Guide for cycling around Taiwan

We cycled around Taiwan and here are the things we learnt, so that you can take our experience to build your own great bike trip.

Tl;dr:

Content

Preface Preparation Traffic Pecularities of traffic Trains Route planning Equipment Indigenous people of Taiwan Climbing Advice for certain routes Bike rental Airport transfer Weather Language Food & Drinks Toilets Accommodation Laundry Wild animals Natural disasters Kindness Our Trip Useful links

Preface

My partner and I are based in Germany and sometimes joke that we cycle so that we can eat more. So, everything you’ll read from here is written from a German perspective and by someone, for whom starting at 9.00 is already early.

Our daily distance is usually between 50 and 80 km, mostly around 65 km. We are very leisurely cyclists.

If you’re a seasoned road cyclists from SEA or any more mountainous region than Northern Germany, some things in this guide might seem very obvious to you.

Preparation

If you travel with your own bike, get it inspected before your trip and make sure you have well-functioning brakes that can survive the Taiwanese mountains.

If you come from a very flat country (Northern Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Netherlands), it’s also a good idea to practice climbing before coming to Taiwan.

While my partner and I did quite a few long-distance bike trips in Europe, we had never dealt with elevation. The highest point we made it to was the highest mountain of Estonia, a grandiose 318 m high. That’s why a month before our departure we headed to the closest uplands for some training. On the first day, I thought I’m going to die. But it’s amazing to see how quickly you develop the stamina to cycle up a hill. We also learned where our bikes still needed adjustments and could arrange that before coming to Taiwan.

Traffic in Taiwan

When coming from Germany, Taiwanese traffic is overwhelming, chaotic and a lot more relaxed all at the same time.

Average speed is a lot slower than in Germany. In and around cities traffic is quite slow due to frequent traffic jams and traffic lights. On narrow, winding roads cars and trucks will either wait until they can overtake or at least give you a warning.

However, be wary of coaches and busses – those usually drive like crazy and you should be hyper focused when they are trying to pass you as they will not care about cutting you off.

While German drivers often give you the feeling that they are at least okay with (and some even willing to) accidentally kill you because you dare to cycle on the road, that never happened to us in Taiwan.

In contrast to Germany, I’d also estimate that trucks usually drive on the left lane, if there are two lanes for each direction, thus giving you more space on the bike.

Peculiarities of traffic

The road signs in Taiwan usually give the distance to the next township border, but not to the actual town center. While a sign in Germany saying “Munich – 22 kilometers” means that you’ll reach the very central Marienplatz in 22 kilometers, the same sign in “Taiwanese” means that you just crossed the border of the township (comparably to “Landkreis”). The next city with 7-11 can still be very far away. Keep looking for signs that say “Central Jiji – 15 km” to know how far the next bigger town is.

While in Germany nearly every one-way road can be used by cyclists in the opposite direction, that’s not the case in Taiwan. In some smaller lanes you might get away with it, but usually there’s a reason why a street is one-way only. We tried to shorten the way to the hotel in Keelung by going against traffic. Even pushing the bikes was annoying, because there were no sidewalks, but a lot of traffic. So, stick to the given direction.

When there’s a line at a traffic light, you can pass by the waiting cars and just ride to the front of the line. At all bigger crossings, there’s usually a painted box for scooters and cyclists to wait.

Sometimes, there will only be a flashing light at intersections instead of a traffic light. Orange light usually means that you have the right of way, while red light means that you have to give way to passing traffic.

Taking the train

You can push your bike as it is onto local and fast local trains. Just go to the ticket counter and buy a ticket for yourself and your bike. It’s not possible to reserve bike spaces in advance, however we always got a ticket. The ticket will indicate whether you have to board the first or last car. Some coaches have bike racks where you hang your bike, while on others you just park it in front of you.

All elevators we used were spacious and usually fit two bikes very neatly, some fit even three bikes. When entering and exiting the platform area, staff were usually already waiting to open the bigger ticket gate for us.

If you want to take your bike on the TRA Express trains or on the HSR, you have to pack and probably also disassemble your bike. We haven’t done this, so I don’t know how much space there is for a bagged bike. I’ve once took the HSR without a bike and luggage space seemed very limited, so the local trains might be a better option.

