Expert needed: advise me Taipei to Alishan to Kaoshiung

Flying off on 29/3/09

Reaching Taoyuan at 6.30pm

Will take Freego to XMD East Dragon Hotel

30/3: Will book THSR Taipei(6.30am)

to THSR Chiayi(8.00am)

Shuttle bus from THSR to Alishan Railway

Will book Alishan Raiway(9.00am) to Alishan

Station(1.09pm)

Check in ';Xin xin mingshu';

?? Would like to visit the ';ShenMu'; and the go

to Fengjihu?? But don%26#39;t know how???

Will book the Sunrise tour also to see sunrise

the next day.

31/3: Will take Alishan Railway(12noon) to

chiayi(5.13pm)

Book Zhiqiang Hao to Kaoshiung (6.30pm)

Take MRT to check in 85 Xingshu

So far planning up till here, will be there for 10days.

Is my planning OK?

Expert needed: advise me Taipei to Alishan to Kaoshiung

Hi Sberry,

I%26#39;m not really an expert :) but am planning my trip in early apr (roughly the same itinerary as you)

do read Wensi post

tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g293911-r244鈥?/a>

It%26#39;s very useful. It should answer many of your questions. If I remember correctly, Wensi is also staying at Xinxin.

From what I understand, Fengqihu is halfway between Chiayi Railway and Alishan Railway.

You will need to book your Railway ticket to Chiayi to Fengqihu, get off the train, walk ard Fengqihu and then get back to the Railway station and board the train to Alishan.

I saw one post before having the following itinerary.

1. Take early morning HSR from Taipei to Chiayi.

2. Board complimentary bus from Chiaiyi HSR to Chiayi train station.

3. Take forest train 1000hrs from Chiayi to Fenchihu

4. Arrive Fenchihu 1250 hrs, have about 3 hours to explore Fenchihu.

5. Take 2nd forest train 1613 from Fenchihu to Alishan.

6. Overnight at Alishan and watch sunrise

7. Next day return via bus to Chiayi train station

You are going to Alishan during the cherry blossom period so it%26#39;s better to book the ticket now.

https://ticket.ht-alishan.com.tw/welcome.php

When you finish with Alishan, consider going to Sun Moon Lake first (that is if you have not been there). There are many ways from Alishan to SML.

Do a search in the forum and there are a lot of posts on it.

A way that I know of is take Chiayi HSR to Taichung. By the time you are in Taichung, I reckon it will be late. So stay there for 1 nite and take the chance to visit the Fengjia night market. In the morning, take a Nantou bus (I think it%26#39;s 2 hrs?) to SML. If you have got time, stay in SML for 1~2 nites. From SML, take bus back to Taichung. From Taichung take HSR to Kaohsiung. KHH for 1~2 nites then HSR back to Taipei.

some useful bus info and also info on SML.

www.sunmoonlake.gov.tw/EN/02000479.aspx

If you are looking for a minsu to stay, you can try http://laurelvilla-en.emmm.tw/ I%26#39;ve booked my coming stay with them. they seem to have good review and the owner is really friendly and helpful when I emailed them.

But I%26#39;m super lazy so for my itinerary, I book a cab from Alishan from my Minsu (Small Swiss) directly from Alishan to SML in about 3~4 hrs. But of course this cost me more. But I have 4 persons traveling together so it%26#39;s cheaper. Usually hiring a car is about NT3000~4000.

Alrighty, hope the above helps :)

Expert needed: advise me Taipei to Alishan to Kaoshiung

If i would like to save the trouble and take a cab directly from Chiayi THSR to fengqihu station

(how much and long long would it take?)

(Any idea what are the sightseeing places at fengqihu? is it worth travelling or stopping by there before procedding to ALISHAN?)

(actually i would like to cover fenqihu and shenmu at the afternnon as i would head down to kaohsiung the following morning after sunrise tour)

(do i need to buy advance ticket from chiayi railway station to kaohsiung railway station?)