🍃 Taroko Gorge Day Trip: My Honest Review & Tips

A blue river running through an area with lush green trees and grey rocks.
Lukiih’s Overall Rating7.1
🦄 Uniqueness
🍀
😊 Enjoyment
🍀
💰 Value
🍀
🎒 Ease of Preparation
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Taroko Gorge, the landmark of Taroko National Park, is one of Taiwan’s most famous natural attractions. Using a clear rating system, I share my honest review of visiting it, along with firsthand tips.

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🍀 Lukiih’s Verdict

I highly recommend visiting Taroko National Park if you spend more than three days in Taipei.

  • The park features stunning natural beauty and was one of the highlights of my trip.
  • Visiting the park from Taipei is moderately priced and includes transportation and a tour guide.
  • Minimal preparation is required, as you only need to figure out transportation and prepare for a long but straightforward train ride to reach it.
A red bridge that connects to a green, lush mountain with trees.
Taroko Gorge

Planning a trip? Here’s what to know about Taiwan.

🏆 Where Does It Rank?

A day trip to Taroko Gorge ranks as the #4 experience I had in Taiwan. Here’s how it compares to other things I did on my trip:

ExperienceLocationOverall Rating
1🥟 Din Tai FungTaipei7.8
2🏮 Jiufen Day TripNew Taipei City7.8
3🦑 Taipei Night MarketTaipei7.2
4🏞️ Taroko GorgeHualien7.1
5🌅 Taipei 101Taipei6.5
6🌳 Chiang Kai-shek Memorial HallTaipei6.5
7🏮 Lungshan TempleTaipei6.5
8♨️ Beitou Hot SpringsTaipei6.4
9🛍️ XimendingTaipei6.2
10🐘 Elephant MountainTaipei5.9
11🍵 Teapot MountainNew Taipei City5.8
12💧 Golden WaterfallNew Taipei City5.8
Learn how Lukiih’s Rating is calculated here

My Taiwan itinerary features the above experiences.

✈️ About My Trip

For context on my review, here’s what to know about my trip:

  • I finance my trips and don’t receive sponsorship; this review reflects my honest opinions.
  • This post has updated 2024 information, but I visited Taroko National Park in 2022.
  • My Taiwan trip was in November when it was more crowded and expensive.

🦄 Uniqueness: Average

The Uniqueness Score is based on how rare and memorable an experience is.

Uniqueness
🍀
Rarity
🍀
Memorability
🍀
  • Visiting Taroko Gorge is an uncommon experience. I estimate that fewer than 20 gorges with similar features exist worldwide. The gorge is made primarily of marble, giving it a distinct coloration and smooth texture.
  • It’s also one of the few gorges in the world with a shrine. The Liwu River, which runs through the gorge, also has a striking, unforgettable turquoise color.
A blue river running through an area with lush green trees and grey rocks.
Taroko Gorge
  • Other comparable gorges exist worldwide, including Takachiho Gorge in Japan and Tiger Leaping Gorge in China.
  • The park’s attractions collectively make the visit memorable, but the individual attractions are not epic on their own.

😊 Enjoyment: High

The Enjoyment Score is based on how much happiness and reward an experience provides.

Enjoyment
🍀
Happiness
🍀
Reward
🍀
  • I found visiting Taroko National Park very fun and delightful. The park is 26 miles wide and has over a dozen attractions. The varied attractions make exploring them easy for an entire day or more.
  • A knowledgeable and enthusiastic tour guide like mine increases appreciation for the park as they share fun facts and history that visitors otherwise wouldn’t know.
A small shrine nestled in a lush green mountain.
Eternal Spring Shrine from afar
  • The park is a popular tourist attraction, so it gets incredibly crowded. The Shakadang Trail often experiences bottlenecks during the peak season.
  • A mountain highway runs through the park, which makes every attraction accessible by vehicle and not as rewarding.

