Taiwan 5 Day Itinerary
Taiwan fits roughly 36 million people into an island the size of Maryland, yet still manages to feel genuinely uncrowded in its mountain towns and eastern coast. Five days is tight but workable if you move smart and skip a few tourist traps.
Visa and entry: Most Western passport holders get 90 days visa-free. Confirm on Taiwan’s Bureau of Consular Affairs website before travelling, as rules update periodically.
Currency: New Taiwan Dollar (NTD). Cards are accepted widely in cities, but night markets, small temples, and rural buses run on cash. Withdraw NTD at the airport on arrival since ATM fees abroad are often lower than exchange counters.
Typhoon season note: July to September sees three to five storms hit Taiwan per year, with August and September the riskiest months. Book hotels with free cancellation during this window and check forecasts daily. October is widely regarded as the single best month to visit: the heat breaks, rain drops off sharply, and trails dry out.
Day 1: Taipei, the Neighbourhood Version
The airport MRT from Taoyuan (TPE) to central Taipei runs every 15 minutes and costs NT$150, dropping you at Taipei Main Station in about 35 minutes. Pick up an EasyCard (悠遊卡) at the airport vending machine: load NT$500 to start and tap it on MRT gates, local buses, and YouBike docks throughout the trip. This single card covers almost everything in Taipei and saves you queuing for tickets each time.
Skip the standard opening of Taipei 101 on arrival day because observatory tickets run NT$600 and the building is best seen from outside at dusk. Instead, drop your bags and walk to Daan Forest Park for an hour: locals do tai chi, elderly men play chess on stone tables, and it costs nothing. From there, Yongkang Street runs south through a cluster of excellent small restaurants. Ay-Chung Flour-Rice Noodle is a cash-only counter on Shilin that has served oyster vermicelli since 1975, but Yongkang’s Din Tai Fung original branch (budget NT$400-600 per person) is worth the queue for xiaolongbao if you have not eaten there before.
Evening: take the MRT to Ximending for street food and shopping. It gets loud and lit up fast once darkness falls. Single MRT rides cost NT$20-65 depending on distance, making it cheap to bounce between neighbourhoods.
Day 2: Yehliu, Jiufen, and a Deliberate Slow Afternoon
Leave your hotel by 8 AM. Yehliu Geopark, about an hour north of Taipei by bus, is famous for mushroom-shaped sandstone formations including the Queen’s Head column. Admission is NT$80. Get there before 9:30 AM and you will have the formations largely to yourself; by midday it becomes a crowded tour-bus stop.
From Yehliu, take the bus or taxi to Ruifang, then catch the dedicated Jiufen shuttle bus up the mountain. Jiufen is a former gold-mining town from the 17th century, and the YinYang Sea visible from the hillside above Old Street has a startling turquoise-brown colour caused by mineral runoff from abandoned mines. The narrow staircase lanes are atmospheric in the afternoon when some of the day-trippers clear out. Have tea at one of the wooden teahouses overlooking the valley rather than the ones directly on the main tourist staircase: same view, half the price, fewer selfie sticks. Budget NT$150-250 per person for tea and a small plate of sweets.
Bring cash. Several Old Street vendors do not accept cards, and the one ATM on the main lane charges a premium. Return to Taipei by bus via Ruifang Station; the last bus back runs around 9 PM but check locally since schedules shift seasonally.
Day 3: High-Speed Rail to Taichung, Fengjia Night Market
THSR (Taiwan High Speed Rail) connects Taipei to Taichung in around 50 minutes. A standard fare is approximately NT$700 one way; buy in advance online since EasyCard is not accepted on HSR and ticket machines at the station get busy on weekends. The THSR station sits outside central Taichung, so budget a NT$50 local bus or NT$150-200 taxi ride into the city.
Taichung has outgrown its reputation as a transit stop. The National Taichung Theater, designed by Toyo Ito and opened in 2016, is worth 20 minutes of your afternoon even without a performance scheduled: the curved concrete interior feels unlike any performing-arts building you have likely seen. Entry to the public areas is free.
Fengjia Night Market is the largest night market in Taiwan by some counts, running every night of the week near Feng Chia University. Show up hungry. Skip the deep-fried Oreos that every stall seems to sell to tourists and head for the savoury end: grilled squid skewers, scallion egg crepes (NT$40-50), and stinky tofu if you can handle it. A full evening of eating here costs NT$200-400.
Gaomei Wetlands at sunset is worth a short taxi ride west of the city: the wooden boardwalk extends into a tidal flat where hundreds of birds feed as the sun drops behind wind turbines. No admission fee.
Day 4: Sun Moon Lake by Bicycle
Take the HSR to Taichung (if coming from further north) and transfer to a Nantou Bus to Sun Moon Lake, a journey of roughly 90 minutes from central Taichung. Buses run several times per hour.
Rent a bicycle at the Giant store in Shuishe Village near the main pier. The circumference cycling route around the lake covers approximately 30 km and takes 3-4 hours at a relaxed pace, though several sections near Ita Thao village involve road-sharing with cars rather than dedicated bike lanes. The elevation change is real: the east shore climbs noticeably, so start anti-clockwise (southward from Shuishe) to tackle the harder climb in the morning while legs are fresh. Bikes with electric assist are available for rent and worth considering if you are not a regular cyclist.
Wenwu Temple on the north shore is free to enter and the lake views from the upper courtyard are outstanding, better framed than from the water-level boats. The boat tours cost around NT$300 per person and cover the same scenery you see from the road. Skip the boat; spend that time at the temple and walking the Yidashao Trail.
Stay in Shuishe Village overnight if budget allows. The main pier area has several lakeside hotels ranging from NT$1,500 (guesthouse) to NT$6,000+ (resort). Waking up to morning mist over the lake before the day-trippers arrive is the experience that separates this destination from a checkbox.
Day 5: Tainan, Taiwan’s Food Capital
Tainan is two hours south by THSR from Taichung (change at Chiayi or Zuoying, depending on the service). It is the oldest city in Taiwan and is known, more than any historical monument, for its food. The local saying is that Tainan people eat four meals a day.
Anping Old Fort (formerly Fort Zeelandia, built by the Dutch East India Company in 1624) charges NT$50 admission and takes about an hour to walk. The adjacent Eternal Golden Castle is a separate, later fortification worth the short taxi ride. Neither is Disney-polished, and that is their appeal: crumbling Dutch brick with small interpretive signs, few crowds, and good coastal wind.
For lunch, try Coffin Bread (棺材板), a Tainan invention from the 1940s: a thick slab of fried white bread hollowed out and filled with a creamy seafood chowder. The stalls near the Chikan Towers area serve the original version. Follow it with a bowl of Danzai noodles (擔仔麵), a thin broth with shrimp and minced pork that has been a Tainan staple since the 19th century.
Tainan’s Garden Night Market (花園夜市) is the largest in the city, open Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings, with roughly 400 stalls. If your travel dates do not align, Dadong Night Market (大東夜市) opens Monday, Tuesday, and Friday. Either is worth two hours. The city is small enough that a combination of walking and short taxi rides covers most attractions without needing a day pass.
Return to Taipei by THSR in the evening (NT$1,350 standard fare). The last southbound services run until around 11 PM, northbound similar.
Final practical note: Taiwan’s convenience stores (7-Eleven, FamilyMart) operate 24 hours and function as banks, ticket counters, package-pickup points, and decent fast-food kitchens. Any time you need cash, a printout, a hot meal at 3 AM, or a bus ticket, find the nearest one. There is almost always one within 200 metres.