Best day trips from Taipei: how to get there and what to see

If you have one free day in Taipei, pick Jiufen with Pingxi: a former gold-mining hill town above the north coast, then the old lantern railway through the valley. It is the trip most visitors remember, and it works entirely on public transport.

If you have two or three free days, spread them: Tamsui for a half day by the river, Keelung for an evening of seafood and the Miaokou night market, and one longer run south to Hsinchu or west to Taoyuan. Skip Hualien and Taroko as day trips — the train alone eats four to five hours of the day.

Tamsui sits at the end of the MRT Tamsui–Xinyi line, so it is the lowest-effort trip on the list: no ticket queue, no timetable. Walk the old street, take the ferry across the river mouth, and stay for the sunset over the Taiwan Strait. Half a day is enough; combine it with Beitou hot springs on the way back if you start early.

Keelung is a port city 30 km northeast. Trains from Taipei Main Station run every 15–30 minutes and take under an hour. Go late afternoon, eat at the Miaokou night market, and walk the harbour. It pairs well with a north-coast stop at Badouzi or Fulong if you have a full day.

Jiufen is the classic. Take the Keelung-bound TRA train to Ruifang, then a bus up the hill, or a direct bus from Taipei. The lanes are narrow and busy from mid-morning; arrive before 10:00 or stay past 18:00 when the day-trippers leave. Pingxi is the same rail corridor: from Ruifang the Pingxi line runs through Houtong, Shifen and Pingxi, with lantern releases at Shifen and the Shifen waterfall a 20-minute walk from the station.

Hsinchu is a tech city with a small old town and Hakka towns nearby — Beipu and Neiwan are the usual add-ons, both reachable by bus or TRA from Hsinchu. Taoyuan is mostly known as the airport city, but its old town and the Daxi district are worth a half day if you are killing time before a flight.

Hualien and Taroko Gorge are the trap. The TRA express takes roughly two to three hours each way, and Taroko has been partly closed since 2024 — check current access before committing. Treat it as a two-night trip, not a day out.

Public transport is cheap and the EasyCard removes most of the friction: tap in and out on the MRT, TRA local trains and city buses. A day of Jiufen plus Pingxi on public transport usually lands under NT$400 per person including food, while a Hsinchu run on the high-speed rail costs more than the trip itself.

Tours and private drivers cost far more and mainly buy you time and a fixed itinerary. If you are three or more people, a shared driver for the north coast can work out cheaper than four separate rail tickets plus buses.

Start early. Jiufen and Pingxi fill up by 11:00 on weekends, and the last buses back to Taipei leave before 21:00. Check the final departure before you go up the hill.

Buy or top up an EasyCard on day one. It works on the MRT, TRA local trains and most buses, and saves you queueing at ticket machines.

Check the weather the morning you leave. The northeast coast — Jiufen, Keelung, the north coast — is wetter and foggier than Taipei, and a clear Taipei morning does not mean a clear Jiufen afternoon.

Book TRA seats to Hualien and the Pingxi line on weekends and public holidays. Walk-up tickets sell out, especially around Lunar New Year.

Keep a data plan running. A local eSIM makes bus timetables, maps and translation work without hunting for Wi-Fi.