Route planning

Take some time – either before you arrive or each night before the next stage – and plan your route for the next day. Take some time to go through blogs and roam Maps and Streetview to find the route that suits your cycling style best. Otherwise, you might miss the best parts of Taiwan.

If you’re a seasoned road cyclist and want to encircle Taiwan as fast as possible, then the National Cycle Route 1 is probably your best option, however you will share the road with cars and heavy trucks for most of the time.

If that’s not you, please take the time to look for alternatives. The NCR 1 has more than a dozen branches that will lead through more remote areas. We did some of them and they were usually great. There’s also a number of other sign-posted routes like “Cycle Route 45”, however we usually stumbled upon those by accident. Maybe they are routes developed by the local township? I have unfortunately no idea how to get the gpx of those routes or if there’s any overview of those local routes. That’s a shame because our planned tracks followed some of those routes and they were usually great.

However, the best resource for great routes in Taiwan is the blog “Station in the Valley”. Nathan Miller and Mark Roche started a project to collect the 100 best climbs for cyclists in Taiwan, akin to the 100 best climbs for mountaineers. Their routes were a really good alternative to the National Cycle Routes: Calm hinterland roads, without much traffic, great scenery and leading you off the beaten path. They will provide you with a gpx, info on traffic, where to pick up supplies and so much more. If you ever find a promising route on Maps, go and check on “Station in the Valley”. As for me, they had info on all streets that I wanted to cycle.

Other than that, we used a mix of Komoot and Google Maps, which worked really well. Google had the tendency to venture off the numbered county roads and provincial highway and suggested taking some tiny agricultural roads to skip a few kilometers. In those cases, we decided to ignore Google. It also loved to send us to various streets called “Dumpster Truck roads”, where they were digging for sand. Don’t. So, when using a Google route, check it beforehand to make sure there are no weird shortcuts.

If you’re still unsure about traffic conditions: Google Streetview has mapped the whole country.

Additionally, this website by the National Traffic Coordination shows you all ongoing construction works, road closures and you can even access the live footage from all the traffic cameras on National Highways. From a German, data privacy-savvy perspective, that’s of course absolutely horrible, but for cycling it was amazing.

Equipment

Whatever bike you prefer will work fine. We went with European steel frame touring bikes and had a great time. If you’re into it, road biking seems like a dream in Taiwan, as all roads are tarmac. We encountered 10 meters of gravel and in total 20 potholes during the whole trip. There are gravel roads, but you’ll have to search for them.

We brought full length rain trousers – which we didn’t even use once. Very handy however were gaiters. That way you can cycle in shorts but still have dry feet. Make sure that your panniers and bags are either rainproof or that you have a fitting cover for it.

Rain jacket was also great to have, also as a wind breaker and when going down in the mountains, as it does get quite cold then.

We also ditched our usual u-locks and just took one small bike lock, that we used maybe three times. Most of the time we just left the bikes unlocked in front of the coffee shop or store.

Other than that, we just took our usual equipment with us that you would have for any other bike tour. Zip ties were the only thing we could have used more, as we both managed to fall on the first day and destroyed the hooks from our Ortlieb panniers.

Indigenous people of Taiwan

The great thing about cycling in Taiwan is that you will very likely go through many villages that have an aboriginal majority. You will notice them by the churches that suddenly pop up, as most aboriginal tribes in Taiwan are Christian. The west coast and Nantou County both have a big share of indigenous population.

If you want to learn more about their history and culture, I can fully recommend the National Museum of Prehistory in Taitung. The name is debatable, but the exhibition is great. One part features archaeological findings and the first settlements in Taiwan, the other half dives into modern aboriginal history, culture, struggles, politics, religion. It’s awesome, believe me. The exhibition is state of the art with many interactive elements, games and it’s fully translated into English.

Going through all the remote villages also gives you the chance to taste some of their native cuisines. We tried and can recommend:

There are many more places, but we didn’t get the chance to try them. If you’re interested, contact the Hualian tourist information, they are trying to position the county as a slow food, slow travel destination.

