Home > Taipei > Taroko Gorge Full-Day Tour from Taipei
USD $149.00
Taroko Gorge Full-Day Tour from Taipei
Taipei, Taiwan
See one of the seven wonders of Asia, the Taroko Gorge, on a full-day tour led by a local guide. Take a train ride on your own to Hualien from Taipei to see this top attraction, known for its winding tunnels, sheer marble cliffs and the Liwu River that flows through it. Enjoy an included lunch at Mei Yuan restaurant of the Silks Place Taroko, stroll along Chi-Hsing Beach and stop at the Hualien Stone Sculpture Park before returning to Taipei.
You'll be picked up from your Taipei hotel at 6am to travel by train on your own to Hualien. This full-day guided tour will take you to the Taroko Gorge, a 20-kilometer section of the highway that runs from Taroko to Tiansiang.
The stunning gorge is famous for its marble cliffs, deep, winding tunnels and the Liwu River, which flows through its craggy landscape. Travel through Swallows Grotto, where the section of the highway runs through tunnels carved into the gorge.
Then, see the Eternal Spring Shrine, one of the most photographed scenes around the gorge. These little temples were built to commemorate those who lost their lives in the construction of the central cross-island highway.
Afterward, break for lunch at a local restaurant. Appetites sated, continue to the Chi-Hsing Beach and Hualien Stone Sculpture Park and visit a marble factory before returning to Taipei by express train.
The tour guide was Roy was inspiring and very energetic. Be prepared for a full day ahead.
Review by: Stephen M, April 2018
The tour itself was spectacular, marred only by the crowds during one of the busiest extended holidays of the year. Transportation was first rate, although I was a bit surprised that they didn't have water available on the bus. Food at the very elegant hotel was one of the worst meals we had in Taiwan. Taste was bland and many dishes were mostly filler ie 90 percent scrambled egg 10 percent seafood ribs were mostly bone. Very disappointing. Tour guide for the Gorge was a bit pushy, although she probably meant well. Her English was rather hard to understand and the limited information she provided was minimal and not of any particular value. The driver who dropped us off and picked us up was very well prepared to handle the group, the guide was not. Not what I expected for the price
Review by: jonsumners, April 2018
A very nice trip. The schedule is very tight, but you should see most of the highlights from Taroko. The short jade factory tour is completely unnecessary and those 40mins could have been better reserved for the actual sights on the tour. This would be a five star tour if it wasn't so rushed.
Review by: TheExecHomeDir, March 2018
The park itself was beautiful, but the tour guide was not really that good. There were also places like the jewelry shop that I would skip so we can spend more time exploring the natural beauty of the park and its surrounding areas.
Review by: tlgballet, March 2018
It is beautiful , especially the teal-like color of the water in most areas . I also loved seeing so much marble rocks but I guess my children and I were expecting a lot more because of reading the other reviews ! Going there, the train ride took almost 3 hrs, coming back, itt was 21/2 plus the bus ride to get to the gorge which took about 30 min. So just be prepared for this....._br/_ Our guide was joyful but kind of hard to understand her heavily accented English. The meal was quite delightful since it was lauriat style and generous for a tour group meal . Usually in the tours ive been in, you only have 1-2 main dishes , here, there were about 6 dishes plus fruits in the end.
Review by: hongminh119, March 2018
Good trip and friendly tourguide.
Review by: Emelita Rachel T, March 2018
Amazing tour of Taroko National Park. Our local tour guide Josephine was spectacular. A must see when you visit Taiwan.
Review by: Shanna S, March 2018
We went a week after the earthquake hit Haulien so our tour group was very small. Our tour guide seemed disinterested and I felt like she wasn't making as much as an effort because there weren't as many of us in the group. A lot of the areas we didn't spend much time in and some of the areas we stopped at were insignificant that we could have spent more time at other interesting areas. The lunch spot was very nice and relaxing though! The group leader did have the driver stop by a couple areas where the earthquake had destructed some buildings which was very interesting. The driver to and from the train station was very slow and the vehicle we were in seemed out of date and not very reliable.
Review by: Heidi K, March 2018
Great tour. The Taroko Gorge area is so beautiful that although the day was long its worth it.
