Taiwan 6 Day Itinerary

Taiwan has better street food than almost anywhere on earth, an excellent rail network, and mountains that would be internationally famous if they were in any other country. It is also genuinely easy to travel: English signage is widespread, the MRT systems in Taipei and Kaohsiung are clean and reliable, and very few things here are designed to confuse tourists. The main thing most itineraries get wrong is Taroko Gorge, covered below.

Getting In and First Steps

Most Western passport holders, including the EU, USA, UK, Canada, Australia, and Japan, can enter Taiwan visa-free for 90 days. Check the current rules at the Bureau of Consular Affairs before booking; the list is extensive.

Taoyuan International Airport (TPE) handles the majority of international arrivals, 40 kilometres south-west of central Taipei. The Airport MRT Express connects both terminals to Taipei Main Station in 35 to 40 minutes and costs NT$160. The standard commuter train on the same line costs about NT$100 and takes 50 minutes with stops. Both run frequently from early morning to midnight. Taxis to central Taipei cost NT$1,000 to NT$1,500 and take 45 to 90 minutes depending on traffic; the MRT is almost always the better choice. Pick up an EasyCard (NT$100 deposit plus whatever you load) at the airport convenience store and use it for every MRT and bus journey in Taiwan; it gives a 20 percent discount on MRT fares.

Get cash at the airport; currency exchange offices are rare elsewhere in Taiwan, and street food vendors and smaller shops are still largely cash-only.

Day 1: Taipei Arrival and First Evening

Check in and go directly to a bowl of beef noodle soup. This is Taiwan’s unofficial national dish and Taipei takes it seriously. Yong Kang Beef Noodles in the Da’an neighbourhood is the most famous address; the tomato-soy broth is dark and slightly sweet, the beef collapses at a fork touch. Muji Beef Noodles near Taipei 101 in Xinyi is arguably the more interesting kitchen, using local beef and a broth with a subtly fruity depth. Both are under NT$200 for a bowl.

Walk Yongkang Street in the evening (the same neighbourhood as Yong Kang Beef Noodles), which is lively without being overwhelming, lined with tea houses, small restaurants, and independent cafes. It is a more realistic picture of how Taipei actually feels than Ximending, which has become heavily commercialised and is genuinely not worth your limited time.

Day 2: Taipei

Start early at Taipei 101’s observation deck (NT$600, opens 09:00). The tower held the world’s tallest title from 2004 to 2010 and is visible from most of the city; the view from the 89th floor on a clear day extends to mountains on every horizon. Skip the revolving restaurant inside as the food does not justify the price premium.

Walk west to the National Palace Museum in the afternoon (NT$350 admission; closed Monday). The collection of around 700,000 Chinese imperial artefacts was brought to Taiwan in 1948 and contains pieces from every Chinese dynasty. The jade cabbage and meat-shaped stone pieces are the works that draw crowds; arrive right at opening or after 14:00 to avoid the worst queues.

Shilin Night Market is the largest and most famous night market in Taipei, and it is worth going at least once. The food section (enter from the lower level near the former market building) has the correct things to eat: oyster omelette, scallion pancake, stinky tofu for the adventurous. For a less tourist-dense experience, Raohe Street Night Market in Songshan is smaller, more manageable, and still excellent; the pepper pork bun from the stand at the entrance is one of the better single bites in Taipei.

Day 3: Day Trip to Jiufen and Shifen (or Hualien)

Jiufen is a hillside mining village 40 kilometres north-east of Taipei that became internationally recognisable after being associated (incorrectly but persistently) with the film Spirited Away. The red lantern-lit teahouses and stairways are genuinely atmospheric, but the village is extremely crowded on weekends and in the afternoon. Go on a weekday, arrive by 10:00, and leave before 13:00 when the tour buses arrive. The A-Mei Teahouse is the most famous spot; the views over the sea from any of the hillside cafes are the real reason to be there.

Shifen, about 20 minutes by local train, has the Shifen Waterfall (nicknamed “Taiwan’s Niagara,” which is generous, but it is legitimately pretty) and the tradition of releasing sky lanterns into the gorge. Lanterns cost NT$150 to NT$200. The train runs through the middle of the village street.

