Yehliu Geopark - Must See in Taiwan
Yehliu Geopark

Taiwan may be a small country but it’s definitely pack with diverse tourist attractions from panoramic skyscrapers to the stunning waterfalls as well as  hot & cold springs. The Heart of Asia also boasts a good number of thrilling mountains to hike for those who are into serious adventure! To start off, let me give you a short list of must-see attractions outside but not really far from Taipei! This will definitely give you another perspective of Taiwan.

#1 Yehliu Geopark

Must See Places in Taiwan
Mushroom-like Rock Formation

Located in the north coast of Taiwan, is a cape that stretches more than 1 kilometer full of ridiculously unique geological rock formations caused by sea erosion. Imo, the rock shapes as well as its layout look way better than the Kapurpurawan Rock Formation in Ilocos. These out-of-this-world formations are really amazing when you see them in person. When mother nature does the job, you are left mind-blown.

Cost: 80 NTD

yehliu geopark - Must See Places in Taiwan
Admission Ticket
yehliu geopark - Must See Places in Taiwan
I always remember cinnamon bread every time I look at this picture.
yehliu geopark - Must See Places in Taiwan
The Squad

#2 Golden Waterfall

Golden Waterfall - Must See Place in Taiwan
Golden Waterfall

Situated near the Gold Ecological Park (黃金博物園區) in Jinguashi is the famous Golden Waterfall. The gold-ish color of this beautifully cascaded waterfall is a result of the combination of regular rainfall in this mining area and the abundance of metal elements dumped into the riverbed. With luscious green plants sitting in the background, surely this golden waterfall stands out at any angle. Definitely a lit Instagram spot.

However, during our visit it was raining hard. No sunlight to make the waterfall glow but it’s still pretty.

Cost: Free

Golden Waterfall - Must See Place in Taiwan

Golden Waterfall - Must See Place in Taiwan

Golden Waterfall - Must See Place in Taiwan
No rain can stop us!

#3 Gold Museum

Gold Museum - Must See Place in Taiwan
GOOOOOLD

Formerly called as Gold Ecological Park, is a museum of the gold mining industry in Ruifang District, New Taipei, Taiwan. The Gold Museum is an open-air museum consisting of several buildings and sites located in the mountainous town of Jingua Rock (Jinguashi). – Wikipedia

Actually, this place is a maze of various attractions that will hook you up in no time. Our attention was caught up by this old Japanese-like house hidden up in a hill. We got curious so we checked it out. As we walked toward the foot paths, we discovered it was empty and all we could hear from that moment was the sound of the birds chirping above the trees and the wind that swept the fallen leaves. #chills

There were fascinating painting exhibits to see as well. The highlight of our visit was our lunch at this “mining” concept restaurant! Although the food really tasted bland, the resto itself had nice overlooking-the-mountains dining area. We were a bit early so we had the chance to sit inside this huge Mine Cart and it was pretty cool. The food was affordable, only it tasted bland. Overall, this place was a breath of fresh air.

More information here: http://www.gep-en.ntpc.gov.tw/xmdoc/cont?xsmsid=0G274571475668390981

Cost: 80 NTD

Gold Museum - Must See Place in Taiwan
The Vicinity
Gold Museum - Must See Place in Taiwan
It’s foggy outside
Gold Museum - Must See Place in Taiwan
Lunch inside this huge “Mine Cart”
Gold Museum - Must See Place in Taiwan
Fathima made a u-turn from this old Japanese-looking house. XD
Gold Museum - Must See Place in Taiwan
Who knows where this stairs lead you to…

#4 Shifen Waterfall

It’s not your average waterfall. The stream flows through to this layered crest before it tumbles down below making a spectacular scene when watching from afar. It’s like a living version of your mom’s favorite luxury curtains hanged in the center of the living room. The journey towards the falls is quite fun as you will have to cross a suspension bridge that adds drama on the way and then pass through several stores and gift shops until you arrive in the view deck for the main attraction. This massive waterfall  measures 20 metres high and 40 metres wide making it the widest waterfall in Taiwan.

