Taiwan: 28-day itinerary
How to see (nearly) all of Taiwan in four weeks
Posted by: Josh, 24 April 2026
If you’ve read our seven-day and 14-day Taiwan itineraries, you’ll already know how much there is to do – and how it’s impossible to see everything there is to see in only a couple of weeks.
With twice as much time, you can see far more.
In this 28-day Taiwan itinerary, we’ll suggest a route that takes you all around the coast of Taiwan before cutting through the mountainous centre of the country on your way back to Taipei.
As with all our guides, read on past the end of the itinerary to see a few ways you could do it differently, including how you could fit in a couple of other destinations and how you could plan a more restful month in Taiwan.
Contents
Days 1-3: Taipei
Read our guide to Taipei to find out more about what to do, where to eat, and what to know before visiting
If this is your first time visiting Taiwan, starting in the capital city is a good idea. Taipei is a large, bustling city with enough street food markets, top-quality coffee shops, shopping, history and culture to keep any city-lover happy.
If you’re not a city lover… Taipei’s still a pretty good place to start your trip anyway, surrounded as it is by peaceful hills and with good transport connections to the coast and to some of the other places you’re going to want to visit later in your stay.
And, as a practical consideration, you’re also probably going to find flights to Taipei are cheaper than they are to other cities.
In all our Taiwan itineraries, we suggest a tour of some of Taipei’s most famous tourist destinations on your first full day there. We would recommend a visit to the National Palace Museum to anyone, with its thoughtfully set out displays of artworks and antiques, and a pretty garden for you to wander through once you’re finished seeing all the exhibits inside.
On this longer trip, you could spend a whole day seeing the museum – arriving when doors open at 10am and leaving at closing time at 5pm. But if you’re not as interested in museums, or you just want to see more of the city on day one, we’d suggest a couple of hours at the museum before taking the Metro towards Dihua Street in the city centre, with its many shops and market stalls. From there, walk or take the metro to Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall to learn more about Taiwan’s recent history, before taking one more quick trip on the Metro to Taiwan’s tallest building, Taipei 101, to watch sunset over the city.
If you want to sample some of Taiwan’s famous night market food on your first night, the vibrant Ximending Night Market is a 25-minute Metro journey away, while Shilin Night Market – where you can find the best sesame noodles we ate in Taiwan - is around 10 minutes further. Just try to save some foods you’ve been waiting to try for another night, as you might find yourself visiting these markets quite often on your trip and, with some exceptions that you can read about in our guides to each of these destinations, there’s not always a huge variety in flavour from one stand to another.
Assuming you’ve taken time to explore the city on day one, day two might be a good time to visit somewhere a bit more rural and picturesque outside the capital. My pick would be Wulai, easily reachable by bus, with its hot springs and walking route to an impressive waterfall. We visited following heavy rain in the area, leaving the hills shrouded in mist and Wulai Falls at their most impressive. Take some time to visit the Atayal Museum, dedicated to indigenous culture, and then relax after your walking and learning at one of the local hot springs.
If all of this sounds far too peaceful for your tastes, then Jioufen might be more to your liking. A historic old town high in the hills, it’s famous for its teahouses and infamous for its crowds which make exploring the town something of a battle. It wasn’t my favourite place, but there’s a reason so many other people visit there. Just bear in mind that the clips you see on social media might not fully match the reality you find.
Ideas for your final day in Taipei include looking around Yingge Pottery District, taking yet another day trip outside of Taipei, or driving to one of the teahouses to the south of the city. If you don’t have a car, you could instead use public transport and visit Mei-Jia tea garden in Maokong, the tea plantation district of Taipei, where we spent a restful afternoon sheltering from yet another Taipei rain shower.
Days 4-6: Hualien
Read our guide to Hualien to find out more about what to do, where to eat, and what to know before visiting
Next stop, Hualien. A fast train service from Taipei will get you here in a little over two hours, while a slower local train will get you there in up to three-and-a-half hours.
Though some people will choose to skip Hualien, following the closure of a large number of the famous trails in Taroko Gorge, Liz and I still think it’s a very worthwhile stop in any longer trip to Taiwan. It’s a beautiful area, less full of tourists than Taipei, Kaohsiung or Kenting, and it feels very different to other cities we visited on our trip.
