Taiwan Shore Excursions & Best Day Tours Highlights from Ports

Taipei rewards early arrival. The National Palace Museum's jade galleries and the Bao-an Temple courtyards are entirely different experiences before 10am and after noon. The xiao long bao at Din Tai Fung requires a table at 11:30, before the lunch queue forms. A private vehicle from Keelung pier can have you at the museum door before the buses from the city arrive. For Hualien, I tell every traveler the same thing: Taroko Gorge is the reason you are here, and the gorge requires time. A half-day visit sees the most famous sections. A full day gives you the Tunnel of Nine Turns, the Eternal Spring Shrine in the afternoon light, and the Buluowan suspension bridge at a moment when most group tours are already leaving. The difference between 4 hours and 7 hours in Taroko is not quantitative, it is qualitative. If you are sailing on a cruise that calls at Keelung, Hualien, or Kaohsiung and you are uncertain how to use your day ashore, I am available to speak with you directly before you sail. There is no obligation and no payment required for the conversation.