Routes · Asia

Paris to central Taiwan: Taichung and Alishan

Paris → Taichung → Alishan

A creative second city & a mountain railway to sunrise over clouds Best season (general guide): Mar–May, Oct–Dec

Central Taiwan combines a lively, design-minded city with cool mountain forests and tea plantations. This route spends three nights in Taichung and three at Alishan. From Paris you'll connect through a hub to Taipei or Taichung. Taichung is a special municipality in central Taiwan and the island's second-largest city, with more than 2.8 million people. It lies in the Taichung Basin.

How to pace it: Spend days one to three in Taichung: day one, the city centre; day two, National Taichung Theater and Rainbow Village; day three, Gaomei wetlands at sunset. Then spend days four to six in Alishan: day four, train to Chiayi and up to Alishan; day five, sunrise over the clouds; day six, forest trails.

The National Taichung Theater, designed by the Japanese architect Toyo Ito, is known for its curving interior. Rainbow Village, a group of houses painted in bright colours by a former soldier, became a popular sight. Taichung is often said to be the birthplace of bubble tea, invented in the 1980s. The Gaomei Wetlands, on the coast, are known for their sunsets over the mudflats and a line of wind turbines.

Feng Chia Night Market is one of the largest in Taiwan. The Alishan National Scenic Area is a mountain resort and nature reserve in Chiayi County. The Alishan Forest Railway was built in the early twentieth century to bring timber down from the mountains. Its narrow-gauge line climbs from Chiayi through tropical, subtropical and temperate forests.

At dawn, visitors gather to watch the sunrise over a sea of clouds in the valleys. Alishan's high-mountain oolong tea is grown on the surrounding slopes. Spring and autumn are the most comfortable seasons, while summer brings typhoons. Night markets are the best place to try Taiwanese snacks, from stinky tofu to oyster omelettes. Taichung was first developed from scattered hamlets of Taiwanese indigenous peoples.

It is the core of the Taichung–Changhua metropolitan area, Taiwan's second-largest. The Alishan railway's rolling stock includes Shay steam locomotives, built in the United States for mountain logging lines.

Safety: Canada's advice for Taiwan is to take normal security precautions (updated 14 Aug 2026), and the US rates Taiwan Level 1 (25 Nov 2025).

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