Taiwan day trips
 

Hi, will be in Taipei for a week in mid November, and would like to explore the country a bit further afield.

Any recommendations for day trips from Taipei?

Thanks,

RRZ

Ha, I'm going to be in Taipei around the same time. Only for a few days though.

For day trips, I would recommend:

- Taroko National Park. Can be accessed by bus, private car, or the Taroko Express train from TRA. The Taroko Gorge is the main attraction in the park, and its super pretty.
- Tainan. Tainan was the capital of Taiwan for over 200 years. It has tons of history, temples, and religious sites to see. Just a note though, Tainan doesn't have anywhere close to the public transit Taipei has.
- Yushan National Park. Has Yushan Mountain, the highest peak in Taiwan,
- Taitung. Its a beach city on the southeast coast. Kinda hard to get to though.

EDIT: Disregard these last two suggestions. Definitely not feasible for a "day trip."

The hot springs. You can also go to one of the seaside fishing villages north of Taipei for fish and seafood.

There's a quite a bit do to around town in a week. How do you plan to get around for these day trips?

Would prefer public transit or a guided tour

Tamsui - end station on the red metro line so super easy to get there. You can easily spend an entire day in Tamsui - use Youbike to get around. Best avoided on weekends where it can get really touristy/crowded. Easily combined with Bali on the other side of the river from Tamsui.

Beitou/Xinbeitou - hot springs.

As recommended above the coast line north of Taipei is pretty neat as well with several interesting places/spots.

Those places suggested above (Taroko, Tainan and Taitung) are definitely great places to visit but not for day trips from Taipei. Too far! You could do Tainan in 1 day with the HSR train from Taipei - but if going there you should spend a night or two.

Taroko/Hualien is an easy day trip from Taipei, and a great place to visit if you like nature. You just need to leave Taipei on a morning train.

more Taiwan questions
 

I am piggy-backing on this query with my own questions for a one-week stay?
- any recommended day trips by bicycle?
- I see its possible to take a ferry to the mainland. Is this a day trip?

Take the MRT up to Tamsui, grab a youbike and bike along the coast. Not really a day trip, but you could spend an afternoon doing this.

Ferry to mainland China? Not a good idea right now, regardless of the length of trip.

Pretty sure there is a ferry to the mainland from one of the islands that Taiwan controls. It's basically right off the coast of the mainland. I saw a story about the people who live there shortly before the election. I think making knives out of old munition shells is on of the main local crafts. Used to get a lot of mainland visitors, but not so much these days. I can't recall the name of the island though off the top of my head.

Kinmen

Why would you do that? You can easily spend a week in Taipei/Taiwan. Plenty of things to do so no reason to visit mainland China also.

The easiest bike ride is probably the Riverside ride which goes from downtown Taipei near Shilin to Tamshui. It is pretty flat and follows two rivers. There is a nice temple on the way for a break and then explore Tamshui at the end. https://www.mytaiwantour.com/product...6-walking-tour There are rides for more experienced riders too. I like riding up on the northeast coast. https://michaelturton.blogspot.com/2...-ne-coast.html Great views but it can get crowded.