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Day Trips from Taipei, With the Transport and the Closures

Taipei is unusually good for day trips because the trains are frequent, cheap and go north, east and south from one station. One famous destination is the exception, and it is the one everybody asks about. Every trip below carries how you actually get there and what is currently open.

By Oliver12 min readPublished
Table of contents
Red lanterns strung above the old street in Jiufen, the classic day trip from Taipei
Photo: Another Believer · CC BY-SA 4.0

In Brief

What are the best day trips from Taipei?

Jiufen and Shifen together are the classic and they work: 30 to 60 minutes by train to Ruifang, then a short bus or the Pingxi branch line. Yehliu Geopark is the best single sight, Beitou the easiest at a metro ride, and Tamsui the cheapest good afternoon. Taroko Gorge is the one to think hard about, because three of its signature trails are closed until 2031.

Key takeaways

  • Jiufen and Shifen share one trip: train to Ruifang, then bus 1062 to Jiufen or the Pingxi line to Shifen
  • Beitou, Tamsui, Maokong and Shilin are all on the metro, so they cost a normal fare
  • Taroko Gorge is 2 to 2.5 hours each way by express train and only partly open
  • Typhoon season runs roughly June to October and closes mountain roads and trails at short notice
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The 10 best day trips, ranked

Ordered by how well they repay a full day - factoring travel time, what you can actually see, and how easy they are without a car.

  1. Jiufen, a day trip from Taipei

    35 km northeast · ~1 h each way

    Jiufen

    Lanterns, teahouses and the sea below

    A gold-mining town stacked up a hillside above the sea, with a covered old street of food stalls and the tiered teahouses that made it famous. Go late afternoon: the lanterns come on, the day-trip coaches leave, and the view down to the Pacific is the whole point. It is crowded and it is still worth it.

    Getting there
    Train from Taipei Main Station to Ruifang, which takes 30 minutes on an express and up to an hour on a local service, at around NT$76 express or NT$46 local. From outside Ruifang station take bus 1062 up the hill to Jiufen, about 20 to 25 minutes for roughly NT$15. Fares and times here come from specialist Taiwan travel sources rather than from the operators' own English pages, so treat them as indicative and check the board at the station.
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  2. Shifen and the Pingxi Line, a day trip from Taipei

    45 km east · ~1h30 each way

    Shifen and the Pingxi Line

    A waterfall and a railway that runs through the street

    Shifen Waterfall is the widest in Taiwan, a broad curtain into a green pool, and it is a short walk from the station. The old street is where people release paper sky lanterns onto the railway line, which is either charming or litter depending on your view, and worth knowing about before you arrive expecting a quiet gorge.

    Getting there
    Same train to Ruifang, then change to the Pingxi branch line, which runs about hourly and costs around NT$20 to Shifen. The branch is a single-track rural line that runs between the houses, and the stations are the attraction as much as the destinations. Pair it with Jiufen in one day by doing Shifen first and Jiufen at dusk, which is the order the bus timetable supports.
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  3. Yehliu Geopark, a day trip from Taipei

    50 km north · ~1h15 each way by bus

    Yehliu Geopark

    Rock formations that do not look real

    A cape of wind-eroded sandstone hoodoos that look engineered rather than weathered, the famous one being the Queen's Head. It is a compact site you can see properly in ninety minutes, which makes it the best value single sight within reach of Taipei, and it pairs naturally with Keelung on the same coast.

    Getting there
    Buses run from Taipei to Yehliu on the north coast; there is no train. The park's own site gives opening hours of 08:00 to 17:00 year round with a summer extension to 18:00, and the last ticket is sold at closing time. Admission is reported at NT$120 for adults and NT$60 concession, a figure that appears on the Taipei city tourism product site rather than on the park's own price page, so confirm at the gate.
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  4. Beitou, a day trip from Taipei

    12 km north · ~35 min each way on the metro

    Beitou

    Hot springs without leaving the metro map

    A hot-spring town inside the city, developed by the Japanese administration and still full of its architecture, with the steaming Thermal Valley at the top of the park and public and private bathhouses at every price. It is the one trip here you can do on a half day and the one that works in rain.

    Getting there
    The easiest trip on this page: take the red line to Beitou, then change to the short branch shuttle to Xinbeitou. Our routing puts the Beitou Hot Spring Museum a measured 446 metres and six minutes from Xinbeitou station. It costs a normal metro fare, so if you have bought a One-Day Pass at NT$150 or a 24-hour pass at NT$180 it is already included.
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  5. Tamsui, a day trip from Taipei

    20 km northwest · ~40 min each way on the metro

    Tamsui

    Sunset, street food and a fort

    A river-mouth town of street food, a Spanish and then Dutch fort at Fort San Domingo, and the best sunset within a metro ride of central Taipei. It is the cheapest good afternoon on this list and the one to keep for a day when the mountains are under cloud.

