4D3N DIY TRAVEL GUIDE TO TAIWAN
Taiwan Travel Guide
Day 1: Taipei City Tourist Spots
Day 2: Taipei Expo Park, Yangmingshan, Beitou & More!
– Yangmingshan Travel Guide
– Beitou Travel Guide
Day 3: Keelung City, Yehliu Geopark, Shifen Old Street, Jiufen, Jinguashi and more!
Day 4: Taichung City, Taiwan
Taichung (臺中 or 台中; Tái-zhōng) is located in the west-central part of Taiwan. With a population of around 2.5 million, it is the 3rd biggest city and has grown rapidly in recent years on the back of diverse manufacturing.
Like some other areas, Taichung has the ever popular night markets (ChungHwa, Feng-Chia, and Chung-Shiao) with the requisite food and drinks diversity, but more uniquely it is the home of a world-class science museum and has some great hiking trails into the hills. Among the activities to catch when visiting Taichung: the world-class science museum and hiking in the nearby hills.
Pre-booked Tours
It’s better to plan your travel so you don’t have to waste hours in thinking if a place to go when you are there. Instead, write it down on a paper/notebook or type it down on your phone. Plus book your activities online beforehand as its way cheaper than buying it when you get there.
Where to get cheaper tours?Based on our personal experiences, Klook Are a great company for discounted tours for your trip to Taiwan and we took the following from KLOOK.
book Formosan Aboriginal Culture tour
book A Day at Sun Moon Lake Tour
Book Gaomei Wetland & Rainbow Village Tour
How to Get there:
By Bus
Bus is the most convenient and cost-effective option and leaves from Taipei Train Station. Take the Tong-Lien Bus (統聯客運), Kuo-Kuang Bus (國光客運). Tickets cost from NT$100-350, depending on what day of the week you travel on. Buses depart several times an hour from the early morning through evenings and the entire ride is about three hours long.
By Train
- High Speed Rail (HSR)
All Taiwan High-Speed Rail (HSR) trains between Taipei and Kaohsiung stop at Taichung. The High-Speed Rail station is located on the outskirts of Taichung. You can take a regular train between the two stations in about six minutes, in addition, a free bus is available to take HSR passengers downtown, to the universities, etc. - Mountain Line
In addition, Taichung is a major stop along the Western Line with all north and southbound trains a making a stop here. Express trains (ZiQiang) are NT$375 from Taipei and NT$470 from Kaohsiung. Midrange ticket prices (Jukuang class) typically run around NT$289 from Taipei or NT$363 from Kaohsiung. The entire trip takes about three hours from both Taipei and Kaohsiung. The Western Line station is located in central Taichung.
By Car
You can rent a small car for about 2200 NT per day.
Getting around Taichung
We only had a day in Taichung and since some of the places in my itinerary were somewhat hard to get to without a car, we tried our best to reach these destinations the DIY (Do-it-yourself) way. Taichung is a big province and tourist spots are far from each other. You have an option to take the High-Speed Rail (HSR) or via Mountain line. For those of you with a bit more cash, you can hire a cab that will take around Taichung. In our case, we choose Youbike to tour around the city and took an Uber to get to the more remote places.
Where to stay in Taichung City
ZhongShe Flower Market is probably the most Instagram-worthy destination you’ll visit in Taichung, and that’s saying a lot (just check out the “Rainbow Village” to see what we mean!) Field after field of every kind of flower – it’s breathtaking and will keep you camera buffs super busy and if the flowers are not enough there are some great settings like gazebos, mini bridges and like some surreal film set for a Beatles movie, a white piano in a field of lavender – John and Yoko would have loved it!
- Try to visit when it’s not hot unless you’re into sweating!
- If you do go on a hot day, take a hat, umbrella etc., to give yourself some shade.
sheenalovessunsets.com alexisjetsets.com alexisjetsets.com alexisjetsets.com alexisjetsets.com
Address: No. 333, Sec. 5, Sanfeng Road, Houli Dist, Taichung City 421, Taiwan
Opening Hours: 9am to 6pm daily
Contact: 04-2557-6926
Website: http://www.flowerjs.com.tw/
Entrance Fees: Jan-Mar (Tulip season) – 150NTD (adult) / 75NTD (child between 3 to 12 years old, and elderly aged 65 and above) Apr-Dec – 120NTD (adult) / 60NTD (child between 3 to 12 years old, and elderly aged 65 and above)
From Taipei, Take West Line trains or Mountain Line Trains then get off at Tai’an Station then walk around 20mins to reach the place. Houli Station is an option but you need to take a cab going to Zhongshe Flower Market.