Once a year, there’s also the Fali Fali festival in Matalin Cultural Park in Yuli Township. If you happen to cycle there, when the festival takes place, definitely cancel your plans and stay for the day. The festival brings together indigenous musicians from Taiwan and Austronesia. It’s a great celebration of their culture and brings also many food stands from indigenous cooks together.

We happened to pass by on accident and stayed for the whole day. The music was lovely, but our highlight was definitely to try all the different food offered. https://www.instagram.com/falifali_musicfestival/?hl=de

Climbing

Remember that whenever you go up, you’ll also have to go down at some point. That might seem very obvious, but what can be a nice, long but modest climb can be a very steep, curvy downhill on the other side of the mountain. Carefully check the gradient of your planned route and make sure you’re comfortable with the downhill.

At least for us, Komoot tended to drastically over-estimate gradients. Where Komoot saw a gradient of 20 or 25 %, we in reality only 10 % or maximum 12 % incline. So, take Komoot numbers with a grain of salt. If you’re not used to climbing and your knees start to hurt, try moving your saddle forward. Apparently, that gives you a better angle, according to our bike shop owner. We tried and it worked.

Advice on certain routes

Taroko Gorge

Taroko Gorge is definitely one of the top tourist attractions in Taiwan, however it was badly damaged in an earthquake in April 2024. Renovation is ongoing. Highway No 8 leads all the way from the visitor center to Tianxiang Recreation center, the whole ride is around 25 km with a bit of elevation. Especially in the beginning there are quite a few tunnels to go through, however most with light.

So, can you cycle there? Short answer: Yes, you can. Should you? That’s a different question.

The road is open, however only for certain times. In December 2025 those were: 6.30 – 8, 10.00, 12-13, 15.00, 17.00-17.30. Check here for the current times: https://www.taroko.gov.tw/.

You can pass the roadblocks at the visitor center and at the Tianxiang Recreation area only during these times. If you miss them, you have to wait for the next slot. Between 17.30 and 6 the next morning, the road is closed for all traffic. You can pass by car, bus and by cycle. However, on the website the administration warns of frequent rockfalls, landslides and asks to refrain from all unnecessary trips.

Is your cycling trip necessary? That’s what you have to make up on your own. We rode all the way from the visitor center to TianXiang Recreation area and honestly, I’m still a bit conflicted. Because, honestly, the ride was amazing. Even though all hikes are still closed, the sheer view from the road is already breathtaking. The highway is just a marvel of engineering. And while those opening times might initially sound off-putting, they are the biggest gift for cyclists. We passed the first roadblock at 7:55 in the morning, just before closing time. Then we had two hours where we had the road all for ourselves. All cars had to wait until 10.00 for the next opening. Given the super narrow road, I was quite relieved that I didn’t have to share it with cars or even buses. There was an occasional construction truck, but for that we’d just stop.

The temple at Tianxiang Recreation area is open for a visit as are some of the small shops there. However, the whole parking lot has been taken over by monkeys, which became very, very bold. We decided not to leave our bikes there, as we were afraid that the monkeys would fiddle with them. In the end, we left them at the bridge that leads to the temple, where we then had lunch without any monkeys.

Suhua Highway

In short: Go and ride it, at least the part between Hanben and Nanao! For the remainder, take the train, but please, ride from Hanben to Nanao.

The Suhua Highway, also known as Provincial Highway 9 between Hualien and Sua’o, is somewhat infamous: The most stunning views of the ocean and cliffs vs. near-death experiences in the tunnels. It’s part of the NC 1, but many guides tell you to skip it. The Giant tour groups apparently even force cyclists on the train. So, should you ride it or skip it?

As always, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. There are sections, which I would never ever ride – however I am also quite risk adverse, and there are sections which were the most beautiful part of our trip. Since 2020 new tunnels have been opened that now divert the majority of traffic from the old Suhua Highway. That leaves those parts of the old Highway as a de-facto premium cycle path. However, some parts are still shared with main traffic but without nasty tunnels.

So, what are your options if you want the view but not the traffic?

