FAQ
Taitung travel — FAQ
First time in Taitung, here for the balloons, travelling with kids, or planning a hot-spring escape for two — these are the questions we get asked most.
Taitung travel — before you go
- First time in Taitung — how many days is right?
- For an easy trip, 3 days / 2 nights, picking one axis — the Rift Valley or the East Coast — and going deep. To see mountains, sea and valley, allow 4–5 days. Taitung is large with long drives; over-packing the schedule tires you out — leaving room is the Taitung way.
- What's the easiest way to get around Taitung? Can I go without driving?
- Taitung's sights are spread out and public transport is sparse, so a chartered car or a self-drive rental is easiest. Without driving: take the train to Taitung, Chishang or Guanshan, then add a local chartered car, the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle, or an e-bike. Our trips include pickups around Taitung city.
The Taitung Balloon Festival
- When and where is the Taitung Balloon Festival?
- At Luye Highland in Taitung. The 2026 season ran July 4 to August 20 and is over; the 2027 dates are usually announced in spring. In past years it has opened in early July and closed in mid-to-late August, closed on Tuesdays.
Zhiben Hot Spring & the South-Link
- What's the water like at Zhiben Hot Spring? Best season?
- Zhiben is called 'the finest scenery in eastern Taiwan'; the water is a colourless, odourless mildly alkaline sodium bicarbonate spring rich in minerals, nicknamed the 'beauty spring'. Autumn and winter are best for soaking, with a Zhiben Hot Spring Festival each winter.
The Zhiben hot spring story →South-Link slow 2-day tour →The Alangyi Trail story →
Slow travel, tribes & older couples
- Do I need to book Luanshan's 'walking trees'?
- Yes. The Luanshan Forest Culture Museum is by reservation only, guided by the Bunun people; you can't enter on your own. The lack of phone signal up there is deliberate.
- Anything suited to older relatives or couples?
- Yes. Zhiben's wellness hot springs, red-oolong afternoons and a slow chartered tour of the valley all suit an unhurried trip — you can leave it all to a chartered-car concierge.
The above is put together by locals in Taitung; event dates, ticket prices and closing days follow official announcements. Still wondering about something? Email or message us on LINE — we answer one question at a time.