CYCLING TAIWAN - Everything You Need to Know!! 

Who wants to cycle around Taiwan (again!)?? ✌️🇹🇼🙋

Hi, Taiwanese person here. Love the video. Just Want to quickly add about the train/metro/high speed rail bike rules here. In Taiwan there are these rough three categories of train looking things...... 1. In this video you had taken the "airport metro" to Taipei, the rule at the time was no bikes allowed. But since then I heard airport metro had updated the rules and now you can have bikes on if you board onto certain carriages. 2. On the last stretch on the east side you boadeded a "slow/stopping service train" to pass the not so safe bit. The Taiwan train service categories into three "fast", "semi fast" and "slow". You are allow to take your bike as a whole onto the slow stopping service. However on "Fast" and "semi fast" you need to dissemble it to fit in their guideline (generally for normal road/touring bikes that means remove both wheels and placed in a bike carrying bag. I myself done this twice during my tour of Taiwan and would recommend A. Don't do it if you are not pressed for time. It's a hassle and pain. B. Buy an extra seat ticket for your bike as the trains storage space are seriously lacking and no comfortable for fellow train users.) I heard and seen photos of the bike friendly "semi fast" service (they cleared all seats in a carriage allowing you to sit with it like a cargo) but it is not frequent. 3. I mentioned high speed rail ... so it only exist in the west side of the island and the bike carrying rule is the same as the "fast" and "semi fast" service although you can carry the bike in a cardboard box pretending it is just a TV (cough I done that once...) 4. From November to January the island will receive consistent seasonal east- northerly wind. (Blowing from north to south) the effect most apparent on the east side. Hence some people suggest winter touring the island clockwise if you want to explore the east but want a wind behind your back not in the face of it.(in the summer the wind reverse direction) 5. On the west side the smog and pollution are most apparent from November to January. If you visit in other seasons the smog and bad air do tend to be less noticeable.

Very nice. The best bikes come from Taiwan. Thanks for sharing

Been there twice 2017 cycling round island solo 28 days and 2019 for 3 weeks with wife. Taiwan is a gem and one of the best cycle touring places. People and food are amazing. Love to ride there again ASAP...this time will attempt cross country from west to east crossing Wuling...looking forward

Did it in 8 days in July. 36 °C and UV-Index 11 were a little challenging. But Taiwan is the best country for biking, in my opinion.

yes, love to. I went to Taipei, Kaohsiung , Taichung. just cycle in the city, looking forward to cycle from Taipei to Kaohsiung with bike buddies. enjoyed your videos. from Philippines

Great re-cap video on Taiwan. Like you I loved it too. I went in feb/march 2018 and would love to go back. Agree with everything you said. I would add to get a proper cycling mask for when you are cycling in the cities and surrounding sprawl otherwise it is like being gassed with all the toxic fumes from the traffic especially scooters and old trucks when traffic lights turn green to go. Also don't bother riding the west coast costal route. From Taipei head south straight into the hills and mountains down the central spine of the country. It is hard work all the climbing but the rewards are fantastic in terms of views and small communities. As you mention road surfaces are pretty good all over Taiwan unless there has been a landslide taking the road away and it is being repaired. Can happen a lot in the mountains if weather is bad or earthquakes hit the region. The North of Taiwan in Yanmingshan NP is also very beautiful, stunning views from the top after a very long and steep climb to the summit. I can thoroughly recommend Taiwan for cycle touring. Everyone is just so friendly. In Taipei the Metro is brilliant. Cheap quick to get around and very clean. It is worth spending at least a week in Taipei as there is so much to see, temples, exhibitions, galleries, museums and markets and Taipei 101. There are also quite a few Decathlon stores in Taiwan and they are very cheap. Stock up with new cycling gear and don't break the bank. Also 4G phone coverage is available pretty much everywhere in Taiwan and the signal is very good even in the mountains. Get a Taiwanese SIM card with unlimited data for about 1000 TWD for a month when you arrive at the airport. Thanks for reshowing some of your Taiwan tour. I must go back next year. Its great being there over Chinese New year. So many celebrations, but accommodation can be difficult to find and some roads extremely busy and shops closed but only for few days. Taiwanese drivers are on the whole considerate but in cities it can just be the sheer volume of traffic and pollution that sometimes makes riding miserable even if you have a cycle lane to ride in, there are invariably scooters whizzing past you at high speed. See Taroko Gorge soon as yoy can as when I was there in feb 18 many new huge tunnels were being constructed with new big roads connecting them. The old road is then abandonned, maybe left for peds abd cyclists but the risk of rock falls are high especially in bad weather. Don't ride the Taroko Gorge just after heavy rain as this is when rock falls can be most likely and most deadly. The gorge itself is spectacular. From the very top it is one long white knuckle descent, but absolutely breathtaking if clear weather. Make sure your bike's brakes are in good order, maybe carry some spare pads. Going up should take a whole day with a loaded touring bike with stops. But it is worth it. The mountain roads in Taiwan are very very steep. However I would rather ride these than through industry and pollution stretching to the horizon.