Option 1

You don’t want any cars: Take the train from Hualien to Hanben, get off there and cycle approx. 30 kilometers to Nanao. Check before the traffic website to make sure that the tunnels are not closed which would result in lots of cars. But if all tunnels are working, you will have the whole road for yourself. Take enough snacks, as there is nothing until you reach Nanao. From Nanao take the train to Dongao and then continue to cycle to Suhao. Keep in mind that while you are following the coast, there is quite some elevation to cover.

Option 2

You’re okay with some cars: Take the train from Hualien to either Horen or Heping station. When we booked the train tickets, they didn’t let us exit at Horen, so we had to get off at Heping. We then tried to backtrack to Horen with the intention of going all the way to Daqingshui Recreation Area. However, the old highway was blocked due to rockfall, and we didn’t feel like taking the tunnel, which does have a separate bike lane. I’ve heard that this stretch is extremely beautiful, so you should definitely see if the road is open again. The view from Heping onwards is nevertheless amazing. Continue all the way to Nanao, take the train to Dongoa and then continue to Suhao.

Provincial Highway 21

If cycling up to Wuling seems too exhausting and Alishan has too many coaches for your likings, but you still want to go in the mountains, that Provicinial Highway 21 is a great alternative. Mark Rutte from “Station in the Valley” called it a “climb that also non-climbers can confidently approach”. As that sounded like us, we decided to go for it. The southern part of Provincial Highway 21 will lead you from Shuili Township to the Tataka Visitor Center at 2631 m high. The trip is 80 km long one way. You technically could continue from Tataka to Alishan and further to Chiayi, however, we decided to stick to 21.

However, as we’re slow and not experienced climbers, we decided to do this as a three-day thing: one day from Shuili to Kalibuan village, staying there overnight, riding to Tataka without luggage, going back to Kalibuan for another night and then descending on third day back to Shuili and further. For us, that was definitely the best option. Even 40 km straight uphill were a totally new experience for us and somewhat meditative. In the end we didn’t make it all the way to Tataka and at 2300 meters high decided to turn back. Neverthelesss, it was still a great ride with amazing views.

From Shuili onwards there is quite a bit of traffic with dumpster trucks, as they are exploiting sand from the river. The road is quite narrow without a real shoulder, so be careful there. However, after passing through Xinyi township, their number greatly reduces. You can also try to get through this stretch between 12 and 1, as most truck drivers will have their lunch break then.

The last 7/11 is at the intersection to Kalibuan, after that you’re more or less on your own. There are few tea houses on the road, but those were closed when we passed. So, make sur that you have enough water as there will be no opportunity to fill it up.

Keep in mind that there’s a gate at the 110-k marker, which is closed from 17.00 to 7.00 the next morning, so make sure you’re on time when going back.

East Rift Valley: County Rd. 197 and 193

When travelling along the West coast, provincial highway 9 (through the East Rift Valley) and 11 (along the coast) seem like your obvious choices. However, those also mean lots of traffic. Nicer alternatives are County Rd. 197 and 193 that will lead you through the East Rift Valley with minimal traffic. Compared to other roads, they are quite flat, there afre frequent villages with coffee places, police stations for water and toilets and some small shops. The view is amazing: rice paddies, mountains to your left and right.

The 193 is also a great alternative, as the bridge over the Matai’an River close to Guangfu on Provincial Highway 9 was still closed when we travelled there.

That only applies to Yuemei village, though. In December, the northern part of 193 between Yuemei and Hualien Bridge/Provincial Highway 11, was closed for car traffic due to construction works. The workers let us pass, but we soon discovered why there was no one else there: Whole lanes have been washed away, and the ground seemed quite unstable. If we had known this before, we probably would have taken the 11, but alas, as they let us through … The road that was still there was great to ride, but I wouldn’t do this during or after rain.

Bike rentals vs. bringing your own bike

We brought our own bikes, as we intended to cycle for 3.5 weeks and the prices for rentals were around the same as booking sports luggage with the airline. My partner is also very tall and I have knee issues, so we wanted to have bikes that really fit our bodies.

