Thinking of coming to Taiwan? In this blog, we will share insider tips for planning a great vacation here.
Taiwan is the most friendly country in the world for foreigners and one of the best tourist destinations in the world. Many have called it the best-kept secret in Asia. Taiwan is not usually known as a travel destination, mainly because of PRC China which tries to downplay its existence and the fact that the Taiwan Tourism Bureau does not do a very good job. We will try to make up for that with this blog.
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Table of Contents

• When to go:
• How to get there:
• Tours:
• Where to stay:
• How to get around in Taiwan:
• Map:
• Taiwan's Outer Islands 台灣的外島
• Taiwan's East Coast 台灣東海岸
• Taroko National Park 太魯閣國家公園
• Kenting 墾丁
• Alishan 阿里山
• Sun Moon Lake 日月潭
• Beitou Hot Springs 北投溫泉
• Tamsui 淡水
• Wulai 烏來
• Yangmingshan National Park 陽明山國家公園
• Pingxi Railway 平溪支線鐵路
• Taiwan's Northern Coast 台灣北海岸
• Taipingshan 太平山
• Maolin 茂林
• Keelung 基隆
• Taipei City  台北市
• New Taipei 新北市
• Yilan County 宜蘭
• Hualien 花蓮
• Taitung 台東
• Pingtung 屏東
• Kaohsiung 高雄
• Tainan 臺南
• Chiayi 嘉義
• Yunlin 雲林
• Changhua 彰化
• Nantou 南投
• Taichung 台中
• Miaoli 苗栗
• Hsinchu 新竹
• Taoyuan 桃園

When to go:
The best time to go they say is anytime!
There is always a part of Taiwan that is great to visit at any given time of year.
However, most areas are most comfortable around May when it is not too hot and there are no northeasterly winds or typhoons.
​The typhoon season lasts from around June to October. The tourist busy season is during summer break from June to August, during which time it can be hard to book a hostel or airplane ticket. Winter is the less crowded season, but the water will be colder, there will be constant wind (which could cancel transportation), and it will rain more often.

How to get there:
By Plane:
You can book cheap flights to Taiwan on Trip.com or CheapO Air. You can also search for cheap flights in Taiwan here and here. 
You can also book discount tickets for domestic flights within Taiwan on KKday here. 
By Boat: 
There is a ferry boat between Kinmen and Xiamen, China. That is the only commercial way I know of to travel to Taiwan by boat.

Tours:
There are many tours and activities available such as snorkeling, diving, SUPing, Surfing, Speed Boating, Glamping, River tracing, Paragliding, Kayaking, Canoeing, River Tracing, River Rafting, River Tubing, Pack Rafting, Whale Watching, ATV / 4-wheeling, Paintballing, Water Biking, Glamping, Cycling, Ziplining, Horse Riding, and many others, which you can book through Klook here or KKday here.

Where to stay:
Looking for a hotel? We recommend booking through Agoda here, which provides the best quality selection of accommodation on the islands.
Booking.com, Expedia, and Hotels.com are also good choices. 

How to get around in Taiwan:
By Train:
You can take a train ride around the entire island in about 8 hours. Book tickets via the normal train (TRA)  on Klook here.
By HSR:
Taiwan’s HSR runs from north to south along the west coast of Taiwan, and is perhaps the fastest mode of transport available. You can book discount tickets via high speed rail (HSR)  on Klook here or KKDay here. 
By Bus: 
Busses leave hourly from most major cities. You can book inter-city bus on Klook here.
By Scooter:
You can rent a scooter on Klook or KKday. Scooter rental is about 300 NT per day. You can check out our scooter rental guide here.
By Car:
You can also rent a car for about 1500 NT per day. If you are looking for car rentals, you can also search Qeeq here, Klook here, or KKday here. You can also check out our car rental guide here. 

Map:
​Please see a map below of all the places we have blogged about in Taiwan:

Whale Cave is a natural basalt sea cave on the north side of Hsiaomen Island in Penghu (Shomom 小門嶼) , and one of the many tourist attractions in the area. According to some it looks like a whale, but that is not the true origin of its name.

The actual reason for the cave's name "Whale Cave" is that, a long time ago, a whale got stuck in the cave and died. According to local legend, a bone from that whale is now inside Dayi Temple. See more about Dayi Temple in our blog here.

Hours: Open 24 hours every day.

Price: Free!

