Excursion d'une journée à Yehliu & Jiufen & Shifen (départ de Ximending)

Dillian was a great tour guide and was very knowledgeable about each destination!

This was fun and our guide, Black was very accommodating, friendly and funny. He nailed the Southeast Asian humor thing. Wish we had more time to take pictures in the Taoshi bus stop though. Also shout out to our driver that day, don't know his name but he was so good at driving! He kept us safe and on time. Will definitely recommend this travel agency!

Such a great experience. A lot of sceneries are good for taking photos. Having Sung-Ping as our tour guide made our travel and tour experience more enjoyable with his humors and jokes. Thank you!

Excellent tour service! The guide was knowledgeable, friendly, and well-organized. The itinerary was enjoyable, and everything ran smoothly from start to finish. Highly recommend for anyone looking for a stress-free and memorable experience

[Summary]The itinerary and route itself were well-planned, but the entire experience was completely ruined by a highly unprofessional guide. Joining a tour with this agency is a total gamble on how low your guide's standards can get. 🚨 Three Major Offenses of the Guide: Ah-Bin 1. Absurd Language Arrangement & Forced Audience:We clearly signed up for a "Chinese-speaking tour," but the guide insisted on conducting the entire tour in English just to accommodate a few people who didn't speak Chinese. When some tour members mentioned they couldn't understand English, the guide actually replied: "Just have the other tour members translate for you." To make matters worse, his English was incredibly poor, showing he is clearly not a professional English-speaking guide. It was a painful struggle for him to speak and pure torture for us to listen—complete mutual suffering. 2. Extreme Double Standards & Hypocrisy:Right at the start of the trip, the guide severely threatened everyone that they must be on time, otherwise, the bus would leave without them. Ironically, when we arrived at the attraction, the guide himself was late, leaving the entire group waiting for him out in the open. 3. Appalling Attitude & Complete Lack of Professional Boundaries:His guiding competence is completely below par. Throughout the trip, he barked orders and shouted at us, demanding that we "stop chatting, put away our phones, and pay attention" whenever he spoke. We paid to join a vacation tour, not a primary school field trip. He has no right to micromanage us like children. Does he even know he is a tour guide? He completely forgot who the paying customers are. 🗺️ Attraction Details & Survival Tips (Honest Advice for Future Travelers) Yehliu Geopark (70-minute stop):The NT$120 admission ticket is not included. I highly recommend buying your tickets online in advance to get a cheaper discounted rate. The guide will not enter the park with you to provide any commentary; you are completely on your own once you pass the gates. Shifen Old Street (50-minute stop):The schedule here is extremely rushed. If you choose to release a sky lantern, you will have absolutely no time to eat. The guide will aggressively promote his NT$200 set meal, which is just mediocre. I strongly advise those who are not releasing lanterns to skip his meal and find lunch on the old street on your own, as the variety of choices is much better. Shifen Waterfall (40-minute stop):A terrible experience. There is a proper tour bus parking lot right next to the waterfall, but the agency or the guide forced the driver to drop off and pick up passengers on the side of the highway just to save money. As a result, when leaving, the entire tour group had to stand on the busy highway baking under the sun for 10 minutes waiting for the bus. Jiufen (75-minute stop):Lunch is on your own here. Since it was a weekend holiday, the area was packed. Shockingly, the guide even missed the correct stop and got off at the wrong place while leading us on the shuttle bus... It makes me wonder if just any random person can become a tour guide in Taiwan. It is an absolute insult to the profession. ⚠️ The Truth Behind the 5.0-Star Google Ratings Please do not trust the high scores you see online. On the return trip, the guide was incredibly aggressive in forcing everyone to give a 5-star review on Google for "Routor Travel (路特旅行社 루터 트래블)". He was so aggressive that he would literally take tour members' phones to write the review himself! Now you know exactly how those high scores were manufactured.(Note: Since I strongly suspect the travel agency might delete negative reviews, I am posting this exact review across Google Maps, Trip.com, and TripAdvisor to prevent more travelers from falling into this trap.)

Great time visiting the south side of the island. Launching a lantern was cool. My recommendation, don’t buy the lunch. The street food in the village is better.

Our tour leader, Dillian, was fantastic. She made everything run smoothly and she did it with great talent, professionalism, and humor. If you have a chance to go on this tour, ask for her to be your guide.

Wonderful trip. Well organized and excellent tour guide. Thank you Sophie.

Our tour Guide, Tommy, was fantastic! Instructions on the meet up spot were clear and Tommy did a great job of providing very detailed guidance and recommendations on how to enjoy each location. Note that there is a decent amount of walking and the popular photo spots in jiufen are not wheelchair accessible. Otherwise, I highly recommend the tour to anyone who is interested in exploring Taiwan outside of Taipei!

We really enjoyed this trip. Tommy was very knowledgeable and informative. He and driver made trip great. Would recommend to anyone considering this trip without any hesitation. Recommend 100%. Thanks.