8 Tips for Planning a Trip to Taiwan with Children

We are travelling to Taiwan in late November, and this is our first time taking a flight without the grandparents! DaDi and I visited Taiwan a decade ago. Back then, our focus was eating, eating and eating. Oh, and sightseeing too. We are not shopaholics, except for snacks! With the children in tow this time, our focus would be on experiential learning as a family. 

You can choose from group tour, free & easy, and customised private tour / hiring of driver (包車旅遊). Oh, what is meant by customised private tour / hiring of driver? In Taiwan, there are many agents that provide you a car with driver cum tour guide, you can plan with the agent on the itinerary and accommodation. This is very convenient for families with young children and elderly. I have heard of very good experience, and very bad experience from my friends, so it really depends on words of mouth to get reliable agents and drivers.

For us, we decided to be a bit adventurous - free & easy on public transport! We are not going to drive, since we are not familiar with left-driving, and not confident of driving in mountainous areas.

Here are our tips on planning a trip to Taiwan with children:

Tips #1: Booking of Accommodations
We booked different types of accommodations for different experience - hotel, homestay (民宿 minsu), and farm stay. Other than these options, you can also consider service apartment.

If your children (or yourself) love to have slides in the room, do check out our compilation of Taiwan Child-friendly Accommodations with Slides! Guess which one we have booked? (You can find the answer based on the amount of "research" in the post!)

For Taipei, we chose our accommodation that is located near Taipei Main Station, since we are travelling by railway and metro. The hotel that we have booked is York Design Hotel (約克設計旅店). You can read our review of York Design Hotel here.

We also booked one night stay at Flying Cow Ranch (飛牛牧場). I emailed Flying Cow Ranch, and was informed that the booking for December would be opened on at 9 a.m. on 1 September. But when I clicked on their official website at 8.50 a.m., almost all the cheaper rooms with two double beds were taken up for December! I thought I was "kiasu" enough to attempt booking 10 minutes earlier! Anyway, we managed to book the cheaper room by adjusting our itinerary. You can read our review of accommodation at Flying Cow Ranch here.


Tips #2: Get your free gift from Taiwan Visitor Association 
Read our post on how to redeem free gift if you are travelling free and easy to Taiwan. We redeemed one-way bus vouchers between Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei, as well as discount vouchers for Window on China Theme Park.

Tips #3: Plan, but don't over-plan
There are many activities for the families in Taiwan - eating, shopping, sightseeing, hot spring, tourism factory tour, farm visit, whale and dolphin watching (seasonal), fruit picking (seasonal), releasing of sky lanterns (天燈) and many more! Do try out different activities with the children! Here is our plan:

Shifen (十分) - release sky lantern
Yilan (宜蘭) - homestay, factory tour, hot spring
Miaoli (苗栗) - Flying Cow Ranch farm stay, strawberry picking, railway museum
Taipei (台北) - night market, BabyBoss (learning centre for children to experience different occupations)

A lesson from our Hong Kong trip is that we have to be flexible to cut down the activities when the children were too tired.

When I was doing research on Taiwan travel, I find that travel books, websites and Taiwanese family blogs written in Chinese are more informative than English ones.

In Singapore and Hong Kong, you can expect the MRT or bus to come frequently. However, in some rural areas of Taiwan, the train or bus may come every 2 hours! If you are travelling on railway and buses like us, do check the schedule of the railway and buses, and consider alternative methods to get from a place to another.


Tips #4: Clothing for winter in Taiwan - Layering
When I asked a few friends who have experienced the winter in Taiwan what to wear, they gave me the same response - when there is cold current, the wind is 刺骨 - the wind penetrates the bones! So the key to clothing is dress like an onion - layering!

Winter clothing is not cheap in Singapore. For the adults, we already have winter clothing as we visited snowing countries in B.C. (before child) years. It is our children's first time experiencing winter, to prevent our wallets from burning big holes, we bought their winter clothing when there was sale. Shops that we bought the winter clothes include Uniqlo and Winning.

Our children are not very thick-skinned, I mean, they can't stand coldness - they feel very cold when I shop at the frozen food section in supermarket!

[Updated in December 2015]
The weather was quite unusual this year. On the first few days in Taiwan, even though the temperature was 18-24 degree Celsius, we still felt quite warm when there was no wind. As I "complained" about bringing too many winter clothing, it became very cold on the next day, and we totally understood what it is meant by 刺骨 wind!


Tips #5: Bring along your notebook
There are many places that provide nice rubber stamps for you to stamp on your notebook!

Tips #6: Get the prepaid SIM cards at the airport or sign up free Wi-fi with iTaiwan
There are telecom service providers like Chunghwa Telecom (中華電信) and Taiwan Mobile (台灣大哥大) at Taoyuan International Airport. You just need to show them your passport (and VISA) to purchase the prepaid SIM card. Prepaid SIM cards are available at convenience stores too, but you need to provide 2 photo-identity cards.

There are 3G and 4G day passes with unlimited internet usage, and varied talk time depending on the package:
Chunghwa Telecom (中華電信)
Taiwan Mobile (台灣大哥大)

You can also sign up free Wi-fi access at government public indoor area with iTaiwan. However, do note that the coverage is rather limited in rural areas.

