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One of the most common questions about Taiwan that I get from my readers is how to plan the perfect Taiwan travel itinerary.

It’s a common story: people look at the map of Taiwan and see that it’s a pretty small country. So they think 7 days in Taiwan will be enough. Once they start planning their trip, they realize one week is not enough because there are SO MANY things to do in Taiwan. So they book 2 weeks in Taiwan. Then, the more they plan the finer details of their Taiwan itinerary, the more they wish they had actually booked 3 weeks or even one month in Taiwan!

In this article, I’m going to exactly how to plan your Taiwan travel schedule, no matter how many day’s you’ve got. After checking hundreds of people’s itineraries in my Taiwan Travel Planning Group, I’ve come to realize that the way people plan their itinerary varies A LOT. So many visitors cram two weeks of activities into one week or less. So I’m going to give itineraries for both slower travelers and for fast ones. I’ll also give a nature-focused itinerary and a city/culture one.

I’ve been living in Taiwan for over 10 years. I’ve written a book about Taiwan and articles for CNN, National Geographic Traveller, and others. I’ve planned numerous trips around Taiwan so the recommendations in this article are based on multiple first-hand experiences.

Taiwan Itinerary

– Read my general Taiwan travel guide and these FAQs about Taiwan. Figure out the best time to visit Taiwan, the top festivals, and which budget airlines fly there.

– Find all your day tours, drivers, discounted attraction tickets, and more on Klook! Use my referral link to get TWD 100 off your first booking. Learn about others apps for traveling in Taiwan and find more private drivers here.

– Buy your SIM card / eSIM / WiFi device, EasyCard, and HSR tickets online before you arrive. Also consider getting a Taipei Fun Pass (read my review of the pass here).

– If you are looking for a customized luxury tour of Taiwan, I recommend Life of Taiwan. Tell them Nick sent you over!

– If you’re visiting Taiwan as a family, I’ve written a similar Taiwan itinerary with kids.

– Learn all about about Taiwanese food and my recommended restaurants and night markets in Taipei.

– See my recommended hotels, hostels, and luxury resorts.

Sample Taiwan Itineraries

Here’s a brief outline of the itineraries I’ll be covering in this article. Since so many visitors only visit Taiwan for one week (I know because I’ve checked so many of your itineraries!), and because I know you try to squeeze in as much as you can, I’m provided both a slower (recommended!) and more rushed itinerary.

Typically, visitors want to squeeze in Taipei, Hualien/Taroko Gorge on the east coast, plus Sun Moon Lake and/or Alishan (on the west coast) in a short period of time. It might look like a quick drive across the island from Taroko Gorge to Sun Moon lake, but it is NOT!

There is a chain of high mountains in the center of Taiwan, with no public transportation. Even if you drive, the cross-island highway is often destroyed by landslides and impossible to cross. This means you’ll need to go from east coast to west coast via Taipei, so keep that in mind!

For the two-week itinerary, I’ve provided a nature-focused one and a city/culture-focused one, with some overlap. The three-week itinerary basically just covers all the stops of these two itineraries.

For each of the below outlines, I’ll explain how to do them in great detail below.

Taiwan in 1 Week: Slow

• Days 1-3: Taipei
• Days 4-5: Day trips from Taipei
• Days 6-7: Short trip outside the city, choose ONE of these: Hualien/Taroko Gorge, Taichung/Sun Moon Lake/Cingjing Farm, Alishan, Tainan, or Kaohsiung

Taiwan in 1 Week: Fast

• Days 1-2: Taipei
• Day 3: Day trip from Taipei (this one covers the top spots in one day!)
• Day 4: Long day trip to Taroko Gorge (details below)
• Day 5: Sun Moon Lake and/or Cingjing Farm
• Day 6: Alishan
• Day 7 Back to Taipei or directly to Taoyuan International Airport

Taiwan in 2 Weeks: Nature-Focused

If you want to do a full circle around Taiwan, two weeks is a reasonable amount of time. You can’t easily hit every stop without rushing, though. This itinerary focused on natural places and skips some of the big cities.

• Days 1-3 :Taipei (including day trip)
• Days 4-5: Hualien and Taroko Gorge
• Day 6-7: Taitung (Chishang)
• Days 8-9: Xiaoliuqiu or Kenting National Park
• Days 10-11: Alishan
• Days 12-13: Sun Moon Lake and/or Cingjing Farm
• Days 14: To Taipei or Taoyuan International Airport

Two Weeks in Taiwan: City/Culture-Focused

• Days 1-3 :Taipei (including day trip)
• Days 4-5: Hualien and Taroko Gorge
• Day 6-7: Taitung city
• Days 8-9: Kaohsiung
• Days 10-11: Tainan
• Days 12-13: Taichung
• Days 14: To Taipei or Taoyuan International Airport

Taiwan in 3 weeks

If you are able to spend more than two weeks in Taiwan, you can visit all the main stops I mentioned above, but add an extra night at each for a more relaxed pace.

Or, you can add more smaller stops and side trips to your schedule. Here’ just one example of what that could look like:

TAIWAN/toroko-map.webp