Taiwan Is the East Asia Trip Nobody Is Taking Yet
Night markets, a marble gorge, hot springs on the metro line and a high-speed rail loop around the island — for noticeably less than Japan or Korea.
Taiwan Is the East Asia Trip Nobody Is Taking Yet
Every year a few of our travellers come back from Taiwan slightly annoyed that nobody told them earlier. It has Japan's efficiency without Japan's prices, Korea's food culture without Korea's crowds, and a mountain range down the middle that most people do not know exists.
The island is roughly the size of Kerala. A high-speed train covers the west coast in ninety minutes. An hour east of Taipei, a marble canyon cuts straight through the mountains. You can do all of it in a week.
Start with the night markets, because everyone does
Taipei's night markets are not a tourist attraction that locals avoid — they are where the city eats.
Shilin is the biggest and the one everyone visits first. Raohe is more compact and better: start at the temple end and work down for black pepper buns straight out of the clay oven. Ningxia is the food purist's pick — smaller, older, less shopping and more cooking.
What to eat: beef noodle soup (the national dish, and there is an annual competition to prove it), pepper buns, oyster omelette, scallion pancakes, and bubble tea from the country that invented it. Dinner rarely crosses a few hundred rupees.
If you are vegetarian, Taiwan is one of the easiest countries in Asia. A large Buddhist vegetarian tradition means su shi (素食) buffets are everywhere — look for the 卐 symbol on the shopfront, which here is a Buddhist marker and nothing else.
Taroko Gorge earns its own nights
This is the one to get right. Taroko is a marble gorge on the east coast, near Hualien, with trails cut into the cliff face and a river the colour of jade running through it.
Day-tripping from Taipei means roughly eight hours on trains for four in the gorge. Two nights in Hualien turns it from a rushed stop into the best part of the trip: the Shakadang trail along the water, the Swallow Grotto, the Eternal Spring Shrine, and the Qingshui cliffs dropping into the Pacific on the drive back.
Book the east-coast TRA train seats in advance — the line is single-track in places and weekends sell out. And note that sections of the gorge close after typhoons and earthquakes; we check the current status when building the itinerary rather than assuming.
The rest of the loop
Jiufen and Shifen — a day trip north-east from Taipei. Jiufen is the lantern-lit hillside town of teahouses and narrow stairs that inspired a generation of animation; go late afternoon and stay for the lights. Shifen is where you release a paper sky lantern over the railway tracks, and Yehliu Geopark has the wind-carved rock formations.
Sun Moon Lake — the middle of the island. Cycle the shoreline path (regularly named one of the world's prettiest), take the boat across, climb to the Ci'en Pagoda. Two nights, or one if you are tight.
Alishan — the forest railway up to a sunrise above a sea of clouds. It requires an early start and a night on the mountain, and it is worth both.
Kaohsiung — the southern port city. The Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum, the Lotus Pond's dragon and tiger pagodas, and the Pier-2 art district. Ninety minutes from Taipei on the HSR.
Entry, for Indian passport holders
Two routes are usually open, and which one applies decides how much work this is.
The Travel Authorization Certificate (TAC). If you hold a valid visa or residence permit for Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, the Schengen area, the UK or the USA, you can generally apply online for a free TAC and receive it in minutes. This is by far the easier route.
The e-Visa or a visa through the authorised centre, for everyone else.
Tell us which visas are already in your passport and we will tell you which route applies. As always, confirm the current rule before paying for anything — our visa desk does this in writing.
Getting around
- EasyCard. One stored-value card for the Taipei metro, buses, trains, convenience stores and some taxis. Buy it at the airport.
- High-speed rail (HSR) down the west coast — Taipei to Kaohsiung in about ninety minutes.
- TRA for the east coast to Hualien: slower, single-track in stretches, and much prettier. Reserve.
- Taxis are metered and inexpensive. Have your destination in Chinese characters on your phone.
Transport signage is bilingual throughout, which makes Taiwan far easier to navigate independently than its neighbours.
Hot springs, on the metro line
Beitou is a stop on the Taipei metro and it is a hot spring town — public baths, private rooms, and a couple of very good hotels. Jiaoxi, on the way to the east coast, and Guanziling's rare mud springs in the south are the other two worth planning around.
There is no ceremony to it and no premium price. After a day in the gorge, it is the correct decision.
When to go
- October to December — the best all-round window. Dry, mild, clear mountain views.
- January to March — cool with some drizzle in the north. Lunar New Year closes businesses and fills trains, but the Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival is a genuine reason to come.
- April to May — warm and green, with blossom in the hills at Alishan and Yangmingshan. Humidity builds from late May.
- June to September — hot, humid and typhoon season. The cheapest months, but east-coast trains and gorge roads close during storms. If you travel then, build in a spare day and book refundable rates.
What it costs
Our Taiwan packages start at ₹1,29,999 per person for seven days including flights, stays, transfers and sightseeing — meaningfully below the equivalent Japan or Korea trip. Day to day, food and transport are cheap; only central Taipei hotels approach Japanese pricing.
Cards work in hotels and malls. Night markets, temples and local buses are cash. ATMs are everywhere and reliable.
The short version
Three nights in Taipei, two in Hualien for the gorge, two more for Sun Moon Lake or Kaohsiung. Go between October and April. Check which entry route your passport qualifies for before anything else, eat at a different night market every evening, and end at least one day in a hot spring.
See our Taiwan packages — or tell us your dates and which visas you hold, and we will handle the rest.
