4D/3N: Taipei and surroundings

Arrival at the airport and meeting with your driver.
Private transfer to Taipei and check - in at the hotel.
 

Depending on the arrival time you can decide today to visit ( without guide ).

TAIPEI 101 (entrance ticket included ) is impossible to miss with its 508mt held the title of the world's tallest green building until 2011. 
Observation decks are on the 88th and 89th floors, with an outdoor deck on the 91st floor opened on some occasions, weather permitting. Don't miss the massive gold-colored iron wind damper that keeps the tower stable through typhoons and earthquakes. 
ELEPHANT HILL Hiking Elephant Mountain is definitely 1 of the top things to do in Taipei. If you’re in good shape, you can make it 15 – 20 minutes and you’ll end up at a viewing platform which has a great view of Taipei 101 and the city.

Around 17.00 meeting with your English speaking guide at the lobby of the hotel for a Night market walking tour: Get out of the tourist traps; join the food tour and discover eating like a local. Explore the people and places around the well known food street markets! 

Dinner will be at the night market.

After breakfast meeting with your English speaking guide and driver at the lobby of the hotel
Today you will explore the Northern coast of Taiwan.

● Yehliu  is a cape on the north coast of Taiwan, about an hour's drive from Taipei. It's  known for Yehliu Geopark, a landscape of honeycomb and mushroom rocks eroded by the sea. The coastline is dotted with remarkable geological formations named after their shapes, including the Queen’s Head and Dragon’s Head, because of their shapes resembling faces, ice cream cones and giant sandals. Both a museum and scenic attraction, the Geopark offers extensive information on the natural geological processes that created these rock formations. Yehliu also boasts an ecological reserve and the country’s first marine park. (entrance included)

● JIUFEN OLD STREET
During the Qing Dynasty, this isolated village housed only nine families; thus the village would
request ‘portions’; every time shipments arrived from town. Jiu means "nine" and "Fen" means "portions". Until the 1950s, Jiufen was a prosperous gold mining town but in the next few years the town started to decline. This small village is located within hills, next to the mountains, and facing the ocean. Its special location saved it from becoming another anonymous mining ghost town. Jiufen is now a popular tourist destination for Taipeis eager to relieve scenes from the past.

● SHIFEN WATERFALL
Shifen Waterfall is a 40 metre tall waterfall that creates a rainbow as it splashes into the lake, widely regarded as the most scenic in all of Taiwan.

Lunch and dinner will be on the way in some typical restaurant ( guide will provide suggestions) and not included in the quotation.

Back to Taipei in the evening and free time after dinner.
This tour will take around 9 hours


 

After breakfast at the hotel, take a short taxi to reach the Taipei Main station ( Taxi ride not included ) and jump on board of the super modern High speed train to reach Taichung station. 
After arrival at Taichung HSR Station, meeting with your English speaking guide/driver at TBD and drive to Sun Moon Lake. We’ll leave the city behind  and head to magical Sun Moon Lake, consistently rated as one of the most scenic spots in Asia. The drive to Sun Moon Lake, depending on traffic, will take about 1 to 1,5 hour.

After arrival, you will take the boat and explore the lake (we include a boat cruise (around 60/90 minutes) around the lake.  

Next on the list is a well-deserved Taiwanese-style lunch.

Lunch will be followed by a sky-high ride in a cable car granting picturesque 360-degree panoramic views over Sun Moon Lake. The Sun Moon Lake Ropeway connects Ita Thao with the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village. It takes about ten minutes each way and covers a distance of around 1,877 meters (6,158 ft).
 

After Ropeway Ride you will visit Wenwu Temple. The majestic temple sits on a mountainside, north of Sun Moon Lake, and was built according to the landscape. Wenwu Temple is known to be the largest temple in the area.
 

The final stop is Yidashao Commercial District. During a 40-minute visit, you can learn more about Taiwan and Taiwanese Indigenous culture and get your hands on some fine traditional arts and crafts.

The Guide will drive you back to Taichung high speed train station and help you to take the High speed train back to Taipei.
Arrive in Taipei and free time for dinner.


 

After breakfast meeting with your English-speaking guide tour in Taipei with Van. 
 

► BAO’AN TEMPLE: Originally constructed in 1742 as a wooden shrine, the Bao'an Temple is a Taiwanese folk religion temple. Throughout Taiwan's history, the temple was renovated and reconstructed numerous times, leading to a 2003 induction into UNESCO for cultural heritage conservation. Dedicated to the Taoist saint Baosheng Dadi (保生大帝), the 900 SQ METRE large temple faces south, in line with Feng-Shui practices, and houses the front, main, and rear halls, along with the east and west halls. The buildings also run from tallest to shortest in that order, in observance of Confucian principles. The temple also houses a drum tower.

► LONGSHAN TEMPLE: Founded in 1738 during the Qing Dynasty has been rebuilt multiple times after destruction by earthquakes, typhoons, and even bombing in the last days of WWII. It is for worshiping Guanshiyin Buddha and over 100 divine spirits. The most important ones are : Matsu, goddess of the sea, Wenchang Dijun, the god of literature, red-faced Guan Gong, the god of war and patron of police and gangsters, and the Old Man Under the Moon, known as the Matchmaker or the Chinese cupid.

Visit also Herb Lane and Snake Alley near Longshan Temple.

XIMENDING: Located in west Taipei, Ximending is one of the most popular tourist spots among both local and international travelers. Ximending features a wide selection of fashionable clothing and accessories in many styles including Japanese, Chinese and Western. Ximending is similar to Shibuya in Japan, both are famed for a diversity of entertainments and activities that allure large numbers of young people and young adults. It is often a gathering site for young people and has been noted the most fashionable and popular shopping area in Taiwan.

► RED HOUSE: In the Japanese era, the Red House came to symbolise the bustling commercialism of the Ximending District. Post-WWII it was an opera house, a performance theatre, a movie theatre and, finally a multifunctional cultural centre with regular live performances and exhibitions. 
The newly furnished first floor contains a shopping ground, creative arts showroom, and a Paper windmill Cafe. On the 2nd floor, an entire room had been developed into an assembly hall with mobile chairs and tables. The red interior has a spacious capacity that can house up to 200 people. All the area is full of bars and restaurants.

Transfer to Airport with private bus.