Foreign individual visitors usually take linear distance in map as the base of organizing their itinerary. However, the public transportation may be different from the map. What matters is the transportation distance. 30 km in map may takes longer hours than 300 km does. Transfer and bus/train interval are also important to your itinerary arrangement. Here are some tips that make your itinerary run smoothly.
From some traveling forum, there are always questions using the word "doable" for help. Arriving attractions and leaving right away is also "doable". However, that is not what they want. Although lots itineraries are doable, but they can be better. Though these questions ask about "transportation", but these questions are related to "itinerary". The answer to how to go to B point from A point may be A->C->B. In this blog, I collect some questions and itineraries from some forums that could be better.
Before the suggested itineraries, I list some principles for arranging itinerary, which I apply in my itinerary suggestions.
- Efficiency
- Tempo
According to the principles, the following suggestions are for most asked transportation and itinerary. The suggestions may useful when you organized your Taiwan itinerary.
1.Day Trip: Yehhiu, Jiufen & Shifen
The Day trip of Yehliu, Jiufen and Shifen is from my another popular blog Transportation of Yehliu, Pingxi, Shifen & Jiufen. I provide 4 itinerary options. 2 are day-trip and 2 are 2-day trip.
| East Taipei/Route | TPE_E_1 | TPE_E_2 | TPE_E_3 | TPE_E_4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taipei 101 | D1-1 | |||
| Teresa Teng Memorial Park | D1-3 | |||
| Yehliu | 1 | D1-1 | D1-2 | |
| Keelung NM | 6 | D1-2 | D1-4 | |
| Jiufen | 2 | 5 | D2-2 | D2-4 |
| Jinquashi | D2-1 | D2-3 | ||
| Houtong | 4 | |||
| Shifen | 3 | 3 | D2-3 | D2-2 |
| Shifen Waterfall | D2-1 | |||
| Pinxi | 2 | |||
| Jintong | 1 | |||
| Maokong Gondola | D2-4 | |||
| Miramar Ferris Wheel | D1-5 | |||
| Maokong Gondola | ||||
| Raohe NM | D2-5 | |||
| Wufenpu | D2-6 |
It seems lot foreign friends have seen day trip itinerary of Yehliu, Jiufen & Shifen. In map, attractions are closed. However, as I mentioned at the beginning, what matters is the transportation distance. The following itinerary example is one of itinerary examples from my another blog Transportationof Yehliu, Pingxi, Shifen & Jiufen. In the 4 itinerary examples, TPE_E_1 is the most popular asked itinerary and TPE_E_3 is my suggestion.
- TPE_E_1 1 Day Trip
D1 Taipei City Hall Station->Yehliu ->Keelung->Jiufen->Shifen->MRT Muzha Station
The following 1-day itinerary table can be summarized in the list above. The itinerary includes Yehliu, Jiufen and Shifen in one day.
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| 1 Day Trip of Yehliu, Jiufe & Shifen |
The itinerary in the table above is doable. However, it is not a good idea to visit Yehliu, Jiufen & Shifen in the same day, I mark the problems in the following map, which is for the day trip itinerary of Yehliu, Jiufen & Shifen.
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| Day trip of Yehliu, Jiufen, Shifen & its problems. |
For example, one of the problems, is it takes about 2 hours in public transportation from Yehliu to Jiufen. It is exhaustive and the transfer is uncertain in time. You cannot visit the nearby beautiful Keelung Harbor and famous Miaokou night market. You need to leave your last attraction, Shifen, before 6:30 pm because the next train/bus is 7:50 pm and shops almost closes. Therefore, you need to control your time well have good transfer all the way. Any delay may cause serious chain problems since the part of bus/train alone the trip, Yehliu->Keelung & Keelung->Jiufen & Ruifang->Shifen, Shifen->Muzn are infrequent( interval more than 30 minutes).
- TPE_E_3 1.5 Day Trip
If you have more than one day in Taipei and Taipei 101 is in your plan, this itinerary could be a be better choice for you.
D1 Taipei 101->Yehliu ->Keelung->Taipei
D2 MRT Muzha Station->Shifen->Jiufen->Raohe Night Market
The following 1.5 day itinerary table can be summarized as above. Since the 1.5 day itinerary are more flexible and relaxing. There are lots candidates attractions you can add to your itinerary, including Eslite Store, Maokong Gondola, Taipei City Zoo, Shenkeng, Houtong Cat Village, Yinyanghai and etc.
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| 1 Day Trip of Yehliu, Jiufe & Shifen |
In the next picture, the purple line is for the 1st and the red line is for the 2nd day. The only transfer is Ruifang and the transportation time between each attraction is within one hour.
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| 1.5 Day Trip for Yehliu, Jiufen, Shifen |
2.Day Trip: Hualien<->Taichung
In map, the linear distance 47 km between Taroko & Cingjing and 70 km between Taroko & Puli Cingjing. That's not a long distance. But the elevation is another story. The road trip starts from 10m (Hualien) to 3270 m (Wuling) to 1850m (Cingjing) to 450m (Puli). It is a road trip cross mountain range. Only one bus everyday in the remote area and it takes about 7 hours to go to Taroko from Cingjing(return bus trip is not work)
Keep it simple. There are some alternatives that you can travel between Hualien (Taroko) and Taicung (Cingjing) in one day.
| Item | Alternative | Pros | Corns | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.1 | Bus Trip | Cheap | Time Consuming | Interested in backpacking |
| 2.2 | Tour Bus | Expensive | Relaxing | 1~2 people |
| 2.3 | Hiring a Cab | Flexible | Most Expensive | More than 3 people |
| 2.4 | Transfer via Taipei | Train Trip | Long Trip | Day trip to Hualien |
2.1 Bus trip and 2.2Tour Bus are introduced in Bus Trip Between Cinjing and Taroko. Hiring a cab is around NTD 6,000. If your group is more than 3 people, it is a good choice between Cingjing and Taroko(Hualien). Here I want to talk about about 2.4 Transfer via Taipei.
View Cinjing to Taroko in a larger map
2.1 Bus trip, 2.2 Tour Bus and 2.3 Hiring a cab are transportation alternatives. However, 2.4 Transfer via Taipei is not only a transportation alternative, but also a choice to optimize your whole Taiwan itinerary. Most of time, it is hard to choice between 2.1 Bus trip, 2.2 Tour Bus and 2.3 Hiring a cab. You need to choice between expensive cost & long road trip.
2.4 Transfer via Taipei means you need to re-organize the city order. For example, if you will visit Taipei, Taichung and Hualien:
Original Order: Taoyuan Airport->Taichung->Hualien->Taipei
New Order(2.4): Taoyuan Airport->Taichung->Taipei->Hualien(Day Trip)->Taipei
The advantage of New Order(2.4) includes:
- Half day free at Taipei. Easier to arrange comparing with whole day time in the trip between Taroko & Cingjing.
- Taking Taipei as a basing point, you don't need to move from one hotel to another hotel. You can bring a small backpack to Taroko, without worrying about your luggage.
Related Topics
- Bus App
- Taiwan Itinerary Examples
- Area Itinerary Examples
- Transportation between Taipei and Hualien(Taroko)
- Transportation of Yeliu, Pingxi, Shifen & Jiufen
- Bus Trip Between Cinjing and Taroko
- Transportation between Cinjing, Sun Moon Lake and Alisan
- One-Day Hike in Taroko Gorge
- Booking Train Tickets
Other Topics You May Be Interested In
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