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Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Family Trip to Taiwan (台湾) - 8 Days 7 Nights Itinerary

Our first trip to Taiwan was back in 2005. Denver was 2 years old and he has no collection of his trip. Gladys was born a year later and she has been 'complaining' why we did not take her along. :) After multiple road trips into Johor Bahru, its time we take flight.

We booked our air tickets to Taiwan via Scoot which costs about SGD1830 for our family. Timing is pretty good and we picked to hop on a midnight flight to Taiwan and return back to Singapore in the night.


Planning the itinerary for our 8D7N free & easy tour in Taiwan was extremely difficult. There are so many places that we wanted to go but there are not enough days to cover them all! It took me many weeks and late nights to look through the travel booklets, websites and blogs before I finally streamline and firm up on our itinerary.

*Updated* - We revisited Taiwan in December 2018. Check out our 2 Weeks DIY Family Itinerary if you are planning for a longer trip.

Day 1 (Singapore - Taoyuan)
Taoyuan Airport - Audi Garden Business Hotel (欧帝花园商务旅馆) - Xiao Wu Lai (小乌来风景区)  - Daxi Old Street (大溪老街) - Taoyuan Night Market (桃园观光夜市)


Day 2 (Taoyuan - Taichung)
Zhong She Flower Market (中社观光花市) - Sinkansen (新干线火车餐厅) - CartonKing (紙箱王) - 53 Hotel (宝岛53行馆) - Gaomei Wetlands (高美湿地) - FengJia Night Market (逢甲夜市)


Day 3 (Taichung - CingJing)
Sunshine Room (陽光四人房) : Homestay (黄庆果园民宿) - Green Green Grassland (青青草原) - CartonKing (紙箱王) - Small Swiss Garden (小瑞士花园) - 博望新村 - 好鸡婆土鸡城


Day 4 (CingJing)
HeHuan Mountain (合欢山) - Courtyard Room (庭園四人房): Homestay (黄庆果园民宿) - Nina de Chocolate (妮娜巧克力工坊)



Day 5 (CingJing - Taichung - Taipei)
Taichung HSR (台中站台湾高铁) - Taipei M Hotel Main Station (台北门精品旅店) - Danshui Fisherman's Wharf (淡水渔人码头) - Danshui Old Street (淡水老街) - Shilin Night Market (士林夜市)


Day 6 (Taipei)


Day 7 (Taipei)
MaoKong Gondola (猫空缆车) - Taipei 101 (台北101) - Pacific Sogo (太平洋Sogo百貨) - 乐也日式烧肉 - Ximending (西门町)

Day 8 (Taipei - Singapore)
Ximending (西门町) - Taoyuan Airport

Not all the places we went were included in our planned itinerary. We made changes and added some flexibility to ensure that we have some rest throughout our trip. We also hired transport to bring us around Taiwan so as to shorten the time taken to travel and maximize the places of interest that we can visit in the day. Here is a quick road map for those who are planning on a trip to Taiwan.

Travelling in Taiwan
There are many places of interests around Taiwan but it takes time to travel. With the availability of various modes of transport (Bus, Trains, Private cars etc), we have to weigh between time, cost and convenience.

To save time, we engaged two different drivers to take us on a tour around Taipei and Taichung. Though we can go for trains, but it will take a longer time and it is inconvenient to travel around with our luggage. After searching online and based on friends' recommendations, we have 2 contacts to share where we feel their service and price have been commendable and satisfactory.

Tour around Taichung
Name: 刘先生
Contact: +886 927 888 032
Vehicle Type: Toyota Wish

Contacted Mr Liu via Whatsapp and communicated with him in Chinese. Mr Liu checks in on the destinations that we wishes to go and advice us accordingly. Upon confirmation, he will dispatch a driver and sends us an image with a summary note on the driver's name, contact, car plate number, date of pick up, price (no hidden cost) and our itinerary. It is very detailed and efficient. The driver that is picking us up will also contact us 2-3 days prior to our pick up date. So far I find the drivers very friendly and they were punctual. Both drivers were non smoking and the vehicle is clean.

Tour around Taipei
Name: Wenny
Contact: +886 975 720 272
Vehicle Type: Toyota Wish

Contacted Wenny via Whatsapp and find that it is very convenient to communicate with her as she is able to respond in English. Very friendly and helpful lady and she provided many helpful recommendations and information that I needed as I was planning for my trip - even though the information is not part of the travel route that we engaged them for. Upon confirmation, she quote the price and sends us the driver information. The driver arrives on time as well and he is very experience and knowledgeable.

I am glad that both drivers are non smokers and the vehicles are well-maintained. We had an enjoyable ride and they waited for us at each destination point. Both drivers also gladly help us take family photos and they only receive payment at the end of our tour. Above comments are based on our experience during our trip in Nov 2016.

1 comment:

darren rowse said...

Hi, Thanks for remind me my last year Taiwan trip, it was awesome. Taiwan is an interesting country specialy weather!

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