Welcome to the grand finale of our 7D6N free and easy Taiwan adventure!
For this final leg in May 2023, we transitioned from rural landscapes back toward Taipei, making a massive, cinematic day trip out of Taiwan’s most legendary mountain towns: Shifen and Jiufen.
While you can take a combination of local trains and public buses from Taipei to reach the mountains, the winding roads are notoriously packed. We chose to hire a private driver for the day. It is an absolute game-changer—giving you seamless door-to-door comfort, zero queue times, and the complete freedom to explore at your own pace!
From Yilan to Shifen
Our first major stop was the retro, bustling railway tracks of Shifen Old Street. This town is world-famous for its colorful sky lanterns, where shops line up right alongside a live, operational train track.
We picked out a traditional lantern, wrote our wishes onto the paper, and released it right from the center of the train tracks, watching it drift beautifully up into the mountain sky.
Shifen to Jiufen
It takes about 40min or so from Shifen to Jiufen by car, not too bad!
if you did hire a driver, public transport is available, you can take the train to Ruifang Station (30 mins), then transfer to the 1062 or 788 bus (15 mins) – this is the most budget friendly option!
As usual, the Jiufen old street is so crowded! We walked around and also stopped by to enjoy the food as well.
Recommended food to try in Jiufen:
we have been to Jiufen for a few times, even though we did not try all the food but here are my recommendation, it may not be a Must Try , just my recommendation.
阿柑姨芋圆, Ah Gan yi Taro Ball Map
Great place for Taro ball dessert, best to have it cold!
the Taro balls are really chewy and yummy! we had this during our past trips here鱼丸伯仔, Fishball Bozai Map
Simple and delicious meal, even though the food portion is abit small but overall it is really worth it, especially the fish ball 🙂
It also gets crowded at time so do be prepared to share tables~
阿珠雪在烧, A-Zhu Peanut Ice Cream Roll Map
Ice cream wrapped with peanuts, coriander and crepe skin. We chose not to add coriander though. we get to take a photo before they wrap up the ice cream in the wrap.
Next up, Jinguashi Gold Museum (黃金博物館)
Just a short, scenic drive from the heavy crowds of Jiufen lies Jinguashi Gold Museum, an open-air eco-park that completely transports you back to Taiwan’s golden mining era. Walking along the preserved wooden Japanese-style dormitories and old railway tracks feels incredibly peaceful, but the absolute highlight is stepping inside the main building to lay your hands on their record-breaking, 220kg pure gold brick! It’s an interactive, multi-million dollar photo-op that you absolutely cannot miss on a northern Taiwan road trip.
we were lucky that the entrance on that day was free because of some event , else it would cost about NT80 per pax (not expensive though)
Golden Waterfall & The Yin-Yang Sea
After a short drive down, we stopped at the carpark of the Golden waterfall . It looks completely sci-fi, with rushing water cascading over bright, metallic yellow-orange rocks. It’s actually a natural wonder caused by heavy rain reacting with the copper and iron deposits in the hills. Following that mineral flow down to the coast brings you right to the Yin-Yang Sea, where the bright yellow river water meets the deep blue ocean in a stunning, dual-colored bay. It is such a unique contrast!
i do recommend to visit for first timer!
Our last stop of the day will be the famous:
Keelung Miaokou Night Market (基隆廟口夜市)
i really like this night market because of the thick crab soup and seafood! It is the absolute ultimate dinner stop after exploring the northeast coast, and because it’s famous for having some of the freshest seafood and most iconic street food stalls in the country.
Food to try in Keelung miaokou night market
- Thick Crab Soup (螃蟹羹) – The crab soup features sweet, tender chunks of real crab meat swimming in a thick, savory broth that comforts you instantly. (Best is the Stall 5)
- charcoal-grilled prawns – really delicious and fresh prawn with salt and pepper!
- One Bite Sausages (世盛一口吃香腸) – bite size taiwanese sausage!
After Keelung Miaokou night market, our driver drove us to our last hotel in taipei.
we said goodbye to our driver since we can travel around taipei easily by train, uber or taxi.
This time we only have like 1.5 days in Taipei, so we just relax and walk around nearby.
the 1.5 days in Taipei
Our time in taipei was really short, so we just covered the places that we really want to visit.
Here is our itinerary in Taipei:
- Li Yi Cake Shop (李儀餅店) and Taipei Main station – i really like the sun cake from this stall as it is really buttery and not dry at all. Most of the tourist would go for Chia Te or some other famous suncake shop, but we sticked to this most of the time. They have 2 stores , 1 located in Jiu fen and another one in Taipei main station underground mall.
we did not get it from Jiufen because the expiry is quite short, typically 14 days or so. Li Yi suncake - Taipei 101 area – we went back to our hotel in Ximending to put our Tai yang bing and shopping before heading to Taipei 101.
- Shilin night market – took the MRT to shilin night market, it is not as crowded anymore sadly.. especially after covid period. we had our dinner there and of course must eat the Hot-Star fried chicken 🙂
- Ximending – ending my night at ximending area, which we are stay at city inn ximen.
- Day 2, we went to Miracle cafe which was opened by JJLin. we grabbed some coffee, had the truffle fries and cake for brunch before heading back to ximending area. since we had to leave ximending at 4plus we just spent the rest of the afternoon loitering around ximen. By 4plus we took the car booked via Klook to taoyuan airport.
Lastly, i would also share how much i spent
Taiwan 7D6N Expense Breakdown
| Expense Item | Amount (Per Person) SGD |
| Flight (Singapore to Taiwan) | $446.70 |
| Accommodation (Total Stays) | $502.42 |
| Insurance (MSIG) | $45.60 |
| Transportation (Driver, HSR, etc.) | $502.90 |
| Expenses (Food, Shopping, Snacks) | $779.36 |
| Total Spent | $2,276.95 |
Missed other part?
Read it here:
Part 1 – Cinjing Hualien
Part 2 – Hualien, Yilan
