Pls help on the itinerary. Need to book hotel asap. Thks!

Hi All,

I鈥檒l be traveling with my mom, hubby and a 13 month baby to Taiwan 3rd week of March. I鈥檝e planned the itinerary, but not sure whether is it realistic. Please kindly advice as I need to book the hotel asap. I鈥檓 worried there鈥檚 no more vacancy.

13th Mar (Fri): Arrive in airport at 1:05pm. Danshui + Bali

14th Mar (Sat): Plan to hirer cabby for this day - Yehliu, Shifen, Jioufen, Juifen Lao Jie, Strawberry picking, Maokow night market

(if time permits, Keelung, Jinguashih)

15th Mar (Sun): Take train to Hualien, then hirer cabby for this day. Taroko National Park, Nan Bing Night Market, Zi Qiang Night Market

16th Mar (Mon): Take train to Taipei, Longshan Temple + Ximending + Shilin Night Market

17th Mar (Tue): Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, Guan Hua Shan Chang, Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall (see changing guard), Wufenpu, Taipei 101, Raohe Night Market

18th Mar (Wed): Yang Ming Shan + Xinbeitou hotspring

19th Mar (Thurs): Leofoo Village, Wulai Hotspring Resort, Longshan Temple, Shilin Night Market

20th Mar (Fri): Free %26amp; easy

21st Mar (Sat): Free %26amp; easy. Leave for airport at 2.30pm (6pm flight)

I鈥檓 really lost with all the Chinese wordings on the website. Please help me on the following questions.

- How do I get from Taoyuen airport to Rainbow Hotel?

- Any recommendation for strawberry picking?

- I鈥檓 very confused with the train ticket to Hualien. Some said can only book 3 days before but some said can book way in advance. What should be the correct one?

- Should I plan the Hualien trip myself or follow 1 day tour? I鈥檓 not sure will it be cheaper as I can鈥檛 find the train ticket price.

taiwantourbus.com.tw:8080/jtbusphp5en/鈥?/a>

- Can baby use hotspring? If not, can I put her in stroller next to the pool?

- Any hotspring resort to recommend?

THANKS A LOT IN ADVANCE!

Pls help on the itinerary. Need to book hotel asap. Thks!

you can take the freego bus from taoyuan airport to rainbow hotel. but as the hotel is in the middle of XMD, i don%26#39;t think it will drop you directly at the hotel, instead maybe drop you somewhere nearby and you might have to walk to the hotel. the bus ticketing counters are located on the left-hand side of the airport. just turn to your left after you come out. there will be counter-ladies shouting loudly about their buses going to xmd area. recommended to buy the return bus tickets if you are planning to take freego bus back to the airport on the day of departure. otherwise, you can also take a cab from the airport to xmd area but it will cost around 1500NT or more i think. not very sure because i%26#39;ve not taken a cab before. so can%26#39;t help in this area.

you can book train tickets online and as long as you have paid for it using a foreign credit card, you only need to collect it 30mins before the train departs. for instructions, you can follow this post. tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g293910-i9303-k241鈥?/a>

i managed to collect my tickets immediately upon arrival no problems at all. just print out the confirmation slip and that%26#39;s about it. :) one thing to note the queue at the advanced ticketing counter is always quite long and moves slowly, so best to collect the tickets a day in advance.

for hualian, i would recommend hiring a taxi guide such as mr lu. in taroko gorge, we encountered a korean tourist who was taking the tour bus and he was quite angry because he waited for the tour bus quite long already and it hasn%26#39;t arrived. mr lu had to appease him (the korean tourist was shouting quite loudly) and then mr lu told us that the tour bus is quite irregular so it%26#39;s not quite recommended to take the tour bus. furthermore, you have a kid so i think hiring a taxi guide would allow you to have more flexibility. :)

Pls help on the itinerary. Need to book hotel asap. Thks!

Thanks for your reply. Do you have Mr Lu%26#39;s no? Any idea how much they will charge and for how many hours?

his number is 0928-569081

he charged us (2200NT+500NT) 2700NT for 3. we traveled to taroko gorge and cingshui cliffs(extra 500NT). we reached hualian at 10am and he brought us around till 7pm as our train was due to leave at 7.30pm. we actually bought an earlier set of tickets but he kindly changed it for us because we wanted to light fireworks. he has two cars. one is the normal taxi kind, like comfort cab, and the other is a toyota wish. just let him know where you would like to go in hualian and he will gladly bring you there. he will tell you to treat his car as your own! so you can just stop where you want. my friends and i stopped by the roads to take pictures of the pretty flowerbeds! :)

If you start early, around 7.30 by hiring a cab driver, you can cover the following places on your second day; Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall (see changing guard),Yehliu, Jiufen, Ying Yang Hai (楦抽腐娴?, Nanya, Bitou Park, Shifen, Huang Jin Waterfall,Gold Ecological Park [榛勯噾鍗氱墿鍥尯) and Miao Kou NM. Gold Ecological Park is more like a museum, if not interest, can skip.

You can check with Meeky Yang if he is available to drive you around. Quite a number of forumers has used his service before and given good review about him. You will find reviews from other forumers if you do a search within this forum.

Very unlikely you can do strawberry picking on the same day.

Here%26#39;s Meeky Yang%26#39;s contact - 09-2191-5586

His charges is NT3,000 for day trip

Thanks for the info!

I plan to cover those places near MRT station by ourselves. So will hire cabby for those difficult to get to places. If we just do Jiufen, Shefen and Miao Kou NM, do you think got time for strawberry picking?

Check out the following threads to plan for your second day activities:

tripadvisor.com/鈥?440628

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g293913-i9546-k151鈥?/a>

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g293913-i9546-k176鈥?/a>

I%26#39;ve not done strawberry picking before, therefore can%26#39;t help you. Hopefully other travel experts can provide tips to you.

If you are a single traveler, the tour bus is a better choice, but since you have a family and baby, hiring a cab is best.

The Korean traveler was probably waiting for the public bus in Taroko Gorge that only comes ever 1 hour or so and not on schedule due to traffic conditions. The tour bus will take you to each spot, let you off, get you back on and take you to the next stop.