Did you know Taiwan has the largest number and density of high mountains in the world? While this island may be small in size, it has much to offer!
From beautiful beaches to modern skyscrapers and from colorful street art to delicious cuisine, Taiwan has it all.
This Taiwan itinerary will guide you around the highlights of this green island that used to be called ‘Ilha Formosa' (meaning ‘beautiful island‘ in Portuguese). A fitting name as Taiwan is absolutely gorgeous!
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In the map below you can find our Taiwan itinerary, at the end of the post you can download this map.
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Taiwan is a great destination year-round, however, Spring (March-April) and Autumn (October-November) are the most popular times to visit.
From mid-May until September, monsoon season causes a lot of rain, especially on the East Coast. We visited in May and while we did experience some rain, the weather was good on most days.
However, we did adjust our travel plans because of the (terrible) weather forecast, and instead of traveling the entire length of Taiwan's East Coast (in the pouring rain), we opted to spend more time in Taipei (where it was still sunny).
During Summer (June until August) Taiwan is hot and humid with temperatures rising above 30 degrees Celsius.
Winter is low season in Taiwan, though it usually doesn't get that cold (around 10 degrees).
Which currency is used in Taiwan?The official currency in Taiwan is the New Taiwan dollar (NT$).
Here you can find the current exchange rates, at the time of writing €1 is approximately 34NT$ and $1 approximately 30NT$.
Is Taiwan worth visiting?Yes, 100% yes! Not only because the island is beautiful but because in Taiwan I met some of the friendliest people of all my travels, and I don't say that lightly.
• When our rented electric scooter died on a steep hill in the middle of nowhere, the owner of our hotel came to our rescue.
• One of our Airbnb hosts showed us his favorite restaurant (and insisted on paying for us no less) where we had the best beef noodle soup of our 1 month Taiwan trip.
• The owner of a fruit stall kept giving us free fruit and drinks because we came back a couple of days in a row.
I could go on but I think I made my point: Taiwanese people are super nice! If friendly residents aren't enough reason for you, let the delicious food convince you.
Beef noodle soup, bubble milk tea, stinky tofu (which may not sound appealing but is really tasty) and Xiaolongbao (dumplings) are just a few of the amazing things you can eat in Taiwan.
What's more, Taiwan is very diverse. It's a perfect for place for hiking, visiting modern buzzing cities and relaxing at a tropical beach as well as one of the 50th birthday bucket list destinations!
Public transport is excellent in Taiwan: it's dependable and inexpensive. There is a large network of trains, buses, and MRT lines (in Kaohsiung and Taipei).
You can also take a taxi/Uber or use the public bicycle system in Taipei, Kaohsiung, or Tainan. In the table below I've listed all the transport information (and fares) for our 1 month Taiwan trip.
Plan your Taiwan trip like a pro with these tools:
? Pick up an EasyCard for cashless payments and to use public transport.
? Book discounted tickets for Taiwan's high-speed rail.
? Stay connected with a Taiwan Wifi router.
? Plan your journey with the Taiwan Lonely Planet.
?️ Find your dream accommodation on Booking.com or Agoda.
? Book the best tours via Klook or Get Your Guide.
?️ Travel safely and get reliable travel insurance from Safety Wing.
In general traveling around Taiwan is very easy. This beautiful small country is safe and well-organized and, as I already mentioned, the people are super friendly.
Nevertheless, here are some travel tips to make your Taiwan trip even easier (and cheaper!).
I recommend that as soon as you arrive in Taiwan, you pick up an EasyCard.
You can use this pass all over Taiwan to pay for transport (MRT, bicycles, buses, trains, ferries, etc.). The Easy Card gives you a discount on transport fares and saves you the hassle of having to pay with coins.
You can top up your credit in 7-11 and Family Mart (you can also pay with your EasyCard in these shops and several others).
During our trip to Taiwan, we used a portable Wifi router with unlimited data to stay online.
We could connect all our devices (and we have a lot) and had excellent reception everywhere in Taiwan (except in the tunnels on the East coast). Click here to book your Wifi router.
You can pick up the router upon arrival at Taoyuan international airport or Kaohsiung airport and use it throughout your Taiwan trip.
You can simply return the device to the service counter where you picked it up, or use a 24-hour drop-off box available at the airports mentioned above if you happen to have to catch a flight outside of business hours.
While the people in Taiwan are very friendly and always willing to help, I was surprised to learn that many Taiwanese don't speak English. At all.
They will still try to help you through and Google Translate makes it a lot easier. You can download the app for free in the App Store or the Play Store.
