Our 1 Day Trip From Taipei City – Yehliu, Jinguashi, Jiufen, Shifen, Keelung

The last time I came to Taipei I didn’t manage to get out of Taipei city for sightseeing so this time around, I decided that hire a car and a chauffeur for a day to take us for a day trip from Taipei city to Yehliu (野柳), Jinguashi (金瓜石), Jiufen (九份), Shifen (十分) and Keelung (基隆). For an MPV 8-seater with a chauffeur for 11-hours, we paid NTD4,500 (≈US$148) just for the luxury of having a private day tour at our own pace. So here’s our day trip from Taipei’s itinerary for a wonderful day out in the sun.

1st Stop – Yehliu Geopark (野柳地质公园)

After a 45 minutes drive from our hotel in Ximending, we arrived at the Yehliu Geopark. Yehliu Geopark is home to a number of unique geological formations including the most iconic “Queen’s Head” (女王頭) located along a cape stretching out from the town of Wanli. This rare and unique geological landscape was formed by thousands of years of the geological movement that forced the Datun Mountains to change their shape, jutting out into the ocean. Entrance ticket was NTD80 per adult and by the time we got there, the crowd had built up quickly even on a weekday. Besides the Queen’s Head, other remarkable formations include Sea Candles (燭台石), Fairy Shoe (仙女鞋), Ginger Rocks, Elephant Rock, Ice Cream Rock, Kissing Rock, and Princess’ Head. We didn’t manage to find all the formations mentioned above but here are some that we found…

Yehliu Geopark Official Website here.
Opening Hours: Open daily from 8am to 5pm

2nd Stop – Jinguashi (金瓜石) The Coastal Gold Mining Town

Golden Waterfall (黃金瀑布) is located near the Gold Ecological Park (黃金博物園區) in Jinguashi. This waterfall is famous for its water that is gold colour as a result of the combination of regular rainfall in this mining area and the abundance of heavy metal elements deposited in the riverbed. Although it was a great place for photos, I wouldn’t touch the water after knowing the cause of it…

After the photos stop at Golden Waterfall, we headed to the Gold Museum (黄金博物馆), which is a fascinating look into Taiwan’s gold mining history. The Gold Museum is an open-air museum consisting of several buildings and sites. The entrance fee was NTD80 per person and it was quite a nice walk around the hilly compound which was built with major Japanese influences. They have totally transformed the old mining facilities into exhibitions spaces using some of the original buildings. The history of this gold mining town is quite fascinating as we read more about their history there. Some sad history whereby the WWII Japanese occupation held their captured allied soldiers here. The old mining tunnel was quite a fun activity to do and the highlight of the trip was definitely touching the world’s largest gold ingot weighing 220kg of 999 pure gold giant (value ≈ US$9million! today!). I don’t think I’d ever touch anything that expensive in my life before.

Gold Museum Official Website here.
Opening Hours: Saturday – Sunday from 9:30am to 6pm; Monday – Friday from 9:30am to 5pm

3rd Stop – Jiufen  (九分) Home of Spirited Away

10 minutes away from Jinguashi is the picturesque town of Jiufen  (九分). Founded during the Qing Dynasty, this small town was brought to life during the Japanese occupation in 1893 when gold was first discovered in the area. Even after a mad gold rush which eventually ceased after the war, many buildings in the town still remain unchanged to this day, reflecting the Japanese influence on both architecture and culture on the island. This magical town today exists mainly as a tourist destination which inspired the many movies, with Spirited Away (the 2001 Japanese animated fantasy film that won Academy Award for best animated feature) being the most talk about movie due to Jiufen’s resemblance to the downtown in the animation.

We stopped for late lunch in the old town of Jiufen. Zhang Ji Traditional Fish Balls was the 1st decent looking restaurant that we came across so we just went in for some quick bites before we stop for a coffee break.

After we were fed and stuffed with caffeine, we continued exploring the narrow streets of Jiufen. This bustling tourist hotspot was filled with people from all walks of life. The Japanese inspired tea houses were quite prominently featured along the main stretch of the town facing the sea with some really great views. A Mei Tea House is probably the most well known ones in Jiufen but we didn’t have any space in our tummy for an afternoon tea. I’d love to return to Jiufen to try this experience the next time. Overall, Jiufen was a very interesting cultural town to explore. There were plenty of shopping to do, food and drinks to try and many Instagram worthy places throughout the town. I wished I had more time in Jiufen…

A Mei Tea House Official Website here.
Business Hours: Sunday – Thursday from 8:30am to 12am; Friday from 8:30am to 1am; Saturday from 8.30am to 2am

4th Stop – Shifen  (十分) Waterfall and Sky Lanterns

Shifen Waterfall (十分大瀑布) is a 20 metre tall waterfall located 10-15 minutes away by walking from the car parking area outside of the Shifen old town. This is the broadest waterfall in Taiwan measuring 40 metre in width. I loved this cascading waterfall as it was so peaceful to watch. Although I’m never good at using my camera capturing moving objects but I did try…

After the visit to the beautiful Shifen Waterfall, we went to the Shifen Old Street (十分老街) for the famous sky lantern. This old town built for transporting coal during the Japanese era, which explained why the train station and track runs straight through the village. The highlight of this day trip was definitely when Big Teddy and I bought our first sky lantern there and wrote all our well wishes on it before we launched it to the sky right on the train track! This experience was absolutely surreal and I’d been wanting to do it for a long while now. Watching the sky lanterns flying high up in the sky was quite therapeutic.

Check out alternative ways to get to Jiufen and Shifen via public transports if you don’t want to hire a private car like we did.

5th and Final Stop – Keelung (基隆) and The Famous Miaokou Night Market (廟口夜市)

After we finished at Shifen, it was time to get some food for dinner. After a half an hour drive, we arrived at the famous Miaokou Night Market (廟口夜市) right in the heart of Keelung city. Being next to the Keelung Harbour, this traditional street food focused night market serves some of the best and cheap seafood and Taiwanese delicacies. We were so spoilt with choices that we ended up walking up and down twice trying to decide what kind of food and snacks that we wanted to try. In the end, we tried the roasted baby pork ribs, oyster omelette, bite size Taiwanese sausage as snacks, and sat at a seafood stall to try their butter crabs, grilled prawns and clams, along with their local beer. It was a great way to end the day trip doing what the locals usually do, come out for a walk and enjoy eating the street food at the night market.

After 11 hours on the road and visited many beautiful sites outside of Taipei, we were glad to be back to Taipei city just before 9pm. Our chauffeur, Kenneth Han is a great guide and he speaks fluent English, being a Singaporean who has settled down in Taiwan with his family. I’d highly recommend his service if you are looking to do some trips out of Taipei city.

So, have you been to Taiwan before? Do tell me if you have any other day trip ideas from Taipei city as I’ll definitely return soon!

If you’re looking for accommodation recommendation do check out best hostels in Taipei and some fun facts & tips about living in Taiwan.

Check out my previous post on another day trip idea from Taipei to Beitou Hot Spring (北投温泉) here.

Check out my other posts on Taipei here.

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