[Taiwan] How to get to Hualien?

Hualien is located on the eastern coast-line of Taiwan, right next to the Pacific Ocean. It was not easy to get to this beautiful county, a few years back. Thanks to the government efforts, however, now everyone can easily access Hualien by driving, taking a train, or flying. It also has a well-organized biking route called “Taiwan Cycling Route No.1”. You can spend 5 days to 2 weeks biking around Taiwan’s coastline. More and more ambitious visitors choose to ride along this route from Taipei through Yilan to Hualien.

More details please visit and download the APP on Taiwan Cycling Route >> https://itaiwanbike.iot.gov.tw/en-US

We visit Hualien by drive – Suhua Highway

Suhua Highway is a famous scenic drive, which connects Yilan County (starting from Suao Township) to Hualien County. What makes this Highway so famous is its steep cliffs, perched high above the Pacific Ocean. It also comes with scenic nature views of cliffs, mountains, and the ocean. The Suhua Highway, is known as the most dangerous Highway in Taiwan, because if you are not paying attention to it, you can easily slip into the ocean.

By Train

If you would like visit Hualien by train, you should reserver your train tickets in advance. There are two special express trains between Taipei and Hualian (further to Taitong) named “Taroko Express” and “Puyuma Express”. These names come from an aboriginal language, the former the name of a group, and the other meaning “collectively getting together”.

These two express trains only take 2 hours the point of origin of Taipei station to Hualien station, though the Tze-chiang Limited Express is 30 minutes slower.

Unlike the other trains, Taroko Express and Puyuma Express are only sold by reservation, and standing tickets and non-reserved tickets are not allowed. Also, if you are a fan of Hello Kitty, there is a specified train with Hello Kitty painting!

Reserve train tickets here >> http://twtraffic.tra.gov.tw/twrail/EN_QuickSearch.aspx

By Flights

There are three available airlines flying to Hualien: Mandarin Airlines, Uni Air, and HK Express, which are all from Taipei Taiwan (TSA), Taichung Taiwan (RMQ), Kaohsiung Taiwan (KHH) and Hong Kong China (HKG). It takes less than an hour from other cities in Taiwan to travel to Hualien by air. It is the fastest way and not very expensive (approximately NT$1,000 one-way for your reference).