Kryssa

Husband and I will be in Taiwan for 2-3 weeks next month. First week is confirmed as staying in Taipei, but day trips are possible. Next week or two is flexible. We love food, history, culture, and meeting locals and other travelers. We aren't much into hiking/biking/ect.

Any suggestions? Looking for places to stay, things to see/do, and food to eat!

Taiwaned

Go to the Asia forum, there is lots there about Taiwan.

Most do not consider Taiwan to be part of China.

Kryssa

Thanks - sorry I certainly did not mean to overstep

hkskyline

With high speed trains, many day trips further down the coast are possible. Here are some with links to my photo galleries :

Taichung (1 hour) - http://www.globalphotos.org/taichung.htm
Tainan - (under 1.5 hours) - http://www.globalphotos.org/tainan.htm
Keelung & Yeliu (bus) - http://www.globalphotos.org/keelung.htm

YuropFlyer

Most certainly 90%++ of all Chinese as well as most countries in the world do consider the Republic of China to be a part of China. Including the Republic of China itself..

Since this forum isn't labelled "P.R. of China", and only Hong Kong and Macao got their own subforum, I'd say that both the PRC as well as the ROC should be discussed here.

Apart from that, I'd strongly advise against getting a rental car (just like in the PRC as well ) in Taiwan, and taking their train network. You can get pretty much everywhere interesting by it, and the cities have a very good public transport themselves as well, so unless you've heavy luggage, getting around is easy. I'd "set up camp" in a few places and then travel locally for day trips.

lin821

+1

What Taiwaned said.

If you know FT as well as I do, China Forum is about Destination China, aka PRC. Everything Taiwan-related belongs to Asia Forum on FT. As for politics, there's always OMNI/PR.

thegrailer

So moving away from politics

Taroko Gorge is a must. Hiking and hiking and more hiking. One suggestion, stay HERE on the eastern edge of the park, rent a scooter, drive to the trail head, and start hiking. Wash, rinse and repeat. Fun, fun, and more fun. Owner will pick you up at the train station and drive you back to town to get scooters (across the bridge and 5ish min away). The owner will also take you on a bike tour is you want - I passed that up for the scooter/hiking.

Yilan City was neat too - also on the east coast north of Taroko Gorge. A bit further north are the hot springs. More good stuff.

TPE is a fun city. Lots of good food. Beef noodle - YUMMY. Eat lots. Taipei 101 was great too.

Have fun

Cheers -

Antonio8069

I am contemplating a visit to Taiwan for the Chinese New Year 2018. Is this worth visiting? Also, where to stay (my PF - Starwood - does not appear to have a property?)

east_west

Taipei will be quiet during CNY (well aside from the firecrackers) and many restaurants and stores will close. Many people leave the city to visit family in other parts of the island. Right before the holiday there is certainly a lot of hustle and bustle, and the period when services close only lasts a couple of days. You may want to try Beitou, as Taipei will likely be somewhat cool in February (50F-70F) and nice for the hot springs. There are also many hiking trails in the hills around the city that are wonderful this time of year with spectacular views of the city and temples.

You will have no problem finding Starwood properties, Taipei has a W, Le Meridien, Westin, Sheraton. I'd pass on the Sheraton, but the W and Meridien are quite nice and in a new part of town near Taipei 101. Westin is nice and closer to more traditional areas. The new Marriott is very nice, albeit a little far from most things. The Hyatt is great although older, also near 101, but more crowded.

ProleOnParole

The north will be emptier than any other time of the year as lots of people travel to the south for the holiday. Many places will be closed, and the weather will be unpleasant (cold and very humid, possibly incessant rain).

In the south, the weather should be nice although it will also be very crowded everywhere (and Taiwan is already quite crowded in the first place). Hotels may charge up to 2-4 times the regular rates and all the better places to stay might be fully booked.

Travel between the north and south will be difficult. More precisely, expect an endless traffic jam on all freeways and other major roads, particularly at the beginning and towards the end of the holiday. Trains should run fine if you have your tickets booked in advance, although if there's any small problem, delays might stack up.

It depends where you would be coming from but generally I'd say it's not worth it. However, it might be a great time to visit the south immediately after the holidays have ended. The weather in the north does not improve until about April.

east_west

Another advantage to arriving after the New Year holiday is that the visit could coincide with Lantern Festival. This is IMHO a more interesting cultural event for visitors, as there seem to be far more public facing activities, with the lantern displays, light shows, etc.

Coming from the northeast USA, I find Taiwan reasonable in this season (and really nice for the hot springs). But in a bad stretch it could be rainy for a week, although generally more drizzly than a downpours. The winter climate is similar to Orlando/Tampa.

Skyman65

...and for a reeeeaaaalllllyyy unique Lantern Festival experience, come down to Yanshui (just north of Tainan) to experience the "beehive fireworks". It is truly not for the faint of heart. It takes some preparation, as you need to be dressed in the proper attire (including a full-face motorcycle helmet, and non-flammable clothes) to protect yourself while being bombarded with thousands of rockets fired horizontally directly into the crowd. It is an other-worldly experience.

Google it.

frobozzelectric

taipei food is really good, and very reasonably priced.


also taipei people are very nice.

ProleOnParole

The 2018 date for the Pingxi Lantern Festival (Ping-hsi, Pingsi) is March 2. This is where lanterns are released into the air. Pingxi is best reached on a branch-line train from Ruifang but for this occasion there are special buses from the Taipei Zoo area (the southern end of the brown MRT line). More about it here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/asia/...-festival.html

There is also the Taiwan Lantern Festival, which is more like an exhibition with different performances every day. It is held at a different location each year, in 2018 it will be in Jiayi (Chia-yi), next to the high-speed rail station, from February 16 until March 11.

Taipei also has its own Lantern Festival (of the exhibition kind). It seems the dates are yet to be announced but it's probably going to be from February 24 (Saturday) to March 4 (Sunday). The location is always somewhere within the city and easy to get to on the MRT.

The 2018 date for Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival (Yanshuei) is also March 2. The Wu Miao temple where it is held can be reached by bus from Xinying train station. Note that the place is actually closer to Jiayi than Tainan, and there is a bus from the Jiayi high-speed rail station to Xinying.

If you happen to be in Taiwan during the Chinese New Year it's definitely worth it to consider attending some of these events.

yosithezet

How is Taipei around May 1? Considering Taipei that weekend, leaving on May 1.