Option 2:
| By Car | From the South on National Highway No. 1, take Houli Interchange, then travel along Houke Road Sec. 3, make a left turn at Sanfung Road, and continue for approximately 2km. From the North on National Highway No. 1, take Sanyi interchange, then travel towards Houli for approximately 7km. |
| By Bus | Visitors from Taipei can take Fengyuan Bus and get off at Zhong She Tourist Flower Market. |
| By Train | Take the West line trains to Houli Station, then take a taxi. You can also take the West line trains to Tai’an Station, and walk around 20 minutes. |
Miyahara
Miyahara Eye Hospital sounds like it’s a branch of London’s famous Moorfields Eye Hospital but in reality is an exquisite emporium of frozen dairy products, or to you me, ice cream heaven! It gets its name from the fact that when it was originally built by the Japanese, it did what it said on the tin, but after they left it fell into disuse until restored into a paradise for kids and adults where you can agonise over which of the 50 or so flavours of ice cream you can manage to taste!
Address: No. 20, Zhongshan Rd, Central District, Taichung City, Taiwan 400
Opening hour: 10:00-22:00
If you’re coming from Zhongshe Flower Market, Take a train from Tai’an Station going to Taichung Station. Outside the station, you can rent Youbike to stroll around Taichung City.
Option 2:
| By Car | From the South on National Highway No. 1, take Houli Interchange, then travel along Houke Road Sec. 3, make a left turn at Sanfung Road, and continue for approximately 2km. From the North on National Highway No. 1, take Sanyi interchange, then travel towards Houli for approximately 7km. |
| By Train: | Take train to Taichung Train Station (台中車站) -> Zhongshan Road (中山路) -> The Miyahara Eye Hospital (宮原眼科) |
Taichung Park
Taichung’s Rainbow Village (彩虹眷村) is not what you might suspect from its name, but is an incredible, one-of-a-kind, art display. Its 3-5 houses are eclectic and vibrant examples of eccentric and unusual designs. It’s a must for lovers of contemporary art and lucky to have survived e-commercial pressures of developers who had earmarked the area for upscale housing! Vibrant, colorful art painted on the remaining street & homes of a former veterans’ village.
Note: The place is quite small and you should plan for 30 mins or so. To avoid crowds, go on a weekday morning. Basically, it’s still a residential area, so don’t expect to find public toilets or foods here.
Address: 408, Taiwan, Taichung City, Nantun District, 春安路56巷
Opening Hours: Open 24 hours
Phone: +886 920 162 888
How to get there?
Option 1: Option 2:
This attraction is located in Nantun District, quite far from Taichung city center. Except for the village itself, there is nothing of interest in this area. The Chinese name is Caihongjuan Village (彩虹眷村).
| TAICHUNG THSR STATION TO RAINBOW VILLAGE | |
| By Taxi: | About 160-200NTD. |
| By Bus: | Bus #26-70-99, direction Lingtung University. Stop Nantun Tongan House (南屯同安厝)(it should be the 10th stop from the THSR station). Then walk about 240m along Lane 19, Zhongyong Rd. Bus #655 will connect Rainbow Village with XinWuri Rail Station (adjacent to Taichung THSR Station) and Gaomei Wetlands, but only on weekends, public holidays, summer and winter school vacations. |
| TAICHUNG MAIN RAILWAY STATION TO RAINBOW VILLAGE | |
| By Taxi: | The ride will cost 260-300NTD. |
| By Bus: | Bus #27-29-30-40, direction Lingtung University. Stop Lingtung University (嶺東科技大學(嶺東路)). Then walk about 400m to the south along Lingtung Rd. (see photo below). You will see the village on the right. Also, bus #56 and #89, that start their route at the north side of Lingtung University (Yongchun Road), can be ridden to reach the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts in the city center. |
Address: Gaomei Wetland, Qingshui Dist., Taichung City
Opening Time: The boardwalk is closed at high tides.
How to get there:
From April 8th, 2017, bus #655 will link Taichung THSR Station (Xinwuri Station), Rainbow Village, Gaomei Wetlands Visitor Center and Taichung harbor Fishing Port. But only on weekends, public holidays, summer and winter school vacations (so, roughly, from mid-June to mid-September, from mid-Jan to the end of February).