Tours:
There are many tours and activities available on the islands such as snorkeling, diving, wind surfing, sailing, canoeing, starlight Marine Ranch, wakeboarding, seafood Barbeque, massage, yachting, glamping, trampoline Water Sports, South Penghu Marine National Park, SUP / Paddle Boarding, kayaking, night fishing, Sheraton Four Points Eatery, Dragon Palace Intertidal Zone, Jibei Sand Tail, and many more options.
​For more information, look at other tour/ferry sites or book a personalized tour with Klook here or KKday here. 

Accommodation:
We have stayed at and recommend Han's Hostel which had great service and is right next to Shanshui Beach, the best beach in Penghu (you can book on Agoda here, Booking.com here, or Trip.com here), and Cherry Inn Penghu, a newly renovated homestay in downtown Magong with great service and great prices (you can book on Agoda here, Booking.com here, Klook here, Trip.com here, Hotels.com here, or Expedia here). 
Looking for a hotel? We recommend booking through Agoda here, which provides the best quality selection of accommodation on the islands. 
You can also find out more about where to stay in our Taiwan hotels guide here.
​You can also book Wifi and SIM cards for Taiwan on Gigago here.  
Need travel insurance? Compare prices on Insubuy here. 

Just to let you know, if you book using the links above, we get some commission at no cost to you, and you can help support our blog. 
You can click here to receive $5 USD on your first Klook purchase. ​

How to get there:
By Car/Scooter: The best way to get there is via scooter or car from Magong. But be careful to park in a designated spot because the cops there are strict.
You can rent a scooter in Penghu on Klook here or on KKday here. You can also check out our scooter rental guide here. 
You can rent a car for Penghu on Klook here or on KKday here. You can also check out our car rental guide here.  
By Bicycle: Cycling is the best way to enjoy Taiwan's landscapes if you have the time and energy. Looking for bicycle rentals in Taiwan? You can search on KKday here and search for tours on Klook here. You can also check out our Taiwan cycling guide here. 
By Bus: a bus is possible on the main island, but it will be slower and more unpredictable. 
Take a tour: You can book a tour to Penghu including transportation on ​Klook here or KKday here. 

Map: Please see below:

Sheding Nature Park is a nice hike that offers amazing views of Taiwan's Southern and East Coast. You can also enjoy tropical forests with gaping coral rocks and crevasses everywhere. It is a nice place for a short hike to enjoy nature and the scenery around Kenting.  
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Background:
Sheding Park is not large but there are over 329 different kinds of plants here and over 50 different kinds of butterflies alone. The northeast wind here combined with coral rocks makes for a unique wind swept and rocky forest environment. There are over 50 limestone caves in this small park alone. 

Kenting was first settled by Chinese during the Qing Dynasty. The word Kenting comes from twp words that mean cultivate (ken3 墾) and strong man (丁 ding1). During that time, a group of strong men (or Zhuang Ding 壯丁) came from Guangdong, who were basically Chinese pionners of the area to cultivate the land, hence the area was named Kenting for them.
The area was considered to be made into a park during the Japanese occupation due to it being the only tropical location in the Japanese Empire, but was never officially created.
Kenting National Park was established in 1984 as the first national park in Taiwan after WWII.
Kenting became a major vacation spot, becoming a center for hostels and hotels for travelers. 
Kenting is considered by many to have the best beaches in Taiwan. This is because of its fine white sand and year-round warm temperatures and sunshine (it is in the tropical part of Taiwan after all). 

Hours:
24/7

Price: 
Sheding Park 社頂自然公園: Free
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You can book discount tickets to Kenting's Forest Recreation Area on Klook here or KKday here. 

When to go:
Summer! It's when the water is warmest and the sun is hottest. However there will be more people in summer, and there could be Typhoons. 
Spring and Fall are also good times to go, as there will be less visitors and cooler temperatures.
Winter is an okay time to go as well, it will be warmer than the rest of Taiwan and the water will still be warm enough to swim in. 

