6 Days in Taipei and Beyond
Six days is our 5-day plan plus the trip that finally justifies packing an overnight bag: Sun Moon Lake, central Taiwan’s largest body of water and a genuinely different landscape from anything on the north coast. For the deep in-city version with no day trips at all, see our 6-day Taipei itinerary .
Book these before you go:
- Your Taipei hotel : base yourself centrally for days 1 through 5
- A guided Jiufen, Shifen and Yehliu day tour : removes the bus-timetable juggling on day two
- A Sun Moon Lake day tour from Taichung : worth it if you’d rather not chase down the connecting bus yourself
| Day | Focus | Transit from Taipei |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Land, EasyCard, Elephant Mountain sunset, Raohe Night Market | in-city |
| 2 | Jiufen, Shifen, Yehliu Geopark (the north coast loop) | ~1-1.5 hrs to Jiufen, ~75 min bus to Yehliu |
| 3 | Tamsui: Fort San Domingo, the old street, Fisherman’s Wharf | ~40 min MRT, direct |
| 4 | Beitou hot springs and Yangmingshan’s volcanic trails | Beitou ~30 min MRT direct; Yangmingshan ~30-45 min bus |
| 5 | HSR day trip to Taichung, the real home of bubble tea | ~1 hr by High Speed Rail |
| 6 | Sun Moon Lake, overnight recommended | ~1 hr HSR to Taichung, then ~1.5-2 hr bus |
Day 1: Land, get sorted, see the city in an afternoon
Land at Taoyuan (TPE), take the Airport MRT into town, and get an EasyCard the second you’re through the gate. Hike Elephant Mountain for the sunset skyline shot instead of queuing at Taipei 101, free, 20 to 40 minutes. Dinner at Raohe Street Night Market rather than Shilin.
Day 2: The north coast loop
Jiufen, Shifen and Yehliu Geopark in one long day, about an hour to an hour and a half out by MRT plus the 1062 bus for Jiufen, then Shifen’s old railway street and sky lantern releases, then Yehliu Geopark’s wind-carved rocks about 75 minutes out via bus 1815. A guided combo tour handles all three legs in around nine hours.
Day 3: Tamsui
Tamsui sits at the end of the MRT red line: Fort San Domingo, the old street, and Fisherman’s Wharf for sunset. No bus transfer needed.
Day 4: Beitou and Yangmingshan, the volcanic day
Beitou via the direct Xinbeitou MRT branch for hot springs, then a short bus from Jiantan MRT station to Yangmingshan National Park for the sulfur vents at Xiaoyoukeng and the caldera hiking trails.
Day 5: HSR day trip to Taichung
Taiwan’s High Speed Rail gets you to Taichung in about an hour, the real home of bubble tea, not Taipei. Spend the day there for its own night markets and its own pace. Book HSR tickets a day or two ahead during peak season.
Day 6: Sun Moon Lake, the trip worth the overnight
Is Sun Moon Lake worth a day trip, or does it need an overnight? Treat it as an overnight if you can. Getting there means an HSR ride to Taichung followed by a further bus transfer, roughly one and a half to two hours, and cramming the ropeway ride to Wenwu Temple, a boat crossing, and the return journey into a single day back to Taipei leaves almost no time actually at the lake itself.
Taiwan’s largest lake sits in the central mountains, ringed by hiking trails and a cable car that swings over the water to Wenwu Temple on the far shore. It’s a genuinely different landscape from the coastal and volcanic terrain everywhere else on this itinerary, which is exactly why it earns the last slot on a six-day trip rather than being squeezed into a shorter one. If an overnight isn’t in the budget, a long day trip is still workable, just accept that you’re trading depth for a checked box.
Getting around and gotchas
The EasyCard covers city transit and convenience stores, but keep cash on hand once you’re outside greater Taipei. Typhoon season runs June through October, peaking August and September, and can cancel a day trip or delay a bus connection with little warning, so build slack into the Sun Moon Lake leg especially.
One concrete tip
Book a Sun Moon Lake hotel or guesthouse before you leave Taipei if you’re staying over; the lakeside options are limited compared to a city like Taichung and fill up fast on weekends.