We were glad to achieve the 3 Biggies in Taiwan during our 8 days round the island trip.
- Biggest Lake in Taiwan – Sun Moon Lake
- Biggest shopping premium outlets in Taiwan – E-DA world in Kaohsiung
- Biggest Buddhist monastery in Taiwan – Fo Guang Shan
This itinerary include :
- Night Market – Keelung Miaokou /廟口夜市
- International Seaport – Keelung /基隆
- Fishing Village – Nanao/南澳
- Beach – Qixingtan 七星潭
- Paddy Field – Taitung Brown’s Road / 伯朗大道
- Mysterious Phenomenon -Water Flow Uphill
- Themed Park & Shopping – E-Da theme park & Mall
- Temple – Fo Guang Shan/佛光山 & Wen Wu Temple /文武廟 & Zhai Ming Temple /法鼓山斋明寺
- History – Anping Fort/安平古堡 & Chihkan Tower/赤崁樓 & Chiang Kai-shek Mausoleum /慈湖陵寢
- Mountain – Alishan /阿里山
- Old Town – Fenqihu/奋起湖老镇
- Lake – Sun Moon lake /日月潭
Preparation before the trip :
- Plan your travel route and daily Itinerary
- Book air ticket in advance to secure a cheaper ticket.
- Book hotel through agoda.com.
- Car rental booking through rentalcars.com.
- Make sure you have your driving license and international driving permit for overseas driving.
Below map showing one round trip of our 8 days self drive in Taiwan Island. Rough estimation – 1126km to complete one round trip of Taiwan. Of course we did more km than that. It was an interesting experience, economical and fun to explore by your own.
Day 1 – Keelung
- Arriving in Tao Yuan/桃園 Airport 3pm – pick up car rental
- Tao Yuan Airport to Kee Lung/基隆 -1 hr drive, bypass Taipei city
- Kee Lung Night Market/Miaokou night market (廟口夜市)
- Evergreen Laurel Hotel Keelung – 10 mins walk to night market
Day 2 – Hualien
- Keelung/基隆 to Yilan/宜蘭(69.5km)
- Yilan Nanao/南澳 fishing village for lunch
- Yilan Nanao to Hualian/花莲 (100km) mountain drive
- Hualian Qixingtan 七星潭
- Dinner at Hualian city
- Ola Hotel Hualian
Day 3 – Taitung
- Hualien/花莲 – Taitung/台东
- Taitung Brown’s Road / 伯朗大道 (120km)
- 台东伯朗大道 /Brown’s Road – Qiaoyeliu/小野柳地形景观区 (60km)
- Water Flow Uphill -mysterious phenomenon
- F Hotel Chipen 21.8km
Day 4 – Kaohsiung
- Taitung – Kaohsiung (172km)
- E-Da theme park – Greek themed amusement park
- E-Da Mall – Biggest outlet shopping mall in Taiwan
- E-Da Skylark Hotel in Kaohsiung
Day 5 – Tainan
- E-Da Skylark Hotel – Fo Guang Shan/佛光山 (9km)
- Fo Guang Shan/佛光山 -Tainan
- Anping Fort/安平古堡 (67km)
- Chihkan Tower/赤崁樓
- Evergreen Plaza Hotel (3.2km)
Day 6 – Alishan
- Evergreen Plaza Hotel to Fenqihu/奋起湖老镇 (111km) – 2 hours
- Fenqihu/奋起湖老镇 to Alishan (24km)
- Alishan to Renyi Lake Hotel (53km) -1.5 hours
Day 7 – Sun Moon Lake – Taoyuan
- Renyi Lake Hotel at Chiayi to Sun Moon Lake ( 97.5km ) about 2 hours
- Sun Moon lake
- 法鼓山斋明寺/ Zhai Ming Temple
- Lang Kei Motel
Day 8 – Taoyuan
- Cihu /Chiang Kai-shek Mausoleum in Taoyuan
- Return car at Taiwan High Speed Rail Station near Taoyuan
- Taoyuan Airport
Food Guide :
- Dou Jiang Yu Tiao (fried dough with soy milk)
- Braised pork rice /Ru Lou Fan
- Steam dumplings from Ding Tai Fung
- Taiwanese Hamburgers
- Taiwanese Beef Noodles
- Taiwanese Pork Chop Rice
- Taiwanese Hot Pot
- Oyster omelette
- Bubble tea
- Mangoes dessert
Total budget for 8 days Self Drive in Taiwan
- 8 days for 3 adult pax cost about SGD 4150 in total. Each pax is about SGD 1400
- Taiwan – Air Ticket (Tigerair) – SGD 1200
- Rental Car (RentalCars) – SGD 800 (Toyota Camry)
- Hotel (Agoda) – SGD 1150 (My hotel is about 4 star come with breakfast, clean and comfortable for Singaporean standard)
- Cash – (spent about SGD 1000) including buying two pairs of winter boots and one designer handbags at E-da world premium outlets. We spend not that much in food, less than SGD 10 per pax per meal.
