It’s not often that I visit a new country and return to it just a few weeks later. However, once you’ve had a taste of Taiwan, you’ll soon realise that the depth and breadth of its adventures will always leave you wanting more.
My first experience of Taiwan was a quick city break, where I tracked down some of the best things to do in Taipei and spent a day exploring the coastal city of Kaohsuing in South Taiwan. I had wanted to make my way over to the rugged East Coast, but there wasn’t enough time, so you can imagine how excited I was when the Taiwan Tourism Board heard about this and invited me back to see more of the island. Not only did they welcome me with open arms after a direct flight from Dubai to Tapei, but they helped to plan an itinerary that made sure I would get to grips with some East Coast Taiwan adventures in Taroko National Park.
The East Coast of Taiwan
The East Coast of Taiwan is an adventurer’s playground. Its dramatic, geological landscapes are actually the result of the island’s high seismic activity, so you can expect sheer cliffs plunging into the Pacific Ocean, marbles gorges, deep canyons, turquoise rivers, stunning waterfalls and winding roads that wrap themselves around endless mountains. With such scenic diversity, it’s no wonder that when the Portuguese stumbled across Taiwan in the 1500s, they named the East Coast ‘Ihla Formosa’, meaning ‘the beautiful isle’.
Whether you’re in search of a budget road trip that allows you to skirt winding roads on a scooter, or you’re looking for a luxe experience that mixes mountain peaks with private transport and tour guides, the East Coast of Taiwan will ignite even the coolest of adventurous souls.
Here’s all the need-to-know info and a two-day itinerary for Taroko National Park on the East Coast of Taiwan – because that’s where you’ll want to spend all your time.
How to get from Taipei to Taroko National Park
If you want to get to Taroko National Park and experience everything mentioned above, then you need to head to Hualien; it’s a small city on the East Coast. To get from Taipei to Hualien, you have three main modes of transport: you can drive there, catch a train or take an internal flight. We caught the train from Taipei to Hualien and then flew back to save time. There was also a driver assigned to us for this 6-day Taiwan trip, so he drove to Hualien (with the luggage – conveniently) because you need a mode of transport to get around Taroko Gorge and the national park.
- Taipei to Hualien by train: the easiest and most comfortable way to get to Hualien is to take the express train from Taipei Main Station; it takes two hours and costs approx. NT$440 one way (that’s just over AED 50 or around $15).
- Taipei to Hualien by plane: if you are short on time in Taiwan, then you can fly to and from Taipei to Hualien. We took a late evening flight back from Hualien to Taipei with UniAir; it’s technically a 40-minute flight on paper, but we were only in the air for 20 mins (and they still gave out free juice). A one-way flight costs approx NT$1,480, which is around AED 180 and $45.
- Taipei to Hualien by road: you can drive from Taipei to Hualien; it’s around 175km and is supposed to take around 3 hours. However, it often takes longer – particularly for tourists – who are unfamiliar with the somewhat difficult roads that Taiwan presents between the two cities.
No matter how you get to Hualien, bear in mind that you will need further transport to get you to Taroko National Park, whether it be a bus, a scooter or a car/van.
Taroko National Park
When people travel to the city of Hualien, they are usually there for one reason – to get themselves to Taroko. Lots of budget travellers base themselves in Hualien because it has a lot more variety to offer in terms of the food and accommodation options, but we were fortunate enough to be staying in an incredible mountain-side hotel for the night – more on that later.
Taroko National Park is Taiwan’s top tourist destination. Covering 1,200 sq km, the park is 90% mountainous and boasts 27 peaks over 3000m. If you have time on your side, spend 3 days in Taroko, but you can cover a lot of ground with just two. We were there for the majority of two days and one night, but it’s such a scenic part of the island that it would be a great place to chill and enjoy nature. Also, try to get there mid-week; remember that popular hotspots come with tourists, particularly on the weekends.
