10-Day Taiwan Itinerary by Train: Taipei, Taichung and Tainan

Taiwan is one of the easiest countries in Asia to see without a car, and ten days is the length at which the west coast stops being a rush. The high-speed line puts Taichung within an hour of Taipei and Tainan within an hour of Taichung, the old railway fills in the gaps, and the two things first-time plans usually get wrong are not the trains at all. One is the weather: in November Taipei averages 12 rain days and Tainan averages two, so the north needs a rain plan and the south does not. The other is geography: the high-speed stations in Taichung and Tainan sit outside the city, and the 12 to 25 minutes it takes to get into town is what decides whether the fast train is actually faster.

The short answer: fly into Taoyuan, spend four nights in Taipei with one day on the north coast, take the high-speed train to Taichung for two nights and a full day at Sun Moon Lake, continue to Tainan for three nights with a train day in Kaohsiung, and ride the high-speed line back north to the airport on the last morning. That is 9 nights, three beds, three long transfers and no driving. Below you will find the day plan, the exact trains and buses we checked for a November weekday, which days can absorb rain, and what changes if you fly out of Kaohsiung, want a night at the lake, or have only a week.

Your 10-day route at a glance

Who this route suits, and who should change it

This plan is built for a first visit, for travellers who like cities, food and trains more than long hikes, and for anyone who wants the trip to keep working when the northern weather turns. It gives each base at least one full day plus one excursion, keeps every inter-city transfer under two hours door to door (the airport run on the last morning is about three), and never asks you to carry luggage onto a mountain bus. It works for couples, for friends splitting hotel rooms, and for families whose children can handle a metro day.

Change it if Taroko Gorge is the reason you are going: the gorge is only partly open after the April 2024 earthquake, its best-known trails are closed until the end of the decade, and the east coast needs two nights of its own, so it belongs to a different, longer trip. Change it if you have seven days rather than ten: drop Taichung and the lake, go straight from Taipei to Tainan on the high-speed line, and keep the Kaohsiung day. And if you are deciding between Tainan and Kaohsiung as your southern base, read Tainan or Kaohsiung first, because the answer changes the last two nights and the airport you fly out of.

Five decisions to make before you book

1. How many nights in each city

Four, two and three. Taipei gets four nights because it is where you land, where the museum and the hot springs are, and where the one north-coast day lives. Taichung gets two because the city itself is an afternoon and Sun Moon Lake is a full day. Tainan gets three because the old capital deserves a day of its own, Anping and the Chimei Museum take another, and Kaohsiung is 40 minutes away by train, so it is cheaper in time to visit it from Tainan than to move hotels for one night. If you would rather sleep in Kaohsiung on the last night and fly out of its airport, that is variation A below.

2. Fast train or slow train on each leg

The high-speed line (THSR) wins the first leg clearly, is roughly level with the conventional express on the second once the station links are added, and loses the short third one. Taipei to Taichung takes 47 to 66 minutes for NT$700 (about US$22), against 1 hour 40 minutes on the three daily Puyuma trains and up to 2 hours 45 minutes on the ordinary expresses, for NT$500. Taichung to Tainan takes 36 to 54 minutes for NT$650 against 1 hour 40 minutes to 2 hours 15 minutes and NT$487. But both high-speed stations are out of town: from HSR Taichung you walk a corridor to a local platform and ride 11 to 14 minutes into the centre, and from HSR Tainan the Shalun line takes 21 to 25 minutes and runs about twice an hour. For Tainan to Kaohsiung the conventional express does the job in 30 to 45 minutes from one city centre to the other for NT$158, so the high-speed line is not worth the detour. The method and the worked numbers for every leg are in Taiwan high-speed rail or conventional trains.

3. Jiufen or Yehliu for the north-coast day

Decide the night before, from the forecast. Jiufen is a hillside town of covered lanes, tea houses and red lanterns that works in drizzle and looks best at dusk, and it is reached by bus 1062 from MRT Zhongxiao Fuxing or by a local train to Ruifang (46 to 68 minutes, NT$73) and a short bus up the hill. Yehliu is a rock shelf on the open coast with mushroom-shaped pillars and the Queen's Head, open 08:00 to 17:00 for NT$120, reached by Kuo-Kuang bus 1815 from Taipei Main Station, and it is miserable in wind and rain. The coast around Keelung averages 18.6 rain days in November, so plan Jiufen as the default and treat a dry morning at Yehliu as the bonus. Both fit in one long day if the weather holds, Yehliu first.