💰 Value: Moderate

The Value Score is determined by the price divided by the duration of an experience. All prices mentioned here are in USD.

Value
🍀

A day trip to Taroko Gorge costs between $90 and $150, depending on how you get there and what type of tour you book. This extremely well-rated guided Taroko Gorge tour costs $120 (I last checked prices in December 2024).

Taroko National Park has no entrance fee.

I booked my tour with Island Life Taiwan and paid $93. I highly recommend my tour guide, Iris, who was energetic, entertaining, and knowledgeable (e.g., she knew a lot about the park’s history and the best way to avoid crowds and road closures).

Three people holding a white rock in front of a blue ocean.
Taroko Gorge tour guide

See my Taiwan trip expenses.

🎒 Preparation: Minimal

The Preparation Score is based on the required skills & fitness, transportation, and bookings & packing. The higher the score, the less preparation is needed.

Preparation
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Skills & Fitness
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Transportation
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Booking & Packing
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  • You generally don’t need specific skills or fitness to visit Taroko Gorge. The only exception is if you want to hike Zhuilu Old Trail, a narrow trail with limited edge protection.
  • Taroko National Park is located in Hualien County on the eastern side of Taiwan.
    • There are several ways to get there from Taipei, including public transportation and car.
    • Depending on your transportation method and time of departure, it takes 2.5 to 3 hours to get to the park from Taipei.
  • Hire a guide in advance or figure out how to get to the park by buying train tickets at least one to two weeks ahead. Book accommodations if you plan to spend a night in Hualien like I did. Also, wear appropriate clothes and shoes for exploring the park.

If you’re coming from Taipei, I recommend staying in Hualien City for a night because it’s a long journey. You’ll also get to explore the massive Hualien night market.

How To Guide & Tips

Interested in visiting Taroko Gorge after reading my review? Below are practical firsthand tips.

How To Get There

From Taipei, you can get to Taroko Gorge in two ways:

TransportationJourney DurationTotal Cost
🚐 Organized tour3 hours$100+
🚆 Train3+ hours$10-$15

🚐 Organized Tour

The easiest way to reach the park is by booking an organized tour with a local guide, which will include round-trip transportation. Tour groups will provide a private vehicle to drive you or take care of train tickets on your behalf.

🚆 Train

If you rather take public transportation, you have two train options to get from Taipei to Hualien Station:

  • Express trains will take you to Hualien City in under three hours. The fastest trains are the Taroko Express and Puyuma Express, which cost 440 NT (about $14) per trip.
  • Local trains will take three to four hours.

You can see all train schedules on Taiwan Railway’s website.

A view of a small city against a mountain backdrop.
Hualien City train station

You can purchase a train ticket online or in person:

  • Online – The most convenient way to get a train ticket online is through the TRA mobile app (iOSAndroid) since the website is confusing and doesn’t let you claim the ticket.
    • You must claim your ticket – Booking a train ticket reserves it. If you don’t claim it (in person or digitally) within 20 minutes of departure time, they can release your ticket to another passenger.
    • Turn on “English mode” on the TRA app – Once you overcome the minor annoyance of figuring out how to do this, booking and claiming your ticket on the app is easy.
    • Each rider needs to claim their own ticket – One rider cannot claim multiple tickets. This means that each rider will have to download the app separately.
  • In Person – You can purchase a train ticket in person if you don’t want to deal with the potentially confusing mobile app. Some Hualien train times are very popular and must be booked in advance. Some afternoon departures were already sold out when I booked a train to Hualien a week in advance.

Most trains will depart from the Taipei Main Station. Google Maps has several “Taipei Main Stations,” depending on whether you’re catching a train, bus, or the MRT. Double-check the “Subway services” section of the location on Google Maps to make sure it is the right place.

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How To Get Around

Once in Hualien’s city center, Taroko Gorge’s entrance is about a 30-minute drive away. You can explore the park in five ways.

mountain highway runs east-west across the park, and every attraction is located near the highway, sometimes on the side of the road.

