These twelve days in Taiwan have been our longest family vacation so far, and the kids have endured the constant movement and changing of accommodations very well. I think they’re ready for an even longer trip the next time, assuming I can get that much time off work again!
We stuck close to our planned itinerary, except for changes in most of our dining places, the inclusion of a few additional places, and dropping one major activity on Day 11. So here’s our usual post summarizing the various places and activities we covered, including also a few places of note that we dined at over the period, with approximate pricing and our recommended period of stay in each place of visitation. The admission prices I’ve noted below are also for each adult.
This will be a super long post, so I’ll split my summary comments into two parts. Do bear with me. Here’s Part 1 that covers Days 1 to 6, with Part 2 that covers Days 7 to 12 in the next post.
Firstly, here’s the actual itinerary we had for the trip.
Day 1 (Taichung)
Travel from Taoyuan International Airport to Taichung (2 hrs): There are numerous ways to get from Taoyuan International Airport to Taichung, and this is one of those rare occasions where taking the train is actually quite a bit slower than just getting a private driver to navigate the roads. Don’t just take my word for it. See for yourself:
What a shocker. I reckon that the almost forty-minute difference, despite the two routes being almost the same distance-wise, is due to the number of times you have to hop from one train or bus to the next. And keep in mind that you will have luggage to carry around, and possibly even kids already a little weary from the flight in, as we did. Long story short: if you’re getting to Taichung immediately like we did, go with a private driver and save yourself both the hassle and time.
Akaoni Steak – Fengjia (1+ hr): Blog Post here. Our flight into Taipei was delayed by more than an hour, and with heavier peak-hour traffic, we got to Taichung finally about two hours past the initially projected time. Feng Chia Night Market was a short and easy 7-minute walk from our place of stay in Taichung, and there are numerous street food stalls, eateries and restaurants located in the main night market and also on the peripheral areas. Steak Akaoni is rated #30 of 868 restaurants according to Tripadvisor for the area (we had no idea before we chose this place), is situated at a junction, and offers Japanese-styled steaks and other Western-type cuisines. There’s free flow of two soup types and, as is common in many Taiwanese restaurants, simple drink types too. The food was sumptuous with moderate to high prices to boot (relative to how much we paid per meal in Taiwan), and the place accepted credit card payment.
Overnight in Xitun District apartment (Taichung)
Day 2 (Houli/Miaoli/Dahu)
Houli Strawberry Farm (1 hr): Blog Post here. In our itinerary communications with our Taichung driver, we’d asked for strawberry picking in Dahu. As it turns out there are actually three major areas for fruit-picking at this time of the year: Dahu, Miaoli and Houli. We were brought to one such farm in Houli that’s basically unmarked on the map. A first look at the farm also wasn’t particularly confidence-assuring: the farm is fairly small, and supported by just a small shack at the corner of the farm that’s adjacent to the main road. But as the wife would say, what matters is how tasty the plucked fruit is — and in this regard, this particular farm’s strawberries not only met the wife’s already high standards for fruit, they exceeded them. She had a lot of queries from the FB group she’s on — Urban Farmers — after raving about the strawberries from this farm, that I had to do some work to figure out the exact location of the farm and pass it along to her to help other interested persons also heading to Taiwan this period.
Shengxing Station (1 hr): Blog Post here. The first of the rather tacky and crowded places we checked out. The old rail station tracks are indeed interesting to look at, and there’s a uniqueness walking along an old rail track — for all of five minutes, that is, before you get bored. There are also lots of people propping themselves in all manner of poses on the rail tracks for their Instagrams.
Love Story Hall (NTD100, 2 hrs): Blog Post here. This place is practically next door to Shengxing Station, but from what we saw, it isn’t a stopover for mass tourism. The hall is dense with interesting visual old-time artifacts, props and objects — but there’s finally nothing here and the place can easily be skipped if you’re not coming here for lunch.
Zhongshe Flower Market (NTD90, 2 hrs): Blog Post here. Tourist-y place aside, the Flower Market is undeniably pretty and a must-visit if you adore flora.
Gaomei Wetlands (2 hrs): Blog Post here. In what’s becoming a pattern, another crowded place. But the sights — i.e. towering wind turbines — and the sheer physical experience of wind gales blasting at you make up for it.
Feng Chia Night Market (1 hr+): Blog Post here. Ling mused though that once you’ve seen one night market in Taiwan, you might surmise that the others really look samey-samey.
Overnight in Xitun District apartment (Taichung)
Day 3 (Taichung)
Rainbow Village (1 hr): Blog Post here. A fairly small village comprising a few tiny houses painted wall-to-wall everywhere.
Carton King (NTD200, 1.5 hrs): Blog Post here. Lots of interesting paper-type miniatures packed into a small area.
Master of Mushroom (2 hrs): Blog Post here. Restaurant that serves mushroom-type hotpots. The food is delicious and the soup stock thick and flavorful.
Grape-picking (0.5 hrs): Blog Post here. Like strawberry-picking, you pay only for what you pick.
Miyahara Ice Cream (0.5 hrs): Blog Post here. The ice-cream is pretty good, but you have to queue up for it.
Overnight in Xitun District apartment (Taichung)
Day 4 (Xitou/Sun Moon Lake)
Xitou Nature Education Center (4+ hrs): Blog Post here. We made a mistake in our itinerary planning here: we allocated just over two hours only here when we needed at least four.
Sun Moon Lake (4+ hrs): Blog Post here. Highly commercialized tourist spot with predictable crowds.
Old England Manor (0.5 hrs): Blog Post here. Two choices: pay to enter for photos, or photograph from outside like I did.
Spring Ground Hot Pot (1.5 hrs): Blog Post here. Pretty good hot pot served here.
Overnight in The Cotswold Villa (Cingjing)
Day 5 (Cingjing)
Sunrise @ Cingjing: Blog Post here. One of the best photography experiences of the trip.
Mt. Hehuan (3 hrs+): Blog Post here. A number of visitors will do sunrise here, while others will do a daytime trip.
Ianko Valley View Restaurant (1.5 hrs+): Blog Post here. Delicious roast chicken in a restaurant with a pretty view.
Cingjing Farm (2 hrs) (NTD160): Blog Post here. Our kids liked this place, though the novelty had slightly worn off.
Overnight in Xitun District apartment (Taichung)
Day 6 (Hualien)
Travel from Taichung to Hualien via Taipei (4.5 hrs): Hard choice between mountain drive or train route.
Chisingtan Scenic Area (1 hr): Blog Post here. A pleasant coastal cycling area near Hualien Airport.
Dongdamen Night Market (2+ hrs): Blog Post here. The night market we liked most during the trip.
Earthquake in Hualien (8 seconds): Blog Post here. An unplanned itinerary item that caught us by surprise.
Overnight in Hualien
Days 7 to 12 continued in the next post!
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