    Getting there
    The red line runs to its northern terminus at Tamsui, and the ride itself is worth having because the last stretch runs along the river. A normal metro fare covers it. From the station the old street and the waterfront start immediately, and a ferry crosses to Bali on the far bank.
  6. Maokong, a day trip from Taipei

    12 km south · ~50 min each way

    Maokong

    Tea, a cable car and the city from above

    Tea terraces on the ridge above the city, with teahouses that let you brew your own and look back down at Taipei 101 from above. Go for late afternoon and stay for dark, when the city lights up below you. It is the best cheap view in Taipei after Elephant Mountain.

    Getting there
    Brown line to Taipei Zoo, then the Maokong Gondola up the ridge. The gondola takes EasyCard and the cabins with glass floors cost extra. It closes on Mondays for maintenance in most weeks, which catches people out, so check before you build an evening around it.
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  7. Yangmingshan National Park, a day trip from Taipei

    20 km north · ~1 h each way by bus

    Yangmingshan National Park

    Volcanic landscape on the city's doorstep

    An active volcanic landscape half an hour from a city of two and a half million, with steaming fumaroles, silver grass ridges and hot springs. The sulphur vents at Xiaoyoukeng are the single most surprising thing within reach of Taipei, and in winter this is where the city goes when it snows on the peaks.

    Getting there
    Buses run up from Jiantan and Shilin stations into the park, taking about an hour. There is no rail access and the park is large, so pick one target rather than trying to cover it: Xiaoyoukeng for the sulphur vents, Qixingshan for the summit, or Zhuzihu for the calla lily fields in spring.
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  8. Keelung, a day trip from Taipei

    30 km northeast · ~50 min each way by train

    Keelung

    A real port and a serious night market

    A working port city rather than a pretty one, which is the appeal. Miaokou is one of the best night markets in Taiwan and it runs at lunchtime as well as after dark, and Zhengbin's row of painted houses reflected in the harbour is the photograph people come for. Black kites circle the port, which few visitors expect.

    Getting there
    Frequent trains from Taipei Main Station to Keelung, at the end of the line. The Miaokou night market is a short walk from the station and Zhengbin Fishing Harbour is a local bus or a short taxi from there. It combines well with Yehliu, which is along the same coast.
  9. Wulai, a day trip from Taipei

    25 km south · ~1h15 each way by bus

    Wulai

    A gorge, a waterfall and hot springs

    An Atayal indigenous town in a river gorge, with a waterfall you can walk to, hot springs in the riverbed, and a small log-train that runs up to the falls. It is quieter than Beitou and feels considerably further from the city than it is.

    Getting there
    Bus from Xindian, the southern terminus of the green line, up the river valley to Wulai, about 40 minutes from there. It is the most mountainous trip on this list that does not need a full day, and the road follows a gorge most of the way.
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  10. Taroko Gorge, a day trip from Taipei

    180 km east, in Hualien · ~2-2.5 h each way by express train. Read the closures first.

    Taroko Gorge

    Two days, and only after checking what is open

    A marble canyon that is genuinely one of the great sights in Asia, and in 2026 it is only partly open. Read the spotlight below before you book anything, because the three trails most people come for are not scheduled to reopen until 2031 and a day trip from Taipei was already a stretch before the earthquake.

    Getting there
    Express trains, the Taroko, Puyuma and Tze-Chiang 3000 services, run from Taipei to Hualien in about two to two and a half hours, with slower trains taking three to four, at a reported NT$440 one way. Hualien station is not the gorge: you still need a bus, a taxi or a tour for the last stretch, and inside the park the road now runs on scheduled release windows rather than freely.
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Taroko Gorge in 2026: what reopened, what has not, and until when

Taroko is the most-asked day trip from Taipei and the honest answer has changed. A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck Hualien on 3 April 2024 and did severe damage to the roads and trails inside Taroko National Park. Nine typhoons and heavy rains since then have made it worse. Here is where it stands, from the Taipei Times of 6 March 2026 reporting Highway Bureau Director-General Lin Fu-shan.