GREAT VIDEO! You guys did an excellent job capturing the essence and shear beauty of this special country. We've lived and cycled here for 6 years and are in the process of repatriating back to the US. In July we decided to cycle around the island one more time before leaving. We are currently putting that journey on our channel. Thanks again for being great ambassadors of cycling and of cycling in Taiwan, we are really going to miss it.

i did it few years ago. best tour ever. looking forward to watch more of your video

Looks beautiful, definitely on my bucket list

In Taiwan. You don't have to worried about where you gonna stay at night or get something to eat when you are hungry. because there are 7-11 all over the place and you can always find a decent place to stay the night. Just enjoy the food and the great views in Taiwan. It would be one of the unforgettable experience in you life. (Three times of cycling around Taiwan before)

Wow, that looks so awesome! The food looks so good too. Thanks for sharing!

Beautiful travel

So glad you did this!!! Cannot wait for more recap and retrospective from Taiwan!

Nice one girls. Loved Taiwan too. I cycled 4 months in Japan with a bit of Wwoffing as well. Unfortunately Covid forced me home in June. Heading off soon to do 2 months cycle packing south Island then back to hosting. Keep up awesome videos. I would like to send you some photos of when you stayed with me. If you want contact me through warm showers.

Wonderful Taiwan greetings from the Philippines I'm a Cyclist here in the Philippines🇹🇼🇵🇭🇹🇼🇵🇭🇹🇼🇵🇭🇹🇼

Great video. Makes me want to go back to Taiwan and do some more cycling.

Fantastic and inspiring..........once the travel ban has lifted I am outta here :). Thanks so much for the inspiration !

Nice Video !!! Thank so much, that you share the Video!!!

Taiwanese guy here, the steep grade part is real. I had to mod my touring bike with F22R36 super granny gear for this. And some small farm roads in the mountains will fry your brakes.

OMG, that is my dream trip, loved your videos. Can’t wait to do it myself one day.

Great compilation video! I watched all your Taiwan vlogs TWICE! I was born there & lived there 10 years. My last visit was 2018. During the past 2 years I’ve avoided Taiwan vlogs because they make me super super homesick, but your videos gave me the cycle touring perspective I never knew (though I knew one cousin cycle toured there), and seeing familiar places (like Jiayi where I was born, Sun Moon Lake, Yu Shan, & Taroko Gorge where my family & I visited in recent years) felt exciting, not sad. Thank you so much for sharing all these sights, and for giving me ideas for future adventures when I can return!

Such a beautiful island! Really noticed me how beautiful my country is. And Taiwan welcomes for all any time! Big thanks to you guys and hope you all got best luck in every trips!!!(broken English lol)

Yes, Taiwan is a great touring destination that is often under the radar. We went in October (tail end of rainy season). November would probably be better. We took Route 1 clockwise (and skipped the dicey section in the north-east as you did). Accommodation is plentiful and relatively inexpensive (we are into credit card touring). A safe and picturesque destination. Highly recommended.

Miss y'all......