For those who want to avoid the crowds:
- Like a lot of trails and scenic hotspots in Asia, I noticed that while you may see a lot of people at the beginning of trails, they often disappear after the immediate “I was here” photo ops. Essentially, the longer the trail, the less people you’ll meet along the routes, so keep walking.
- You can expect to see tour buses on the scenic roads, but this tends to be in the afternoon, so get to your must-visit hotspots as early as possible
- When the sun starts to go down, the roads and scenic spots are deserted, so dusk is also a great time to soak up the serenity of the mountains.
Qingshui Cliffs
The Qingshui Cliffs are just one feature of Nature’s jaw-dropping creative canvas. From Hualien, we drove along Highway 9 to get to two spectacular viewing points of the clear-water (Qingshui) cliffs.
Highway 9 is the only coastal road in Taroko National Park that allows you to drive between the mountain peaks and the Pacific Ocean, which means you can see the cliffs plunging vertically into the blue-turquoise waters. The road snakes along the coastline and is made up of a series of tunnels that have been carved into the cliffs – the engineering behind the mountain roads in Taiwan is actually insane… and it gets even more impressive as you navigate your way through Taroko Gorge. You’ll easy spend a couple of hours just taking in your surroundings around the Qingshui cliffs.
Eat among the tribes
Did you know that Taiwan has 14 recognised indigenous tribes? Neither did I until I got to the East Coast where a high concentration of indigenous people live. So, lunch on both days in Taroko was tribal-style cuisine, and it didn’t disappoint.
After visiting Qingshui cliffs, we drove to our first, incredibly scenic spot for lunch. It happened to be in a wooden hotel that sits on its own mountainous plateau; it’s called Taroko Village Hotel, and many Taroko Tribal members work there, so you can expect a Truku tribal menu with a contemporary twist, and you’ll be eating in picturesque surroundings. While we only visited for lunch, it looked like an incredible hotel option with around 28 wooden tribal suites set against the backdrop of many, many mountains.
On our second day in Taroko, we stopped at Dajeeli Tribe Restaurant for lunch; it’s s an extremely authentic spot that’s hidden away among the trees. It’s the kind of place that I would never have had the chance to experience if it wasn’t for Stephen (Stephen was the tour guide, the fountain of knowledge and the kind-hearted soul assigned to take me into the depths of Taiwanese culture.) Tables and benches at Dajeeli are made from driftwood slabs and the décor is true to its indigenous roots. You can read the story behind Mother Gao, but the food speaks for itself and its history. You can expect a cheap banquet-style feast made up of mountain ingredients and served on mountain leaves; you can hit your bamboo-tube rice off the rocks to open it up and scoop it out. And you’ll wash it all down with Oolong tea served in a papaya shell.
Silks Place Hotel in Taroko Gorge
If you’re the type of traveller who aspires to be more ‘outdoorsy’ but loves fancy hotels far too much, then there is one place in Taroko Gorge that blends the best of both worlds. While in Taroko National Park, I was fortunate enough to spend the night in the park’s only five-star hotel, known as Silks Place Taroko. Yes, I can confirm that luxe adventures are a thing, and there are more and more people looking for the plush life meshed in with rugged landscapes and mountain adventures.
What I loved about Silks Place – more than the incredible rooftop that boasts temperature-controlled jacuzzis, two pools, real fire-pit features and a cosy outdoor lounge – was that it is not one of those invasive five-star hotels that drops itself into a landscape without any consideration for its surroundings. Rather, Silks Place is nestled into the mountain-side and is relatively low-key upon approach. It’s only when you walk around the hotel from inside that you appreciate what it is hiding. When you stand on the rooftop and look around you, you’ll see mountains – everywhere – and in the distance, you’ll catch a glimpse at all the things you plan to do tomorrow, including hiking trails, suspension bridges and hill-top pagodas.
Pudu Bridge & Xiangde Temple
Just a stone-throw away from Silks Place, you’ll discover Pudu Bridge, which leads you the stairways that will take you to a hill-top Pagoda, known as the Xiandge Temple. From the temple, you can take in the views of the Tiangtiang village. It’s an ideal way to start your day because you’ll generally find that no one else will be there, so you can enjoy a peaceful morning under the colourful, and musical, pagoda.