  • The scale of the damage: the earthquake itself blocked 13 areas of Provincial Highway 8, and the storms since have brought the total number of affected sites to 28. As of the end of last year 23 had been restored and five were still under construction, with NT$3 billion allocated to the work.
  • What has reopened: the visitor centre, the Taroko Terrace Trail, the Tianxiang Recreational Area, the Dacingshui Recreation Area, the Chongde Trail, the Dali-Datong Trail, and the Liwushan and Cianyanlishan hiking trails. Buluowan Terrace and the Tunnel of Nine Turns were scheduled to follow later in 2026.
  • What has not, and this is the part that decides the trip: the Shakadang Trail, the Swallow Grotto Trail and the Baiyang Trail are not expected to be repaired until 2031. Those three are the ones in every photograph of Taroko. The Changchun Shrine is not expected to reopen until 2029 at the earliest, and four tunnels are scheduled for completion by July 2028.
  • Getting around inside the park is also not what it was. Reporting through 2026 describes the Tianxiang to Taroko entrance section of Highway 8 running on scheduled traffic release windows, with vehicles passing only at certain times and the road closed at night. That is not a thing you can plan a tight day around.
  • One source note we should be straight about: we could not read the park's own site when checking this, because taroko.gov.tw was serving a system-maintenance page. Everything above comes from the Taipei Times reporting the Highway Bureau, corroborated by several Taiwan travel specialists. Check the park's own announcements before you travel, because this is a situation that changes.
  • The arithmetic even without the closures: two to two and a half hours each way on an express train, plus getting from Hualien station to the gorge and back, leaves roughly four to five hours on the ground for a very long day. That was always a stretch. With the three signature trails shut, it is hard to justify.
  • What we would do instead: go to Hualien for two nights and treat Taroko as the reason for the trip rather than an afternoon of it, and see what is genuinely open when you get there. If you only have a day, Yangmingshan gives you volcanic landscape an hour from the city, and the Jiufen and Shifen pairing gives you the day most people actually enjoyed.

Day trips from Taipei: FAQ

The questions travelers ask most when planning day trips from here.

You can travel there and back in a day, and we would not. Express trains take two to two and a half hours each way to Hualien, and Hualien station is not the gorge, so you lose most of the day to transport. More importantly, the park is only partly open after the magnitude 7.2 earthquake of 3 April 2024. The Shakadang, Swallow Grotto and Baiyang trails, which are the three most photographed, are not expected to be repaired until 2031, and the Changchun Shrine not before 2029. The visitor centre, Tianxiang, and the Taroko Terrace, Chongde, Dali-Datong, Liwushan and Cianyanlishan trails have reopened. Go for two nights or go somewhere else.

Yes, and it is the standard trip. Take a train from Taipei Main Station to Ruifang, 30 minutes on an express and up to an hour on a local, then change to the Pingxi branch line for Shifen, which runs about hourly. Come back to Ruifang afterwards and take bus 1062 up to Jiufen, about 20 to 25 minutes. Doing Shifen first and Jiufen at dusk is the right order, because Jiufen is at its best when the lanterns are lit and the coaches have gone. The fares quoted for these legs come from Taiwan travel specialists rather than from operator English pages, so check the board at Ruifang.

Beitou, because it is not really a day trip at all. Take the red line north and change to the short shuttle to Xinbeitou; our routing puts the Hot Spring Museum a measured 446 metres and six minutes from that station. It costs a normal metro fare and it works in rain, which matters in a city this wet. Tamsui is the next easiest, at the other end of the same line, and gives you a fort, a river-mouth old street and the best sunset within a metro ride.

Almost none. Beitou, Tamsui and Maokong are on the metro. Jiufen, Shifen and Keelung are trains plus a short local bus. Yangmingshan and Wulai are city buses. The only trip on this page where an organised tour genuinely earns its price is Taroko, and that is because of the distance and the current road-access restrictions inside the park rather than because the public transport is hard. Yehliu is the one where a tour is a reasonable convenience rather than a necessity, since it is a bus route with no rail alternative.

Typhoon season, roughly June to October, and not because of the rain. A direct hit shuts the metro, the railways and the airport, and Taipei declares a typhoon day at short notice, which strands anyone who committed to a mountain or a coast that morning. Mountain roads and trails in Yangmingshan, Wulai and Taroko also close after heavy rain even when the city itself is fine, and the damage in Taroko was made substantially worse by nine typhoons since the 2024 earthquake. If a warning is issued, take the day in the city.

It is the best single sight within reach of Taipei and it is compact enough to see properly in about ninety minutes, which makes it good value for a bus ride of a little over an hour. The park publishes hours of 08:00 to 17:00 year round on its own site, extended to 18:00 in summer, with the last ticket sold at closing. Admission is reported at NT$120 adult and NT$60 concession, though that figure appears on the Taipei city tourism product site rather than on the park's own price page. Combine it with Keelung, which is along the same coast and has the better night market.

Every trip on this page starts in Taipei

Each of these is a day out and back, so the thing that decides the whole trip is where you sleep between them and how far that is from the station. These go into the detail:

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Photos via Wikimedia Commons, used under their respective licences.

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