Review by: Amy Y L, February 2018
Had a great time with a nice group of people from Japan, Australia, England and America. The guide is a very energetic and knowledgeable lady who is known as the Queen of Taroko. She made everything fun and interesting and even though she must have done the tour myriad of times, she was engaging and enthusiastic during the whole tour. Very rare to meet a tour guide of this caliber. You can tell she really loves her job and I was very happy to be apart of it! All hail Queen of Taroko, Josephine!
Review by: Jacob, February 2018
If you're in Taipei or the Taroko Gorge area, I recommend taking this fantastic tour. The scenery was great and our guide, The Lion Lady Josephine was awesome as well. For me, the stop at the Marble Factory is unnecessary, but there are some really nice sculptures and items there. Overall, I recommend this tour.
Review by: Samuel L, January 2018
Fantastic Tour! Josphine was energetic and informative! There's no way to cover this much ground if I came here by myself on train and public bus. Also great way to meet other travellers. The Taroko Gorge was stunningly beautiful. Highly recommend this tour.
Review by: P L K W, January 2018
Enjoyable day trip outside of Taipei. Transportation arrangements were smooth and the tour guide was very entertaining and ensured we saw the best parts even though there were a lot of road disruptions on the day.
Review by: Qing L, January 2018
Very nice trip for a one-day excursion.
Review by: p_mai, January 2018
it's a lot of transportation time, only have 15-30 minutes at each stop. However, this is what I expected since the place is quite far from Taipei and we try to fit the trip in 13 hours. Overall, good trip, good tour guide, picking up and dropping off at hotel were prompt.
Review by: Rick, January 2018
This is a sight to see so different from the big city well worth the trip!
Review by: Jonathan G, January 2018
The food served for lunch was the worst meal I had during my entire Taiwan trip. The tour could have been more informative, as we learned more about the gorge from our local friends. The train booked to Hualien was slower than the one heading back to Taipei, I felt this could have saved some time.
Review by: Bronwyn O, January 2018
Great tour. Everything went smoothly, from hotel pick up to train trip and collection at the other end. Josephine was ok tour guide but had some trouble understanding her english and she talked very fast. Lunch was good, plenty of food. Enough time at each stop to allow exploring and photos. Overall a good day out.
Review by: roy.beveridge, January 2018
Train trip for 3 hours to the gorge was very enjoyable—great scenery. Note pickup is very early ..5:20am, but worth it. _br/_ Test of day highly enjoyable. _br/_ Just as described.
Review by: Sean Q, December 2017
The Lion Lady! What a beautiful tour and nice way to get out of Taipei and see other parts of Taiwan. The gorge is really amazing. The meal at the hotel is truly 5 star. Tons of food, and a traditional lazy susan shared experience. Only thing I didn't really like is the Marble factory - this is mostly for sales, although there is really nice stuff if you are looking to buy authentic jade.
Review by: Matt S, December 2017
Loved this tour, the gorge was spectacular and our guide Josephine was full of life and knowledge, trip to the beach at the end that is full of rubbish was a disappointing way to end the tour after the beauty of the gorge.
Review by: Whitney L, December 2017
I would really have liked to give a higher rating, but this tour gets points only for convenience in-city pickup and drop-off and beautiful location, but not for much else. Our guide, Josephine self-styled Queen of Taroko, was incredibly difficult to understand when she did speak English and we are all native English speakers, but that was only about 1/3 of the time. The rest of the tour was in Chinese, even though there appeared to be only one person of Asian descent on the tour aside from the driver. The extended visit to the marble factory at the end was par for the course for tours such as this, but still a disappointment - the factory is nothing but a 15 minute walk through a gemstone showroom with 10 or more salespeople following you like hounds until you're herded back onto the bus. The factory also contains a museum, which would be way more interesting than the sales part, but it was closed at the time we went and there's no effort to take you to see it.
Review by: Marshall B, December 2017
Taking the 2 and 1/2 hour train trip to see the Gorge was definitely worth the time and effort it took to get there. The Gorge is absolutely breathtaking and an engineering feat not to be missed. The drive by bus after we left the station was beautiful and we saw so much. The lunch in the beautiful hotel was great. What made the trip worth only 2 stars in our opinion was our guide. While she was touted as being one of the best for this tour she told us so, we found her English to be lacking. She mostly spoke to the Asian people on the trip in their language and when she did switch to English she did not tell us she was going to do that and you could hardly tell it was happening. A warning that she was switching to English would have been very helpful and made the trip so much better and informed about what we were seeing.
