I’m visiting Taiwan for three weeks in November and my itinerary looks like this:Taiwan 3 days, Alishan area 5 days, Tainan 6 days, Kaohsiung 3 days, Taipei for another 4 daysI’m a horrible planner and this is maybe the proof. I like to focus my trip on food, culture, bars and some hiking.Any tips or stuff I should really see/visit?
https://maps.app.goo.gl/effTDg7QXDiD3xQLAWe will meet here this Saturday 7pm.See everyoneHijacking your thread to let everyone know
>>2911024Honestly fine. But if you get sick of big cities I can recommend places in the countryside
>>2911024>Tainan 6 days, Kaohsiung 3 days,9 days there long time to be honest.
>>2911063Some people hate bringing their luggage on every trip, so they leave it in the hotel and go on daytrips instead. In Taiwan daytrips are very doable.
>>2911063I’ve heard Tainan has the best food there so I was looking forward to try everything it has to offer. What would be better in your opinion? >>2911028I was planning to to a 5 day stretch near Alishan and check out sun and moon lake and do some hiking in the mountains. Which places in the countryside would you suggest?
>>2911071Here's a trip I did with my mom and I thought it was great1 day-> Taipei2 day --> Taipei3 day--> Taipei (day trip to Jiufen area)4 day --> Taipei5 day--> Taipei to SML (south shore) arrive in afternoon (we spent the whole day on south shore and the indigenous museum this day)6 day --> go to north shore and bike around visit temples7 day--> Alishan forest hike8 day --> Entire day hiking in Shizhou area 9 day--> Tainan10 day --> Tainan11 day --> Tainan12 day --> Kaohsiung 13 day --> Kaohsiung14 day--> Train back to Taipei :(I had such a good time. I was doing a 3+ month backpacking trip in Asia and I convinced my mom to come with me to Taiwan at the start it was her first time in Asia with a whole extra week I recommend maybe 1-2 days more in Taipei for day trips Another day or two hiking around Alishan (Shizhou you need just one full day to do the hiking trails there and try lots of tasty tea) maybe go visit that massive buddhist monastery built in the 1970s (I think) that's between Tainan and Kaohsiung but further westOr maybe spend some days in another coastal city or two (taiching or taoyuan)I can give more recs of what to do in those places. we packed a lot in but the pace was pleasent.
Kenting Kenting Kenting, rent a bike, putter around, see some of the most beautiful coast line in the world.Eat as many Taiwanese hotdogs as you can fit in your gullet.
>>2911024Yeah this seems a little frenetic. I'd put less time on Tainan and more on Kaohsiung/Kenting. IDK what there is to do in Alishan, never bothered with it while I was there, maybe just do a day or two there and stay in Taipei more.My favorite restaurant was a hotpot place called "MoMo Paradise" about a block away from 228 Peace Park (NTUH MRT stop). The sukiyaki pot is the one I'd get. It's probably around 650 NT per person nowadays. "Tonkatsu" (with a cloverleaf logo) is also good; when I was there last year they had romanesco on the menu as a side dish.>>2911905I agree that Kenting is the place to go. Lots of good restaurants, easily the best beach in Taiwan. Next best would be Baishawan on the north coast. There's also a cute small one next to the rock arch, "Shimen" (not to be confused with Ximen which is a shopping/foodie/gay district).Oh, Ximen has some good restaurants too.
>>2911024Me >>2912559 again. I almost forgot, waitasec, are you not doing Taroko Gorge??? Why in the fuck not???Just go to the MRT station at the east end of the green line called Songshan (not Songshan Airport, that's not confusing at all, is it) and then get a train to Hualien. GET THE EXPRESS TRAIN don't take the fucking stop-at-every-cow-pasture train or you'll waste a whole day. As soon as you exit the train station there will be cabbies waiting out in front to give tourists the Taroko Gorge tour. A good one will drop you at the start of a trail and let you hike through it and meet you on the other end. Then whenever you're done he can drop you off back at the train station and you can get a train back to Taipei.
