christo

Hi Folks
For an 8 day tour of Taiwan what are the must see sites?
We like nature, nice scenery, and some cultural highlights.
Is it easy to get around or am I better off with a tour ?

Thanks

tripplanner001

It's easy to get around the island on your own. On the west coast is a high speed rail line that connects Taipei and Kaohsiung, the two largest cities on Taiwan, and points in between. If you want to go to the eastern part of the island, there are trains as well as buses.

During my trip to Taiwan three years ago, I spent four nights in Taipei. I spent a day in the city, a day at the National Palace Museum and the Shilin area, and a half day at Yehliu to see the rock formations carved by the sea. There are also hot springs near Taipei if that's your thing.

Other sights that may be of interest to you include Taroko Gorge, Kenting National Park, the temples of Tainan, and perhaps Sun Moon Lake, but I don't have first-hand experience with these; others may.

thursdaysd

I'm not sure you could even find a tour. I did look before I went, without success, but it turned out that I had no trouble getting around on my own.

I really enjoyed Tainan, with plenty of historic temples (unlike the ones on mainland China, which sufffered during the Cultural Revolution), and Taroko Gorge, with plenty of great scenery.

Click on my name for my east Asia TR, or start here for the text with pictures (links at the top of the page): http://mytimetotravel.wordpress.com/...oon-on-taiwan/

someotherguy

I can endorse the recommendations above. Yehliu (a bus trip from Taipei) has really unusual scenery (look on Google images). I found the trains straightforward and convenient--in fact, I went right around the country: first to Taroko Gorge for a couple of days, then on down the East Coast and across to Tainan for another couple of days, and back to Taipei. On the way, I stopped off in Taichung and rented a car to visit Sun Moon Lake and then drove the awesome road to Alishan, and so back to Taichung. I found all of these places very enjoyable and worthwhile.

migsaquino

I'd recommend visiting "Yongkang Street" for the food;
"Daxi Old Street" for a little bit of history; and,
"Ximending" for some shopping.

Here are some of the photos taken during my recent visit to Taiwan:
http://projectmagellan.net/2014/11/24/taiwan/