Taiwan is about the size of the US state of Maryland, which leads many travelers (especially American ones) to believe they can see all the best places to visit in Taiwan in a matter of days. I can’t tell you how many people contact me under this very pretense.
“I’ll spend a couple of nights in Taipei,” they’ll explain, as a lead-in to an inquiry for my bespoke Taiwan itinerary planning service, and then explain how to they expect not only to be able to see west coast Taiwan cities like Tainan and Kaohsiung in less than a week, but also the entire East Coast scenic route.
Our focus today, of course, will be solely on the best places to go in Taiwan. Whether or not you’re able to devote the time it takes to explore them is a topic for another post.
The Truth About Taiwan’s Destinations
If you simply wanted to build a Taiwan trip that focused on Taiwan cities (well, at least the very large ones along the country’s industrialized west coast), doing so would be pretty easy. After all, the Taiwan high-speed rail connects Taipei with Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung in less than two hours, which means that you could reasonably visit all four of the cities in a week and still have time to spare.
The issue is that as much as I love these urban areas, there’s an argument to be made that the “real Taiwan” exists in more rural parts of the country. Certainly, the fresher air and lusher greenery on offer in central Taiwan (namely, the Alishan-Sun Moon Lake corridor) gives you more space to feel the magic of country. Likewise, while east coast destinations like Hualien and Taitung might not be as culturally interesting as comparable west coast cities, the scenery is comparably otherworldly.
Where to Go in Taiwan
Taipei and vicinity
Taipei is fabulous (it’s my former home, after all), and the perfect place to begin or end a trip to Taiwan. But I encourage you to get out as fast as you can—and not because I don’t love hiking up Xiangshan mountain to get a view of the skyline, or eating my way through Raohe Street Night Market. To aide you in this, I’ve written a full guide on day trips from Taipei, which includes obvious choices like Jiufen and Keelung, as well as more surprising ones like underrated Hsinchu.
Kaohsiung (and the way there)
With a few notable exception, most of the cities in Taiwan are along the country’s industrialized west coast, with colorful Kaohsiung in the far south probably the best known. Some travelers may continue heading southward to Pingtung and into Kenting National Park, while most will head back north. Obvious options including Taiwan’s former capital of Tainan and the massive central city of Taichung, while more adventurous travelers may choose smaller cities like Chiayi, Changhua or Yunlin.
The East Coast
Like the west coast, there’s a “choose your own adventure” element to Taiwan’s aptly-named East Coast Scenic Route. The most typical choices or Hualien, roughly halfway down it, and Taitung in the far south. However, northern Yilan (which is close enough to Taipei to be a weekend trip) has one of the densest attractions corridors along Taiwan’s eastern seaboard. Likewise, it’s easy to make excursions from the two more southerly cities, be that Taroko Gorge from Hualien, or Lisong Hot Spring from Taitung.
Alishan and Sun Moon Lake
Although not among the best “cities” to visit in Taiwan, the central destinations of Alishan and Sun Moon Lake certainly deserve their notoriety. Both are really ecosystems more than individual places, especially in the case of Alishan: The tea fields of Shihzao; the Fengqihu Old Street; and of course the Alishan Forest Railway. This is less obvious around the lake, even if distinct attractions (the aboriginal town of Ita Thao; the panoramic view Ci’en Pagoda) make circumnavigation of the shore a surprisingly eclectic affiar.
Outlying islands
Last but not least (for the purposes of this guide, anyway) are Taiwan’s outlying islands, which are of course a category of destination, rather than just one. Some, of course, are in similar areas around the main island; you could conceivably head northeast and visit Kinmen and the Matsu islands on the same trip. Likewise, many travelers combine the extreme remote Lanyu (Orchid Island) with the closer-in Lyudao (Green Island), since both are just offshore from Taitung. Of course, even if you simply make a short excursion to tiny Xiaoliuqiu after Kaohsiung or Kenting, I encourage you to lean into the magic of offshore Taiwan.
The Best Way to Decide Where to Visit in Taiwan
It’s easy to guess at where in Taiwan might suit you best, but the reality is that you don’t know what you don’t know. A few years ago, for example, I had a client who told me that they wanted a scenic coastal trip, but were as put off by how rural the main part of Taiwan’s east coast is as they were by the endless urbanization of the west. When I speculated that underrated Yilan county might be the best choice for them, a light bulb went off—they’d literally never heard of the place.
Of course, when you hire me to plan your Taiwan trip, I don’t simply help you with curating and collating places to visit in Taiwan. Rather, once we’ve determined the proper spread of destinations for you, I make personalized daily recommendations for activities, meals and accommodation. Additionally, I provide you with detailed transportation advice throughout, which makes executing the itinerary a breeze.
Other FAQ About Where to Go in Taiwan
Which part of Taiwan is worth visiting?
Everywhere in Taiwan is worth visiting! However, I’d say that a few areas of the country have outsized ROI. First, the entire east coast is just magical, though Yilan wins points for its proximity to Taipei, as well as its relative density of destinations when compared to Hualien and Taitung further south. For anyone wanting to go truly off the beaten path, meanwhile, I can’t recommend Taiwan’s outlying islands highly enough.
What are the best places to visit in Taiwan?
The most popular places to visit in Taiwan (outside of Taipei) include cities like Kaohsiung and Tainan, natural attractions like Sun Moon Lake and Alishan mountain and the aptly-named East Coast scenic route. For me, however, the objective “best” Taiwan destinations are a bit harder to pin down; they depend as much on your preferences as they do on anything else.
What are the main tourist attractions in Taiwan?
The main tourist attractions in Taiwan include the Taipei 101 skyscraper, Kaohsiung’s Dragon and Tiger Pagodas, Shilin Night Market (also in Taipei) and Sun Moon Lake. Beyond this, however, Taiwan offers an eclectic range of destinations that depends less on objective popularity and more on your own preferences.
The Bottom Line
Learning about the best places to visit in Taiwan can be a revelation—the country is so much more than Taipei and its vicinity, and even than Kaohsiung and the East Coast scenic route. Central Taiwanese destinations like Sun Moon Lake and Alishan are easy to overlook, as are the various outlying islands that orbit the core Formosan landmass on basically all sides. Of course, once you’re fully aware of the breadth and depth of Taiwanese destinations, you’ll probably want to spend much longer here that you’d originally planned. That’s not a problem, especially when you hire me to plan your trip to Taiwan.