Cost: Free

Suspension Bridge Shifen Waterfall - Must Visit Place in Taiwan

Shifen Waterfall - Must Visit Place in Taiwan
Good thing the rain stopped already!

#5 Shifen Old Street

Shifen Old Street - Must Visit Place in Taiwan
The Railroad Track

This old street in Pingxi district has attracted thousands of tourists for several years now due to its charm that never wears off igniting the thrilling past of what has been. The railroad tracks was originally built for transporting coal but now serving the local and foreign commuters from around the neighborhood making it the most popular on the Pingxi rail-line. It’s like visiting the past and appreciating the rich culture that still exist. And one of them is the sky lantern. Before it was only used as signals by the Military men. Now, locals and visitors would come here and paint their personal wishes on a colorful lantern before releasing them to the sky. In fact, every year, a magnificent Sky Lantern Festival is held in Pingxi to commemorate the old tradition and gather thousands of people from around the world lighting the sky with hopes and dreams.

Did our wishes come true? Mine did.

Cost: Lanterns (100 to 150 NTD)

Shifen Old Street - Must Visit Place in Taiwan
Behind the scenes..

#6 Jiufen Old Street

Jiufen Old Street - Must Visit Place In Taiwan
The Smothering Crowd of Jiufen

Probably the most iconic place to visit outside Taipei. Known for its narrow streets and secret alleys filled with themed cafes, food stalls, souvenir shops and huge crowd. Gosh, I’m almost scared to be stuck in the middle of a motionless sea of people for a couple of minutes. It’s suffocating. This place draws thousands of tourists every single day making it one of Taiwan’s top destination perhaps because of its explicit Japanese influence reflecting on both architecture and culture that is beautiful in any way.

Our visit was still enjoyable as we have tried some local snacks like the ice cream Dorayaki (Doraemon’s food), stinky tofu, pineapple tarts and many more. Actually, we did some souvenir shopping here and haggle as much we can to get 7 box of pineapple tarts in a price of 5! You can’t miss this place and its jam-packed streets.

Cost: Free

Jiufen Old Street - Must Visit Place In Taiwan
Souvenirs
Jiufen Old Street - Must Visit Place In Taiwan
Peanut Ice Cream
Jiufen Old Street - Must Visit Place In Taiwan
Yeka excited to try the stinky tofu!

Cheap Taipei Countryside Tour

Cheap Taiwan Tour
with the best tour guide in Taiwan – Jeff Lin!

Excessive means of transportation are conveniently available to visit all these awesome places. However, if you don’t have plenty of time, it’s good to hire a private tour guide to take you around. In our case, we manage to visit them all in a single day and capped it off in the base of Elephant Mountain. To efficiently do that, I searched on the web for an affordable, trusted and expert tour guide/driver in Taiwan. In TripAdvisor, I found this man named Jeff Lin. He is quite famous and highly recommend by the people who have hired his service. I contacted him via email and luckily he was available on the date I mentioned. It was a rainy Thursday, we started our Taiwan Countryside Tour. The weather was bad, good thing Jeff prepared umbrellas for us and offered free bottles of water. He’s the best! Our tour costs us NTD 1142 each person for 9 hours.

You may contact him on this email address: tab18690@gmail.com

Tip: I strongly suggest that you allocate at least half day in Jiufen Old Street because it really takes time to explore this piece of beauty, well only if you have time.

Happy travels!

 

6 thoughts on “Top 6 Must Visit Places Outside But Not That Far From Taipei”

      1. Yeah! Same here! Your last trip was in 2016?
        Although I just visited Taiwan in June, I can’t wait to be back! Especially when I’m now writing on this trip & need to constantly refer back to those photos 🙂

  1. If only I found about this when I flew to Indonesia with a layover in Taipei. Hopefully one day I will make a stop again in Taipei.

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