Backpacking Taiwan: A 5-Day Guide

This five-day Taiwan route is for first-timers and stopover travelers who want the north done properly without spending half the trip on trains. The pace is relaxed: one base in Taipei with easy day trips, then a single night in the hills at Jiufen. You’ll need the Taipei MRT, city buses up to Yangmingshan and the museum, the TRA train to Ruifang, the little Pingxi branch line, and a direct bus back from Jiufen.

Days 1-2: Taipei

Ease into Taipei with the city’s big set pieces, which sit close together on the MRT. Start at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, where the guards change every hour and the gardens around the ponds fill with retirees doing tai chi. Head to the Taipei 101 Observatory late in the afternoon so you see the city in daylight and then lit up; tickets run around NT$600 (about US$19). Day two belongs to the National Palace Museum: MRT to Shilin, then a short bus, and allow three to four hours for the bronzes, calligraphy and jade. In the evening, the same MRT line delivers you … read more 👉

This five-day Taiwan route is for first-timers and stopover travelers who want the north done properly without spending half the trip on trains. The pace is relaxed: one base in Taipei with easy day trips, then a single night in the hills at Jiufen. You’ll need the Taipei MRT, city buses up to Yangmingshan and the museum, the TRA train to Ruifang, the little Pingxi branch line, and a direct bus back from Jiufen.

Days 1-2: Taipei

Ease into Taipei with the city’s big set pieces, which sit close together on the MRT. Start at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, where the guards change every hour and the gardens around the ponds fill with retirees doing tai chi. Head to the Taipei 101 Observatory late in the afternoon so you see the city in daylight and then lit up; tickets run around NT$600 (about US$19). Day two belongs to the National Palace Museum: MRT to Shilin, then a short bus, and allow three to four hours for the bronzes, calligraphy and jade. In the evening, the same MRT line delivers you to Shilin Night Market, the city’s largest, where the basement food court and the lanes around Cixian Temple are where to graze on oyster omelets and giant fried chicken.

Day 3: Qixing Mountain Trail

Get out of the concrete for a day. Buses from MRT Jiantan climb into Yangmingshan, where the Qixing Mountain Trail leads to the highest peak in the Taipei basin at about 1,120 meters. Sulfur vents hiss beside the path, the summit looks over the whole city on clear days, and the round trip takes 3 to 4 hours at an easy pace. Return to Taipei for your third night.

Days 4-5: Shifen and Jiufen

Check out and ride the train to Ruifang, then the Pingxi line to Shifen, where trains rumble down the middle of the old street while visitors paint wishes on sky lanterns (NT$200 to 250, about US$6 to 8). A 20 to 30 minute walk upstream brings you to Shifen Waterfall, a wide curtain of water that is at its loudest after rain. From Ruifang, a short bus climbs to Jiufen, and sleeping here is the smart move: the day-trippers leave by 8 pm, and the stepped alleys and teahouses go quiet under their red lanterns. On day five, walk the empty lanes early, then catch the direct bus back to Taipei, about 75 to 90 minutes.

If you have a spare morning, take a bus to Bitou Cape, where a clifftop trail loops above the Pacific with almost nobody on it.