South Link Slow Travel · 2 Days

The South Link is Taiwan travelers' best-kept secret.

With the Central Mountain Range shielding it from the northeast monsoon, Taitung enjoys the mildest winter in all of Taiwan. From Taimali to Duoliang, the South Link Highway hugs the Pacific the whole way, and every bend is its own ocean-view postcard.

This two-day itinerary is in no hurry. We watch a sunrise in Taimali, soak in a hot spring at Jinlun, watch a single train roll past Duoliang Station, and in the evening listen to tribal elders share a story from their community.

Day 1 — Taimali

• 10:00 Pickup at Taitung Station (台東車站), heading south along Provincial Highway 9
• 11:30 Taimali Station (太麻里車站), one of the stations closest to the sea
• 12:00 Local lunch in Taimali — Paiwan-style cuisine
• 14:00 Wangyou Pavilion Trail on Daylily Mountain (金針山忘憂亭; flowers roughly mid-August to late September — after that it is a harvested hillside)
• 17:00 Sunset at Taimali, golden light spread across the Pacific
• 18:30 Jinlun Hot Spring (金崙溫泉), a hot-spring cabin beside a wild creek, with soft, restorative waters
• 20:00 You sleep in Jinlun tonight; dinner where you're staying or within walking distance

Day 2 — Jinlun → Duoliang

• 04:30 Wake early for the Taimali sunrise (the Slam Dunk level crossing)
• 07:00 Breakfast — millet porridge and wild greens are the usual thing around here
• 09:00 Duoliang Station (多良車站), often called the most beautiful station in Taiwan
• 10:30 A stroll through Dawu (Da-niao) tribal village to learn about Paiwan slate houses and glass beads
• 12:30 Lunch in Dawu Township (大武鄉) — a small fishing-village eatery on the coast
• 14:00 Return along the South Link Highway, passing Taimali and Zhiben
• 16:30 A walk through Zhiben Hot Spring Park (知本溫泉公園) — Zhiben is the mildly alkaline sodium bicarbonate spring known as "the finest scenery in eastern Taiwan"; a soak can be arranged in advance if you'd like one
• 17:30 Drop-off at Taitung Station

How this route runs

This is a route template, not a packaged product — it's here to show you how these two days fit together.

What we provide is the car and the driver: the same driver throughout, following this route. Which side to take on which day, what time to set off, which day you don't need a car at all — we settle that before you get in.

You book the accommodation, the hot-spring rooms and the reservation-only experiences yourself. Decide which area you're sleeping in before you book the room — get the area wrong and you add an unnecessary leg of driving every day. The vehicle carries compulsory automobile liability insurance; travel accident insurance is available as an add-on.

Good to Know

• Official season from 1 August, shuttle buses to 13 September, peak roughly mid-August to late September. Outside that window the trails stay open but the flower fields are gone.
• Sunrise times in Taimali vary by season — your driver will confirm the best departure time the night before.
• In the early hours of 23 July 2026, Taimali Dawn Memorial Park hosts the one and only Dawn Light Sculpture session of the Taiwan International Balloon Festival — if your trip falls on this day, your driver can swap the sunrise plan for the hot-air-balloon version.
• The South Link Highway occasionally has rockfall sections; routes will be adjusted in heavy rain or after an earthquake.
• During tribal experiences, please respect the community's customs and pace.

The charm of the South Link is that it never raises its voice.

This is a route template, not a packaged product. How the days actually run, and how many hours the car is needed each day, are confirmed with you item by item before departure. We don't sell what you can't see.