1

The Alishan region is definitely worth more than half a day (in fact it would take almost half a day just to get there). Check travel practicalities - even if public transport is very efficient, you probably won't be able to move from the Yushan region to the east coast in one day. It can practical to go from Alishan directly to Sun Moon Lake or vice versa.

I am not sure if the weather will be fine in the north and east that time of the year. We visited last February and decided to stick to the south and central-west parts of Taiwan because of the weather. We were able to pick a nice itinerary for just 12 days there - not too packed but quite interesting nevertheless. See http://meczko.blog.onet.pl/ for practical details.

2

On first glance it appears to me you are jumping from one location to another. Perhaps you should look at the map and make your itinerary more logical. You can travel the island in a circular fashion coming down the west coast to the southern tip and back up the east coast to return to Taipei.

I hope you are traveling with a rental car. At least it appears to me the itinerary is better suited for such an arrangement. February and March are a good time to visit Taiwan. You could even see snow in high altitude.

3

From your itinerary, it seems you adore natural scenery.
You even know the private spot DaYueShan.
Here are some advise I can give you from a Taiwan Local

Day 1 - North Coast and Guan Yin Shan + Yang Ming Shan (North)
Day 2 - Northeast and YilanCoast + ManYueYuan (North)
--> Go to East Coast would be a smart choice for saving your cost and time in day3 since you're already in Yilan.
ManYueYuan is not in direction and in fact, the scenery in just fine, not so well as other attractions.
And east coast should take at least three days, that's the purest place in Taiwan, Taking your time is better.
Day 3, 4, 5 - EastCoast + East Rift Valley + Chihnan + Taroko (East)
Day 6, 7,8 - Kenting (South) Dapeng Bay + Siraya + Maolin + Tengjhih
--> Kenting is suitable for sumeer season, but you should get there for one night.
Maolin may not be available due to recent typhoon destroy.
Day 9 - Alishan + YuShan (South)
Day 10 - Sun Moon Lake (Central)
Day 11 - Cingjing Farm + Wuling (HeHuanShan)(Central)
Day 12 - Taichung City
Day 13 - Taipei, Depart for Flight home

Taichung is a creative city,feautring for night market and city landscape.
Your original plan jumps from one to another. It will take too much time on transportation.
My revision is a round trip with clockwise direction with higher effeciency.
And hiring a driver for certain place is recommended,
since public transportation is not available in some area.

You can get some attraction from the following website about Central and North Taiwan Attractions:
http://roundtaiwanround.tumblr.com/
East Taiwan:
http://tour-hualien.hl.gov.tw/en/Attraction/Information.aspx?id=139&type=2#content
http://www.taroko.gov.tw/English/

Good Luck!! Any question,just feel free to ask me.

Edited by: superwei86

4

Bikes in Taiwan are pretty small and the place is bigger (or traffic slower) than you think. I don't know if you can rent them there. Certainly 5 years ago when I was there, you could not

If you're providing your own transportation and going to all those destinations, you will not have enough time to do much more than ride by them and snap a photo.

EX.
DAY 1: Yang Ming Shan is worth and entire day, but if you hurry a half-day will do.. If your flight lands in the early am, by the time you make it though customs get checked in to your hotel, find transportation and make it to a starting point (like Lengshuikeng 冷水坑) it will be noon - 3 pm (of course you will have jet lag and sleep deprivation). Check out the mini-museum, then hike past the fumeroles, through the crater (watch out for bugs) and spend some time soaking in the hot springs.

Then taxi back to the Shi Lin night market for some marvelous food, taxi to your hotel and collapse in exhausted Nirvana.

Skip everything else on Day 1, and realize that the above is already a busy schedule.

Day 2.
Realize you are going to wake up at 10 am and do either ManYue Yuan or the Yi Lan Coast.

Taiwan is a beautiful place. Slow down and watch the butterflies.