  • 🚗 Car or motorbike rental – You can rent a car to navigate the park on your own, but you must have an International Driver’s Permit (IDP) to drive in Taiwan legally.

Note that many attractions do not have sufficient parking when they get crowded (I experienced this firsthand). 

  • 🚙 Hire a driver – If you can’t or don’t want to drive or navigate yourself, you can hire a driver to take you to the various attractions. This option will give you some flexibility, but a driver will not give you an in-depth tour like a professional tour guide.
  • 🚐 Organized tour – A knowledgeable tour guide will know how to skillfully navigate the park and take you to the best attractions.
  • 🚌 Bus – Exploring the park by bus is the most affordable but inconvenient option. Take the 1133A bus (catch it from a bright orange building next to the train station).

Look up the bus stop locations and timetable to ensure you can visit all the attractions within a reasonable time as the bus doesn’t come frequently.

  • 🚲 Cycling – For the more adventurous, you can rent a bike or take a guided cycling tour.

Attractions

Taroko Gorge has over a dozen attractions and things to do, including waterfalls, trail hikes, and shrines. Based on hundreds of reviews and my experience, here are the best attractions.

💧 Shakadang Trail

The Shakadang Trail, also called the Mysterious Valley Trail, is a crowd favorite. It’s an easy 3-mile hike through a lush forest following a river with stunning blue water. If you’re lucky, you’ll see some wildlife.

A blue river with gray stones running between lush, green trees.
Shakadang Trail
A carved marble mountain creating a partial tunnel for a walkway.
Shakadang Trail

📍 Getting There: The Shakadang Trail starts here, near the park entrance.

⏰ Suggested Duration: 2 hours

Being one of the most popular attractions in Tarako Gorge and closest to the entrance, Shakadang Trail can get extremely crowded, so it’s best to go as early as possible and make it your first stop.

🏯 Eternal Spring Shrine

Eternal Spring Shrine, another popular stop, is a cluster of colorful shrines tucked into the mountain with a waterfall spewing out underneath. It was built to honor the 200+ workers who died while working on the highway in the early 1900s.

A woman standing inside an Asian-style shrine with red bricks on a waterfall.
Eternal Spring Shrine

📍 Getting There: You can see the Eternal Spring Shrine from the parking lot here, where you can start the walk to the shrine after crossing a bridge and going into some tunnels.

⏰ Suggested Duration: 15-30 minutes

🏞 Buluowan Suspension Bridge

The Buluowan Suspension Bridge is one of Taiwan’s tallest bridges, and it leads to nowhere. It was built to give visitors a stunning panoramic view of the valley.

A long suspension bridge on a mountain surrounded by green trees.
Buluowan Bridge

📍Getting There: To visit the Buluowan Suspension Bridge, you can park here and walk to the terrace before crossing the bridge.

⏰ Suggested Duration: 20-30 minutes

🌟 Other Attractions

If you can spend an entire day or more at Taroko Gorge, here are eight other great things you can see and do.

  • Swallow Grotto – one of the narrowest parts of the gorge, with impressive sheer cliffs. While walking the short 0.7-mile-long Swallow Grotto Trail, you can see the steep marble cliffs with little holes, which are popular nesting spots for swallows.
A woman with a hard helmet in front of marble mountains with trees.
Swallow Grotto
Rice, pork belly, vegetable and a soup on a wooden tray.
Aboriginal lunch
  • Zhuilu Old Trail – a narrow trail with limited edge protection next to a 1,500+ feet cliff drop. It’s a challenging but adventurous hike that takes hours and requires a permit.
  • Tunnel of Nine Turns – a well-maintained 30-minute walk featuring nine turns. It’s a fairly scenic route and showcases impressive engineering as the builders had to build through the gorge.
Marbled mountains with trees and a small waterfall flowing in the middle.
Tunnel of Nine Turns
  • Changuang Temple – a temple near the Eternal Spring Shrine that can barely be seen from the parking lot.
  • Baiyang Trail – an easy hike that is less than an hour long and features a waterfall, cliffs, and tunnels. Bring a flashlight if you plan to visit it, as the tunnels have no lights.
  • Qixingtan Beach – a good halfway stop between the national park and Hualien City. The beach is filled with gray and silver pebbles that contrast against a clear, blue ocean.
  • Qingshui Cliffs – at 2,600 feet tall, it features some of Taiwan’s highest coastal cliffs.