4. Sun Moon Lake as a day trip or a night

As a day trip, which is how this plan runs it. The Taiwan Tourist Shuttle 6670 leaves Taichung station at 07:23, 07:48, 08:03 and roughly every half hour after that on the weekday timetable, reaches the Shuishe pier in about 1 hour 40 minutes, and the last bus back leaves the lake at 19:25, which is a comfortable margin over a 17:00 departure. A night at the lake buys a sunset and a quiet morning at the cost of about an hour more transfer on the way to Tainan and a bag on the bus; that is variation B. Note that the shuttle runs its weekday timetable Monday to Thursday and its holiday timetable Friday to Sunday, which is unusual, so check the right column.

5. Kaohsiung as a day or as the last night

Kaohsiung is 30 to 45 minutes from Tainan by conventional express, and its station sits on the metro, so a day trip covers the Pier-2 warehouses, the light rail, the ferry to Cijin and the Lotus Pond pagodas without a hotel move. The case for sleeping there instead is the airport: Kaohsiung International has its own metro station and direct flights to Hong Kong, Tokyo, Osaka and Seoul among others, so an open-jaw ticket in through Taoyuan and out through Kaohsiung removes the three-hour transfer back north on the last morning. If your airline offers it, take it.

Day-by-day plan

Day 1: Taoyuan to Taipei

Most flights from North America and Europe land at Taoyuan between the afternoon and late evening. Immigration is quick if you have submitted the online Taiwan Arrival Card, which is free and must be done within seven days before arrival; there is no paper form any more. Buy an EasyCard at the Airport MRT station and take the express train, which reaches Taipei Main Station in 35 to 39 minutes for NT$160 and runs until 22:58 from Terminal 1. Stay near Taipei Main Station or on any MRT line, eat at a night market within walking distance, and sleep. Sunset in mid-November is about 17:06, so a late-afternoon arrival is already dark.

Day 2: The city on foot and by MRT

Start at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall for the scale of the square, walk or ride to Longshan Temple and the Bopiliao lanes, then spend the middle of the day around Dihua Street in Dadaocheng, the old trading quarter of dried goods, fabric and tea shops. Be at the Elephant Mountain trailhead by 16:30: the stairs take 20 minutes and the view of Taipei 101 at dusk is the picture everyone wants. If it is raining, swap the hill for the Taipei 101 Observatory, open daily 10:00 to 21:00, NT$600 at the counter or NT$540 online.

Day 3: The National Palace Museum and Beitou

The museum opens Tuesday to Sunday 09:00 to 17:00, costs NT$350, and is free for visitors aged 17 and under. It is closed on Mondays except for a short list of special openings, which in 2026 includes 26 October, 9 November and 7 December; if your Day 3 lands on another Monday, swap it with Day 2 or Day 4. Take the MRT to Shilin and a short bus ride to the museum, give it two to three hours, then ride the MRT to Xinbeitou for the hot-spring valley: the Hot Spring Museum for context and a public or hotel bath for the afternoon. This is the rain-proof day of the trip, so keep it in reserve if the north-coast forecast is bad.

Day 4: The north coast

Follow decision 3. For Jiufen, bus 1062 from Zhongxiao Fuxing takes roughly 1 to 1.5 hours depending on traffic and drops you at the old street; the train alternative is a local train to Ruifang and the local bus up. Arrive by mid-afternoon, walk the stepped lanes before the tour groups leave, and stay for the lanterns at dusk. For a dry day, start with Yehliu on the 1815 bus, give the rocks two hours, and continue to Jiufen either by going back through Taipei or by routing through Keelung, from where local buses run up to the old street. Either way the last buses down from Jiufen run late in the evening, but check the time on the day and do not cut it fine.

Day 5: Taipei to Taichung

Leave after breakfast. On the reference weekday the high-speed trains we checked left Taipei at 07:46, 07:51, 08:01, 08:21 and 08:31, and the 47-minute runs are the direct ones; the fare is NT$700 in a standard car, or from NT$455 if you book an early-bird seat at least five days ahead. At HSR Taichung follow the signs from the second floor to TRA Xinwuri and take any local train one stop to Taichung station, 11 to 14 minutes and NT$22 on the EasyCard. Sleep near Taichung station. The afternoon is the old centre on foot: Miyahara, a 1927 eye clinic turned ice-cream and pastry shop, the Second Market for lunch, Taichung Park, and either the Fengjia or Yizhong night market in the evening.