>Tainan 6 days, Kaohsiung 3 daysNot only are these two places are close together, but 6 days is too much for Tainan. I love Tainan, but you'll be itching to do daytrips by day 4. The public transit in Tainan isn't too good either. It makes day trips a pain from there. >alishan area 5 daysPossibly an unpopular opinion here, cut Alishan entirely. Maybe if you return to Taiwan go to it, but you can get tastes of hiking elsewhere in Taiwan without dedicating it to this rural area. I mean, are you a hiking fanatic? Probably not.You have 21 days, here's what I would suggest:>Taipei 5 Days>Hsinchu 3 days>Tainan 3 Days>Kaohsiung 6 days>Taipei 4 Days>Why Taipei so many days?It is by far the easiest place to day trip to (Shifen, Houtong, Jiufen, Keelung, Tamsui among others), has places to hike nearby (Yangmingshan, Xiangshan, several others), has the most amount of bars/museums/restaurants/etc in all of Taiwan. This is your first time in Taiwan (possibly your only time). I assume you don't speak any Mandarin. Unless you're some sort of hiking/rural country life fanatic, you will be well served there. If you want Alishan, take a day trip there. Same with Sun Moon Lake. Sun Moon Lake is a tourist trap and I wouldn't recommend staying the night.I am convinced Yilan is a meme perpetrated upon new visitors to Taiwan, whereas Hualien is legit. If that interests you, swap out Hsinchu for it (but realize that it makes the itinerary a pain transit wise).
>>2911024How big are you into hiking?Taipei is actually a great place to stay, because there are so many places within a stone's throw away you can access from there. I strongly encourage you to check out as many of the hiking trails as you can if you're into it. Going for a riverside bike ride on a youbike is also a good way to spend an afternoon.Taiwan in general is fantastic for hiking. If you have the time I'd suggest organising a guided hike on one of the main mountains but it might be a bit of a stretch to organise it and fit it in before you go.If you can ride a motorcycle and don't fear death, getting an international permit and exploring say Nantou, Kenting or Hualien on two wheels would be a lot of fun.As others have said, don't spend 6 days in Tainan. I did everything I wanted to do there in one full day. Kaohsiung isn't bad so 3 days there might be appropriate. I think if you're adventurous enough you could spend more time in Taipei and you'll get most of the things you want out of it. Go hiking, bike riding, go on day trips during the day and check out food and bars in the evening.Also you are there long enough that a trip to an outlying island is feasible though I'd probably recommend them to someone who's staying there long term or on their second trip there. If you can fit it in though I'd highly recommend it. Kinmen, Penghu, Matsu all highly worthwhile if you get a chance (I haven't been to Orchid or Green island but they're smaller and more accessible).
>>2914218I can give you more specific recommendations for Taipei if you like. Outside Taipei, these are my thoughts:>Yilan: hot springs are alright but nothing compared to Japan. I had a fun day trip to Su'ao>Taoyuan: ugly urban sprawl. No real reason to go there.>Hualien: beautiful countryside and coast. Much more laid back. Hot spring resorts in south are pleasant>Hsinchu: Lived for there a while. I like this place but low priority of an international visitor>Nantou: Great place to explore if you have your own wheels. Sun Moon Lake is a tourist trap.>Taichung: I really like Gaomei wetlands but it's very out of the way, not worth stopping for that alone. Bit of an ugly city imo.>Tainan: Has some interesting sights but not a lot going on>Kaohsiung: good city to visit. I really like the Qijin/Sizihwan area>Pingdong/Taidong/Kenting: Haven't been there but would be fun to explore
>>2911071>I’ve heard Tainan has the best food thereReally? I've never heard that. Taipei is where nearly all of the fanciest restaurants are. Maybe Tainan has the best beef noodle soup shop in the entire universe, but it doesn't have RAW, or Addiction Aquatic, or the original Shin Yeh, or Texas Roadhouse.
>>2915555Yay quads!BTW, if you like saltwater aquariums, Kaohsiung sure seemed to have a lot more fish stores than Taipei for some reason. Taipei's always seemed small and limited in comparison.