If you’re looking for a slower way to spend your first day, stroll along the coastal path and around the city, and make sure to stop at the Railway Cultural Park to see the traditional Japanese buildings that are a remnant of a colonial past. It says something about just how good the cinnamon buns are at Gaston and Gaby at the railway park that I’m mentioning them for a second time in one of our itineraries… and that I’m still thinking about how good they were as I write this, the day after getting home from a trip to Norway. They’re every bit as good as you’ll find at the best café in Scandinavia.
Try not to gorge yourself too much on pastries, or on the offerings at Dongdamen Night Market, as you might want to take a boat trip on your second day. Peak whale and dolphin watching season is from May to October every year, when you might be lucky enough to see dolphins, orcas, humpback and pilot whales. Read more on Taiwan East Coast tourism's website.
On your last day, we’d recommend a hike in one of two destinations. Liyu Lake is a picturesque spot in easy reach by car, but also accessible by a reliable – if not very frequent – bus service. A walk around the lake won’t be too strenuous and can be completed in as little as 90 minutes, but you could spend longer by exploring some of the trails that take you further into the trees surrounding the path. If you’re lucky, you might even spot a monkey or two on your visit.
If you want a hike closer to the city, or if your visit falls outside of whale watching season, Sakul Waterfall is another good hiking area. Drive or cycle to the start of the trail, as there’s not much to see on the walk from the city centre to the trailhead. But once you’re there, the views are pretty lovely – with higher points along the trail offering a look back towards the now-distant city and all the way out to the ocean beyond. While it’s not the very best place to see monkeys in Taiwan, we caught our first glimpse of the endemic Formosan Rock Macaques here too.
Days 7-8: Chishang
Read our guide to Chishang to find out more about what to do, where to eat, and what to know before visiting
Depending on which train you take – you can find out more about getting around Taiwan on public transport on our what to know before you go page – the jaw-droppingly pretty Chishang is between an hour to two-and-a-half hours away from Hualien.
I’m writing this a few months after the end of our Taiwan adventure and can say, with the benefit of time passing, that Chishang was one of the most memorable parts of our holiday.
We were fortunate to visit in October, when temperatures aren’t so blisteringly hot and the rice fields are turning from green to gold. Rent a bike, e-bike, or buggy from one of the many, many rental shops and spend a few hours cycling the roads and closed-to-cars paths from Dapo Pond to the rice fields lining Brown Boulevard, and then back into town.
With 28 days in Taiwan, you’ll have time to spend one night here. With great restaurants, our favourite bar in Taiwan, and even a Ding Go on the main road, this small town is worth sparing the extra time for.
Days 9-11: Green Island
Read our guide to Green Island to find out more about what to do, where to eat, and what to know before visiting
If snorkelling or scuba diving are too anxiety-inducing for you, or if the thought of a bumpy boat journey fills you with dread, skip ahead to the next section. We'll suggest some ideas on how you could fill these days in other ways later on.
But if you’re at least a little bit interested in some diving or snorkelling, and you’re able to visit during the peak or shoulder season, there’s nowhere better in Taiwan than Green Island.
To a total scuba diving novice – I briefly lost both a flipper and my regulator on my try-dive – Green Island (or Ludao, to give it its proper name) struck me as a pretty amazing place to scuba dive for the first time. The corals are amazingly healthy and bright – vastly different from those we’d seen snorkelling in Thailand a couple of years ago, for instance – and there’s a wonderful variety of fish and other sea-life to see with beautiful clear water that has high visibility year-round.
Lizzie has been diving a few times in her life, and assures me that Green Island is a great place for it. As did the Californian lady we met while cycling around the island after our dive, who’d been diving for several decades. If you’re looking for somewhere to get your scuba certification, or if you just want to try diving for the first time with one-to-one instructors to keep you safe, Green Island is a very good choice.
Other than diving, there’s not too much to do on the island, but if you hire a bike or scooter there are some wonderful views from the coastal roads. Bonus points for the herd of wild goats we met midway through our bike ride - the baby goat practicing its rock climbing (and its climbing on the other goats) was particularly cute.
There are some drawbacks to visiting too. Food options are severely lacking for vegetarians, the boat ride to the island is uncomfortable, and the lack of an ATM that takes international cards might catch you out if you’re not careful. Read our guide to Green Island carefully, check out a couple of other blogs you trust too, and decide if this part of the trip is right for you.
