Hualien is the starting point and main hub of the east coast of Taiwan. Although the city itself isn’t that interesting with viewpoints, it’s the perfect base to explore the beautiful surroundings.
Getting to Hualien
From Taipei I took the direct train to Hualien. The express train only takes a bit over 2 hours, but gets fully booked fast. Order your train ticket online from 28 days in advance. The specific 07:20 hour train I wanted to take was completely full within hours, but luckily there were some seats left in business class. As I arrived in Hualien at 09:35, I had a full day ahead of exploring.
How to get around
For this part of the trip in Taiwan it’s most convenient to have your own transportation. I rented a scooter without reservation across from Hualien train station for only NT$650 for 2 days. Although I didn’t speak Chinese and the shop owner didn’t speak English, Google Translate on our phones was perfect to get everything in order.
Exploring the East Coast
On the day of arrival I immediately took my scooter to drive from Hualien to explore the east coast. Driving the highway 11 down south I made several quick stops at scenic viewpoints. To the furthest point at Fenghuhao Lookout and from there the same drive back up to Hualien.
Baqi Rest Stop (芭崎休息區)
The first stop is after a 40 minute drive from Hualien. Baqi Rest Stop is an actual rest stop with a food stall, restrooms, plenty of benches to relax in the shade and a lookout across the coast.
Jiqi Beach (磯崎海水浴場)
A popular surfing spot and one of the few sandy beaches on the east coast. At the time of writing the beach is closed to the public, but the view can still be enjoyed.
Dashibishan Trail (龜庵山步道)
A wooden staircase elevates up 100m to Dashibi Hill with a 360-degree panoramic view of the surrounding mountains.
Xinshe Rice Terrace (新社梯田)
A rice paddy field along the coast with various art structures that are on display next to the road.
Fenghuhao Lookout (豐和號觀景臺)
Nothing spectacular, but a nice viewpoint over the ocean.
Qingshui Cliff (清水斷崖)
This cliff is further up north from Hualien, therefore best to combine the visit with Taroko Gorge. I passed this beautiful cliff the other day after I explored Taroko National Park.
Qixingtan Beach (七星潭)
An azure blue ocean mixed together with a wide pebble beach makes Qixingtan Beach a striking place to watch the waves.
Taroko Gorge
The main draw of Hualien and surrounding is Taroko National Park. Unfortunately this region has been hit by an earthquake in 2024 and most of the trails in the park are closed. But won’t let this stop you from visiting the gorge. Passing through Taroko Gorge is still a gorgeous sight that you want to include in your trip, it only needs a bit more planning.
Visiting Taroko National Park as of late 2025
Because of reconstruction after the earthquake there are only a few short opening slots a day when it’s allowed to pass through Taroko Gorge. As of late 2025 the opening times are 06:30-08:00, 10:00-10:05, 12:00-13:00, 15:00-15:05, and 17:00-17:30.
These opening slots are for the closed reconstruction area of 15 km between one of the first tunnels after passing the Taroko National Park Visitor Center (太魯閣遊客中心) until just before the Tianxiang recreation area (天祥遊憩區).
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Depart from Hualien around 06:30 or earlier. The drive up to Taroko National Park Visitor Center takes about 30-40 minutes, which is plenty of time for the first long timeslot of 06:30-08:00. Good thing to know about the timeslot is that you need to enter the area within the opening times, but you can take your time while inside, as exiting on the other side is always possible.
The area within the opening slots is the most scenic part of Taroko Gorge, and the absolute best way to explore this is with your own scooter. The big advantage of a scooter is that you can easily park on the side of the road to stop, view the magnificent landscape and take photos, which is almost impossible with a car as you potentially hold up traffic behind you.
Within the first time slot I drove through Taroko Gorge from the Visitor Center to Tianxiang recreation area and rode my scooter a bit further to explore the mountains. After a few km I turned around, spent some time at the recreation area and waited for the next opening slot at 10:00:10:05. As this is only a 5 minute timeslot, a line of cars gather in front of the entrance to go through. Here I purposely let all vehicles go in front of me so that I’ll be last to go in. To again drive through the park without any hindrance of traffic behind me and being able to make stops everywhere.
Where to stay
Where you stay in Hualien all depends on how you get around. I can highly recommend Mr Buster B&B which offers modern and spacious rooms in the center of Hualien along the main road. Without a scooter you might want to stay closer to the train station, or when you have a car you want to consider a hotel which offers parking too.