How to get there:
By Car/Scooter: Take provincial highway 1 south to the bottom of Taiwan until it becomes provincial highway 26. After that keep going past Hengchun into Kenting National Park.
Looking for scooter rental in Kenting? Click here or here to search for options. You can also check out our Taiwan scooter rental guide here. 
If you are looking for car rentals, you can also search here. You can also check out our car rental guide here. 
By Bus: Busses leave daily to Kenting from Zuoying HSR station, Kaohsiung Station, and Pingtung.
You can book tickets to Pingtung via high speed rail (HSR)  on Klook here or KKDay here, or book tickets via the normal train (TRA)  on Klook here. You can book tickets to travel to Pingtung via inter-city bus on Klook here. 
By Plane: There are direct shuttle busses to Kenting from Kaohsing's Xiaogang (KHH) Airport. 
You can book cheap flights to Kinmen on Trip.com or CheapO Air. You can also search for cheap flights in Taiwan on Kiwi here. 
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Accommodation:
I have stayed at many hostels and hotels in Kenting, and even almost bought a house here. Some places that I have stayed at and can recommend are Nanwan Kiki (book on Agoda here, Booking.com here), a B&B next to Nanwan Bay, Kenting's most popular Beach. There are also a few decent hotels near Kenting Street Night Market like Kenting Star Inn 888 (book on Agoda here, Klook here, Hotels.com here, Expedia here, or Booking.com here), or Kenting Dajianshan Hotel (book on Agoda here, Booking.com here, Hotels.com here, or Expedia here). You will notice that none of these hotels are five star resorts (I do not come to Kenting to waste my time at a resort, but you can still search Agoda, Booking.com, Hotels.com, or Expedia for those) but they are in my opinion the above have the best value for the money. 
Looking for a hotel? Find out where to stay in our Taiwan hotels guide or search for the best hotel deals in Taiwan here. We recommend booking through Agoda here, which provides the best quality selection of accommodation in Taiwan.
You can also book Wifi and SIM cards for Taiwan on Gigago here.  
Need travel insurance? Compare prices on Insubuy here. 

Tours and Activities in Kenting:
There are many activities available such as snorkeling, diving, SUPing, surfing, submarine riding, and river tracing. 
You can find more tours of Kenting on Klook here or KKday here. 

Just to let you know, if you book using the links above, we get some commission at no cost to you, and you can help support our blog. You can click here to receive $5 USD on your first Klook purchase. 

​Map: Please see below:

Fairy Cave in Kenting National Forest Recreation Area is the longest limestone cave in Taiwan, and right next to it is Silver Dragon Cave. These two caves are some of the most beautiful and easily accessible limestone caves in Taiwan. Next to the caves there is also a tower with a café and viewing platform that offers amazing panoramic views of the Hengchun Peninsula. You should definitely stop by on your next trip to Kenting. 

Background:
Kenting was first settled by Chinese during the Qing Dynasty. The word Kenting comes from twp words that mean cultivate (ken3 墾) and strong man (丁 ding1). During that time, a group of strong men (or Zhuang Ding 壯丁) came from Guangdong, who were basically Chinese pionners of the area to cultivate the land, hence the area was named Kenting for them.
The area was considered to be made into a park during the Japanese occupation due to it being the only tropical location in the Japanese Empire, but was never officially created.
Kenting National Park was established in 1984 as the first national park in Taiwan after WWII.
Kenting became a major vacation spot, becoming a center for hostels and hotels for travelers. 

Fairy Cave is 120 meters long and includes features such as buddhas ear, south pole man, and milk waterfall. Silver dragon cave is 30 meters long and is so named because of the dragon like rock feature inside.

Hours:
8 AM to 5 PM

Price: 
Kenting Forest Recreation Area 墾丁國家森林遊樂區:150 NT per person
You can book discount tickets to Kenting's Forest Recreation Area on Klook here or KKday here. 

Tours and Activities in Kenting:
There are many activities available, such as snorkeling, diving, SUPing, surfing, submarine riding, and river tracing. 
You can find more tours of Kenting on Klook here or KKday here. 
​
Just to let you know, if you book using the links above, we get some commission at no cost to you, and you can help support our blog. You can click here to receive $5 USD on your first Klook purchase. 

When to go:
Summer! It's when the water is warmest and the sun is hottest. However there will be more people in summer, and there could be Typhoons. 
Spring and Fall are also good times to go, as there will be less visitors and cooler temperatures.
Winter is an okay time to go as well, it will be warmer than the rest of Taiwan and the water will still be warm enough to swim in. 

