Taiwan Bike Tour

Meet us at the airport when your flight arrives this morning. We’ll take you to the fabulous Grand Victoria Hotel to freshen up. After breakfast, test out your bike on a morning ride along the lovely Tamsui (meaning “freshwater”) River. One of the few rivers that flows north to south on the island, the river curves past temples, parks and cultural sights to the old town of Tamsui on the Taiwan Straits. This evening, ascend to the top of Taipei 101, one of the world’s tallest skyscrapers. Enjoy a fantastic dinner at Michelin-rated Din Tai Fung, known throughout Asia for serving the world’s best dumplings. Stay tonight and tomorrow night at the Grand Victoria Hotel.

Board the high-speed train this morning for a speedy ride to Kaohsiung. Stop to visit a temple or two while bicycling south through Taiwan’s banana belt into Kenting National Park. Kenting is renowned for its glorious beaches, coral cliffs, and tropical climate. After lunch cycle to the Kenting Chateau Beach Resort, tonight’s lodging. Soak up the views from your gorgeous oceanside room. Tonight: feast on whatever you wish from the local night market in a town that is famous for great seafood.

Today’s ride is hilly, lush and completely memorable. Start off with a cruise along protected bike paths and bike lanes beside the ocean, then head inland through rice fields and past palm trees. Revel in the quiet: you’ll see few cars once we leave the coastline. After lunch at an oceanside park, pedal onward to visit Duoliang Station, once Taiwan’s most beautiful railway station. The site is now a lovely seaside park with blissful views of mountain, jungle and seashore. Back on the bike, ride onward to Chihpen, a popular hot spring area where canyon gives way to lush jungle and beautiful banyan forest. After a restful soak, enjoy dinner at a local restaurant serving aboriginal cuisine…and then maybe another soak. Lodge at Hoya Hot Springs Resort.

Cycle through the wondrous Rift Valley today, pausing to take in views of rice paddies and mountain ranges. Discover Taiwan waxes eloquent about the East Rift Valley: “…it stretches from Mugua River in Hualien to the north to Taitung City and covers a total of 138,386 hectares, encompassing mountains, valleys, and hot springs, together with fields of rice, daylilies, pomelos, tea, and sugar apples in rich abundance.” It’s also home to four of Taiwan’s indigenous tribes. Finish today’s ride with a soak in the mineral springs of Jui-shaing. Lodge at the luxurious and aptly named Silence Manor.

Start today with a ride to Bashian Cave, the “Cave of the Eight Immortals.” One of Taiwan’s geological wonders, the cave dates to the Stone Age and houses a Buddhist temple carved into the side of a cliff. Explore a bit. Then continue riding up the pristine coast and then a challenging climb up and down back into the green rift valley to the Hualien Sugar Factory in Guangfu Township. This honest-to-goodness sugar factory was built during the days of Taiwan’s occupation by Japan. Tonight, sleep in the Japanese-style sugar factory’s guesthouse. Dinner is a guest favorite, a Japanese-influenced meal offered in a quaint, intimate setting.

Ride through pineapple fields and to the ocean for a seaside lunch before heading inland – and upland – into Taroko Gorge National Park. The most stunning of Taiwan’s nine National Parks, Taroko is best known for its marble gorge carved by eons of erosion – and the Taiwan KOM Challenge, part of the Taiwan Cycling Festival held each fall. As you climb, massive stone cliffs rise above, the river rages below. Stop here and there to visit the colorful temples and shrines along the way.

Finish at the magnificent Silks Place Taroko. Spend the next two nights here. Perched inside the gorge, this stunning hotel boasts rooftop firepits and pool with hot tubs, fine dining and even a nighttime mountainside light show.

Cycling in the gorge is just one of today’s options. Or hike, explore or just soak up the scenery. Within strolling distance of the fabulous Silks Place Taroko are pagodas, temples, shrines, tunnels carved through mountains, wooden suspension bridges and amazing views in all directions. Prefer to stay at the hotel and relax? Enjoy the luxurious spa and the hotel’s other amenities – fire pits, ping pong, amazing food and luxury galore. What’s your pleasure?

Choose your option for today’s ride. Try your legs at a 17% grade and one of the most beautiful and challenging uphill climbs in the world. Or take it at your own pace, exploring along the way and taking plenty of enviable photos. After lunch at the Sacred Tree Cafe, swoosh (mostly) downhill to Lishan, a mountain town surrounded by farms and fields of tea plants, clouds and sheer rustic beauty. This evening, take part in an optional traditional tea ceremony from a very proud tea farmer. Lodge at Swallow Castle Resort & Hotel.

Spend another amazing day bicycling spectacular roads through palm-fringed farming communities. Finish with a 28-mile downhill-then-flat ride into the bustling town of Luodong. Explore the town’s amazing night market, just one block from the Kapok Hotel, where you’ll stay tonight.

This last morning, shuttle back to Taipei with some unique stops along the way, including the old town of Shifen for hot-air lanterns. Stroll to visit a couple of the sparkling waterfalls for which this area is famous. Then it’s on to the National Palace Museum with its permanent collection of nearly 700,000 pieces of ancient Chinese imperial artifacts, one of the largest of its type in the world. Afterward, you’ll have time to pack up your bike (if you brought your own). Enjoy a final celebration dinner before we drop you off at the airport for your late-night flight back home.