Day 6: Sun Moon Lake

Take the 6670 shuttle from the stop on Minzu Road by Taichung station; the 07:23 or 07:48 departures put you at Shuishe by about 09:05 or 09:40. The cash fare is NT$193 to the lake stop and NT$197 to Shuishe, or NT$169 and NT$173 by EasyCard. From the pier the classic loop is the boat to Xuanguang Temple and Ita Thao, a walk or bike ride on the Xiangshan path, and a bus or boat back; Wenwu Temple on the north shore is the other big stop. The lake sits at altitude, so November averages 18.6 degrees with nights around 15, and it sees about five rain days in the month. Be on a bus back by 17:00 to reach Taichung for dinner; the last one leaves at 19:25 if you linger.

Day 7: Taichung to Tainan

Reverse the local train to Xinwuri, then a high-speed train south: the 08:48 and 09:25 departures on the reference weekday reached Tainan at 09:32 and 10:06, and the fare is NT$650, or from NT$420 as an early bird. At HSR Tainan the corridor leads to Shalun station, where the Shalun line runs about twice an hour into Tainan station in 21 to 25 minutes for NT$37. Door to door from hotel to hotel is about two hours. Drop your bags and walk the old capital: Chihkan Tower (open until 21:30, NT$70), the Confucius Temple, and Shennong Street, the lantern-hung lane of old shophouses. Tainan's night markets rotate by weekday, and the big Garden Night Market runs on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

Day 8: Anping and the Chimei Museum

Take a city bus or taxi west to Anping, the first Dutch settlement on the island: the Old Fort opens 10:00 to 17:10 for NT$70, the Tree House next door is a warehouse swallowed by banyan roots, and the old street is lunch. In the afternoon ride a local train two stops to Bao-an and walk 600 metres to the Chimei Museum, a private collection of Western art, arms and instruments in a palace of a building, open 09:30 to 17:30 for NT$200 and closed every Wednesday. If Day 8 is a Wednesday, do Chimei on Day 9 and give Kaohsiung a shorter day.

Day 9: Kaohsiung by train

The conventional express trains left Tainan at 07:47, 08:29 and 08:49 on our reference weekday and reached Kaohsiung in 36 to 40 minutes for NT$158; local trains take about an hour for NT$102 and need no booking. Kaohsiung station is on the metro. Spend the morning at the Pier-2 warehouses on the harbour, ride the light rail a few stops along the waterfront, take the short ferry to Cijin for the beach and seafood, and finish at Lotus Pond, where the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas are open again after their renovation and the waterfront works were completed in early 2026. Trains back to Tainan run until about 22:45, with the last express at 21:07. This is the second buffer day: if Tainan has been enough, spend it there.

Day 10: Tainan to the airport

For a Taoyuan flight, take the Shalun line to the high-speed station and a train to Taoyuan HSR station rather than Taipei: on the reference weekday the 07:48 departure reached Taoyuan at 09:11 and the 08:48 at 10:11, for NT$1,190. From Taoyuan HSR the Airport MRT commuter train reaches the terminals in about 20 minutes for NT$35. Allow three hours door to door and be at the airport three hours before departure, which means leaving Tainan five to six hours before an international flight. For a morning departure, move the last night to Taipei or an airport hotel, variation F.

How to book the trains and buses

High-speed rail. Tickets go on sale 29 days before departure (extended to the following Sunday when that day falls on a Friday or Saturday), and the timetable for a date appears at the same time, which is why our November check used the nearest published weekday. Early-bird seats at 35, 20 and 10 percent off are sold online, in the T Express app and at convenience stores until five days before travel, on one-way adult standard-car tickets only; the deepest tier sells out first and some peak trains carry none. The ticket is tied to your passport number. If you miss the window, non-reserved tickets (cars 10 to 12 on most trains, NT$675 Taipei to Taichung) are sold on the day and never sell out.

Conventional trains. TRA express seats open at midnight 28 days before travel and can be booked until an hour before departure through the TRA e-booking app or website; local trains are just a tap of the EasyCard. Do not board a Puyuma, Taroko or any express that sells no standing tickets with only a stored-value card, because that counts as travelling without a ticket and carries a 50 percent surcharge. TRA also adjusts timetables from time to time and suggests re-checking a week before travel.

The pass question. The THSR 3-Day Pass costs NT$2,200 for three consecutive days and the Flexible 2-Day Pass NT$2,500 for any two days in seven, foreign passports only. This route rides the high-speed line on Days 5, 7 and 10, which are neither consecutive nor two, so the passes do not fit; three early-bird tickets cost less than either. The numbers are worked through in the rail article.

Buses. The Sun Moon Lake shuttle and the Jiufen and Yehliu buses take the EasyCard, and the shuttle publishes a full timetable that is worth screenshotting. The one card also covers the metros in Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung and every city bus you will use.