How to get there:
By Car/Scooter: Take provincial highway 1 south to the bottom of Taiwan until it becomes provincial highway 26. After that keep going past Hengchun into Kenting National Park and take Sheding Road to the Kenting National Forest Recreation Area parking lot. You can search for scooter options here or here, and you can check out our scooter rental guide here. 
By Bus: Busses leave daily to Kenting from Zuoying HSR station, Kaohsiung Station, and Pingtung. You can book tickets to travel to Kenting via inter-city bus on Klook here. 
By Plane: There are direct shuttle busses to Kenting from Kaohsing's Xiaogang (KHH) Airport. 
You can search for cheap flights in Taiwan here. 

Accommodation:
I have stayed at many hostels and hotels in Kenting, and even almost bought a house here. Some places that I have stayed at and can recommend are Nanwan Kiki (book on Agoda here), a B&B next to Nanwan Bay, Kenting's most popular Beach. There are also a few decent hotels near Kenting Street Night Market like Kenting Star Inn 888 (book on Agoda here or on Klook here), or Kenting Dajianshan Hotel (book on Agoda here). You will notice that none of these hotels are five star resorts (I do not come to Kenting to waste my time at a resort, but you can still search Agoda for those) but they are in my opinion the above have the best value for the money. 
Find out where to stay in our Taiwan hotels guide or search for the best hotel deals in Taiwan here. We recommend booking through Agoda here, which provides the best quality selection of accommodation in Taiwan.

​Map: Please see below:

The Baxian Caves (aka Baxiandong) on the east coast in Taitung County have the earliest evidence of humans living in Taiwan, including stone tools dating back to over 30,000 years ago. In recent times the caves were converted into Taiwan folk religion temples, but now all of the 30 caves in the area have been reclaimed by the government to preserve this important archaeological site. The area is now open to the public, and there are trails and a large park in front of the caves.

Background:
The Baxian Caves were originally underwater until geological forces between the Philippine and Eurasian tectonic plates forced the ground upward. 
The first traces of people living here date back to 30,000 years ago during the late Paleolithic age. They were thought to have crossed a land bridge between what is now Fujian Province of China and Taiwan, and created what is known as the Changbin Culture, and stayed here until about 1500 years ago during the late stone age. After that, their culture mysteriously disappeared. 
The people that lived in the caves were mostly hunter-gatherers that used stone tools, and used the caves as shelter. 
Later the area was inhabited by the Amis Aboriginie Tribe (阿美族) who have lived there since at least 1500 BC, and called the area Lohan, which means caves. 
After the area was settled by Han Chinese farmers, there arose a legend that the caves were home to the eight immortals (八仙 Baxian), from where the caves now get their name  and many temples were built in the caves here, as well as to other gods such as the Earth God, Buddha, Guanyin, and others. 

Price:
Free
Parking:
60 NT for cars, 20 NT for scooters. 
You can book a tour to Taitung with Klook here or KKday here. 

Hours:
8:30 AM PM every day. 

How to get there:
By Car/Scooter: We recommend taking Provincial Highway 11 from Taitung north 30km to the caves. Feel free to stop and enjoy the scenery along the way. You can also try to coming south down from Hualien. 
Looking for scooter rental in Taitung? You can search Klook here or KKday here to search for options. You can also check out our scooter rental guide here.
If you are looking for car rentals, you can also search KKday here or Klook here. You can check out our car rental guide here.
By Bus: You can take bus 8102 or 8103 from Taitung, but according to Google this will take about 3 hours. You can also try to coming south down from Hualien. You can book tickets to travel to Taitung via inter-city bus on Klook here. 
Book tickets via the normal train (TRA)  on Klook here.

Accommodation:
Booking accommodation in the Taitung can be difficult in the summer months and on weekends when rooms can be fully booked for months in advance. We suggest a better quality selection on Agoda.com. 
We have stayed at and recommend the Papago International Resort in Chishang (you can book on Agoda here, Booking.com here, Hotels.com here, or Expedia here), which is a five star hotel with private villas with pools for each room, and Mountain and Ocean B & B in Taimali (you can book on Agoda here, Booking.com here, Hotels.com here, or Expedia here), which is a quiet and affordable B&B right next to the beach. 
You can also book Wifi and SIM cards for Taiwan on Gigago here.  
Need travel insurance? Compare prices on Insubuy here. 
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Tours:
There are many tours and activities such as snorkeling, diving, SUPing, Surfing, Speed Boating, Glamping, River tracing and more in Taitung. You can find more tours of Taitung on Klook here or KKday here. 

Just to let you know, if you book using the links above, we get some commission at no cost to you, and you can help support our blog. 
You can click here to receive $5 USD on your first Klook purchase. 

Map: Please see the map below: