Your private Taipei guide will show you some of its more off-beat spots, starting with a visit to a traditional market. Although the city’s night markets are justifiable famous, this is where local people come to pick up their dinner ingredients, and perhaps a snack between picking out their taro and mountain pepper.

For a relaxing afternoon, head to Beitou, Taipei’s own enclave of hot springs fed by the dormant volcanoes of Yangmingshan National Park, before hitting Tamsui Old Street, a riverside lane of street food stalls and shops.

There’s one classic highlight you shouldn’t miss. The National Palace Museum is home to one of the greatest concentrations of Chinese art and artifacts in the world, totalling almost 700,000 pieces. Your guide will point out the highlights: including its jade cabbage, considered the number one attraction by many.

Taipei makes a great base for day trips. First up, Pinglin, a suburb famous for its tea plantations. Sip freshly brewed local tea and learn how it’s grown. Travel onwards through the mountains to the old mining town of Jiufen. At the Jiufen Gold Museum, you’ll learn more about the mines and miners that plumbed the depths for geological riches, before exploring the narrow lanes and lantern lit tea houses and returning to Taipei.

You’ll speed away from Taipei aboard one of the orange striped High Speed Rail (HSR) trains. It’s a smooth journey south to the city of Taichung, where you’ll board a shuttle bus and ride into the mountains of Sun Moon Lake. You’ve got two days here to relax and see a slower side to Taiwan life. You may like to rent a bicycle for a trip around the lake via its bike path, or you may ride across the lake to the shopping and street food of Ita Thao. We highly recommend the black tea ice cream!

Hop back on a High Speed Train for your journey south. Based on the Japanese Shinkansen bullet trains, these trains are just as fast, clean, and comfortable as their more famous cousins.

Tainan holds the crown as the oldest city in Taiwan, built around the Anping Fort constructed by the Dutch East India Company. It has the very first street in Taiwan, which you can still walk down today, and the Anping Fort, whose brick walls tell stories of traders and pirates.

We also love stopping by the Hayashi Department Store, one of the first such establishments in the country. The building is well restored, preserving the classic brickwork and architecture, even the old cage elevator, though you’ll use its modern replacement to go up and down the floors. It’s a symbol of Taiwan’s development and growth over the last century, in the centre of the country’s oldest city.

People may not think of beach when they think of Taiwan, but here, on the far southern end of the island, you’ll find sunshine, warm seas, and a diverse array of wildlife above and below the waves, from seahorses to butterflies. Keep your eyes open for the endemic Formosan Sika deer, a conservational success story. In 1969 the last wild Sika was killed, but in 1984, 22 of the little spotted deer were released from Taipei Zoo. There are now over 1,000 deer in the park. You’ll have an e-scooter to give you the freedom to explore the entire park and access the best hiking trails and beaches.

Taiwan’s second city, Kaohsiung is Taipei’s southern counterpart. We love the short but steep hike up to the Kaohsiung Lighthouse for views out over the city and harbour.

Take the ferry across to Cijin island, the smaller, more low-rise side of the city. Back down the hill, Cijin Old Street is a great spot for some shaved ice, a perfect excuse for a little shade and a sit.

For something a little more savour, try a surprising local treat: iced tomato slices dipped in a sauce of ginger, soy sauce and sugar. And if you love your art, then we recommend the Pier2 Art Center. As the epicentre of Kaohsiung’s urban renewal plan along the old shipping warehouses and harbour piers, you’ll find murals, contemporary sculpture and art installations sitting alongside bubble tea stalls, art-forward souvenir shops and, of course plenty of restaurants.

There’s loads of dinner options at Ruifeng Night Market, the largest in Kaohsiung just north of the city centre, but Liuhe Night Market is also a great stop, a little closer into the city.

A flat and fertile valley floor flanked by sheer walls of mountains, Taitung’s East Rift Valley’s is a side of Taiwan that few visitors get to experience. The rice paddies and farms sandwiched between the central and coastal ranges are a popular getaway for domestic tours, and we can see why.

Our favourite way to see the valley and mountains is by bike, and the roads here are flat. Hop in the saddle and feel that fresh breeze.

Pass through Hualien and into the white marble mountains and icy blue waters of Taroko Gorge. It's a little quieter than usual. Following the 2024 earthquake visitor numbers are down. But our trusted guides know which of the roads and hiking routes have re-opened, and are just as beautiful as ever.

How you spend your time here is up to you. We can book you onto guided hikes, or activities at your hotel. But you may want to simply stop, order your favourite drink and take in those views, poolside, at your hotel.

The waters of Yilan are famous across Taiwan for their thermal properties – and as the basis for world class spirits.

Hot spring bathing is big in Taiwan, and you’re never far from a bath in Yilan. Your hotel has indoor segregated baths, just like in Japan, and just down the road there’s the foot baths of Tangweigou Hot Spring Park, for anyone that doesn’t want to strip off.

For the spirit lovers among us, the Kavalan Distillery is only 30 minutes away by taxi and offers free tours in four different languages (including English). Not bothered by the history and process? You can also skip straight to the tasting.

As with many of the cities and towns of Taiwan, there’s also a night market just one train stop away. One of the local specialties is green onion cakes, featuring the delicately flavoured, locally farmed spring onions.

In two weeks you’ve circled the entire island of Taiwan by train, bus, bike and more. On your final full day you’ll travel back to Taipei, for an afternoon free to get in a little more souvenir shopping at the Huashan 1914 Creative Park, or to try one more bubble tea flavour. The views from the top of Taipei 101 are a classic stop for a reason. And of course, your final Taiwan meal must be delicious. Hit one (or two) of Taipei’s twenty night markets and tuck into a bowl of beef noodle soup or deep-fried tofu.