Days 12-15: Kenting
Read our guide to Kenting to find out more about what to do, where to eat, and what to know before visiting
Welcome back, readers who skipped Green Island. Kenting is next on this itinerary, and I cannot imagine you’re going to want to skip this part of the trip.
Whether you’re travelling from Chishang or from Taitung, having just got off the boat back from Green Island, your first job is to hop on a train to Fangliao station. From there, transfer to the tourist shuttle bus that will take you down the coast to Kenting on the southern tip of Taiwan.
While you’re going to be itching to see Kenting’s national parks after getting a glimpse of the scenery from the bus, you’ve had a busy holiday so far so your first day might be better spent relaxing on one of the beaches here. Nanwan Beach (or South Bay, as you might see it written) and Baishawan Beach are the two best options.
Fully rested and perhaps needing to walk off some of the previous night’s snacks at Kending Village Night Market (a livelier and slightly boozier market than others in Taiwan) you’ll be ready to visit Kenting National Forest Recreation Area on day two.
Not only is this national park the best place to see monkeys in Taiwan, it’s also one of the best walks you’re likely to take here – or anywhere, for that matter. You’ll take in countless varieties of butterflies and varied plant-life growing alongside and atop the raised ancient coral rocks that line the paths, and from the viewing tower at the centre of the park you’ll see some astonishing views all the way over the forest canopy to the ocean in the South.
On your last day, try to resist the temptation to repeat the previous day’s walk. Instead hop on the tourist shuttle bus to Kaohsiung.
Days 15-19: Kaohsiung
Read our guide to Kaohsiung to find out more about what to do, where to eat, and what to know before visiting
Depending on when you arrive, and how much energy you have after your hiking in Kenting, consider leaving your luggage in the train station lockers and visiting Zuoying Lotus Pond before heading to your hotel or apartment. Easily reached by taxi or Uber from the High-Speed Rail station where the shuttle bus will drop you off, this soothing ‘pond’ – more the size of a small lake – is a relaxing space to spend a couple of hours. You can wander to the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas and explore inside or simply sit with a pastry and a coffee from Shoreline Roastery. The coffee is very good, rather than great, but you really can’t do much better for location.
Alternatively, copy how we spent our first evening in Kaohsiung by exploring the Kaohsiung Harbour Area and look in some of the independent shops housed within its old wharf buildings. You could also take a short ferry ride across to Cijin beach if you have time, though don’t bother bringing your swimsuit with you as the waters by the beach have strong currents and swimming is not recommended.
Before leaving Kaohsiung, we’d highly recommend spending a day at Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum. While it’s a more modern temple than some of the others you’ll see on your travels, it’s a spectacular, sprawling complex and a good place to learn about Buddhism’s history and how it’s practiced by its adherents in Taiwan. If you’re willing to wait to take the last bus back to Kaohsiung, you’ll find that the crowds disperse later in the day – allowing you to fully appreciate the architecture, gardens and views in greater peace and quiet.
Less peace and quiet will be found on Monkey Mountain (Shoushan), but it’s still one of the best places you can hike near Kaohsiung – particularly if you’re not able to drive to somewhere a bit further afield. While the monkeys have been overexposed to humans and can be somewhat threatening – read more on our where to see monkeys guide – you’ll most likely be totally untroubled if you stick to the boardwalk paths. The views over Kaohsiung made any slight nervousness about monkey interactions worthwhile to Liz and I, though of course we’d recommend finding another activity if you’re really anxious about a macaque coming close to check if you’ve packed any of the snacks which they’ve acquired a taste for.
We didn’t check out any of the museums in the city so, if you decide to, please let your fellow Taiwan travellers know if you can recommend any in the comments below.
Day 20: Taichung
Read our guide to Taichung to find out more about how to spend a day in the city.
After Kaohsiung, it’s time to start the long journey back towards Taipei – but with several stops along the way to make your last few days memorable ones.
We only found time to spend a day in Taichung in our several weeks in Taiwan, but we wish we’d had much longer. It’s harder to explain the appeal of the city than it is to explain the appeal of, for instance, Kenting or Chishang but after several weeks of activity-packed holiday it’s such a relief to spend some time in a city that’s simply… nice.
