Free n easy with kids and elderly

Hi

I have gone through the forum and find it very informative as this is my first trip to Taiwan. I will be travelling in E/Mar 09 with 2 young kids (%26lt;6yrs) and 2 elderly, therefore do not want to move around with luggage.

This is my proposed itinerary :

Day 1 : Flight to Taipei, go Shihlin NM

Day 2 : Day trip to Yehliu/Jiufen/Shifen/Bitoujiao/ MiaoKou NM with Mr Yang

Day 3 : Martyr shrine/NP museum/CKS memorial/Taipei 101/Wufenpu/Raohe NM

Day 4 : YMS/Beitou hotspring/Tamsui/fisherman wharf/taipei undgergd mall

Day 5 : Taroko Gorge /Taichung (Mr Chen)

Day 6 : Sun Moon lake/Jianfusun theme park/Fengjian NM

Day 7 : Alishan/Kaoshiong/Dream mall/LiuHe NM

Day 8 : Take HSR back to Taipei, flight home

Below are some queries I have :

1) Is travelling with pram suitable in taiwan? If there%26#39;s a lot of stony roads %26amp; steps, then I will not bother to bring pram. Use baby sling.

2) Are my day 3 and 4 plans viable? enough time?

3) I was thinking of bringing luggage along for the Taroko Gorge trip and going straight to Laurel villa at night. Is it too far? Will Mr Chen fetch me there? How much will it cost and how long? Mr chen will fetch from Hualien statn? or other places??

4) Is Jianfusun T.P. good? or can skip? do I go from S.M.L %26amp; return to Laurel villa at night or go to Alishan first then go KS for the night?

5) Will it be better if I follow tour group instead as I have too many dependants %26amp; luggage?

Pls advice. Thanks

Free n easy with kids and elderly

ur itin is very packed n franckly, no diff from that arranged by a tour agent but it is do-able, just may be a tad tiring for the kids.Lug n kids not a big problem since u%26#39;re hiring a driver.Pram not feasible in places like Alishan, Taroko.

Free n easy with kids and elderly

In my opinion, you are cramming too many places in your 8 days trip. You may not be able to spend sufficient time to enjoy each places.

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Day 2

Depends on your interest, you can easily spend 1/2 day at NP museum. Wufenpu is a wholesale clothing place and it is a big area to cover. If you%26#39;re a serious shopper, that will take up few hours to explore. Avoid going there on Monday because it is the day where major buyers come to Taipei to replenish their stock

Day 3

YMS - You may board internal bus to explore any stops along the route. However at certain stops, you need to walk at least 20-30 minutes to reach the destination i.e. Zhuzhihu (Bamboo Lake). I do not know how frequent is the internal bus. Unless your intention is just to have a quick view of YMS via internal bus otherwise the advise is to skip this place. Check out this thread in preparation to explore YMS: tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g293913-i9546-k149鈥?/a>

Taipei Underground Mall - Ok to explore and it is a long underground mall.

You may want to adjust your timing if you intend to visit YMS (full visit), have a few hours soak at Beitou hotspring

Lee Foo Theme Park, Danshui %26amp; Fisherman Wharf and Taipei Underground mall. I believe by the time you finish Danshui %26amp; Fisherman Wharf, you will be very tired.

Between Kaohsiung %26amp; Alishan, advise to choose either one. I believe you wanted to experience the HSR ride, therefore go to Kaohsiung?

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To help in your planning, check the following itinerary threads:

www.freewebs.com/crazyazn/9days8nights.htm

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g293910-i9303-k587鈥?/a>

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Recent forumer went to Lee Foo theme park and has given good review about it. Check out the thread below:

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g293913-i9546-k243鈥?/a>

Hi all

Thanks for your advise.

Will replan itin.

Decided to skip Taichung and KS to free up 2 days to space the rest of the itin.

Just explore Taipei + Taroko G.

Actually I saw many reviews that says that the country side stay (eg. at sun moon lake / Cingjing grassland) is very peaceful and enjoyable. However if i based myself in Taipei, i won%26#39;t have a chance to experience it. Will it be a great loss?

u%26#39;d have to stay for more days to do SML n Alishan, can%26#39;t have it all with the 6 days u have(minus day of arr n dep), esp travelling with kids n elderly.