Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) is Taiwan’s largest, prettiest, and most famous lake. Known for its stunning vistas, scenic bikeways, black tea, and nearly extinct Indigenous group, it truly earns its spot on most visitors’ itineraries.
I’ve already written an extensive guide to Sun Moon Lake on my other website. But I understand that the large amount of info and ideas there can be overwhelming, especially when most visitors only stay for a night or two.
In this newer article, I’m going to piece it all together for you into a workable itinerary, which hits all the best spots and activities in the relatively short time you most likely have to enjoy Sun Moon Lake.
Also see my similarly detailed itinerary for Alishan and other Taiwan itineraries.
How Long to Spend at Sun Moon Lake
“How long should I spend at Sun Moon Lake?” is the big question asked by many a traveler. You could visit as a day trip, one-night trip, or two-night trip. My answer is: it depends.
If you have enough time in your overall Taiwan itinerary, then two nights at Sun Moon Lake is ideal. However, if you’re on a tighter schedule, which I know many travelers are, you can still squeeze in a nice visit with only one night or even as a day trip. You’ll be a little more pressed for time, but I will help you make it work!
If you plan to stay at Sun Moon Lake for one night, then leave Taipei or Taichung as early as possible to enjoy the better part of a day there. Plan to wake up early the next morning to explore more before (or even after) checkout time.
Since this is a very popular option, in my below Sun Moon Lake itinerary, I will assume you are spending one night at Sun Moon Lake.
If you’re coming from Alishan by bus, it will already be dark or close to it by the time you check in to your hotel at Sun Moon Lake. You won’t have time to see or do anything on that first day. Thus, for anyone coming from Alishan, I definitely recommend adding a second night, or at least plan to spend most of your second day there.
The same thing goes for the reverse – if you’re planning to take a bus from Sun Moon Lake to Alishan after visiting the lake, two nights at the lake will be ideal, since the bus leaves so early.
If you only budget one night at Sun Moon Lake and plan to take that early bus to Alishan the next morning, try get to the lake as early as possible on Day 1, otherwise you’ll barely have any time to explore the lake.
For those who want to have more time to explore Sun Moon Lake region more deeply, including perhaps side trips to Hohocha Tea Center, Checheng, Sun Link Sea, or Shuiyuan Rainbow Suspension Bridge, then you’ll definitely want at least 2 nights at Sun Moon Lake.
Getting to Sun Moon Lake
Where you’re coming from (and how early you leave) is going to have a big impact on how much time you have for your Sun Moon Lake visit.
From Taipei
Bus 1833 (see schedule) goes directly from Taipei Bus Station to this bus stop in Shuishe (the main village at Sun Moon Lake). There are four buses per day and the trip takes 3.5 to 4 hours.
Buy your ticket in cash from the Kuo Kuang Bus Company window on the first floor of the station. It’s also possible to reserve online here. You may have to select English at the top, then you’ll need to enter your passport and phone no (any 10-digit number will work, even if fake). Then you’ll need to select 台北轉運 (Taipei Bus Station) and 日月潭 (Sun Moon Lake), the date, time, and seat number.
If you take the first bus of the day (7:00 AM) you will arrive there at around 10:40 AM. This gives you a decent amount of time to explore on your first day.
It’s faster but more expensive to take the HSR (see my HSR booking guide or visit Klook / KKday for discounted tickets) from Taipei Main Station to Taichung (one hour). Then go to 1F, exit 5 of the HSR station and take bus 6670 (90 minutes, see schedule).
Most people swipe EasyCard to ride this bus, but at peak times, demand for the bus is high and some people might not be able to get on. The bus will already have passengers before it gets there, and there tends to be a long line of people boarding at the HSR station. Therefore, I recommend that you reserve your seat on the bus from Taichung HSR to Sun Moon Lake (here’s how).
Including the transferring time (budget 15 minutes), this way will get you from Taipei to Sun Moon Lake in two hours and 45 minutes. If you catch the first HSR of the day (6:26, arrive Taichung 7:30) then the 7:45 bus from the HSR station, you could be at the lake as early as 9:05 AM.