5

in my opinion

Day 0
Taipei City

Day 1
BaLi →(ferry)→ TamSui → North Coast → JinShan → Yang Ming Shan → Taipei City Tour

Day 2
Taipei → JiuFen+JinGuaShih → FuLong → Caoling Historic Trail → JiaoXi (hot springs) → LuoDong (night market)

Day 3
→ LuoDong → National Center for Traditional Arts → SuAo (cold springs) → HuaLien
http://www.ncfta.gov.tw/ncfta_eh/main/index.aspx
If you want to spend more day at east Taiwan and KenTing, you could cancel this route

Day 34(5)
HuaLien → Taroko → east rift valley or east coast → TaiTung → LanYu or Green Is.
(if you just want to spend 2 days, don't go to LanYu or Geen Is.)

Day 56(7)
TaiTung → KenTing → DaPeng Bay → NMMBA
http://www.nmmba.gov.tw/english/index.aspx
maybe you dont want to go NMMBA

Day 8
KaoHsiung city tour or Tainan city tour → ChiaYi → AliShan

Day 10
AliShan Sunrise → Alishan → Sun Moon Lake
Alishan departure:1pm 2pm (Jul. 2012)
If you have enough time, you can go to JiJi or live in PuLi.

Day 11/12
Sun Moon Lake → PuLi → Central Taiwan Mountains → PuLi → TaiChung
PuLi also has bus to Taipei

It's maybe cold , wet and rainy in Northern and NE Taiwan that time.

6

This is the suggested itinerary for you.
http://www.havefuntravel.tw/show_itinerary_nine.asp

Day 1
Pick up from TAOYUAN Airport ~ Upon arrival transfer to hotel.

Day 2
Pick up from Hotel ~ Taichung ~ Visit Sun Moon Lake（Wen Wu Temple, Te Hua Village, Cih-en Pagoda, Holy Monk Shrine） ~ Puli Town（Traditional Culture & Arts Center） ~ Stay overnight in Taichung.

Day 3
Pick up from Hotel ~ Visit Lukang Historic Area & Bagua Mountain Dafo Scenic Area ~ Transfer to Tainan by bus or train ~ Stay overnight in Tainan.

Day 4
Pick up from Hotel ~ Visit Tainan City Tour（Anping Fort, Chih-Kan Lou(The Chamber of Red Hill) , Eternal Fortress (Yi Tzai Golden Castle ) and Koxinga Shrine） ~ Transfer to Kaohsiung ~ Visit Fokuangshan (Light of Buddha Mountain) ~ Stay overnight in Kaohsiung.

Day 5
Pick up from Hotel ~ Kaohsiung City Tour（Former British Consulate, Sizih Bay (Sizihwan), Spring & Autumn Pavilions） ~ Entrain for Hualien ~ Stay overnight in Hualien.

Day 6
Pick up from Hotel ~ Visit East Coast National Scenic Area（Pachi Scenic Lookout, Stone Steps, Caves of the Eight Immortals, Stone Umbrella） ~ Cisingtan ~ Rueisuei ~ Huatung Valley ~ Return to Hualien ~ Stay overnight in Hualien.

Day 7
Pick up from Hotel ~ Visit Taroko Gorge National Park（Eternal Spring Shrine, Swallow Grotto, Tunnel of Nine Turns, Marble Bridge,Tiansiang Lodge） ~ Chi Hsing Beach ~ Stone Sculpture Park ~ Entrain for Taipei ~ Hotel.

Day 8
◎Taipei City Tour（Morning）+Yangmingshan National Park & Hot Spring Tour（Afternoon）+Taipei Night Tour

Day 9
Keelung Harbor, Yeliou & Northern Coast Tour（Morning）+Jioufen & Northeast Coast Tour（Afternoon）

Day 10
Wulai Aboriginal Tribe Tour（morning）+Sansia & Yingge Folk Arts Tour（Afternoon）

Day 11
Free & Easy Day.

