Hualien (Eastern Taiwan)
March 2 - 4, 2017: The home of Taroko National Park! We were blessed to finally have the chance to visit the national park; it was magnificent! Since we only had a scooter, we rode through the winding mountain roads on a scooter, which was scary to say the least! The B&B we stayed at was modern and comfortable, but it was far from Hualien city, so if you want to stay there, you will definitely need a mode of transportation. Hualien city offers delicious food! Follow the food map to scout your next craving!
*Highly Recommended
Day 1
- 10:30am: Taiwan railway from Taipei to Xinchen (2 hrs)
- Pick-up from B&B
- Check-in @ Crossing the rainbow bridge B&B*
- Taxi to Hualien (NT580)
- Rent scooter from Ivy Tour (NT700 for 2 days)
- Visit Hualien city:
- Fried egg pancake @ 炸彈蔥油餅黃車*
- Taro/pineapple ice cream @ 洄瀾薯道*
- 7-11
- Walk through old rail commercial area (舊鐵道文化商圈)
- Walk around A-zone
- Xiao long bao @ 公正包子 (Gongzheng Baozi)
- Nanbin Park
- Foot massage near the night market (NT699 for 50 mins)
- Dongdamen Night market* (corn, rice cake, spring roll, stinky tofu)
Day 2
- Breakfast @ B&B
- Taroko National Park (suggested duration 6.5hrs):
- Visitor Center
- Shakadang Trail
- Buluowan Service Station (boardwalk 環流丘公園步道, restroom & ice cream)
- Swallow Grotto Trail (AKA Yanzikou)
- Zhuilu Tunnel
- View point near Liufang bridge
- Cihmu Bridge
- Tianxiang (lunch & pagoda)
- Lushui museum
- Eternal Spring shrine
- Suspension bridge near Changuang Temple (禪光寺)
- Chisingtan Scenic Area (七星潭風景區)
- Dinner @ Dongdamen Night market (corn, toast with fillings, pancake wrapped with meat, fried yam balls)
Day 3
- Breakfast @ B&B
- Lemonade at 佳興冰果店
- Visit General's Office (將軍府)
- Return scooter @ Hualien train station
- Taiwan railway from Hualien to Xinchen (16 mins)
- Relax at B&B
- 2:31pm: Taiwan railway from Xinchen to Taipei (2:08 hrs)
Tips
- We decided to utilize public transportation to get to Hualien, while it was easy get here, not having a car in Hualien could be a bit difficult to get around. We met many tourists there that either arrived on their own by driving from Taipei or joined a bus tour. If you need to rent a car, suggest checking with Easy Rent in Taipei as that’s where we rented a car from in 2018.
- Contact Ivy Tour: hualientour@hotmail.com.tw for pricing on scooter and car rental in Hualien. I would recommend renting a car vs. a scooter as the journey from Hualien city to Taroko was quite long and taxing.