From Taichung
Taichung is the main access point for Sun Moon Lake, so starting from there will give you a nice headstart.
From the Taichung city center, the Taichung-to-Sun Moon Lake bus (the same one I mentioned above, bus 6670) starts at Nantou Bus Gancheng Station (here) a few blocks north of the train station. It takes 1 hour 45 min to reach the lake.
Getting on the bus here gives you a very good chance of getting a seat, so it’s less crucial to reserve, unless that’s a long weekend, national holiday, or weekend in cherry blossom season (February).
Even if you plan to swipe EasyCard, you can get a little paper from the ticket window which essentially guarantees your spot in the queue.
The bus makes a second stop here right in front of the train station (use GoogleMaps for location).
The bus’s third stop will be at Taichung HSR station, which I covered in the section above. I recommend reserving your spot on the bus if boarding there, especially at peak times.
At the way to Sun Moon Lake, you may consider to make stops for sightseeing at Puli or Hohocha Tea Center.
You can also take a private or shared transfer from Taichung to Sun Moon Lake.
From Alishan
There are only two buses per day from Alishan to Sun Moon Lake (bus 6739). On weekdays, they depart Alishan bus station at 13:00 and 14:30. The ride to Shuishe village at Sun Moon Lake takes about 3 hours.
On weekends, the bus departs Alishan at 13:00 and 14:00. Demand is high and space is limited on this bus, so I always recommend booking a seat.
If you’re going the other way, from Sun Moon Lake to Alishan, the bus departs Shuishe at 8 and 9:30 on weekdays and 8:00 and 8:30 on weekends.
From Cingjing Farm
To get from Cingjing Farm to Sun Moon Lake, take the bus from Cingjing to Puli bus station (90 min, see my guide to getting to Cingjing for the details) then you’ll hop on the Taichung-to-Sun Moon Lake bus from there.
For Sun Moon Lake to Cingjing Farm, it’s the same thing in reverse. There are also private transfers from Cinging Farm to Sun Moon Lake.
See my Cingjing Farm guide for more info about visiting it.
Tour and Private Car Options
If you’d rather forget about the transportation complications and trust some local guides to do the planning for you, there are Sun Moon Lake day tours from Taipei (Klook / KKday) or Taichung (Klook / KKday).
There are also day tours which squeeze Cingjing Farm and Sun Moon Lake into one day (Klook / KKday) and multi-day tours to Sun Moon Lake and Alishan (Klook / KKday).
With a private driver, you can make your own itinerary. Boom on Klook, KKday, or contact any of my recommended drivers for a quote.
Where to Stay at Sun Moon Lake
For this itinerary, it will make the most sense to stay in Shuishe (the main village at Sun Moon Lake), where all buses arrive and depart from.
Hostel options in Shuishe include Deer Traveler Hostel (Booking / Agoda) and Dreamy Nomads (Booking / Agoda). Both are well reviewed.
In the mid-range, some excellent options include Blue Sky Bay B&B (Booking / Agoda), Shaoguang 188 (Booking / Agoda), Doris Home (Booking / Agoda), and Yue Lake Backpackers (Booking / Agoda).
At the luxury end, The Lalu (Agoda) is one of the finest resorts in Taiwan and occupies a peninsula next to Shuishe. Fleur de Chine (Booking / Agoda) is an older five star resort which is one bus stop from Shuishe and is considered the more family-friendly option.
Overnight Itinerary: Day 1
What time you arrive at Sun Moon Lake will have a big impact on how you plan your itinerary there. I’ve created two different itineraries here depending on whether you arrive early (in the morning) or late (afternoon).
If You Have a Late Start
Let’s say you aren’t such an early riser and you had a later start from Taipei or Taichung. Or maybe you stopped at Hohocha Tea Center on the way to Sun Moon Lake. You may not arrive at Sun Moon Lake until the afternoon.
By the time you check in to your hotel (3 or 4 PM check in time at most of them), you’ve only got a few hours left before the sun goes down.
In that case, I recommend you spend the rest of the afternoon cycling. I rented my bicycle here on Klook. The shop owner told me how to find the bike trail and gave me a handy map.
The nicest cycling path starts here on the edge of Shuishe and goes west along the lakeshore towards Xiangshan Visitor’s Center. You can budget about 1.5 hours to cycle to the center and back at a leisurely pace.
Xiangshan Visitor’s Center features futuristic architecture and you can even hear your whispers echoing when you stand under it (you aren’t supposed to shout.
It has a nice lake view, including a beautiful strand of bald cypress (落羽松) trees along the shore. These turn a beautiful orange-red color in December.
There’s also a nice cycling path here going east of Shuishe. If you go this way, you could potentially ride as far as Wenwu Temple to watch the sunset over the lake from there, but heads up that the final section to the temple will be along a car road, with some uphill.
Spend a couple hours cycling beside the lake, watch the sunset from anywhere along the lake shore, then return the bike in Shuishe.
If you arrived on a bus from Alishan, it will likely be dark by the time you check in to your hotel, so you won’t have time for cycling.
Have dinner at one of the restaurants in Shuishe. I recommend 山味邵族風味 (see here), which has Indigenous dishes and sets suitable for individuals, couples, or group.
The pork in gravy with rosemary (bottom left), grilled boar meat (above it), and dragon fruit jelly (top left) in this set were insanely delicious.
One of my group members also recommends Old Papa Black Tea (明潭茶老爸), which has simple noodle dishes, braised pork rice, oyster vermicelli, bubble tea, and the like – also suitable for individuals.
There are several others in town with Chinese/Taiwanese style dishes meant for sharing. The Starbucks in Shuishe also has a beautiful lake view (see my list of the coolest Starbucks in Taiwan).
Last but not least, don’t miss the delicious tea eggs at this stall in front of a souvenir shop. They vendor goods them with mushrooms, which give them extra flavor. You can also buy the mushrooms on their own.
I got some tea eggs here to save for breakfast the next morning.
After dark, it’s extremely quiet at Sun Moon Lake. There isn’t anything to do besides taking an evening stroll on the docks or paths by the lake or getting some drinks from 7-Eleven.
If You Have an Early Start
If you have an earlier start (for example you took one of the first buses of the day from Taipei or Taichung), then I recommend using your arrival day for exploring around the lake, and save your cycling for the next morning before checkout.
Since you will arrive at Sun Moon Lake before check-in time at your hotel, drop your luggage at your hotel in Shuishe (if they allow it).
If not, simply stash it in one of the orange luggage lockers next inside the small visitor’s center, bus ticket window, and 7-Eleven here at the bus stop.
Go to Shuishe Pier and take a ferry to Xuanguang Temple across the lake. You can buy a ticket on the spot (TWD 100) or get a ferry round trip pass (Klook / KKday) – this will save you money if you take two or more rides.
Note: “round trip” here includes three possible rides – Shuishe to Xuanguang Temple, Xuanguang Temple to Ita Thao, and Ita Thao back to Shuishe. It’s only valid for one day.
Ride the ferry from Shuishe to Xuanguang Temple. Ferries depart every 15-20 minutes and the ride across the lake takes 7 minutes. (Hate boats? You can also take the Sun Moon Lake bus, but it will take longer. Note that Shuishe is “Sun Moon Lake” stop on the schedule).
On the ferry ride across the lake, you will pass Lalu Island, which is sacred to the local Thao people. When you get off the ferry, visit the temple and try the delicious tea eggs here.
If you have the time and energy, walk up the path through the forest to Xuanzang Temple.
From there, you could walk another 20 minutes (also uphill) to Ci’en Pagoda, which has an amazing lake view from the top.
Pro Tip: these are steep, uphill walks. If you’d like to see the temples but don’t want to do the uphill walks to them, do this instead. From Shuishe, hop of the round-the-lake bus (instead of taking a boat across the lake) and get off at Ci’en Pagoda.
Visit Ci’en Pagoda first (which will still require a few minutes of uphill stairs), then walk DOWNHILL to Xuanzang and Xuanguang Temples.
Thank you to the reader or recommended this smart alternative!
From there, return to Xuanguang Temple and ride the ferry to Ita Thao village. If you went to Xuanzang Temple or Ci’en Pagoda, you can also take the Sun Moon Lake bus (see schedule) from either of those to Ita Thao.
Ita Thao is both an Indigenous community and tourist center. The main thing to do there is to stroll up and down the main street, which is lined with food stalls, especially Indigenous foods and millet wine (小米酒).
You may be able to catch an authentic Indigenous performance or activity or activity led by the local Thao people at Kalapaw (鹿臺教室, here). Here’s some info about the performance times.
This is also a good place to buy Sun Moon Lake region’s famous black teas, which are rare in a country that produces mostly oolong. See my guide to Sun Moon Lake black tea.
Stay in Ita Thao? Some people stay in Ita Thao as an alternative to Shuishe. There are some excellent accommodations there, many with lake views. It also has a brand new lakeside cycling path to Sun Moon Lake Ropeway and Nine Frogs Stack.
However, it’s less convenient because you’ll need to return to Shuishe for getting the bus to leave Sun Moon Lake.
Check the bus schedule carefully. Also note that most retaurants on the food street close around 6 or 7 PM.
From Ita Thao, follow the lakeshore walking/cyclong path here for 15 minutes to Sun Moon Lake Ropeway station.
Ride the ropeway (buy tickets on the spot or check the deals on Klook / KKday) to the top to enjoy the amazing lake views.
Depending on how much time you have (and your level of interest), from the top you can take a second cable car down the other side to Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village.
This is a theme park with rides, Taiwanese Indigenous displays/performances, and cherry blossoms (February to early March – see my cherry blossom guide).
Entrance to the park (Klook / KKday) includes the return cable car rides.
The park is large and requires several hours to visit. If you plan to do this, then it would be best to skip the above plans at Xuanguang Temple.
Just go directly from Shuishe to Sun Moon Lake Ropeway by bus so you will have more time to enjoy it.
For your last stop of the day, take the bus from Sun Moon Lake Ropeway station to Wenwu Temple. The temple has a fantastic view of the lake, especially from just above the top of it. If you time it right, you could watch the sunset over the lake from here.
Finally, take the bus from the temple back to Shuishe. But check the bus times carefully – if you miss the last one at 6:20 PM, you’ll need to walk back to Shuishe.
Overnight Itinerary: Day 2
For early risers, start your day with a morning hike to see the sunrise over the lake. From your hotel in Shuishe, follow this narrow scooter road up to a weather station on Mount Maolan.
It will take you about one hour to reach the peak here, where you can enjoy a nice sunrise and lake view (weather conditions permitting – when I went, I saw nothing!) There are also some tea farms along the way.
If you’ve rented a scooter or car, you can drive to another famous viewpoint, Jinlongshan, where it’s possible to see sea of clouds at sunrise – but you won’t see the lake from this one.
To get there, park here, then walk up the staircase through the forest to the lookout point (10 minutes, here, see image above).
From there, you can walk up another 20 minutes to an even higher viewpoint (here, see image below). You can also just drive up to this upper viewpoint, but there’s only space for a couple cars to park.
Back in Shuishe, treat yourself to a coffee at Starbucks, which has an undeniably good lake view from its patio (read about other beautiful Starbucks branches across Taiwan).
Your following plans will depend on how much you achieved the day before. If you followed my “early start” itinerary above, it means you already explored much of the lake, but didn’t do any cycling yet.
So, use your remaining hours before checkout time to rent a bicycle and go cycling along the lakeshore path going west or east from Shuishe. 1-2 hours is enough to have a good cycling experience.
If you followed my “late start” itinerary (hence you went cycling the day before), then you should proceed with my “early start” itinerary above for exploring the whole lake.
If you’ll be staying at Sun Moon Lake a second night, then great – you have the whole day to do it.