Return to Taipei by TRA train from Ruifang station.

Alternatively, use this day to take the High Speed Rail to Hualien to get ahead of the Day 4 plan. HSR runs Taipei to Zuoying (Kaohsiung) but not directly to Hualien; take the TRA express instead (2.5 to 3 hours, NT$440).

Day 4: Hualien and Taroko Gorge

Important note for 2025 and 2026: A major earthquake struck Hualien in April 2024, causing significant damage to roads and trails inside Taroko National Park. As of late 2025, access to the gorge is restricted to specific time windows on Provincial Highway 8, with traffic released five times daily (roughly 06:30, 10:00, 12:00, 15:00, and 16:30). Many famous trails, including Zhuilu Old Road, Swallow’s Grotto, the Tunnel of Nine Turns, Shakadang Trail, and Baiyang Trail, remain closed. Check the official Taroko National Park website before planning this day. Outdated travel blog itineraries from before 2024 are not reliable for Taroko.

What is accessible as of 2025 to 2026: the Dekalun Trail from the visitor centre (1.5 hours return), Taroko Terrace, and Chongde Recreational Area. The gorge entrance and the Shakadang river mouth area are viewable even if the full trail is closed. The marble canyon walls and turquoise Liwu River are visually extraordinary regardless of trail access.

Stay in Hualien city rather than inside the park; the city has a small but good night market, good aboriginal Taiwanese restaurants, and convenient access for an early start. Base costs for a guesthouse or business hotel are NT$1,000 to NT$2,000 per night.

Day 5: East Coast and Heading South

The East Coast from Hualien to Taitung runs alongside the Pacific through rice terraces, fishing villages, and headlands. The Liyutan Scenic Area and the 193 County Road inland from the coast highway are the routes least covered in generic itineraries; the 193 runs through indigenous Amis tribal villages with small roadside markets selling wild boar, fresh fruit, and mochi. Renting a scooter or car is the right approach for this day (scooters NT$400 to NT$600 per day in Hualien; car NT$1,200 to NT$2,000 per day; international driving permit required for car rental).

Taitung city is smaller and calmer than Hualien. The Beinan Cultural Park preserves one of the largest prehistoric burial sites in Taiwan. The TRA train from Hualien to Taitung takes around 2 to 2.5 hours and costs NT$279 if you do not want to drive.

Day 6: Kaohsiung

The train from Taitung to Kaohsiung takes 2.5 to 3 hours on TRA (NT$400 to NT$500). Arrive in time for lunch before the afternoon sights.

Kaohsiung is Taiwan’s second-largest city and its most openly relaxed. The Pier-2 Art Center occupies old harbour warehouses in the Yancheng neighbourhood; the outdoor steel sculptures, street art, and independent boutiques around the pier area are among the more enjoyable urban walking environments in Taiwan. The Love River between Pier-2 and the Lotus Pond area is well-suited to an evening walk.

Liuhe Night Market in Kaohsiung gets far fewer foreign visitors than its Taipei equivalents and has excellent papaya milk, grilled seafood, and shrimp fishball soup at prices that feel low even by Taiwanese standards.

Kaohsiung International Airport (KHH) is 10 minutes by metro from the city centre (Orange Line). From here international flights serve Tokyo, Osaka, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, and several other destinations, which makes Kaohsiung a logical point to end the loop rather than backtracking to Taipei.

Practical Notes

Taiwan’s rail network is excellent and pre-booking High Speed Rail seats online is worth doing for busy weekend departures; the seats sell out. The EasyCard works across MRT, TRA local trains, buses, and YouBike bicycle rentals. YouBikes (dockless bicycles) are available in most major cities from NT$5 to NT$10 for 30 minutes and are a genuinely useful way to cover short distances. Mobile data is cheap and easily available: buy a SIM card at the airport convenience store on arrival for NT$300 to NT$500 for unlimited data over 5 to 7 days.

Weather: Taiwan’s typhoon season runs June through October. A typhoon typically closes Taroko completely, and ferries and some bus services suspend. Check the Central Weather Bureau if you are travelling in this window. October through December offers good weather with fewer crowds and lower hotel prices than the summer peak.