In the table below you can find our Taiwan accommodation. I’ve also written a separate post about the places we stayed in Taiwan with more details about these places.
| Location | Accommodation name | Price per night | Book via | Book via |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hengchun | Kenting Light Blue Bed and Breakfast | €34/$35 | Agoda | Booking |
| Hualien | Honey B Trip B&B | €49/$50 | Agoda | Booking |
| Kaohsiung | 85 Good Time Hotel | €46/$47 | Agoda | Booking |
| Sun Moon Lake | Itathao Hotel | €45/$46 | Agoda | Booking |
| Taichung | Modern Inn | €32/$33 | Agoda | Booking |
| Tainan | Tie Dao Hotel | €30/$31 | Agoda | Booking |
| Taipei | Comma Boutique Hotel | €48/$49 | Agoda | Booking |
Note: Prices for these hotels depend on the time of year and how far in advance you book. Therefore, the prices mentioned above are a rough indication of the price per night to help you compare the different options. Use ‘click here' to see the latest prices on Agoda and Booking and book ahead to get the best deal.
* Unfortunately, the Airbnbs we stayed at in Kaohsiung and Taipei are no longer available due to Covid-19. I've done my utmost to find a suitable alternative (see table).
Ideally, if you have a month in Taiwan as we did, you'd make a full circle around the island. You can either start and end your trip in Taipei or in Kaohsiung, as these are the largest hubs for international flights.
As I mentioned above, unfortunately, we didn't get to finish our Taiwan loop because monsoon season started and the East Coast was soaking wet.
Nevertheless, we had a lot of fun during the additional time we spend in Taipei and I don't regret making this decision. Below you can find our day by day one month Taiwan trip.
If you have less time available to explore Taiwan, don't worry, I've got you covered. Further on in the post, I also suggest shorter options (5, 7, and 10 days, plus 2 and 3 weeks) for your Taiwan travel itinerary.
Kaohsiung isn't a well-known city, at least I had never heard of it before traveling to Taiwan. Of course, that could also just be me being ignorant…
Anyway, Kaohsiung is the third-largest city in Taiwan and this is where we started our trip. Kaohsiung is an important harbor city but also has many interesting sights.
My recommended activities for Kaohsiung are:
Book your Kaohsiung accommodation: 85 Good Time Hotel
Click here to read about more things to do in Kaohsiung.
From busy Kaohsiung, we traveled to the green Kenting National Park, in the South of Taiwan.
Fun fact: did you know there are 9 National Parks in Taiwan?
Kenting National Park is beautiful, the beaches are pristine and the empty roads through lush green jungle make it the perfect place for a scooter road trip.
Some of the best places to visit in Kenting are:
Book your Kenting accommodation: Light Blue Bed & Breakfast
Click here to read about more things to do in Kenting.
Our next destination was Tainan, the oldest city in Taiwan and one with a Dutch history which made it extra interesting for us (being from the Netherlands and all).
Back in 1624, the VOC (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or United East India Company in English) built Fort Zeelandia in Tainan and used the city as their ruling and trading base.
Besides the Dutch Fort, there are many beautiful temples in Tainan. In fact, there are more Buddhist and Taoist temples in Tainan than in any other Taiwanese city! The top spots in Tainan you should visit are:
Book your Tainan accommodation: Tie Dao Hotel
Click here to read about more things to do in Tainan.
Unfortunately, it was raining during the majority of our time in Taichung. We made the most of it though and went to the movies, ate wood-fired oven pizza, and hung out in cute cafes.
However, if the weather is a bit nicer, you can easily spend three days here as there are many things to do in this interesting city! Highlights in (and around) Taichung are:
Book your Taichung accommodation: Modern Inn
Click here to read about more things to do in Taichung.
Sun Moon Lake is the largest lake in Taiwan and a very popular place to visit. It sure is a gorgeous place, unfortunately, the rain that found us in Taichung followed us to Sun Moon Lake.
We had planned to do lots of outdoor activities, like cycling around the lake and hiking up Mt. Shuishe.
Instead, we spent most of our time in the Starbucks in Shuishe Village, running outside whenever the rain stopped for a brief moment to take pictures of the still beautiful-looking lake.
Nevertheless, there are tons of things to do at Sun Moon Lake when the weather is nice:
Book your Sun Moon Lake accommodation: Itathao Motel
? Discount: if you're planning a trip to Sun Moon Lake, check out the Sun Moon Lake ropeway combo pass, which includes the ropeway, bike rental, and a boat trip over the lake.