[Updated in December 2015]
I bought 7-day-pass from Chunghwa Telecom when we reached Taoyuan International Airport. Before we reached the immigration counter, there were counters of various service providers. But it was very crowded at those counters. My suggestion is to purchase your SIM cards after you walk to Arrival Hall after the baggage belts - turn right and you will see counters of various service providers, or you may turn left and turn left to go to Chunghwa Telecom office which is less crowded than other counters.


Tips #7: Get EasyCard 悠遊卡 
Taiwan's EasyCard is similar to EZLink card in Singapore. It can be used at Taipei Metro, Taiwan High Speed Rail (non-reserved seats), Taiwan Railways (non-reserved seats), buses and so on.

Get Second-generation EasyCard (晶片悠遊卡), which costs NT100 which is just the card, it does not consist of refundable deposit and disposable value. You can purchase this type of EasyCard from Information Counter in Taipei Metro stations, 7-Eleven, OK Mart, FamilyMart, Hi-Life and EasyCard Service Centre at Taipei Main Station.

[Updated in December 2015]
In the end, we didn't buy EasyCard because we travelled on Taiwan Railways with reserved seats more often - EasyCard cannot be used if you take reserved seats.

When we were in Taipei, we bought single-journey ticket which looks like a token. When you enter the station, tap the token like how we use EZLink card in Singapore. Then when you exit at your destination, drop the token into the slot at the gantry.

Tips #8: Useful smartphone applications and websites
5 smartphone applications that I find useful:

1. 臺鐵e訂通 (iOS / Android) - in Chinese or English
For checking the schedule and fare of Taiwan railway, and booking of tickets.

2. 台灣高鐵 T Express 手機快速訂票通關服務 (iOS / Android) - in Chinese or English
For checking the schedule and fare of Taiwan high speed rail, and booking of tickets.

3. 台灣等公車 (iOS / Android) - in Chinese only
Key in the bus number, and it will show you how long more the bus will arrive a particular bus stop.

4. 愛評生活通 (iOS / Android / Window) - in Chinese only
For finding food by area or by type, and there are reviews on those eateries.

5. Google Maps or HERE Maps
[Updated in December 2015] Google Maps couldn't provide the correct location of where we were at times when we were in Taipei, especially when we were at underground places.


Taiwanese family blogs that I read to get the local's point of view (all in Chinese):

• 青青小熊
• 睡天使醒惡魔

Useful websites for planning:

• Welcome2Taiwan
• Taiwan Hotsprings
• Travel Taipei
• KidsPlay (Chinese)
• Taxi fare calculator (Chinese)
• Taiwan weather forecast
• Taiwan Railway
• Taiwan Bus

Our Taiwan Travelogue 2017:

• Taiwan Family Travel 8D7N Free & Easy Itinerary (December 2017)
• 10 Tips for Planning a Trip to Taiwan with Children + Elderly Parents
• How to Get from Taipei台北 to Taichung台中
• Accommodation in Taichung: 53 Hotel 寶島53行館
• Accommodation in Taipei 台北: York Design Hotel
• Taipei 台北 – Shilin Night Market 士林夜市
• Taipei 台北 – Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall 中正紀念堂
• Taipei 台北 – Kao Chi @ Yong Kang Street 永康街高記
• Jiufen 九份
• Changhua 彰化 – Changhua Roundhouse
• Taichung 台中 – 玩One Pizza (DIY pizza buffet with indoor play area)
• Taichung 台中 – Taichung Second Market 台中第二市場
• Taichung 台中 – Miyahara 宮原眼科 & Fourth Credit Union 第四信用合作社
• Taichung 台中 – Fengjia Night Market 逢甲夜市
• Taichung 台中 – Rainbow Village 彩虹眷村
• Taichung 台中 – A Liang Mushroom 阿亮香菇園 and Master of Mushrooms Restaurant 菇神
• Taichung 台中 – Lavender Cottage 薰衣草森林
• Taichung 台中 – Chung-She Flower Garden 中社觀光花市
• Taichung 台中 – Gaomei Wetlands 高美濕地
• Nantou 南投 – Cingjing Farm Green Green Grassland 清境農場青青草原
• Nantou 南投 – Puli 埔里 – Guangxing Paper Mill 廣興紙寮, King Garden 元首館

Our Taiwan Travelogue 2015:

• Taiwan with Children 7D6N Free & Easy Itinerary and Accommodation (December 2015)
• 8 Tips for Planning a Trip to Taiwan with Children
• Taiwan Child-friendly Accommodations with Slides
• Free Gifts for Travellers @ Taiwan Visitors Association(Singapore Office)
• Shifen 十分 – Sky Lantern
• Yilan 宜蘭 – Child-friendly Accommodation with Slide自然捲北歐風格旅店
• Yilan 宜蘭 – Jimmy Square, Free Factory Tour, Themed Restaurants, Hot Spring
• Miaoli 苗栗 – Flying Cow Ranch 飛牛牧場
• Miaoli 苗栗 – Strawberry farm, Railway Museum, High Speed Rail
• Taipei 台北– Rilakkuma Cafe 拉拉熊咖啡廳
• Taipei 台北– BabyBoss 職業體驗任意城
• Taipei 台北– Raohe Street Night Market 饒河街觀光夜市
• Download our printable Taiwan 7D6N Free & Easy Itinerary

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