Taipei
Throughout the Japanese era this geothermal valley was considered one of Taiwan's great scenic wonders. The area has been much altered since, so it isn't…
Must-see attractions in Taiwan
Penghu Islands
In the west coast fishing village of Zhongshe, over 130 small, traditional houses survive, most tightly packed in two photogenic huddles. Made of local…
Taipei
Set in a restored heritage house at the top end of Dihua St is this permanent exhibition showcasing the history of Taiwanese 'comfort women' – sex slaves…
Penghu Islands
Magong's cute if minuscule historic heart is a forked alley of old-style shops directly east of the Tianhou (Matsu) Temple.
National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts
Taichung
Taiwan's top fine-art museum features the works of both established and upcoming Taiwanese artists, as well as famous foreign creators such as Japanese …
Taroko National Park
This 18km marble-walled gorge is Taroko National Park's crown jewel. It's a must-see attraction whether you're hiking its trails, peering at its…
Northern Taiwan
This 63.9 sq km expanse of mixed forest holds one of the largest stands of ancient red hinoki cypress trees left in Taiwan. The most ancient of the…
Taroko National Park
Nearing completion at the time of research, a breathtaking new suspension footbridge at Bulowan will soon cross the gorge, dizzyingly high above the river…
Northern Taiwan
Admire the works of Taiwan's best-known contemporary sculptor, Ju Ming (1938–), at this museum and open-air sculpture park. Ju Ming has works strewn all…
Tainan
Taiwan's eighth national park, Taijiang covers a patchwork of coastal lands north of Anping Harbour. The 50 sq km of land and 340 sq km of sea include…
Tainan
Built in 1666 by the son of Ming loyalist Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga),Taiwan's first Confucian temple and official school is quiet, dignified and coloured…
Taipei
Constructed by the famous Fujian craftsman Wang Yi-shun in the late 1920s, this temple is a beautiful example of Minnan-style architecture and of Taiwan's…
Northern Taiwan
This captivating volcanic islet, 10km off the coast of Yilan, is less than 3km long yet rises up to 398m. Once supporting a population of 750 people, the…
Western Taiwan
The Baguashan slopes were for centuries a military observation zone. The area affords views over the whole city and far out to sea. It’s a pleasant place…
Eastern Taiwan & Taroko National Park
The area known as the Gaotai is a hill which rises fairly abruptly above Luye, surveying the surrounding green mountain ridges in all directions. For most…
Northern Taiwan
The centre of religious life in Sansia, the Tzushr Temple honours Qingshui Tsu-Sze, a Song-dynasty general worshipped by the people of Anxi, Fujian, for…
Manyueyuan Forest Recreation Area
Northern Taiwan
Once you get past the paved waterfall trails in this scenic park 20km southeast of Sansia, you reach natural hikes that climb for hours through sweet…
Taichung
Built by a devout Taichung family in the 1920s, Pi-Lu Buddhist Monastery looks more like a mansion than a monastery, with its red-bricked facade, Doric…
Kaohsiung
Considered the centre of Buddhism in southern Taiwan, Foguangshan a good place to learn more about Buddhism as the staff and some of the monks and nuns…
Tainan
This art deco department store from the 1930s has been so beautifully restored that it's worth going in just to ascend the sweeping staircase, peer…
Northern Taiwan
Wuling Farm, also known as Wuling Forest Recreation Area (武陵國家森林遊樂區), is a relaxing mountain retreat popular with Taiwanese families who come for the…
Northern Taiwan
The cascades at this popular tourist stop have stained the rocks a honeycomb yellow due to the pyrite (fool's gold) deposits picked up by the water as it…
Eastern Taiwan & Taroko National Park
At 952m, Sixty Stone Mountain offers one of the east coast's most mesmerising landscapes. Zigzag up eight kilometres through subtropical foliage to the…
Taipingshan National Forest Area
Northern Taiwan
This logging-area-turned-mountain-retreat offers easy forest trails along whimsical relics of old railway tracks, and countless lookouts over the snow…
Kaohsiung
Dramatic residential blocks with curved facades encircle a diaspora community in the Guomao area. The dozen-or-so 12-storey buildings were constructed for…
Taipei
Evolution is the theme at this museum, set in a 1930s former bank: evolution of life, evolution of money and banking, and evolution of the bank from the…
Fuyuan Forest Recreational Area
Eastern Taiwan & Taroko National Park
Fuyuan takes an area of serene natural beauty and tames it just enough to make accessible the abundant birdlife and multitudinous butterflies that flit…
Taipei
This 4km-long, 30-minute gondola ride is as much an attraction as a mode of transport. On clear days and nights the views across Taipei and up the lush…
Northern Taiwan
Home to 152 unwanted Chiang Kai-shek statues, this open-air sculpture park is a hoot (surely unintentionally), with promenades of Chiang busts and clumps…
National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute
Taipei
This striking red-and-white building, with its circular neoclassical Chinese-style roof, dates back to just 1956. It now houses the Craft Research and…
Taipei
This dainty two-hall temple was constructed in 1822 by Hakka immigrants from Guangdong province. The resident deity, the Dingguang Buddha (the guardian of…
Tainan
The neoclassical-style Land Bank dates from 1928. Japanese architects were heavily influenced by western ideas at the time and neoclassical revival was a…
Taroko National Park
Very steep rock-and-forest mountainsides north of Taroko descend directly into the sea from several hundred metres' altitude. That means that roads and…
Tainan
This is the oldest and most impressive temple in Taiwan dedicated to Guandi (Guan Gong), a Han-dynasty general deified as the God of War. He is the patron…
Northern Taiwan
Though founded by a Buddhist order, this museum aims not to promote Buddhism, but to build harmony by showing the communality of all religions. Highlights…
Northern Taiwan
Strewn with meteorite-sized boulders and facing Turtle Island 10km offshore, Wai'ao's black sand beach is one of the best places in northern Taiwan for…
Northern Taiwan
This block of tastefully restored merchant houses and residences dates from the end of the Qing dynasty. On weekends there's a lively market atmosphere as…
Hualien
Qixingtan (Chihsingtan) is a former fishing hamlet whose few remaining, old, tin-roofed shacks are outnumbered by a gaggle of small but fanciful hotels…
Eastern Taiwan & Taroko National Park
An attractively set 'cultural village' and tour bus magnet, Lintianshan was founded in 1918 as a Japanese-era logging village. At its 1960 peak, it housed…
Taroko National Park
Picturesque for its setting, backed by toweringly steep mountainsides, this small shrine sits above a gushing spring that pours out onto the rocks below,…