I loved Taipei! I'm not usually one for big cities for a long period of time, but I really enjoyed our time in Taipei, the capital city of Taiwan. We spent 12 days there in total and still didn't run out of things to do.
What I loved most about Taipei is how easy it was to get away from the busy part of town and find some peace and quiet.
There is so much nature just a subway ride away from the center! For example, we hiked a mountain trail in the Maokong area and didn't come across anyone else.
I've written an extensive post about Taipei and a blog about day trips from Taipei, but to sum up, here are some of the main Taipei highlights to add to your Taipei itinerary.
Go up to the observation deck on the 91st floor for marvelous birds-eye views of Taipei city (purchase a fast-track ticket here).
This huge museum houses one of the world's largest collections of ancient Chinese artifacts and is highly worth a visit. Click here to buy your ticket online.
A steep but short walk to the top of Elephant Mountain (a 183-meter high hill) offering beautiful views over Taipei and the aforementioned Taipei 101.
The Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall is a huge and impressive building. Try to time your visit to coincide with the changing of the guards (every hour on the hour from 10 am to 4 pm).
Also visit the nearby Gate of Great Centrality and Perfect Uprightness, National Concert Hall, and the National Theater.
Shilin Night Market is one of the best night markets in Taiwan, and also one of the largest in the country. Sample some famous street food dishes such as stinky tofu, fried buns, bubble tea, and oyster omelet.
There are so many food stalls you'll inevitably find yourself coming back a second night to try out more typical Taiwanese foods and snacks.
This is a pretty little village on the outskirts of Taipei that can be reached via the Maokong gondola (buy your online ticket here) or bus.
There are several great hiking trails around the village, which is known for the cultivation of high-quality tea.
Book your Taipei accommodation: Comma Boutique Hotel
Click here to read about more things to do in Taipei.
The East coast was my favorite part of Taiwan and I have only seen a small section! There are steep cliffs, a stunning blue ocean, marble mountains, and a green jungle.
It's much less populated than the rest of Taiwan, only 4% of the Taiwanese live on the East Coast. We spent 3 days in Hualien and used this relaxed city as a base to explore the famous Taroko Gorge and the area south of Hualien.
Some of the best things to do around Hualien are:
Book your Hualien accommodation: Honey B Trip B&B
Click here to read about more things to do in Hualien.
Because of the approaching typhoon season, it was already very rainy on the East Coast. Therefore we did not continue south to Taitung (cycling Taiwan’s east coast is a very popular option) but went back to Taipei instead.
In Taipei, we had mostly sunny days for the remainder of our trip and there was a lot more to do in and around Taipei so this was the best option for us.
But I sure would love to see more of the East coast of Taiwan!
If you just have 5 days to travel around Taiwan, don't worry! While you cannot see everything the island has to offer, you can get a taste and feel of the country.
This is how I would spend a Taiwan 5 day itinerary:
For a 7-day Taiwan itinerary, I'd suggest the following:
With this Taiwan 1 week itinerary, you will get to explore the buzzing capital as well as Taiwan's second-largest city, Taichung, and one of Taiwan's absolute highlights: the beautiful Sun Moon Lake.
This 10 day Taiwan itinerary not only includes the two major cities of Taiwan (Taipei and Taichung), but also the two most beautiful natural sights: Taroko Gorge on the East Coast and Sun Moon Lake in the middle of the Island.
For days 4-10 of this Taiwan 10 day itinerary, it's easiest to rent a car as this will allow you to explore Taroko Gorge independently.
It's also the easiest way to travel from the East Coast to the West coast. If you opt to travel via public transportation, the best way to travel from Hualien to Sun Moon Lake is via Taipei.
If you have 2 weeks in Taiwan, I'd recommend traveling either from North to South or vice versa. Your 2 week Taiwan itinerary could look like this:
This 2 week Taiwan itinerary is especially suitable for people looking to travel in one direction instead of a loop.
If you don't mind a fast-paced itinerary, you could make a complete loop around Taiwain in three weeks. For this 3 week Taiwan itinerary, I'd suggest the following route:
You will be traveling a lot with this 3-week itinerary for Taiwan and I'd recommend avoiding monsoon season (which is especially bad on the East Coast).
This itinerary for 3 weeks in Taiwan will show you very different sides of Taiwan. You'll explore several interesting cities, spend enough time at the most beautiful lake in Taiwan and also visit two National Parks (Taroko and Kenting).
I had a great time in Taiwan and hope this post will help you plan your trip to this wonderful little island.
You can download the map and table with the transport information below. If you have any questions, leave a comment or send me a message!
This post was updated in November 2022.