However, if you’ll be checking out today, your plan of attack depends on how late you intend to leave the lake. If you’re planning to leave right after checkout time from your hotel, you only really have time for one of the following:
- Take the bus to Wenwu Temple, visit it, then take the bus back to Shuishe.
- Take the bus from Shuishe to Ita Thao, have a few snacks on the food street, then come back.
- Take the bus or boat from Shuishe to Xuanguang Temple, visit it, then come back by boat or bus.
- Do a quick morning trip to Hohocha Tea Center for trying Sun Moon Lake’s famous blacl teas
If you don’t need to leave Sun Moon Lake until later in the day, then check out from your hotel early, leave your luggage at the desk (or at a locker the Shuishe bus station), and proceed with my “early start” itinerary above, visiting Xuanguang Temple, Ita Thao, Sun Moon Lake Ropeway, and Wenwu Temple.
Return to Shuishe, collect your luggage, and leave Sun Moon Lake by bus.
Day Trip Itinerary
If you visit Sun Moon Lake as a day trip from Taipei or Taichung, start your day as early as possible to have as much time as you can at the lake.
As soon as you arrive in Shuishe, rent a bicycle, then go cycling west along the lake shore for 1-2 hours.
Treat yourself to a coffee from the Starbucks with a lake view then hop on a boat across the lake to Xuanguang Temple. Have a tea egg there, with the option to walk 20 minutes uphill to Xuanzang Temple and another 20 minutes uphill to Ci’en Pagoda.
If you want to see the temples without all that uphill walking, take a bus from Shuishe to Ci’en Pagoda, visit it, then walk downhill to the two temples.
If you had a later start to your day, I would suggest that you skip the temples and pagoda – just take a boat from Shuishe to Ita Thao directly.
From Xuangguang Temple, Xuanzang Temple, or Ci’en Pagoda, take the boat or bus to Ita Thao and have Indigenous foods for lunch.
Follow the lakeshore path from Ita Thao to Sun Moon Lake Ropeway, ride the ropeway up and back down.
If you want to visit Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village, you’ll need to skip some other things (skip cycling and/or Xuanguang Temple) to make time for it. Note: you can catch the SML to Taichung bus from Formosan’s main entrance – you don’t have to return to the lake and Shuishe to catch it).
Finally, take a bus from Sun Moon Lake Ropeway statiom to Wenwu Temple, visit it, then return to Shuishe and catch your bus back to Taichung or Taipei.
The last bus to Taipei departs at 4:45 PM while the last bus to Taichung HSR station or Taichung city center departs at 7:25 PM.
Great write-up!
hI Nick,
Thanks for the detailed post!
is there a need to pre-order online a ticket for the 1833 bus from taipie to sun moon lake (say in mid-december when it’s peak tourism time) or just show up early and buy in the counter?
thanks!
I’m not aware of any way to book it online. 12Go has it but their times are wrong so I don’t really trust it. Most people just buy tickets at the station before going. If you are going on a weekend, then perhaps go to the station a day or two before to buy the tickets and that should be fine.
Hi Nick, for the bus around the Sun Moon Lake, is it free or is there a fare I need to pay?
There’s a fare, you can swipe EasyCard
There is now an online booking form for the Sun Moon Lake to Taipei (or vice versa) bus, at https://order.kingbus.com.tw/ and it even speaks mostly English. Just uses Chinese characters for the departure and destination dropdowns
Thank you!
Could you please tell me how much does it cost for HSE ticket from Taipei to Taichung or even better, from Taoyuan Airport to Taichung? Thank you. I’d like to go straight to Sun Moon Lake after my arrival at Taoyuan at 6:25am. I’ve tried the train website but didnot dare to input my pp number to go further to the price page.
For HSR prices, please check the HSR website. It shows the prices as soon as you enter the departure and arrival place. You don’t need to enter your passport to see the price. You can also check the price on Klook, which offers 15% off. Make sure to use the official HSR site (https://en.thsrc.com.tw/), T Express app, or Klook. I also have an HSR booking guide on this website, which shows how to book on all three ways.
