Asia - Taiwan + winter + young couple

Greetings fellow Flyertalkers.

My SO and I (late 20s) are headed to Taiwan for four days (i.e. five nights) in February. We'll be attending a friend's wedding in Taipei on day 1 but will have three full days to ourselves after that.

I've been around China but haven't been to Taiwan yet. SO has done the touristy things in Taipei already (101, night market, etc) but hasn't seen other parts of Taiwan. Our thinking is that we'll probably do the city very quickly and then move on to another part of the island.

Which destinations would you recommend for us? Options off the beaten track are welcome -- we both read and write characters and I can manage some basic Mandarin.

-Hot springs? especially if it's rainy, as is not unlikely.
-Mountain climbing/hikes? if it's not raining. Could just be around Yangmingshan (ie day trip while based in Taipei), or out of Hualian via Taroko gorge.
-Tainan. By far the most pleasant-touristy of the cities.
-Presumably SO has 'done' the National Palace Museum, but they do have new or revolving exhibits, too.
-If late February and the weather is OK, also the islands via ferry from Taidong (which you can fly to out of Taipei). But I wouldn't go if it's still winter.

Thanks. Do you know of any hot springs in TW which have private baths? (They aren't hard to find in Japan but I have no clue how to track them down in Taiwan.)

Almost all the hot spring developments and hot spring hotels have rooms for small groups (couples) with large tubs.

What they don't have, are outdoor facilities with equipment (massage showers, bubble beds, etc.) for private use. Outdoors hot spring developments are either single-sex segregated, or else for families (wearing bathing suits).

There are free hot springs that come bubbling out of rivers in a few places (eg., just up from Tianxiang, west of Taroko gorge, and just down river from Wulai, south of Taipei) (people wear suits of course).

For some ideas, see: http://hotspring.network.com.tw/.

I've really enjoyed travelling around Alishan (阿里山) and Tai Ping Shan (太平山). Really enjoyed them both, lots of walks and nice clean air. Both quite chilly so take a warm jacket. Went to Alishan in summer and was still cold at night and was at Tai Ping Shan last month and was quite damp until we got above the clouds.

Didn't goto any hot springs around Alishan but there are some at the base of Tai Ping Shan that had good sized couples areas (I think we had what they called a family room).

Good B&B style accomodation near the base of Tai Ping Shan at a tea plantation. Can't remember it's name but will post it when I do as it was good value, modern and clean

Taroko Gorge via high speed train is awesome. Arrange for car upon arrival for tour...my wife and two sons (20+++yrs) have done it twice in past 3 yrs. And some 30 yrs ago, my wife/I used to visit often.

PM if you want more details; my wife just happens to be in Taipei visiting family for next few weeks....she can dig up hotel, car, etc. details.

I've really enjoyed travelling around Alishan (阿里山) and Tai Ping Shan (太平山). Really enjoyed them both, lots of walks and nice clean air. Both quite chilly so take a warm jacket. Went to Alishan in summer and was still cold at night and was at Tai Ping Shan last month and was quite damp until we got above the clouds.

Didn't goto any hot springs around Alishan but there are some at the base of Tai Ping Shan that had good sized couples areas (I think we had what they called a family room).

Good B&B style accomodation near the base of Tai Ping Shan at a tea plantation. Can't remember it's name but will post it when I do as it was good value, modern and clean


I second the Alishan suggestion. ^ I was there in April - very relaxing - very beautiful.

I used to go there a lot when I was a kid...hadn't been back in 25+ years. Good to see that they've improved the roads and bridges quite a bit. Trails are also much better marked. And man I love the tasty mountain cabbage! :)

The name of the hotel in the tea plantation I mentioned was 櫻悅. Don't think it had an english name but could be wrong lol

Cool. Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone!

I don't know how many days you are going to visit Taipei. If your plan is to stay in Taipei most of time. There are Hot Spring in Bei Tou (北投). You can take subway to there I believe. This is older are of hot spring. If you like eat or shop, you can visit some of night markets for example Shihlin (士林夜市) or Tonghwa Street (通化街夜市). Or you can take subway to visit the Taipei City Zoo. They just got two new Pandas. You have been to Taipei 101, there lots of shops around the Taipei 101. Or you can go to Chung Shaw East Road Sec. 4 (忠孝東路四段). I love breakfast in Taipei. If you like to try something new, this may not be a bad idea. There are some department stores or shops. These are my few suggestions. Of course, there are whole of more you can do in Taipei. I just visit Taipei in Dec last year. I am from Taipei original.

I second the Alishan suggestion. ^ I was there in April - very relaxing - very beautiful.
I loved Alishan when I went these in August, when the ~10 C temperatures were positively refreshing after the sweltering coast, but that means it's going to be really, really cold in January. (Average Jan temp -1 C, coldest on record -18, says Google.) No hot springs either, although there are plenty of hot pot restaurants...

You have been given some good suggstions so far and what you do really depends on what you like. If you like hiking, Yangminshan is close and accessable. Alishan will be a bit more work to get to.

For hot springs Wulai is near enough to Taipei and has what you want. I will see if I can find the name of the hotspings I like there (it is a pink building but it may be segregated) imho, Wulai has a nicer atmosphere than Beitou but, as was said, Beitou can be reached by the red line on the MRT. You can go into the town in the day and walk along he river and go up the cable car to the hotel (forget the name) and hike around up there then go back and find a hotsprings overlooking the whole valley.

Taroko/Hualien are not to be missed but typically will take an overnight although it can be a long day trip. Whether you stay at the hotal at the top of the gorge or at a hotel in town is up to you, but Haulien is much different from Taipei. Cars actually stop and let you cross the road.

In northern Taiwan, I think Yeliu and Chiufen for scenery and a different taste are worth a visit. Chiufen is a wood working city built into the side of a hill and you get all three Taiwanese national pastimes in at once - hiking, shopping, and eating along with some unique scenery at Yeliu on the coast. You can check out Keelung too for some seafood.

and you have probably seen this, but http://eng.taiwan.net.tw/lan/Cht/ManagerWord/index_new.asp