We’ve already been in Taiwan over a year! In fact, we’re already well into our 2nd year! And even though we’ve packed in a lot of travel there are still SO many places yet to see. Honestly, that will probably always be the case. There will always be more places to visit! But its still a thrill to see the list of places we’ve been to in Taiwan steadily growing. And in this second year of life in Taiwan we’ve had our sights on a few places in particular. So here’s our list of the top
5 places we want under our travel belts by the end of our 2nd year in Taiwan.
(Since I’m getting around to this post late, I’m happy to say that we have checked off a few already! Here’s hoping their all checked off come September 2018!)
1. Shifen Waterfall
- It’s always nice to start a long list of to-dos with something you’ve already accomplished! So yes, we did make it here but only after the 1 year mark had passed us by. And I can’t believe it took us so long to get here! It
is one of the most beautiful places I’ve been to in Taiwan. AND its only a short cheap day trip away from Taipei! If you haven’t gone. GO! Of course if you can, go on a weekday, preferably after a few days without rain (so that the water isn’t murky). But be advised its a national park and it doesn’t open until 9am. Tickets are less than $100NT per person.
is one of the most beautiful places I’ve been to in Taiwan. AND its only a short cheap day trip away from Taipei! If you haven’t gone. GO! Of course if you can, go on a weekday, preferably after a few days without rain (so that the water isn’t murky). But be advised its a national park and it doesn’t open until 9am. Tickets are less than $100NT per person.2. Green Island
This place has been on our top Taiwan to-go list since we first began talking about moving here. The diving is supposed to be superb and it has a salt water hot springs. (Did you know there’s only 3 of those in the world?!) Honestly though, I wasn’t sure we were going to get it checked off the list this year but just last weekend we went! Taking 
advantage of a long holiday weekend and American friends who speak Chinese, we signed up last minute for a Taiwanese Tour package and did a whirlwind 3 day / 2 night trip down to Taitung and Green Island. The Island was GORGEOUS. The water clarity stunning (Although we didn’t get to dive because I was recovering from laser eye surgery) and the salt water hot springs is a cool thing to say we’ve done. Green Island thoroughly impressed us. So much so, that now we’re more eager to go back again than we were to visit the first time ’round!
3. Jiufen & Pingxi
I know, I know… how have we already been here over a year and not made it to Jiufen or Pingxi?! In our defense we DID go to the Pingxi New Years lantern release last year. But turns out the name of that event is misleading and its actually in Shifen. And 2 other hiking trips we’d planned for Pingxi got rained out. Still… it’s no excuse. These two spots are on almost every top 5 Taipei day trip list out there. Its ridiculous that we haven’t made it to these highlight spots that most tourists who come for a week make it to. We DO intend to right this wrong! And will let you know as soon as we do.
4. Inside Taipei’s 3 iconic concert halls
You may not realize this but the two gorgeous buildings that 
flank the plaza of Chian Kai-shek Memorial Hall are both performing arts buildings. More specifically one is The National Concert Hall and the other is The National Theatre. And the Sun Yat-sen Memorial hall is also an arts venue. So it’s our goal this second year as a Taipei expats to level up and go beyond simply seeing the outside of these gorgeous buildings, to going inside for a performance. We have gotten a start on this one. We checked off the national Theater first where we went to see the Opera Carmen!
5. Sandioling Waterfall Trail
This is a lesser known spot, but it’s a Taipei day trip I’ve been wanting do for a while. You get three waterfalls in one hike on what looks like a really unique trail. It’s again one of those places I’ve planned trips for and then had to cancel. So while it’s eluded me up til now I hope to have it checked off by the time September 2018 rolls around.
Wait! Plus..maybe…Kenting?
This is a recent addition to my list and it remains to be seen whether it will be doable this year. Kenting is on the far southern tip of Taiwan and is Taiwan’s classic beach destination. But for me when considering beach vacays Taiwan’s little islands, not to mention Okinawa, have been a much bigger draw. Recently though, some expat friends mentioned that Kenting was one of their favorite places they’ve visited in Taiwan. I expressed skepticism. But then they regaled me with strange stories of natural occurring fire pits in the sand that sounded like something straight out of Princess Bride. I think they said other things too… but that was enough to shoot Kenting up to the top of my must go to in Taiwan list!
Of course there’s also Punghu & Orchid Island, Sun Moon Lake, Alishan, Tainan, Taichung, and, and …. and if we got a chance to go to any of those places we wouldn’t turn it down! On the other hand, there’s always year 3!