What is the best day trip from Taipei?

The northeast coast loop combining Yehliu Geopark, Shifen's sky lanterns and Jiufen's old town is the most popular day trip from Taipei. A guided small-group or private tour links all three in one day, avoiding the awkward bus and train connections between them.

Can you visit Jiufen, Shifen and Yehliu in one day?

Yes. The three sites sit within an hour or two of each other along the northeast coast, and most organised tours cover all of them in a full day, often ending in Jiufen at dusk when its lanterns are at their most atmospheric.

How do you release a sky lantern at Shifen?

In Shifen you buy a paper lantern, brush your wishes onto its four sides, then light it and let it rise over the old railway tracks. Vendors take your photo as it lifts off. Many northeast-coast tours include the lantern and the experience.

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Jiufen, Shifen & the Northeast Coast: The Best Day Trip from Taipei

The single best day trip from Taipei strings together the northeast coast: the wind-carved rocks of Yehliu, sky lanterns released over the Pingxi railway at Shifen, and the lantern-lit teahouse lanes of Jiufen at dusk. Here is how to plan the perfect day, with the top-rated tours to book for each stop.

At a glance

1Yehliu Geopark's Queen's Head
2Sky lanterns at Shifen
3Jiufen's lantern-lit old street
4Houtong Cat Village & railway

Yehliu Geopark and the coast

Most northeast-coast tours start at Yehliu Geopark, an hour up the coast from Taipei, where wind and waves have sculpted the sandstone into mushroom rocks and the famous Queen's Head. Small-group and private combo tours pair Yehliu with Jiufen and Shifen in a single loop, so you cover the region's highlights without renting a car or piecing together buses and trains yourself.

Shifen, sky lanterns and the Pingxi line

In the old mining valley of Pingxi, the sleepy Shifen Old Street straddles a working railway. Here you write a wish on a paper sky lantern and release it over the tracks — the region's signature ritual. Many tours add the wide, thundering Shifen Waterfall nearby. Sky-lantern experiences are the emotional heart of the day and photograph beautifully, especially in the late afternoon light.

Jiufen at dusk and Houtong Cat Village

A former gold-rush town clinging to a hillside, Jiufen comes alive at dusk when red lanterns glow above its stepped lanes and terraced teahouses look out to sea. Combine it with quirky Houtong Cat Village, a former colliery now overrun by friendly cats and reachable on the scenic Pingxi railway. Evening tours time your arrival in Jiufen for the magical hour after sunset.