Taiwan: 7-Day itinerary

How to get the most out of a week in Taiwan

Posted by: Josh, 10 March 2026

A week is never enough time to see the whole of a country, but especially so one as varied as Taiwan.

If you do only have seven days, this is our best idea of how to spend them.

The 7-day Taiwan itinerary below starts in the tropical south of the country, before travelling up the West Coast to end in Taipei.

An outline of Taiwan showing the route of a seven-day tourist itinerary. Arrows show the journey from Kenting in the South, to Kaohsiung, to Taipei in the north.

If this schedule seems too packed, if you’re keen to see the mountainous and picturesque centre of Taiwan, or if you’re just looking for more time in Taipei and its surrounding areas, we suggest some other ideas for how to do it differently below.

But after a lot of thought, this is how we’d spend a week in Taiwan the next time we visit.

Days 1-3: Kenting

Read our guide to Kenting to find out more about what to do, where to eat, and what to know before visiting

A view towards Eluanbi lighthouse in Kenting, with dense forest in the foreground

To begin this itinerary, you’ll need to fly into Kaohsiung airport on the South-West coast of Taiwan. Kaohsiung is Taiwan’s second biggest city and has a lot to offer, but to begin your 7-day itinerary we recommend starting a bit further South in Kenting instead.

Kenting has some of the most beautiful natural parks in all of Taiwan. A day spent in Kenting National Forest Recreation Area – with its ancient coral cliffs, views over the tree canopy towards the Southern tip of Taiwan and the ocean beyond it, and sparkling fairy caves – would be a must-do part of any future visit.

We’ve written about the best places to see monkeys in Taiwan on a separate guide, but I’ll save you a click and tell you that Kenting is the ideal spot for it. The National Forest Recreation Area has a large population of Formosan Rock Macaques, enough that you can be confident that you’re likely to see at least one group of them on your walk without having to stray from the main paths.

Two baby monkeys on a tree branch in Kenting

A bird looks at fruit in a tree in Sheding, Kenting

For your second day, either take another hike or recover from the jetlag by treating yourself to a relaxed day at the beach. Kenting has the best beaches we saw in Taiwan (although we visited in Autumn, when it’s too windy to get to the Penghu Islands) with Baishawan Beach and Nanwan (South Bay) the best options for lounging by the sea.

There is one downside to starting your stay in Kenting: the journey from the airport. If you’re not planning to rent a car, you’ll need to either take a two-hour bus transfer or arrange a taxi or alternate private car transfer.

While that’s going to be quite tiring after a long flight and possibly quite expensive if you go the taxi route, I really do think this is the best way to make the week work. Spend the first evening at the lively Kending Village Night Market (and make sure to try corn from A Sheng Grilled Corn while you’re there) and relaxing in your hotel. Then you’ll be fresh and ready for a day hiking in the morning.

On your final day, take one of the direct buses (the 9189 route) from Kenting to Kaohsiung. Depending on where you jump on, the bus will take between 2 hours and 5 minutes to 2 hours and 20 minutes, with the last service departing at 19:30.

Days 4-5: Kaohsiung

Read our guide to Kaohsiung to find out more about what to do, where to eat, and what to know before visiting

A view of Kaohsiung City, with many high-rise buildings, taken from Monkey Mountain

Kaohsiung is Taipei’s biggest city on the South-West coast, and it’s one of our very favourites in all our time travelling together. Liz and I aren’t usually city people – the whole living in London thing aside, that is – but Kaohsiung suited us in a way that many other cities don’t.

Part of that is Kaohsiung’s close proximity to nature. You might want to spend one of your days here walking up Shoushan – or Monkey Mountain, as it’s otherwise known. Be warned that these monkeys have been over-exposed to humans and are adept at taking food or other items from unsuspecting tourists, so keep your wits about you.

The views from Shoushan over the city are beautiful though, and the walking is suitable for people of all abilities and fitness levels. Stick to the boardwalks for an easier walk, mainly under shade, or take to some of the side-trails if you’re wanting a proper hike.

If the risk of monkeys climbing on you is a bit anxiety-inducing, we can guarantee that won’t happen at Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum (but we accept no liability if it does). This massive modern temple complex is around a 40–50-minute bus journey from the High-Speed Rail station and is a great place to learn more about the history of Buddhism in Taiwan. It also has some wonderful views at sunset, and a good-quality restaurant in its visitor centre where you can stop for a long and satisfying lunch.