Weather on this route in October and November

The Central Weather Administration's 1991 to 2020 normals explain why this plan puts the flexible days in the north. Taipei in November averages 21.9 degrees, 83 mm of rain spread over 12.3 rain days and only 96 hours of sunshine; Keelung and the north coast get almost 400 mm on 19 days. Taichung averages 22.6 degrees with 24 mm on four days, Tainan 23.4 degrees with 24 mm on two days and 170 hours of sun, and Kaohsiung 24.5 degrees on three rain days. October is warmer everywhere and wetter in Taipei (150 mm), and November is the last month before the northern winter drizzle sets in. Typhoon warnings in November are rare: seven in the 35 seasons from 1991 to 2025, against 20 in October and 58 in August, though the two most recent were in November 2024 and November 2025, so keep the first days flexible. Days are short: sunrise about 06:09 and sunset about 17:06 in Taipei in mid-November. Taiwan in November has the full month-by-region picture, including what to do if you shift the trip into winter.

Shorter, slower and reversed versions

A. Fly out of Kaohsiung. Make Day 9 a move rather than a day trip, sleep in Kaohsiung, and take the metro to the airport on Day 10. Nights become Taipei 4, Taichung 2, Tainan 2, Kaohsiung 1. This needs an open-jaw ticket and saves the three-hour run back to Taoyuan.

B. A night at Sun Moon Lake. Sleep at Shuishe on Day 6 and take the morning shuttle to HSR Taichung on Day 7 (about 1 hour 25 minutes), then the high-speed train to Tainan. Nights become Taipei 4, Taichung 1, lake 1, Tainan 3.

C. Alishan in eleven days. Add a Chiayi night between Taichung and Tainan: high-speed train to Chiayi, the forest railway's 10:00 train up (arriving 14:56) or the bus, a night in the mountain village for the sunrise, and the high-speed line on to Tainan the next afternoon. Pack for single-digit nights.

D. Taroko. Not in this window, for the reasons in the note above. If the trails you want have reopened by the time you travel, it is a separate east-coast trip of at least two nights from Hualien.

E. Seven days. Taipei 4, Tainan 2 by the direct high-speed train (82 to 120 minutes, NT$1,350), and the Kaohsiung day kept. Drop the lake, not the north-coast day.

F. An early flight. Move the last night to Taipei by taking the high-speed train up on the evening of Day 9 (86 to 120 minutes from Tainan), or book an airport-area hotel, so Day 10 is just the Airport MRT.

G. Reversed. Fly into Taoyuan, take the Airport MRT to Taoyuan HSR station and a train straight to Taichung (30 to 41 minutes, NT$540), then work south and finish with four nights in Taipei. This only helps if you land early in the day and want the big city last.

What to leave for another trip

The east coast, Taroko and Taitung need their own week and a different train line. Kenting at the southern tip is a long bus ride from Kaohsiung and is better as a beach add-on than a detour. Alishan is variation C. Penghu, Kinmen and the outer islands are flights. None of these fit ten days without turning the trip into a series of transfers, which is the mistake this route is designed to avoid.

Common mistakes

Booking a hotel next to the high-speed station in Taichung or Tainan, which leaves you 20 to 25 minutes from everything you came for. Assuming the high-speed line is always faster, when for Tainan to Kaohsiung it is not. Arriving at Yehliu in rain, or at the National Palace Museum on a Monday, or at the Chimei Museum on a Wednesday. Leaving Sun Moon Lake for the last bus. Buying a rail pass for three non-consecutive train days. Treating the Airport MRT commuter train and the express as the same thing: the commuter stops everywhere and takes 53 minutes. And forgetting the online arrival card, which now replaces the paper form.

Entry rules and practical notes

Money: the Bank of Taiwan quoted about NT$31.7 to the US dollar, NT$36.4 to the euro and NT$42.5 to the pound on 21 September 2026, so NT$700 is roughly US$22 or 19 euros. Cards are accepted in hotels, department stores and the train booking systems, while night markets and small restaurants are cash. The EasyCard covers metro, bus and local trains but not high-speed seats. Daylight in November runs from about 06:10 to 17:05, so plan outdoor sights for the morning and keep the evenings for night markets. Power sockets take the North American flat-pin plug at 110 volts.

Photo credits

Hero: Taiwan High Speed Rail 700T at Taipei Main Station, by 4300streetcar, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Jiufen lanterns by Another Believer, CC BY-SA 4.0. Sun Moon Lake by lienyuan lee, CC BY 3.0. Chihkan Tower by Kdm852, CC BY-SA 4.0. All via Wikimedia Commons, resized.