Taiwan south to north by high-speed rail: Kaohsiung, Taichung and Taipei

Why start a Taiwan trip in the south?

Because the airport is not in Taipei. Taoyuan airport has its own metro line, and a few stops along it is a high-speed rail station on the line that runs the length of the west coast. There is no need to go into the capital first: the train south to Kaohsiung can be boarded the afternoon the flight lands.

Travelling north from there means every journey is short, nothing is repeated, and the last nights are in Taipei, close to the flight home.

Where do the high-speed trains actually stop?

Often outside the centre, which is the detail that catches people out. In Kaohsiung the line ends at Zuoying, not at the main station; the city metro runs from there into the centre. In Taichung the station is in the Wuri district, and a local train or a taxi covers the last stretch. In Taipei the train does come into the main station.

Tickets go on sale a few weeks ahead, and booking early online is often cheaper than buying on the day.

What is there to do in Kaohsiung and Taichung?

Kaohsiung is the southern port: sunnier and warmer than Taipei, with wide streets and an open harbour front.

• Pier-2 Art Center. Old port warehouses turned into galleries and workshops, on the light rail line.
• Cijin Island. A short ferry across the harbour, then a bicycle to the lighthouse, the beach and the seafood street.
• Lotus Pond. A lake north of the centre ringed with shrines, the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas among them.
• Night markets. Liuhe is the easiest for visitors. Ruifeng is where the city eats, and it does not open every night.

Taichung, halfway up the island, is worth two nights for its food and its buildings: Miyahara, an eye clinic from the Japanese period restored as an ornate sweet shop; the National Taichung Theater, designed by Toyo Ito in curving concrete; and Fengjia, one of the largest night markets in the country.

How should you spend four nights in Taipei?

• History. The National Palace Museum in Shilin, for its collection of Chinese imperial art, and Longshan Temple in Wanhua.
• Tea in the hills. The Maokong gondola climbs to the tea houses above the south of the city.
• Views and food. The stone steps up Elephant Mountain in the late afternoon, for Taipei 101 against the hills, then Raohe night market for pepper pork buns baked in clay ovens.

On the last day the airport metro runs from the main station to both terminals.

What should you know before you go?

• One card for everything. An EasyCard, sold at convenience stores in the airport, works on the metro in Taipei and Kaohsiung, on city buses, on the public bicycles and at the tills of the convenience stores themselves.
• Winter rain in the north. From December to February Taipei is often grey and drizzly, while Kaohsiung in the south stays mostly dry. Carry an umbrella in the north.