Taiwan 8-Day Itinerary: Taipei, Taroko, Sun Moon Lake and Tainan

90 minutes, free. Taoyuan Airport is 40 km from the city center, reachable by MRT or taxi. After check-in, head to the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial with its vast gardens and the changing of the guard every hour. Arrive around 5 pm to catch the golden late-afternoon light over the square.

90 minutes. Take the yellow MRT line to Taipei 101 station and ride to the 89th-floor observation deck (NT$ 600). At 382 meters, the 660-ton damper visibly sways in the wind ; it is part of the tour. Stay for sunset and watch the city light up below.

One hour, free. The temple is the Buddhist anchor of the Wanhua district, built in 1738. Arrive early to see worshippers burning incense and jasmine vendors on the street outside. The interior is organized into wings dedicated to different deities: Guanyin at the center, Mazu on the north side.

90 minutes, free. Less than 2 km north of Longshan, Dihua Street is the oldest in Taipei, with two-storey Japanese-era warehouses selling tea, herbal medicines, dried mushrooms and fabrics. In the two weeks before Lunar New Year, it hosts a famous New Year market.

Two hours, free entry. The most famous night market in Taipei, with a covered food section and outdoor stalls. Take the blue MRT line to Jiantan station. Must-try: tornado chicken, fried stinky tofu, and peanut ice cream rolled in a rice wrapper.

Two hours, NT$ 80 entry. Take bus 1815 from Zhongxiao Fuxing to Yehliu Geopark, 42 km north of Taipei. The most photographed formations are the Queen's Head in yellow sandstone and the mushroom rocks along the lava coast. Arrive early to avoid tour groups.

90 minutes, free for the waterfall. Take the Old Line train from Ruifang to Shifen Station, 20 minutes. On the platform, visitors release coloured sky lanterns for NT$ 150; the waterfall is a 15-minute walk along the railway tracks. At 20 metres wide, it is Taiwan's largest water curtain.

Two hours, free. From Shifen, take a bus or taxi to Jiufen, 20 minutes. The most photographed alleys are on Jishan Street and the Shuqi Road stairway with red lanterns lit at dusk. Rain is common on the northeast coast: bring an umbrella. Return to Taipei by highway bus the following morning.

90 minutes. The express train from Taipei to Hualien takes 2 to 2h30 and departs early morning from Taipei Main Station; book online at advance.thsrc.com.tw. The shrine is 20 minutes from Hualien on Highway 9. Built inside a grotto over a waterfall, it honours the 212 workers who died building the Taroko access road. The light enters the grotto around 5 pm.

30 minutes, free. After the shrine, continue 5 km on Highway 9 to the stone bridge at the park entrance. The Liwu River passes turquoise between the first marble walls. A preview of tomorrow: get an early night.

Four hours, free. Rent a scooter or take a taxi from Hualien into the park (public buses are infrequent on the Taroko highway). The route runs from the park entrance to Yanzikou, 12 km into the marble: 300-metre walls, the Jiuqudong tunnel drilled through the rock, and suspension bridges over the turquoise Liwu River. Wear closed shoes: the trails stay wet from river spray.

One hour, free. Stop again at the shrine in the morning, with different light and fewer visitors. The path to the grotto is short but steep; the waterfall below is more powerful after rain. In the afternoon, rest in Hualien and try the peanut rice at a local snack shop.

One hour, free. The bus from Hualien to Taichung City takes about 3h30. Rainbow Village is a residential estate where Huang Yung-Fu, a veteran in his 90s, painted every wall and pavement with folk art figures in the 2000s to save the estate from demolition. Small but worth the stop.

Two hours, free entry. Taiwan's largest night market, with more than 1,000 stalls next to Feng Chia University campus. Unlike Shilin, it is more local and less touristy. Fengjia is credited with inventing tornado chicken and grilled sausage with garlic. Take a taxi or Uber from central Taichung.

One hour, free. The bus from Taichung to Sun Moon Lake (Nantou Bus line 6739) takes 1h30. Wenwu Temple is 5 km north of the bus terminal, on a cliff overlooking the two distinct shapes of the lake that gave it its name: a circle in the north (the sun) and a crescent in the south (the moon). Inside, statues of Confucius and Guan Yu flank the main altar.

90 minutes. Rent a bicycle (NT$ 300 for 4 hours) for the 33-km loop around the lake, or take the tourist boat from Shueishe to Xuanguang Pier, 25 minutes. The sunset over the oolong-tea mountains turns the lake into a mirror. Stay at a lakeside guesthouse for the best early-morning mist.

90 minutes, NT$ 50 entry. Getting from Sun Moon Lake to Tainan requires a bus to Chiayi (1h30) and a train to Tainan (45 min). Anping Fort was the first permanent European settlement in Taiwan: the Dutch VOC built it in 1624 as Fort Zeelandia. The original coral-block walls are intertwined with the museum, and the entrance tower offers a view of the estuary where the city was born.

One hour, free entry. The five-storey art deco building was the largest department store in southern Taiwan in 1932. Restored in 2014, it now houses shops selling Taiwanese crafts, tea and ceramics. The fifth floor has a permanent exhibition on the building's history and colonial-era urban life in Tainan.