We know it is a little late to share our Taiwan Trip. But, we do believe that it is never too late to share the nice places and tasty foods with all of our readers. Not only did we visited the usual tourist attractions and food spots, but we also visited some places where the locals usually go with the help of a Taiwanese local website.
Our trip was mainly focused on Taipei with a little bit of Taichung as well as GaoMei Wetland (高美湿地). We did not managed to visit places like Alishan (阿里山), Qingjing Farm (清境農場) or the southern part of Taiwan. We will surely keep these for our next Taiwan trip!
Let’s check out our itinerary.
Redeem Freebies from Taiwan Visitor Association before Departure
Two weeks before our departure date, we went to the Taiwan Visitors Association located at Wisma Goldhill, Kuala Lumpur to redeem some freebies. To redeem the freebies, you are required to bring a copy of the following:
- E-Ticket from Malaysia to Taipei/KaohSiung
- Hotel Confirmation for one (1) night
Redemption is based on the name in the booking confirmation documents. The freebies were either a one-way journey of Kuo-Kuang (国光客运) bus voucher or EasyCard (悠遊卡) containing a value of NTD100 in it. The freebies vary from time to time and you might not be able to choose what you want. You can always check with them if there is any coupon or discount for theme parks or national parks which you plan to visit.
We decided to get the special design of EasyCard with a value of NTD100. We also took some brochures and maps which were useful to us from the visitor association.
Taiwan Visitor Association (KL Office)
Address: Suite 25.01, Level 25 Wisma Goldhill, 67 Jalan Raja Chulan, 50200, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Opening hours: 9.00am – 5.30pm (Monday – Friday)
Contact: +603 20706789
Email: tbrockl@taiwan.net.my
Website: http://www.taiwan.net.my/ms/
Getting around Taiwan
Subway/MRT is definitely the best transportation mode to go around Taipei. It is very convenient since it connects you to night markets, attractions, eating places, etc. The specialty of Taipei Main Station is its underground shopping streets. It was as big as a mall and with all kinds of shops, restaurants, etc.
In Taichung, we traveled like the locals by taking the bus everywhere we wanted to go. By taking the bus, we could experience the lifestyle of the locals. Furthermore, the bus fare at Taichung is free for the first 10km. Check out our next article about the transportation details and routes in Taichung which helped us save a lot. To highlight, Taichung’s bus frequency is way better than Malaysia.
Car rental is common in Taiwan especially if you are travelling in a big group. You can also engage a taxi driver to visit certain parts of Taiwan for better time management and a more comfortable ride. We engaged a taxi driver for our journey from Yehliu Geopark (野柳地質公園) to Shifen Waterfall (十分大瀑布), and then to Shifen Old Street (十分老街), and lastly to JiuFen (九份). We would say it will definitely be worth the cost when you are travelling in a big group but not just as a couple.
Train and High Speed Rail is one of the options when you want to travel to other states of Taiwan. We will suggest to purchase the ticket one month in advance as you may have the chance to grab the High Speed Rail ticket with as high as 35% discount. So, plan it early to enjoy more discounts!
Train - English version of ticket booking and schedule checking
High Speed Rail - English version of ticket booking and schedule checking
Accommodation
We knew Taiwan is famous for their B&B called Mingsu (民宿). Well, the experience of staying in a mingsu is a must while you are going somewhere outskirt.
In Taipei, we were considering to stay near Taipei Main Station or at Ximending area. A quick comparison between the two:
To avoid any delay in our early morning schedule, we chose to stay nearby Taipei Main Station as we would need to travel to other places by bus early in the morning. It was the same case in Taichung as we stayed just opposite the central station for the advantage of luggage storing. We did not need to rush and carry our luggage for a longer distance.
However, these are just our 5 cents opinion. You can always choose your accommodation based on your own preference and budget.
Before sharing our foods photos and some brief description & tips, below is our spending in Taiwan (ALL IN):
Flight ticket (AirAsia): RM1,178 (with 20kg return)
Hotels (Taipei + Taichung): RM881
Foods: RM936
Transportation: RM616
Entrance ticket (Yehliu Geopark): RM21
Total RM1,816 per person.
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