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Day Trip Itinerary

This Taroko Gorge itinerary efficiently sequences attractions and activities the park is famous for. I’ve included suggested times for each activity based on my experience.

The Taiwan trip planner below has this itinerary prefilled.

Morning
🚙Get to the Taroko National Park entrance and parkBefore 9 am
🍃Hike the Shakadang Trail9 am–11 am
💧Visit the Eternal Spring Shrine111 am–11:25 am
🐦Walk through Swallow Grotto11:40 am–12:10 pm
Afternoon
🍚Have lunch at Taroko Village Hotel12:20 pm–1 pm
⛅️Cross the Buluowan Suspension Bridge1:10 pm–1:35 pm
🪨Walk through the Tunnel of Nine Turns21:50 pm–2:20 pm
🚙Head to Hualien City and drive to Qixingtan Beach2:20 pm–3 pm
🏖️Look out at Qixingtan Beach3 pm–3:20 pm
🚙Return to Hualien City in time to take the train back to Taipei and arrive between 7–8pm33:30 pm

If you have extra time or days in Taroko Gorge, consider making these modifications to the itinerary above:

  1. After visiting the Eternal Spring Shrine, head to the Changuang Temple. The two attractions share one parking lot.
  2. After visiting the Tunnel of Nine Turns, head west to hike the Baiyang Waterfall Trail.
  3. If you have a second day in Hualien City, I highly recommend visiting Hualien’s night market. If you like hiking, I recommend doing more hikes, including the Zhuilu Old Trail, which requires advanced preparation. If you’re not much of a hiker, check out the dramatic Qingshui Cliffs, located 20 minutes north.

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What To Pack

Taroko Gorge has a subtropical climate, so you can expect a mix of humidity, rain, and sunshine when visiting. Here’s a complete packing list:

  • Light rain jacket or poncho – It can rain all year around, with October being the wettest month and December the driest. I was glad I brought my rain jacket.
A woman wearing a rain jacket and shorts.
Taroko Gorge rain jacket
  • Umbrella (optional) – Many visitors carry umbrellas. However, some areas, like the Buluowan Bridge, can get windy, so pack a windproof umbrella.
  • Running shoes or hiking shoes – The paths are well-maintained, so you can visit most of the park with just a pair of running shoes.
  • Water – Most attractions in the park do not have water readily available, so carry a reusable water bottle.
  • Mosquito repellent – Taiwan has mosquitos that can spread dengue fever (you’ll see signs in Taipei encouraging you to protect yourself). I like to use this bug-repellent lotion.
  • Sunscreen (optional) – Since you’ll be outdoors the entire day, make sure to wear water-resistant sunscreen.
  • Flashlight (optional) – If you plan to visit Baiyang Trail, bringing a flashlight is recommended since the tunnels don’t have light.
  • Snacks – The park doesn’t have food and snack stations readily available (and some of them run low on inventory), so bring some snacks.

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Taiwan Trip Planner 2024

Download my trip planner to make your travel preparation effortless. It features up-to-date travel information and a well-researched itinerary informed by firsthand experience. Each section is customizable so it can be as lightweight or as hyper-organized as you like.

Screenshots showing a trip planner with an itinerary, packing list, map, and budget tracker.
Taiwan trip planner preview

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