quote]
You’ve been here for 1.5 years and you’ve yet to go to YMS? Madness. 
Kea, I am so touched! This is so helpful! 
I am so happy to find this forum - many beautiful people here! :discodance:
the bear, yeah, I know. Can’t help when you’re in a relationship and the other party is not so adventurous.
I finally gave up and wanted to explore on my own hahaha
Heard so much about YangMingShan and other places - I want to see TAIWAN!!! 
[quote=“Water Dragon”]Kea, I am so touched! This is so helpful! I am so happy to find this forum - many beautiful people here! :discodance:
the bear, yeah, I know. Can’t help when you’re in a relationship and the other party is not so adventurous.
I finally gave up and wanted to explore on my own hahaha
Heard so much about Yangming Shan and other places - I want to see TAIWAN!!! [/quote]
Cool. Bear in mind YMS covers a very large area and can be approached from Beitou, Danshui, Jinshan and Waishuangxi as well. IMHO it is a world class national park when one considers its proximity to the very large, polluted city that is Taipei.
We were up at Grass Mountain Chateau on Yangmingshan the week before last. We took a bus from Shilin MRT Station (Red 5, I think - not 100% sure) to Yangmingshan’s main bus stop, then walked 20-odd minutes to the chateau. We left by taking the Little 8 (which stops rights outside the chateau) to Beitou MRT Station. The chateau is pretty interesting, and the view from the coffeeshop is superb:
guidegecko.com/taiwan/monume … ,608191312
This starts from in front of the Labor Insurance Building on Gongyuan Road, and goes up the main road all the way to Jinshan.
That would have been the Little 9–The Little 8 ends at Shipai Station. They both do a loop around the Zhuzihu area.
The view from the chateau looks alluring! I must check it out.
Thank you StevenCrook and Tempo Gain for your kindness too! 
[quote=“Tempo Gain”][quote=“Kea”]
There’s this, not sure where it routes thru:
royalbus.com.tw/
[/quote]
This starts from in front of the Labor Insurance Building on Gongyuan Road, and goes up the main road all the way to Jinshan.
That would have been the Little 9–The Little 8 ends at Shipai Station. They both do a loop around the Zhuzihu area.[/quote]
I stand corrected. You are absolutely right.
its Red 5 bus.
Hi Everyone
I managed to visit YangMingShan National Park. Yes, finally!!!
It was such a cooling and breezy day which makes the visit very comfortable. I took bus260 at Taipei Main Station [near North Entrance] and took me about 45-50mins to reach YangMingShan bus terminal.
I had a great time with the nature, squirrels, monkey, waterfall etc and will certainly visit again!
Took some pictures but I don’t seems to be able to post them here to share 
Thank you all for the guidance & advice