So many tourists prefer to rent a taxi. A taxi ride from the High-Speed Railway will cost about 800NTD, from Qingshui Railway Station about 250NTD.
| TAICHUNG THSR STATION TO RAINBOW VILLAGE | |
| By Bus: | On weekends and public holidays. Bus #655 runs every 1.0-1.5 hours, it stops at Xinwuri Station (attached to Taichung High Speed Railway Station), Rainbow Village, Gaomei Visitor Center (about to be opened – 15 minutes walk from the boardwalk) and Taichung Fishing Port. Or, during the week, catch bus #93 to DaJia. Alight at QingShui Main Stop (清水站). Buses are frequent, every 20-30 minutes, but the ride takes 1.5 hours.
Then, from the same stop, take GeYa bus #178 or #179 to GaoMei Wetlands (高美濕地). It takes about 30 minutes to reach GaoMei but, as you can see, there are only 5-7 rides every day. |
| By Train & Bus: | Walk from the High Speed Railway Station to Xinwuri TRA Station. Follow the signs, it takes 5-10 minutes. From there you can take a local train to QingShui. Take a ride on GeYa bus #178 or #179. The bus stop is just outside the station (清水火車站). |
| TAICHUNG MAIN RAILWAY STATION TO RAINBOW VILLAGE | |
| By Bus: | Catch bus #305 or #306 (they follow in part different routes). Stop at QingShui Station (清水站). Depending on the time, you can hope to catch one of them every 15 minutes, but the ride takes about 1.5 hours. These bus routes follow Taiwan Boulevard on the dedicated bus lane. From Qingshui, take GeYa bus #178 or #179 to GaoMei Wetlands (高美濕地). Read above for details. |
| By Train & Bus: | Take a local train to QingShui. GeYa bus #178 or #179. The bus stop is just outside QingShui Railway Station (清水火車站). |
Feng Chia Night Market
Address: Surrounds the Feng Chia University of , Xitun Dist., Taichung City
Opening Hours: 12pm- 2am
Princess Annie’s Garden Restaurant
Address: No.223 Zhongxing Street, Xinshe District, Taichung City
Contact Number: 04-2593 1567
Opening Hours: Daily / 9am – 8pm
Rollin Farm (Ruo Yin Nong Chang)
Address: No 1 XueShan Road, Heping District, Taichung City
Contact Number: 04 2597 1218
XinShe Castle
jenitadarmento.wordpress.com jenitadarmento.wordpress.com jenitadarmento.wordpress.com
European-style castle with picturesque grounds featuring a koi-filled pond & waterfall, plus dining.
Address: 426, Taiwan, Taichung City, Xinshe District, 協中街65號
Opening Hours: 9AM–6PM
Carton King
Address: 2 Second Alley, Tungshan Road, Beitun district, Taichung 406, Taiwan
sheenalovessunsets.com Travganic.com
Whimsical mountainside retreat offering verdant trails, lavender fields, a restaurant & gift shop.
Address: 426, Taiwan, Taichung City, Xinshe District, 中興街20號
Places of interest near Taichung:
Lugang: temples, ancient Chinese culture
Changhua: gateway to Baguashan, a nice Confucius Temple
Baguashan: A giant Buddha sculpture (22m-high), temple
Sun Moon Lake: Taiwan’s biggest lake
Dakeng: Hiking trails
Sanyi: Wood sculpting, tea, countryside, Hakka food
| DAY 4 ITINERARY – Taichung City | |
| 6:00 AM | MRT Songshan Station |
| Zhongshe Flower Farm | |
| Miyahara | |
| Taichung Park | |
| Taichung Technology Museum | |
| Rainbow Village | |
| End of Tour | Feng Chia Night Market |
| DAY 4 ITINERARY – Taichung City | ||
| SOLO | 2 PAX | |
| Nanjing Sanmin to Songshan | 16 | 32 |
| Songshang TRA to Taichung | 332 | 664 |
| Ovaltine | 15 | 30 |
| Bread | 70 | 140 |
| Lunch | 98 | 196 |
| Ubike around Taichung City | 35 | 70 |
| Uber Rainbow Village (For 3 = 254NTD) | 84.67 | 169.34 |
| Uber Rainbow Village to Taichung Station (276 NTD) | 92 | 184 |
| Taichung to Taipei Main Station | 217 | 434 |
| Ubike to Hotel | 25 | 50 |
| Dinner | 180 | 360 |
| Snacks | 93 | 186 |
| Total | NT$1,257.7 | NT$2,515 |