Breathtaking photography of a developed mountainous, country with jungles. I am amazed at the amount of paved roads on this island. The people looked like they still practice their native Asian culture. Ride and Rad on. ☝

Well done you two, your vids always leave me wanting more every time. Keep doing what you do, from an old git from the uk.

Beautiful.

"Really Enjoyed" this video...,thank u,😊☕🍩🚴🌅🌅🌅🌅🌅

Great video! Love your content, keep it up! :)

Taiwan is such a beautiful country!

I found your channel about a month ago and have been enjoying watching all the great tour videos. Bonus points for the Skull & Sword board in the first video. 👍

Great video! Really. So many bike videos are just a mission. You're there to have fun. That's the difference. Thanks.

Thanks guys. I am just glad to hear you are all ok over there, Take care.

wisata bersepeda yang menyenangkan,jadi kepingin ikutan🙏🤝👍

Thank you so much for this video. Planning to do a route around the island in about a month, and this video was full of down-to-earth information that is very helpful for planning.

Taiwan is awesome

Gonna put it on the bucket list for sure ! You guys should get rad cycling hats made ? !😎🤔 hope your staying clear of the smoke.

Great video! You would enjoy riding in British Columbia! There are lots of amazing adventures to be had in Canada!

AMAZING! I wish I cycled so I could do this trip!

Only 6k views??? You made Avery good intro to taiwan cycling ! I love it ! Come back soon !

thank you! great video, great island with so friendly people. we loved to cycle there and still are remembering the good times we had. good to know: hiring a bike was very easy with the giant network. so you don‘t have to fly your own bike in to taiwan. and yes, roads can be steep - even for experienced cyclists from mountainous switzerland ;-)

Thanks for putting this together!

Hey girls! Great video, it makes me want to go to Taiwan someday (: I have a question, how difficult is biking around the island only speaking English? Greetings!

Hi girls yet another great video and one that will be useful if I should ever decide to tour there. If only 😉. Hope you all keeping safe & well and once we get through this awful virus your be back on the road again 😊

Amazing and inspiring video!! I am now planning a similar adventure for this summer and I was wondering if you have more information on how to "camp out" at schools? Do you just show up and ask if you can sleep there, or do you have to book somehow? Thank you so much!

For those who prefer more challenging routes, check out "Taiwan KOM".

Wow! All I can say is WOW!

heyyy, such an inspiring video, we want to go to full trip Taiwan last year but Covid came :) can't wait

VO on point love it!!

inspirational, cheers

Way to go !

讚讚

Great trip!

5:29 na, you guys are insane, you cycled up Wuzhi Shan in Zhudong, Hsinchu with all those equipments.

Great video!

I thought you're riding a Rad powered bike :P Great video

Where’s that beach 9:08?

Watching from the 🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭

Thanks for the video. Advice request. I plan to bikepack from North to South Taiwan with tent (no wildcamping) Would you go down south via east or west coast if you were me? Thanks

Amazing video. I am a new subscriber and can't wait to watch more of your content. Additionally, I am considering an offer to teach in Taiwan and if accepted, I will be referring to this video in the future!

How did you plan your route and navigate? Map or app? Did you have a guide-book?

Hello, thanks for the video. Do you know it we can ship our big bags from one city to another without being on a tour?

I wish you covered the bike up to Tarako Gorge. I'm taking my Brompton folding bike next year and I don't know how severe that climb is: how many hours @ what speed?

did you hire your bikes there?

Looks awesome! Is it expensive?

Hey! I loved your video and have a couple of questions. I’m moving to Taiwan in a few months and before I start my program there I have 2 weeks to do whatever I’d like. I was thinking of cycling from South to North and around to Taipei along the East Coast. Do you think it’s doable in 11 days for an average cyclist? How much would you expect this to cost me?

Sunscreen, lots of it!

u have taught me more about taiwan. subscribed! Which bikes did u bring and how do u like touring on them? Thanks for sharing.

Are these two a couple? Cuz that would make me so bloody happy

May 2024 Air space for Taiwan will be closed for International Flight. Embargo for Taiwan will begin. GET OUT NOW.

thanks for making the blog XD I was unaware of the no bikes on the airport train - good to know