If that sounds underwhelming, don’t let it persuade you to skip Taichung as we almost did. It has lovely pedestrianised areas along the streams that run through the city centre, it has the birthplace of bubble tea, it has a dessert store (Miyahara) that’s worth a trip all by itself, and it has a Museum of Fine Arts where we wish we could have spent much more time.
Without access to a car, we couldn't find the time to visit Gaomei Wetlands. If you are able to drive on your trip to Taiwan, or have time to take a 1.5-hour bus journey to get there, consider finding space in your itinerary to do so. And if you can, please let others know in the comments whether they should visit too.
Days 21-23: Sun-Link-Sea & Xitou
Read our guide to Sun-Link-Sea & Xitou to find out more about what to see and where to stay
From Taichung, you can take a bus to another of our favourite places in Taiwan: Sun-Link-Sea.
Sun-Link-Sea is one of the most beautiful parts of Taiwan, and – to us – the perfect alternative to visiting the more renowned but less accessible Alishan. Sun-Link-Sea is home to Qinglong Falls, a stunningly pretty waterfall in a peaceful enclave in the middle of an otherwise dense mountain forest. It’s also home to a very lovely flower garden, where Liz was able to get my favourite photo from our time in Taiwan, which was particularly stunning in autumn as the maple trees start to turn from green to scarlet red. Hiking in this area was a real treat, with cooler temperatures at high altitude and fewer crowds (once you’re away from the garden and waterfall) than in other popular hiking spots in the country.
While in this area, you can also visit or stay in Xitou Monster Village, which is exactly what it sounds like. But in addition to the cute monsters dotted around the village, Xitou also offers an excellent walking area of its own at Xitou Nature Education Centre. We woke up early to take a more sedate walk around some of the hilly paths here before getting on the bus to our next destination, one of Taiwan’s most well-known tourist hotspots, Sun Moon Lake.
Days 24-26: Sun Moon Lake
Read our guide to Sun Moon Lake to find out more about what to see and where to stay
From your first glimpse, it will be obvious to you why Sun Moon Lake became such a popular destination for travellers. The combination of still waters, surrounded by hills disappearing into the clouds and the mist that often hangs over the lake, is unlike any sight I’ve been lucky enough to see anywhere else so far.
If you’ve taken the bus from Xitou to Sun-Moon-Lake, you might want to spend your first afternoon and evening walking around the area you’ve chosen to stay in. That will probably be either Ita Thao, with its market stalls and variety of places to stop for a drink by the lake’s edge, or the more sedate Shuishe – where Liz and I chose to stay on our visit.
On the second day, rent a bike – an e-bike is recommended unless you’re used to pedalling uphill for a reasonable distance – and check out some of the sights. We particularly enjoyed seeing Wenwu temple, which offers some of the best views to the lake and to the town of Ita Thao on the far bank. While it’s not really possible to cycle around the whole lake, as the path stops at a certain point and leaves you to cycle on busier main roads, a good portion of the side near the town of Shuishe is manageable for even inexperienced cyclists (like Liz, who was very brave and only fell off once).
Before setting off back to Taipei, take a boat trip across the lake from Ita Thao to Shuishe, or in the opposite direction depending where you decided to stay. You can find out more on where would suit you best in our guide to Sun Moon Lake.
Days 27-28: Taipei
Read our guide to Taipei to find out more about what to do, where to eat, and what to know before visiting
Your trip is nearly at an end. Take a direct bus from Shuishe by Sun Moon Lake to Taipei and spend your last day or two ticking off anything you didn’t have time to do in your first stay in the city.
We treated ourselves to a slightly fancier sit-down lunch after weeks of on-a-bit-of-a-budget eating, booking a table at Serenity – a vegetarian Sichuan restaurant that I’m still thinking about all these months later. Whatever type of food you most like, you’re likely to find a good version of it in Taipei at prices lower than you’d expect to pay in Europe or North America. If you’re going to treat yourself, now is as good a time as any.
We also took the opportunity presented by being back in the capital to buy ourselves a keepsake from the trip. In our case, this meant some nice plates from one of the ceramic shops on Dihua Street. You might find you have more luck in Yingge Pottery Distract, or if you’re looking for a wider range of souvenirs to bring back to family and friends, try wandering round the shops in Taipei City Mall under Taipei Main Station.