Taroko National Park Hiking Trails
Visiting Taroko National Park and taking on its trails is totally free, so you just need to think about your transport, food and accommodation. There are three main types of trails within Taroko National Park: scenic trails, hiking trails and mountaineering trails. With some much more gruelling than others, you can choose a trail that works for your fitness and endurance level. Across the two days that we were there, we mainly covered scenic trails, which are super easy and very flat, but I already want to go back and do the Zhuili Old Trail (this one takes you to the mountain tops and needs a permit). Here’s the easily-accessible trails that we covered, which can all be done relatively quickly.
Baiyang Trail
The Baiyang Trail is also known as the Baiyang Waterfall trail, and it’s probably the most fun because it brings you through six tunnels, across a suspension bridge and delivers a Water Curtain Cave as well as waterfalls at the end of it.
Need-to-know: this is a short 2.1km trail that anyone could do. All you’ll need is a torch, a rain poncho and a couple of hours to enjoy it all.
Eternal Spring Shrine Trail
The Etertnal Spring Shrine trail, also known as the Changchun trail, is a quick stop-off that takes you to a monastery that juts out from the bottom of a mountain. It was built to commemorate 226 military veterans who died during the construction of the Central Cross-Island Highway between 1956-1960. Once you’ve seen the engineering feat that is the highway, you’ll likely wonder how there weren’t more fatalities during its construction. It is an incredible road.
Need-to-know: The Eternal Spring Shrine trail is more of a famous pit stop for pictures, which draws the tour buses. The trail is super short but it was closed the day we were there due to damage to the passageway.
Tunnel of Nine Turns Trail
The Tunnel of Nine Turns, also known as the Jiuqudong trail, is just 700m in length and, yes, you guessed it – this trail brings you through nine turns. What is interesting is that this trail used to be a part of the Central Cross-Island Highway, but it has now been pedestrianised. The marble gorges and the Liwu River that runs through it make it incredibly scenic; there’s also an ascending air current at the end of it, so it suddenly gets very windy.
Need-to-know: this is a quick roundtrip that will only take you about 30 minutes; you can read a little bit more about the history and the viewpoint at each of the nine turns here.
Shakadang Trail
The Shakadang Trail greets you with many signs that include messages such as, “Beware of poisonous bees or snakes” and “Heavy rockfall; do not linger”. However, don’t let that put you off; it’s totally fine. The Shakadang trail winds through canyons and opens up into a rock-strewn river. About halfway in, you’ll also find a couple of small stalls, one of which serves up “the best mountain sausage in Taroko”; it is undeniably tasty. Once you’re a couple of hundred metres in, you will feel like you’re alone as the tourists don’t seem to venture too far after taking a quick one-hundred photos.
Need-to-know: the Shakadang trail is a flat 4.4km trail. Give yourself 3-4 hours for this one, but you could spend a leisurely half-day there if you wanted to chill.
Swallow Grotto Trail
Swallow Grotto, also known as the Yanzikou trail, sits on the Central Cross-Island Highway and let’s you enjoy the dramatic terrain of the gorge and the Liwu River. The trail used to be the old road, but this was separated from the highway due to the level of rock fall. As such, there are now two tunnels that run through Swallow Grotto.
Need-to-know: it is highly recommended to wear your helmet for this one. Free hard hats are provided upon entry to Taroko Gorge.
The East Coast of the island is just another reason why it’s time for Taiwan to feature on your travel bucket list. The next time I visit, I’ll probably take on the Central Cross-Island Highway (Highway 8), the most picturesque route in Taiwan!
Sponsored: This trip was in collaboration with the Taiwan Tourism Board; however, all opinions are my own – as always. Explore #TimeForTaiwan and #HeartofAsia to see more of what the island has to offer on Instagram. Alternatively, you can explore more of my top things to do in Taiwan!
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