Review by: Raissa Nina P, December 2017
A long, early trip to see the gorge, but worth it! Lunch was unexpectedly good. The guide, hailed the Queen of Taroko, made every step interesting. No need to fear not knowing the language—you are accompanied to the train by a guide, and met by another as soon as you arrive.
Review by: Whee Sze O, December 2017
Spent half the time during this 1-day trip on the train travelling from Taipei to Hualien to visit the Taroko Gorge, but the beautiful and amazing sights of the Gorge are worth the travelling time!
Review by: Melinda C, December 2017
Enjoyed this tour very much. Be ready for a lot of moving via train and bus! Left hotel at 5:20 a.m. and returned about 7:30 and spent less than three of those hours not on the bus or train. Necessary to see the Gorge, which was beautiful.
Review by: RAYA B, December 2017
The Taroko Gorge Full Day Tour was one of the highlights of our trip to Taipei in early December. We started the day very early at 6am as we had to take a train to the region. Taking a tour is the best way to see the park as the gorge is really long that winds and wraps around the marble stoned mountains. The weather was also nice and cool but had some intermittent rain showers. We had a nice lunch in a nice hotel by the mountains. The tour also included stops to a Jade factory and a place where you can buy some Taiwanese delicacies. Our tour guide was also very nice and vibrant although a bit difficult to understand at times because of the accent and talks a bit fast. Would also appreciate more information about the history of the Taroko National Park and Gorge which I had to search on the internet.
Review by: Bluebird, November 2017
Beautiful sights, the whole experience was awesome.
Review by: Mark H, November 2017
The Queen of Taroko should spend more time engaging with travelers instead of explaining her greatness. We had a tour of 10 people, but it might as well have been 100 for the lack of personal attention. The Queen sits on the sidelines and says nothing as the group explores with no guidance and misses key sights. Also, the devotion to schedule like going to the ocean on a very overcast day was stupid -- that time could have been spent elsewhere. Aside from that, travelers should consider being on a train for 6 hours to spend 7 hours at the gorge -- it may be worth it, but would have been even more worth it with an actual tour guide rather than a self-promoter.
Review by: jess.tseng130, November 2017
The tour itinerary was good and covered majority parts of the Hualien. The tour guide was ok. She was nice but wasn't exceptional. She forgot about me after picked us up from the train station in Hualien then she came back to got me before they took off with the tour bus. I told her that she needed to pay attention and she stated that she would make sure she does from then on so that's fine after. She was nice but I didn't really understand her English too much. The restaurant was nice and the food was just ok to me. I absolutely loved all the places we have visited and the overall tour was not bad at all.
Review by: Mark M, November 2017
Overall, a well executed tour of a magnificent example of nature's grandeur. What we found a bit misleading is the stroll along the beach which was 10 minutes of picture taking at the beach, and the sculpture park was really a place to try to sell jewelry and some very expensive decorative sculptures for your home or business. If you are trying to promote the local economy please disclose it to future tour participants. Also the diesel fumes from the train to the beginning of the tour was overwhelming to the point of being nauseating.
Review by: szatek, November 2017
Very good organization - taxi, train, bus, train, taxi!_br/_ Beautiful nature ..._br/_ Good lunch ..._br/_ Instead visit factory of stone jewelry it would be grate spend 30 minutes at the see -
Review by: Trevor L, November 2017
Great views of the gorge, good tour guide and hotel pickup/dropoff. Lunch was good and included! train ride took a few hours and was a bit chilly
Review by: Lauren M, November 2017
great tour. Long day but totally worth it.
Review by: Tom C, November 2017
The tour felt rushed and we could have done without the stop at the jewellery store. Scenery was remarkable and a must see though!
Review by: Dirk M, October 2017
Saw so many great breathtaking locations and the tour was well paced. Josephine the guide is quite the character and I appreciated her energy.
Review by: cap,sister,number!, October 2017
Highly recommend! This trip was packed of all sorts of sights and activities. This tour was a convenient way to see a lot without the stress of having to figure out how to get there. The guides were organized and knowledgeable. I recommend this trip to anyone.