However, there are a number of bike shops in Taiwan that will rent bikes to you, including panniers and helmets. One of them is Giant, for the rest google is your friend. Most Taiwanese use road bikes for that kind of tour. We saw no one else with touring/trekking bikes. If you want this kind of bike, you might be better off bringing your own bike.

Getting to and from the airport

If you rent a bike: Easy, just take the MRT.

If you assemble your bike in the airport: The road to the airport is forbidden for bikes. Ask the police or info desk which bus goes to the nearest unrestricted road.

If you travel with your bike still in a box: There are super-size taxis at the airport, usually mini busses. We asked our hotel to organize the transfer for us in advance. On the way to airport, everything worked smoothly. On the way from the airport, the driver was clearly overwhelmed by the size of the bike boxes, and they had to send another car. So, when booking a transfer in advance, tell them that the seats need to be folded down completely flat. In theory, you could take your boxed bike with you on the MRT, but there’s a size limit for boxes and ours were way, way over that limit.

Weather

We cycled from November to December, which was the perfect season for us. Taiwanese will tell you that it’s winter and will ask if you’re cold. When reading this you might be inclined to pack long trousers and warm clothes. Don’t! Don’t believe them. If you’re from Europe, Taiwanese winter will still be summer for you. Usually, temperatures will still be between 22 and 30 degrees. In fact, you’ll start cherishing the cloudy days without sun, as the climbs are less strenuous then. There was one day during our trip where I would have preferred jeans to my linen trousers, but that was also rainy day, and I was still not cold.

When deciding for a time, keep the monsoon and typhoon season in mind. Typhoon season usually ends in October, but we were unlucky and had on in early November. In the end, the typhoon was weaker than expected, so we could start our trip as expected. However, Taiwan regularly sees devastating storms, which will interrupt traffic and damage infrastructure. Many roads, especially the more remote ones, are prone to landslides, rockfall or undercutting. Persoanlly I wouldn’t head out to these roads during or shortly after typhoons or heavy rain.

Language

Thankfully most traffic signs use Chinese and Latin characters! That makes navigation a lot easier. However, most announcement signs (e.g. construction work, roadblock, be careful …) are only in Chinese.

If anything looks sketchy, it’s a good idea to take a photo and ask Google to translate it for you. That was the case in a tunnel of the Suhua Highway, where the sign had a crossed-out bicycle and some Chinese characters beneath. It looked like cyclists were forbidden from entering the tunnel. However, the translation of sign revealed that cyclists should not ride on the cover of drain but stay on the road.

Some people will speak English, but most not. However, Taiwanese are extremely good in sign language, a lot better than Germans, and Google Translate will also go a long way. We’ve also had cases where someone on the phone was translating for us. So don’t worry about the language barrier, but of course learn the basics like hello, thanks, and bye.

Food and drinks

Taiwan is the country of convenience stores. However, that’s only true for the denser populated areas. You will definitely find stretches without a convenience store for 20 or 30 kilometers. That’s why we always had some emergency snacks with us. No stores, coffee places or anything else can happen:

Toilet situation

What can I say – great! At least, if you’re coming from Germany, where you have to pay for toilets, but they are still disgusting. All toilets in Taiwan are free; you will find them in the most ridiculous places in the middle of nowhere. I would recommend taking some tissues and soap just in case, as not all had them. The more remote, the more often you will find squatting toilets. However, compared to your average nasty sitting public toilet in Germany I very much prefer the squatting toilet in Taiwan.

You can also just go to all police stations and most temples, and they will happily let you use the restroom and their water dispenser. Some police stations also have some tools and a tire pump.

Accommodation

We didn’t take a tent. Wildcamping is tolerated, however we cherish a hot shower, a clean bed and not worrying about spiders or monkeys, so we just stayed in hotels, homestays or hostels. Accommodation is cheaper than Germany, but definitely not as cheap as other Southeast Asian countries. Depending on your budget and needs, you can spend everything between 30 and 120 € for two people per night.

