Yangmingshan: A Volcanic Park Above the City
Few capitals have a national park pressed against their northern edge. Yangmingshan is a landscape of dormant volcanoes, steaming vents and windswept grasslands, all within a single bus ride of downtown Taipei. At Xiaoyoukeng, fumaroles hiss columns of sulphur steam out of a collapsed slope, and the smell of the underworld follows you along the boardwalk. At Qingtiangang, water buffalo graze on a high plateau of meadows criss-crossed by easy walking trails. From February to April the park turns pink and purple with cherry blossoms and azaleas, and half the city seems to head uphill for flower season. Buses climb from Jiantan and Beitou MRT stations; bring a light rain jacket, because the mountain famously makes its own weather.
Tamsui: Forts, Snacks and the Best Sunset Around
At the end of the red metro line, Tamsui spreads along the wide mouth of its river, and the whole town seems designed for a slow afternoon. Fort San Domingo tells four centuries of history in one compound: founded by the Spanish in the 1620s, rebuilt by the Dutch, and later leased for a hundred years by the British, whose red-brick consular residence still stands next door. On the old street below, look for A-gei, the local speciality of fried tofu stuffed with glass noodles and sealed with fish paste, best eaten piping hot for about NT$40. Then walk or take a boat to Fisherman's Wharf, where the white cable-stayed Lover's Bridge frames what many consider the finest sunset in northern Taiwan.
Yehliu and Keelung: Stone Sculptures and Night-Market Seafood
On the north coast, Yehliu Geopark is a narrow cape of golden sandstone that wind and waves have carved into mushroom rocks, honeycomb walls and strange pedestals. Its undisputed star is the Queen's Head, a slender-necked formation that erosion reshapes a little more every year. Geologists agree that one day the neck will finally snap, which is exactly why everyone queues to photograph it now. Pair Yehliu with the port city of Keelung: its Miaokou night market is among the most famous in the whole country, and the crab thick soup, butter crab and one-bite sausages explain why locals drive out here just for dinner.
Wulai: Waterfalls, Hot Springs and Atayal Culture
An hour south of the city, the road winds into a green gorge to Wulai, a mountain village of the indigenous Atayal people. An eighty-metre waterfall pours down the cliff opposite the village, one of the tallest in northern Taiwan, and a small scenic train follows the route of the old logging push-cart railway. The riverside is lined with hot springs, from simple pools to elegant spa hotels, and the old street serves Atayal specialities such as bamboo-tube rice and grilled wild-boar sausages. It is hard to believe the metro city centre is barely an hour away.
Yingge: Shape Your Own Bowl
Southwest of Taipei, Yingge has been the pottery town of Taiwan for some two hundred years. The excellent Ceramics Museum walks you through the craft from rough earthenware to high-tech porcelain, and the old street is packed with studios and shops selling everything from NT$100 teacups to museum-grade celadon. Many workshops offer wheel-throwing classes where you can shape your own bowl under the eye of a master and have it fired, glazed and shipped to your home.
How to Plan Your Escapes
Every trip on this list runs on public transport: load an EasyCard and combine the MRT with local buses, or take TRA trains from Taipei Main Station along the coast. For the north shore, convenient combo bus tours cover Yehliu, Jiufen and Shifen in a single day; Jiufen, Shifen and the sky-lantern valley of Pingxi are classics that deserve an article of their own. Count on half a day to a full day per destination, check the mountain forecast before you leave, and travel on weekdays if you can. On weekends half of Taipei has exactly the same idea, and the queues at Yehliu or on the Tamsui riverside grow long.
- Bus to Yangmingshan: NT$15-30 with an EasyCard
- MRT Taipei Main-Tamsui: about NT$50, 40 minutes
- Yehliu Geopark entry: NT$120; TRA Taipei-Keelung: about NT$40-60
- Bus 849 from Xindian to Wulai: about NT$15