Routes
Taiwan's East Coast: The Road Trip Nobody Told You About
Marble gorges, indigenous villages and empty Pacific beaches — a five-day loop from Taipei down the wild side.
By Julien Marchetti · 5 May 2026 · 8 min read
Taiwan's west coast holds the cities, the industry and most of the people. The east coast holds everything else: the deepest marble gorge in Asia, an indigenous heritage spanning sixteen recognised tribes, and a Pacific shoreline where you can be alone on a beach in high season.
Take the train from Taipei to Hualien and rent a scooter or car there. Day one is Taroko Gorge — walk the Shakadang trail along the turquoise river and, if sections have reopened since the 2024 earthquake, the Zhuilu Old Trail cut into the cliff face. Day two, ride south on Highway 11: the coastal road, where every headland hides a surf break or a fishing harbour.
Stop at Dulan for its growing artist community and Saturday market, and detour inland to the East Rift Valley for hot springs and rice fields between two mountain ranges. The southern end at Kenting gives you Taiwan's best beaches before the train back from Fangliao.
Typhoon season (July to September) can close the gorge and the coast road; spring and autumn are the windows. Taiwan's East Coast remains astonishingly cheap — guesthouses from 25 euros, night-market dinners for five.
