Taipei first. Then the whole island.

★★★★★★★★★★4.6· 1,654 travellers on Taiwan’s busiest coach

One road leaves Taipei, runs past the sea-carved rock at Yehliu, climbs to the lantern-lit stairs of Jiufen and ends on a railway line where people write wishes on paper and let them go. Almost every visitor does this loop. What changes is the order, how long you get at each stop, and whether you are on the stairs before or after the coaches.

• 1Shifen, Jiufen, and Yehliu Guided Day Tripfrom $31
• 2Yehliu, Jiufen, and Pingxi Day Tourfrom $65
• 3Jiufen Night View and Shifen Day Tourfrom $31

The full loop

Yehliu, Jiufen and Shifen in one sweep

8–10 hours· hotel pickup· the biggest seller

Queen’s Head at opening time while the light is still low, noodles and taro balls on Jiufen Old Street, then a lantern let go over the Pingxi railway before the day runs out.

The evening version

Jiufen after the coaches leave

6–8 hours· small group· late finish

You arrive as the day tours head home. The stairs empty, the red lanterns come on above the tea houses, and the drive back takes in a night market instead of rush hour.

The private day

Your own car, your own clock

Full day· private driver· hotel to hotel

Shifen Waterfall first because nobody else is there yet, then the old street, then Jiufen at whatever pace you set. It earns its price with four people or a family that will not queue.

Compare every northeast coast day trip →

The lantern coast, the night markets, the oolong hills an hour from downtown, a kitchen where you fold your own dumplings, and volcanic steam twenty minutes up the red line.

Every tour we cover, cheapest first. Taipei is one of the cheapest capitals in Asia to eat and move around in, and the ladder shows it.

Under $50

73 tours

Night market walks, museum entry, tea tastings and the cycling mornings along the riverside parks.

• 1Shifen, Jiufen, and Yehliu Guided Day Tripfrom $31
• 2Jiufen Night View and Shifen Day Tourfrom $31
• 3Taipei 101 Observatory Deck Entry Ticketfrom $19

$50–150

163 tours

The northeast coast day trips, food tours with eight or ten tastings, cooking classes that start at the market.

• 1Full-Day Private Custom Taipei City Tourfrom $126
• 2Yehliu, Jiufen, and Pingxi Day Tourfrom $65
• 3Full-Day Private Northern Taiwan Tour from Taipei with Pickupfrom $126

$150 and up

145 tours

Private drivers, Taroko Gorge on the east coast, and the multi-day loops that go all the way round.

• 15-Day Best of Round Taiwan Island Tourfrom $558
• 2Private Taroko Gorge National Park Day Tourfrom $180
• 3Private Car: 8 Hour Highly Customized Taipei City Exploration!from $159

What fills first across the island, and what each one is worth a day of your trip for.

1

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 1,654 reviews

Shifen, Jiufen, and Yehliu Guided Day Trip

Explore Shifen, Jiufen, and Yehliu from Taipei with a guide, lantern release, waterfall, old streets, and coastal rock formations.

From · $31

Read our review →

2 ★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 911 reviews Full-Day Private Custom Taipei City Tour from $126 3 ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 892 reviews Yehliu, Jiufen, and Pingxi Day Tour from $65 4 ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 870 reviews Jiufen Night View and Shifen Day Tour from $31 5 ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 847 reviews Taipei 101 Observatory Deck Entry Ticket from $19 6 ★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 782 reviews Full-Day Private Northern Taiwan Tour from Taipei with Pickup from $126 7 ★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 716 reviews The Award-Winning Private Food Tour of Taipei: The 10 Tastings from $90 8 ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 519 reviews Thousand Island Lake and Pinglin Tea Plantation from $40

Temples and street food run the length of Asia. Tapioca in your tea, a hundred night markets that belong to their neighbourhoods, and a hot-spring mineral named after the town it came out of belong to this island.

Invented in Taichung

The Tapioca Ball

A tea stand in Taichung dropped sweetened tapioca into iced milk tea in the 1980s and the drink went round the world under a name nobody agrees on. On the island it is still made slowly: pearls boiled and rested in syrup, tea shaken until it holds a head, the cup built to order with the sugar and ice named out loud. The workshops let you cook the pearls yourself, which is the part that takes the time.

1. 1Thousand Island Lake and Pinglin Tea Plantation★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 519 reviews
2. 2Thousand Island Lake and Pinglin Tea Plantation from Taipei★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 172 reviews
3. 3Xiao Long Bao, Beef Noodles & Boba Tea Cooking Class in Taipei★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 159 reviews

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Every evening

The Night Market

Taiwan has more than a hundred night markets and the good ones are neighbourhood institutions rather than tourist strips. Raohe runs one straight street from the temple gate, so you eat in a line. Shilin hides its food hall downstairs under the covered market. Ningxia is short, old and famous for stalls that have been in the same hands for decades. All three are cash, and all three are busiest around eight.

1. 1[Private Tour] Shilin Night Market Walking Tour With a Private Tour Guide (2-hr)★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 123 reviews
2. 2Street Food & Hidden Eats Night Market Food Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 112 reviews
3. 3Taipei Food Tour: Night Market & Convenience Store(Food Included)★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 100 reviews

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Twenty minutes up the red line

Beitou’s Steam

Beitou sits in a volcanic crack at the north end of the Taipei metro, and the Thermal Valley boils in the open air hot enough that the whole basin steams. The rock that forms in the stream, hokutolite, is named after the town and occurs in only one other place on earth. Bathhouses run from public pools costing a few hundred NT to private rooms rented by the hour.

1. 1Beitou and Yangmingshan National Park Day Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 307 reviews
2. 2Beitou and Yangmingshan Day Tour from Taipei★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 92 reviews
3. 3Private Yangmingshan Volcano Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 67 reviews

See all 26 →