Or, if you're really keen to get the absolute most out of your time in Taiwan, why not sneak in one last day trip from Taipei? There's just enough time to visit the wonderful Houtong Cat Village, or even to spend a few more hours seeing even more of Taichung before you go.
How to do it differently
Read more of our guides to Taiwan, including advice on what to know before you go
If you’ve decided against going to Green Island, you’ll need to fill a few more days in this itinerary. If you’re travelling in spring or summer, you might want to do this by taking a boat trip from Kaohsiung to the Penghu Islands – which reputedly have the best beaches in Taiwan. A couple of the suggested alternate itineraries below include a trip to these islands.
Alternately, if it’s the boat trip that put you off visiting Green Island to begin with, I’d add an extra day to your time in Kenting, Taipei, and Hualien. There’s enough to do in all of these places that you’re not going to be bored, and you’ll be able to take your holiday at a slightly more relaxing pace than we’ve suggested above.
Another option for you is to visit Alishan, though we found the complicated public transport links and limited hotel options too off-putting to include it in our trip. If you have a car and can drive to it, or if the Forest Railway is so appealing that you’re willing to handle the challenges that visiting by public transport throws up, it’s worth considering.
Thought I wasn't going to sneak a picture of a Taiwanese cat into one of these itineraries? Think again.
Liz and I both like active holidays, and we sometimes don’t schedule in enough rest days. If you think the itinerary above looks too hectic and you want to schedule in some more rest days – whether that means an extra day at one of Kenting’s beaches, or a trip to a spa, or a full day of shopping therapy in Taipei – you might want to cut one of the destinations above out of your itinerary entirely.
For me, while I admit this wouldn't be most people's suggestion, I’d consider dropping Sun Moon Lake from your itinerary if you absolutely have to. While it is a beautiful place, it’s also a bit more built up than some of the carefully framed pictures you’ll see in Google searches and social media recommendations might suggest. It’s a battle to find a good restaurant that stays open past early evening, and it’s a lesser cycling or walking destination than some of the other places we visited. These are minor quibbles, but they’re quibbles all the same.
If I try to imagine what place others might choose to cut from their plan to make time for more rest, I’d guess most would say Hualien. With Taroko Gorge still largely inaccessible, there’s less of a ‘must-do’ activity in the area… though it would pain me to miss out on a visit to Liyu Lake or to simply stroll round the city again, having experienced it once before.
Thought I wasn't going to sneak a second picture of a Taiwanese cat into one of these itineraries? It's like you don't even know me.
You could also decide to find time to spend an extra day in Taichung, or explore the East coast city of Taitung, or… well, you could decide almost anything without going wrong. I hope this guide has given you some idea of just how much there is to do in Taiwan and how many ways there are to see it.
If you have any questions about how to make an itinerary that makes the most sense for you, please leave a comment and we’ll do our best to answer.
Alternate itineraries
Days 1-4: Taipei - Days 5-8: Hualien - Days 9-10: Chishang - Days 11-14: Kenting - Days 15-18: Kaohsiung - Days 19-20: Taichung - Days 21-23: Sun-Link-Sea and Xitou - Days 24-26: Sun Moon Lake - Days 27-28: Taipei
Days 1-4: Taipei - Days 5-6: Chishang - Days 7-9: Green Island - Days 10-13: Kenting - Days 14-19: Kaohsiung (including a short Penghu Islands visit) - Day 20: Taichung - Days 21-23: Sun-Link-Sea and Xitou - Days 24-26: Sun Moon Lake - Days 27-28: Taipei
Days 1-3: Taipei - Days 4-6: Hualien - Day 7: Chishang - Days 9-11: Kenting - Days 12-19: Kaohsiung (including a few days on the Penghu Islands) - Day 20: Taichung - Days 21-23: Sun-Link-Sea and Xitou OR Alishan - Days 24-26: Sun Moon Lake - Days 27-28: Taipei
Can't take a whole month off work? Check out our 7-day itinerary and 14-day itinerary for more Taiwan travel inspiration.
Keep reading our posts and you'll realise that Anxious and Travelling isn't a travel website, but a cat website with some travel guides attached
Related posts