All the places we stayed at were okay with bringing the bicycles inside. Most places are on booking.com, however some small homestays or camp sites will only be reachable via line or phone. Line, the Taiwanese alternative for Whatsapp, Telegram or FB Messenger, is easy to use and has a built-in translation feature. If you have to call, it’s best to find someone who speaks English and Mandarin and can call for you.

Usually, you shouldn’t have a problem booking your accommodation the night before or on the same day. However, hotel prices surge on weekends, so for Friday and Saturday nights, I would recommend booking a few days ahead if possible. We always found a nice place to stay, but sometimes it took longer than we hoped for.

Laundry

In contrast to Germany, even the smallest village as a self-service laundry with a washer and dryer. Also, most hotels, hostels and homestays have at least a washing machine and a place to dry your clothes. As we only stayed for one night in most places, our approach was the following:

  1. Use the accomodation’s washer and drier if they have it.
  2. Find a laundromat, which has combined washers and driers. In that case you don’t need to come back to take your laundry out of the washing machine and put it into the drier.
  3. Use the accomodation’s washer and then bring it to the laundromat for drying, as we didn’t want to bet on air-drying

Taiwanese laundromats usually have a coin exchange machine, as most machines only take 10-dollar coins. There’s also a vending machine for laundry detergent. Good thing is, Taiwan is very safe, so you can just put your laundry in the machine and come back once it’s finished. However, it’s good courtesy to not occupy the machine for hours once it’s done.

I am also amazed how fast Taiwanese driers are – the ones in German homes usually take three hours and then your clothes will still be damp and probably shrunken half a size. In Taiwan, things are dry after like 30 minutes and still the same size. Magic!

Stray dogs and monkeys

A lot more annoying than cars are stray dogs. They shouldn’t bother you in the cities, but on country roads you will definitely encounter them. Most will not give a shit about you and just lay wherever they are or watch. In that case we always tried to just go around them.

Whenever you see them from a distance, make yourself tall on the bike and try to look very confident. Don’t look at the dogs, just ignore them. For us, that usually did the trick.

What if they bark or come after you? Luckily that only happened once to us, but afterwards we felt uncomfortable for every other dog. For that first time, we just tried to cycle away as fast as we could while also shouting at the dog. We later learned that apparently trying to flee is the single worst thing you can do, as this activates their hunting instinct. The internet suggests stopping and putting your foot on the ground. Try to dismount the side of your bike that does not face the dog. We did this in a village with some village dogs, and it worked. They were immediately confused and ran away. However, I’m happy that we didn’t have to test that advice in the middle of nowhere.

Monkeys shouldn’t be a problem, as long as they are in the trees. However, if they decided that a rest stop, bench or bridge is their home now, I would definitely stay away. Signs also tell you not to look them in the eye as they can get aggressive then. And honestly, the Taiwanese monkeys look like they know that they would win in a fight with you and that they are looking forward to the fight. So, stay away from the monkeys!

Natural disasters

Typhoons, earthquakes, torrential rains, landsldes, rockfalls – just to name a few what you can encounter. Get the app from the Central Weather Administration, so that you’re always up to date for new warnings. I feel that they are bit more cautious in Taiwan when it comes to issuing warnings, at least for rain and wind. We cycled through yellow rain and wind warnings but use common sense. Going into the mountains or Taroko when there’s a rain warning is probably a stupid idea. Cycling to Keelung from Taipei however is still very much possible.

As for earthquakes: Familiarize yourself with the nearest emergency exit, but honestly there’s not much that you can do. Either it’s weak and nothing will happen, or it’s so strong that you will die anyway. That’s at least what a Taiwanese friend told us.

Random acts of kindness

Taiwanese people are extremely kind. On of the cutest things is that strangers will just randomly shout “Jiayou”, meaning “You can do it” or “Don’t ive up”, while you’re struggling to climb that hill. Whenever you’re contemplating your route choices, a random Taiwanese person will appear and cheer on you. People in cars or on scooters will also wave, give you thumbs up or encouragingly honk at you while passing.

It also occurred that people would give us fruits or other snacks for free, when they saw us with the bikes.

Our trip

So, where did we go? In total, we had 20 cycling days, covering around 1200 kilometers with 13.000 meters elevation gain.