Hi! Thanks for a very detailed blog, it’s been a great help as I’m planning to go on a day trip from Taipei and really need to get the schedule & navigation right! May I ask, is “the last bus to Taichung HSR station or Taichung city center departs at 7:25 PM” certain? I’m quite confused as other blogs/tiktoks say the last SML > Taichung bus leaves at around 4pm. Thank you!
Please check the official schedule here and note that ones in red are Friday to Sunday only: http://www.ntbus.com.tw/hsr6.html
Can I take a TRA train from Taipei to Taichung and then bus 6670 to Sun Moon Lake? Will I find the bus at the Minzu Rd Intersection?
I am taking this trip on Sept 5, 2025, should I flag this bus at the Minzu Rd Intersection or should I go to Gancheng Station?
Or, will it be easier using HSR train instead?
Found this article incredibly helpful thank you
Hi Nick, Thanks for the detailed info. Just wanted to share another option for visiting the Pagoda and 2 temples. We took the first the bus from Shuishe to Ci’en Pagoda–visited it before others arrived and then we walked DOWNHILL to Xuanzang Temple and then Xuanguang Temple before catching the ferry to Ita Thao village. We passed a lot of hot and tired people climbing up the hill, as we walked down, feeling a bit smug!
Either way (train or HSR) works. The train is cheaper but will take 2 hours to Taichung. Then your bus ride to SML will also take a little longer since you’d be starting at the first (or second) stop). You can catch the bus from the Minzu road bus stop – I suggest using GoogleMaps directions to find the exact buss top location. You can also walk to the Gancheng bus station if you want but it’s not necessary. If you go by HSR, then the ride is only 1 hour but more expensive. The bus ride to SML will also be a little shorter. However, the line for the bus here is often longer, so on very busy days, there’s a risk you may not even be able to get on if you didn’t reserve a seat.
Great tip! I’ll add this to the article as an option!
Hi, as you mentioned that ticket to Formosan Aboriginal Village is include round ticket for Ropeway. So we don’t need to buy Ropeway ticket from the first station right?
If you buy this ticket on Klook, it includes round-trip ticket on the ropeway: https://affiliate.klook.com/redirect?aid=42315&aff_adid=1079246&k_site=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.klook.com%2Fen-CA%2Factivity%2F33027-formosa-aboriginal-cultural-village-ticket-sun-moon-lake-boat-pass%2F
If you buy the ticket on site, they will options for riding the ropeway only or ropeway + Formosan.
Hi Nick, firstly wanted to thank you for this and your many other superb pages of invaluable inspiration and advice. I’m planning my two week trip to Taiwan in September and there is of course far more I would like to do than I’m going to have time for.
With Sun Moon Lake in particular, I’m wondering whether I can do more if I have a car. Is it easy to drive and access most of these attractions by car rather than usign the buses, and most importantly is it then easy to park at all the various stops? Is driving here likely to detract from any of the experiences?
All the best!
If you just want to visit the main spots around the lake (Wenwu Temple, SML Ropeway, Ita Thao village, Ci’en Pagoda, Xuanguang Temple, Xiangshan Visitor’s Center) then bus, boat, and bike will be sufficient. However, if you want to visit more places further away from the lake, like Hohocha Tea Center, Jiji Wuchang Temple, Shuiyuan Suspension Bridge, Checheng, or Sun Link Sea, then you will find a car much more useful. Hope this helps!
Dear Nick,
my name is Nick (:D). First of all, thanks for your invaluable tips and detailed descriptions, they are absolutely manna from heaven. I am planning my 6D5N trip in Taiwan, and wanted to get your honest feedback whether it’d be best to pick only one place between Sun Moon lake and Alishan forest and maybe 1 day-trip from Taipei, or if you reckon I can squeeze in the first twos and maybe leave out the Jiufen Shifen Day Trip, or rather pick only one of the two famous landmarks and enjoy a day-trip instead. I am mostly worried about spending most of the time moving around if I try to get through everything. Thanks for your help, Nick
Hey Nick! That’s very tough because 6 days is super short for Taiwan. You’ll have to consider each stop carefully, prioritize, and maybe save some for next time. If you want to squeeze it all in, you could do 3N Taipei (with one day trip to Jiufen/Shifen, most people consider them unmissable), 1N Sun Moon Lake (go there as early as possible to have more time at the lake), 1N Alishan (take the direct 8 AM bus so you will have enough time there also), then proceed from Alishan directly to Taoyuan Airport for departure on the final day – this will also depend on your flight arrival and departure times. If you want to be less rushed and less time on transportation, then you could leave out Alishan and spend two nights at Sun Moon Lake instead.