Review by: timthoo, October 2017
Enjoyable tour. A very early start to catch the train from Taipei Main Station to Hualian. Sure enough, the queen of Taroko, Josephine, was there to greet us. Slightly rough around the edges but a friendly boisterous lady. Very knowledgeable of the area. A well guided tour. Lunch was fairly good with plenty of food.
Review by: MyleneS, October 2017
This tour is very rush and not a value for money. Hualien is a very nice place to explore but following a tour with our guide speaking 3 different languages is confusing. Although the guide is great, it will be better if different languages are not mixed in one bus._br/_ If you want to visit Hualien, I suggest not to take the tour and you will have more time to explore and take photos on your own time pacing.
Review by: Michelle W, October 2017
Taroko Gorge tour is great! Long day and lot's of walking, but well worth it. So nice being able to take this tour. The day outside of the city was great!
Review by: Michelle W, October 2017
Taroko Gorge tour is great! So happy we did this tour. Long day but well worth it. Our driver and guides were really nice. So nice being able to head out of the city for the day.
Review by: dale.chun-hoon, October 2017
Everything went smoothly for a 14 hour tour. I was picked up at 5:30am by a polite driver that transported me to Taipei Main Station for a 6:50 am train. Small group of seven quickly became friends. We were met by Josephine, queen of Taroko. She's a spunky, adorable and quite knowledgable tour guide. She's the BEST! Beautiful gorge and we'll worth the trip! Very good Chinese meal at the hotel in the park. I considered doing this trip on my own from Taipei but thankfulI I took this tour. The reason: there's considerable travel delays in the park due to road construction and I would have been too worried using bus transportation in the park to get back in enough time to catch a train back to Taipei.
Review by: Andrea M, October 2017
I was satisfied overall with the tour. I would have preferred if we had spent more time at the Shakadang Trail and the stops where we were walking through the tunnels rather than the seaside and lunch. The seaside isn't that nice or scenic and I think it's not really necessary. Also, it's very hot at lunch time so no one went up to the temple on the hill beside the hotel. Time could be taken from these two stops to be given more at the other stops. The guide was friendly. it would be nice if she offered to take people's photos.
Review by: Nava V, September 2017
Gorgeous trip!! and Josafin is lovely. Don't miss this trip!!
Review by: Meliton Jr S, September 2017
While Taroko Gorge is worth seeing, it's too long a trip six hours round trip for what you get to see. One needs more time to really fully appreciate the Gorge. There are trails worth exploring but you don't really get the time to do so. I think the best way to see the Gorge is with a private guide so you can take your time going around.
Review by: Meliton Jr S, September 2017
While Taroko Gorge is worth seeing, it's too long a trip six hours round trip for what you get to see. One needs more time to really fully appreciate the Gorge. There are trails worth exploring but you don't really get the time to do so. I think the best way to see the Gorge is with a private guide so you can take your time going around.
Review by: Ivan S, September 2017
Comfortable trip - a bit rushed but one gets to see some of the high points of the area._br/_ All arrangements and connections worked well.
Review by: Mark S, May 2017
This tour was amazing!
Review by: Mary C, April 2017
I took this tour with a friend of mine and overall we quite enjoyed it apart from the fact that in my opinion there really is too much getting on/off the bus to see certain things and walking part of the only a very small a part way through the gorge...the guide could have been more interactive.....she spoke from a microphone with her back to all of us and her English was at times so difficult to understand......we also had a mix up when getting on the train, we were accompanied but nontheless the guide put us on the wrong train going there so we rode for a hour on that one then got off and waited for half an hour to get back on the right one!!! but what we really didn't appreciate was the fact that we saw no-one upn our arrival in Taipei at the station to accompany us back to our hotel...as if this was included in the package....nor even an email in the days after to see if we had in fact made it back ok .....globally I expcted a lot more...a gorge tour should take in account a lot more attention centered around the gorge and not half the time on the bus!!!
Review by: Sophie V, April 2017
The guide Josephine is really good at keeping an eye on everyone and tweaking the days activities if needed. It and #39;s a very long day and wished that some hiking or walking was involved but due to the distance from Taipei and travel time needed, this was not possible.
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