Special notes : Taiwan self drive is more for advance & experience driver as some of the roads, especially in Hualien mountain road, Alishan mountain road & Nanhui (highway 9) are very snaky and plenty of sharp turns. There are also many motorbikes and scooters when you enter to some major town city centre. Otherwise driving in countryside is pretty OK. If you are not advance, you may want to consider starting your self drive in Japan, start with Self Drive Kyushu Island, similar to Self Drive in Australia. Kyushu Island is also the size of Taiwan Island but roads in Kyushu is wider and less motorbikes.
Click here for other self drive destination :
- Self Drive in Kyushu Island Japan (Fukuoka, Beppu, Kumamoto, Kagoshima, Nagasaki, Miyazaki) 8 Days
- Self Drive in Central Region Japan (Gifu, Takayama, Shirakawa-go, Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route, Matsumoto, Mt Fuji, Nagoya) 8 Days
- Self Drive in Britain, United Kingdom ( England, Wales & Scotland) 11 Days 9 Nights
- Self Drive in USA – California 16 Days 13 Nights
- Self Drive in Thailand (From Bangkok to Chiang Mai) 8 Days
I have affiliate program with the following booking website, so please click at your preference booking website here to check the hotels or airbnb you like to stay for your Taiwan trip.
Booking Resources :
15 comments
Can I know how much the cost for Taiwan 8 days self drive
Hi Hui Yong,
Thanks for asking. My last trip for 8 days for 3 adult pax cost about SGD 4150 in total. Each pax is about SGD $1000
Below is the breakdown:
Taiwan – Air Ticket (Tigerair) – 1200
Rental Car (rental cars) – 800 (Toyota Camry)
Hotel (Agoda) – 1150 (My hotel is about 4 star come with breakfast, clean and comfortable for Singaporean standard)
Cash -(spent about 1000) including buying two pairs of winter boots and one designer handbags at E-da world premium outlets. We spend not that much in food, less than $10 per pax per meal.
I hope this work as some guideline for you.
Hope you have an enjoyable self drive in Taiwan 🙂
Wow, such a detailed post that would be so helpful to plan a great trip to Taiwan. Loving the pictures so much.
An 8 day self drive sounds like fun. It looks like there are so many things to see and do as well. I love how you included the budgeting in your post too, super helpful.
This sounds like a great trip! Your post is so detailed and will make it easy for others to book similar trips.
What a lovely experience that must have been. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. Taiwan fascinates me. P.S Love, love, love all your outfits too
Taiwan is another place I really want to visit one day, it must be so freeing and such a great way to explore by car. I don’t drive but when I travel with my parents we always rent a car, I feel like you can see so much more that way!
I never really thought about going to Taiwan before, it looks beautiful though. May need to add it to my want to do list.
I’ve always wondered about whether or not I wanted to travel to Taiwan or not and this blog post definitely helped me realize that I definitely do! Your thoroughness is unparalleled, thank you!
One of my girlfriends visited Taiwan last month and she absolutely loved it! Your 8-days self drive trip sounds epic and you have visited so many amazing destinations!
Your itinerary looks so awesome and detailed! I love roadtrips! but of course I would be afraid of driving in such a Different country where I don’t understand the language or the signals. I think I would leave someone else do the driving, lol.
This is such a detailed post, i feel like I know Taiwan already, haha. I am saving this for when i or anyone I know would be traveling to Taiwan. Thank you for sharing.
Girl these places are so beautiful,I wish I was there with you,by the way all of you Photography’s Are beautiful!
Wow this is so full on – we are heading to Taiwan in April, won’t be able to handle all of the adventures on this list, but definitely some are on the cards!
Beautiful. A little island but so much to explore. I really loved your pictures.