Hi, if I have a full day, can i cycle around the lake and stop at all the sights along the way or would that take too long or is not recommended due to bad infrastructure for bikes going fully around the lake?
You can do it, but it’s not an ideal ride. There are only dedicated lakeside bicycle paths on some parts of the lake. The best one is from Shuishe village to Xiangshan Visitor’s Center. There’s also one going from Shuishe in the other direction, towards Wenwu temple, but it doesn’t go all the way to the temple. And there is also a new one from Ita Thao village to Sun Moon Lake Ropeway and Nine Frogs Stack. Everywhere else, including most of the east and south sides of the lake, does NOT have bicycle paths. This means that if you want to cycle to attractions like Wenwu Temple, Ci’en Pagoda, or Xuanguang Temple, the only way is to cycle on the car road. The car road has lots of card and some hills. Some cyclists do the full ride around the lake, but it takes a full day and the car road parts are not great. You might consider to only cycle from Shuishe to Xiangshan Visitor’s Center, then use the boat or bus for cycling to the other attractions.
Hi Nick, thanks for all the tips.
I am planning to go to Sun Moon Lake in around two weeks.
I was wondering, is the Sun Moon Lake festival (01-02.11) worth seeing and is it free?
I struggle to find some info online and I booked the hotel 31.10-01.11 and I am wondering if it’s worth changing the plans a bit to see the festival. 🙂
Hey Nick!
I’m wondering if it’s doable to add Shuiyuan Suspension Bridge to the 2-day Sun Moon Lake itinerary, using your 2-week paid itinerary as a base.
I’m planning to skip Taichung and come straight from Taipei, taking a super early start so I can arrive at the lake around 9 – 10 AM. I’ll spend two nights in Sun Moon Lake before leaving for Alishan.
I’m wondering if on that first day I could do both: cycle around for a few hours and then visit the Shuiyuan Suspension Bridge. However I’m not allowed to rent/drive a car in Taiwan, so I would need to rely on public transport (or maybe a private driver, if this is not too expensive). Is this feasible? Any recommendations on how to do this?
My second full day would then be used to explore the rest of the lake region, as the original itinerary. Is it feasible to visit everything on it, including the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village, if we only go for the cherry blossoms spots? We are not really into the park rides.
Thanks!
Sorry I don’t have any specific information about it besides the little info they’ve posted online here: https://www.sunmoonlake.gov.tw/en/event/calendardetail/2509
It seems like there will be a black tea festival (expect some stalls related to tea) and some fireworks at night. If you make it, let me know how it goes!
If you get a very early start as you plan to do, then it should be doable. Please see my guide to Shuiyuan Suspension Bridge on this site and check the bus information in the getting there section. But please note, it requires a transfer, so it might take you around 2 hours to get there and same to get back, plus 1 to 1.5 hours visiting time. Since that makes for around 5-6 hours total, it may be safer to save this for your full day at Sun Moon Lake, then fit your cycling and other lake exploring around it on days 1 and 2. If you don’t mind to make a little splurge to do the bridge faster (and easily fit on day 1), you can consider to hire a driver to take you there, wait for you, and take you back to SML.
is the last bus from formosan to taichung also 7:30pm? thanks
The last bus from Formosan to Taichung is at 5:25. The schedule is here: http://www.ntbus.com.tw/hsr6.html
But if you stay later, you can ride the gondola from Formosan back to the lake side, bus back to Shuishe, and take a later bus from Shuishe back to Taichung.