6 Days: Taipei and Beyond
A three-hour High Speed Rail ride from Taipei gets you all the way to Tainan, a city that was Taiwan’s capital for over two centuries before Taipei ever held the title. Six days is exactly enough runway to spend half the trip in and around the capital, then ride the HSR down the west coast to see why the south feels like an entirely different country. Rather stay put in the capital? See the 6 day Taipei itinerary . Have a full week? Add Hualien and Taroko Gorge with the 7 day version .
Book these before you go
- Jiufen, Shifen and Yehliu combo tour
- A Taichung or Sun Moon Lake overnight on Booking.com
- A Tainan overnight on Booking.com
- A Taipei base on Agoda for the first two nights
The 6 day route at a glance
| Day | Focus | Transit time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arrival, Longshan Temple, Bopiliao | in-city, MRT only |
| 2 | Taipei 101, National Palace Museum | in-city, MRT only |
| 3 | Jiufen, Shifen, Yehliu Geopark | 1-1.5 hours each way |
| 4 | HSR to Taichung, Sun Moon Lake | HSR 1 hour, bus 1.5-2 hours |
| 5 | Tainan’s old town | HSR under 1 hour from Taichung |
| 6 | Return north, Elephant Mountain | HSR 1.5-2 hours |
Day 1: Arrival and Old Taipei
Land at Taoyuan, grab an EasyCard at the airport MRT counter, and take the Airport MRT Express into the city, about 35 to 38 minutes for a flat 160 NT. Spend the afternoon in Wanhua: Longshan Temple first, incense thick and worshippers shaking fortune sticks for real, then the Bopiliao Historic Block next door for the oldest surviving streetscape in Taipei.
Where to Eat: A proper beef noodle soup shop, 150 to 400 NT depending on reputation, beats any hotel restaurant on night one.
Where to Stay: Zhongshan or Ximending both put you within easy MRT reach of everything on this itinerary.
Day 2: Icons and Artifacts
Morning. Taipei 101’s observatory opens at 9am, roughly 600 NT for the standard 88th-floor ticket. It hasn’t been the world’s tallest building since 2010, when the Burj Khalifa passed it after a six-year run, but the 660-tonne damper visible through the glass is still worth the ride.
Afternoon. The National Palace Museum is worth the rest of your day: one of the largest collections of Chinese imperial art anywhere, jadeite cabbage and meat-shaped stone included. Give it real time.
Tips: The museum genuinely needs half a day if you want to see it rather than walk past it.
Day 3: North Coast Day Trip
Train to Ruifang, bus up to Jiufen for the morning, arriving before 9am if you can to beat the crowds that build fast on this hillside lantern town. Move on to Shifen for the old railway street and sky lanterns, then Yehliu Geopark for the wind-carved rock formations, the Queen’s Head among them. A guided combo tour covers all three in around nine hours if you’d rather not manage three bus connections solo.
Evening. Dinner at Din Tai Fung back in the city. It’s a homegrown Taiwanese chain, not an import, started as a Taipei cooking-oil shop in 1958 before dumplings entered the menu in 1972. The queue is real; go anyway.
Day 4: HSR to Taichung and Sun Moon Lake
Morning. High Speed Rail from Taipei to Taichung, about an hour. Explore the city itself for a couple of hours, the old Japanese-era Miyahara building turned ice cream parlor is worth the stop for the architecture alone.
Afternoon. Bus from Taichung HSR station to Sun Moon Lake, roughly 1.5 to 2 hours. Ride the cable car up to Wenwu Temple for the lake view, or rent a bike for the lakeside path. Stay overnight near the lake or back in Taichung, whichever your onward transport favors.
Day 5: Tainan’s Old Town
Morning. Back to Taichung HSR station, then south to Tainan, under an hour by rail. Tainan was Taiwan’s capital for more than two centuries before Taipei took over, and the old town shows it: start at Chihkan Tower, the restored Dutch-era fort, and the Confucius Temple nearby, the oldest in Taiwan.
Is Tainan worth the extra HSR leg?
Yes, if you want proof that Taiwan isn’t just Taipei. Tainan moves at a slower pace, the old town is genuinely old rather than restored-for-tourists, and it’s under an hour past Taichung by rail, so the detour costs you transit time, not a whole extra travel day.
Afternoon. Anping Old Fort and the old street around it round out the historic core. This part of the city moves at a noticeably slower pace than Taipei, and it’s worth letting your own pace slow down to match it.
Evening. Shennong Street is Tainan’s own historic street, restored shophouses and small craft studios rather than a strip of chain stores, and Wusheng Night Market nearby is a good, less touristy dinner option than anything back in the capital.
Day 6: Last Day, Back North
Morning. A final wander through Tainan, or an early HSR back to Taipei if you’d rather have more time in the capital before departure. Ninety minutes to two hours on the HSR covers the whole distance depending on the service.
Afternoon. Back in Taipei, close the trip with Elephant Mountain at sunset if the weather holds, a free 20 to 40 minute climb for the classic 101 skyline shot, or a slower wander through Da’an’s cafes if you’d rather sit still after six days of moving.
Things to Know
The New Taiwan Dollar is the currency throughout. Typhoon season runs June through October and can disrupt HSR schedules on short notice, so keep at least one day of this itinerary flexible if you’re traveling in that window.
Transportation
EasyCard covers Taipei’s MRT, buses, and YouBike, but not the HSR; book HSR tickets separately, and reserve seats ahead during holiday periods.
Last-Minute Tips
Don’t try to out-crowd the tour buses at Jiufen; go early or go late, there’s no good midday version of that town. And don’t skip bubble tea just because Taipei didn’t invent it: that credit goes to Taichung, which you’ll walk straight through on Day 4.
Official references: Travel Taipei , Taiwan High Speed Rail , National Palace Museum .