Day 12
Hotel ~ Transfer to TAOYUAN Airport ~ Leave Taiwan.

7

Thanks all for your replies =)

We had spent 5 days alone in Taipei last year, so this time, Taipei has the least priority over the others.

1) How will the weather pattern be in late Feb at the East side of Taiwan? If rainy, does it rain heavily consecutively for 3 days? or it pours about 1 days out of 3 days?

2) With relations to the weather conditions at the East side of Taiwan, would it still be wise to continue visiting the East?

3) If I hire a driver, is he/her able to bring me through my whole itinerary? How much would it roughly cost?

4) What is the fastest method to get from Hualien to Kenting? How about Sun Moon Lake to Taipei?

5) Pictures of Siraya looks really attracting, any review by anyone been there before? Is it worth visiting?

Worked out another itinerary, is it do-able?

Day 1, 2, 3: Arrival and off to East Coast + East Rift Valley + Taroko (Hualien)
Night (1, 2) at Hualien
Night (3): Travel to Kenting

Day 4: Kenting
Night (4) at Kenting

Day 5, 6, 7: Kaohsiung
Night (5,6) at Kaohsiung
Night 7: Travel to Siraya

Day 8: Siraya
Night 8: Siraya

Day 9, 10, 11: Alishan
Night 9, 10: Alishan

Day 11: Sun Moon Lake + WuLing
Night 11 at Taipei

Day 12: Northcoast and Guanyinshan + Yang Ming Shan (New Taipei City)

8

Hi,Amanda

Here are the advice I provide from a local Taiwanese:
Ans1:Rains possibility in late Feb of east Taiwan was around 25~35% (drizzle, not heavily rain)
Ans2:Depends on your luck when visiting. However, Rains possibility in north Taiwan is 50~70%, higher than East or Central Taiwan.
Ans3:It depends on the itinerary and service, some driver can take you to private spot, some driver speak English. Here is a website where you can hire a driver with fluent English and customized service.You can ask if they can provide for the service (http://roundtaiwanround.tumblr.com/)
4.Hualien to Kenting: Directly Hire a driver or the by TRA train(need one more transfer in Fangliau by taxi or bus in Fangliau to Kenting)
Sun Moon Lake to Taipei:Hire a driver from Sun Moon Lake to THSR Taichung then take THSR to Taipei
5.It depends on your preference, which kind of travel style do you like? culture or scenery?

About the itinerary:
Day 1, 2, 3: Since you want to visit East Coast + East Rift Valley,Taroko, 3 days is too tight, in fact you only have 2days in East Taiwan(1st day is from TPE to Hualien). 4days is much better.
I recommend spend 2nights in Hualien and 1night in Taidung.

Day 4: Kenting is a great place, but better visiting in summer season(Jun. to Sep.). And it would take long time on transportation due to its opposite direction. I would skip Kenting and spend more time in Sun Moon Lake + WuLing on Day11 since it's impossible to to visit these 2 famous attractions in one day.

Day 5, 6, 7: Kaohsiung : Kaohsiung is a beautiful city with warm local people. But if you love natural, I think 1 night is enough.
Night 7: Travel to Siraya : I am not familiar with this area, maybe you can give it a shot.
Day 9, 10, 11: Alishan : Typically 2D1N Alishan tour is enough.
Day 11: Sun Moon Lake + WuLing : It's not possible to doing this in one day. Sun Moon Lake needs at least 1 day and WuLing 1 day. Both place are worth visiting. Wuling features for high mountain in Taiwan (above 10000fts) with green grass. It's very different from any place you visit in Taiwan.
Day 12: Fine

If your budget is enough, hiring one driver is the best choice. I think you can hire a driver in local area. For example, in East Taiwan you hire one driver, in South Taiwan you hire another one, in Central and NorthTaiwan you hire another one. THSR and TRA public transportation is recommended while moving from East to South,South to Central and Central to North. It would reach a balance between budget and time by moving like this.