A view towards the giant Golden Buddha at Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum

A highlight inside the city was Zuoying Lotus Pond. Located a short taxi journey away from the HSR station, we left our suitcases in a station storage locker, headed to the pond – think small boating lake, rather than garden frog pond – and stopped at Shoreline Roastery for coffee and a small snack before setting off for our next destination. If we had more time, we could have strolled around to see the tiger and dragon pagodas which sit at the side of the poind.

Entering through the dragon’s mouth and exiting through the tiger’s mouth is said to turn bad luck into good fortune. Whether you visit the pagodas or just wander around the pond, we’d recommend it as an early-morning stop, before you take the 90-minute high-speed train to Taipei.

Days 6-7: Taipei

Read our guide to Taipei to find out more about what to do, where to eat, and what to know before visiting

A shop front on Dihua Street, Taipei. Two red paper lanterns hang from the ceiling

This 7-day Taiwan itinerary ends in Taipei. Two days won’t be long enough to see all of Taiwan’s capital and its surrounding areas, but it is enough time to get a sense of what the city has to offer.

Consider spending one of your days exploring some of the most famous sights. The National Palace Museum is open from 10am-5pm and has enough exhibits to see to keep you there all day long. It also has lovely gardens to take a stroll in.

If you’re in a rush to see as much as possible in your short time in Taipei, you could consider spending two or three hours at the museum, before taking the Metro towards the traditional Dihua Street – with historical buildings and a handful of ceramic shops in the area, it’s a great place to find a last-minute souvenir. Then head further South to look at Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall. From there, it’s just over 20 minutes on the Metro to get to Taiwan’s tallest building, Taipei 101, to watch sunset over the city.

A large group of people, many holding umbrellas, on a street in Ximending night market, Taipei

If you’ve still got the energy, you could spend the evening at one of Taipei’s most well-known night markets. The brightly lit 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 still.

With all that done, nobody would blame you for taking a rest before catching your flight back on the second day. If you want something else to do though, we enjoyed looking around the Yingge Pottery District. It has an interesting pottery museum and is packed with ceramics shops, selling everything from cheaper, mass-manufactured but often still very aesthetically pleasing tea sets, bowls and mugs to high-end one-of-a-kind artistic pieces.

If you have a late enough flight, you could also consider a day trip to Wulai to learn about indigenous culture and see some of the hills to the north of the city – and then unwind in one of its thermal baths.

How to do it differently

Read more of our guides to Taiwan, including advice on what to know before you go

A view to the sea over treetops, taken from the Verdant Pavilion in Sheding

If three places are too much to pack into one trip and you’re looking for an alternative, more relaxed 7-day itinerary for Taiwan, there’s more than enough to do in Kaohsiung and Kenting to fill a full week. In spring and summer, you could also take a ferry to spend a night on Orchid Island and try the scuba diving or snorkelling spots.

You could also consider a shorter stay in Kenting and doing a bit less hiking, or one less day on the beaches there.

An extra day’s stay in Taipei instead would allow you more time to see more of the city – or to take a day trip to Jioufen, Houtong Cat Village, Wulai, or even Taichung.

A view along a river in Wulai. Buildings, possibly residential, are on both banks

Wulai falls. A substantial volume of water is flowing over the cliff to a river a below, kicking up lots of spray

Of course, the other way to do this itinerary differently would be to skip the day-one journey to Kenting. There’s no way around it; it’s going to be expensive or time-consuming. If you want to avoid it, stay in Kaohsiung for two or three days, then divide the rest of your time between Taichung and Taipei.

Kenting was probably our favourite place in Taiwan, so we had to include it in all our suggested itineraries… but if it’s going to make your journey too tiring, too stressful, or if it just doesn’t appeal to you as much as it did to us, there’s good reasons to leave it out of a short stay in Taiwan too.

If you want to get away from the big cities for a day, but don’t want to include Kenting in your stay, you could spend a day by Sun Moon Lake or in Sun-Link-Sea and Xitou. If you want to see either of these places, start your trip in Kaohsiung, head to Taichung and then take a bus from Taichung HSR station to the next stop. It’s a long day of travelling, but it might be worth it for the scenery you’ll find at either destination. You can then travel directly by bus to Taipei from Sun Moon Lake or take a bus from Sun Link Sea to Taichung and hop on the train to Taipei from there.