Taichung and Sun Moon Lake in Two Days: HSR, Bus 6670, Boats, the Ropeway and the Gaomei Sunset

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Taichung is the easiest big city in Taiwan to get slightly wrong. The high speed rail station sits out in Wuri, about 15 minutes by local train from the old downtown, and Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) is another 90 minutes into the mountains by bus. Arrive without a plan and you spend the first afternoon working out which exit and which platform you need. This guide fixes that: one day in the city (Miyahara, the Second Market, Shenji New Village, the sunset at the Gaomei Wetlands) and one day at the lake (boat, ropeway, round-the-lake bus, bikes), with the station exits, fares and 2026 ticket prices we checked on the official sites.

It works as a two-day trip from Taipei or as a stopover on the way south to Tainan and Kaohsiung. Most European, North American, Japanese and Korean passports enter Taiwan visa-free for 90 days (the Bureau of Consular Affairs list is the reference, and your passport needs six months of validity); Singapore and Malaysia get 30 days. Since 1 October 2025 every visitor also files the free online Taiwan Arrival Card (TWAC) within the 7 days before landing, arrival day included. Then buy an EasyCard or iPASS at any convenience store: it works on the Taichung MRT, on the 6670 bus and on the round-the-lake bus.

Getting to Taichung: HSR from Taipei, then train or MRT into town

Taiwan High Speed Rail (台灣高鐵) runs from Taipei Main Station (台北車站) to HSR Taichung Station (高鐵臺中站) in about 50 minutes on the trains that skip the intermediate stops, a little over an hour on all-stop trains. The standard-car reserved fare is NT$700 one way, the non-reserved fare (自由座) NT$675, business class NT$1,250. Book at irs.thsrc.com.tw or in the T Express app and collect with the passport number you booked with; early-bird tickets at 35, 20 or 10 percent off are sold until five days before travel and are tied to the named passenger.

HSR Taichung is not downtown. Three ways in, all signed inside the station:

The Green Line is the right tool for Shenji New Village and the museum district (get off at Taichung City Hall), but it does not go to Taichung Station or Miyahara; for those take the TRA train. If you are heading straight to the lake, skip downtown entirely and catch the 6670 at the HSR station.

Day 1: Taichung city, from Miyahara to the Gaomei sunset

Morning: Miyahara and the Second Market

Start at Miyahara (宮原眼科), the Japanese-era eye clinic across the road from Taichung Station that the pastry maker Dawn Cake turned into a wood-panelled hall of pineapple cakes, chocolate and ice cream. Taichung Tourism lists it as open 10:00 to 21:00; the ice-cream counter has a queue by noon, so be there when the doors open, order a cone with two scoops and the toppings, and eat it on the terrace above the Liuchuan (柳川) canal. Then walk ten minutes west to the Second Market (第二市場), a covered market from the Japanese era where the stalls to find are the turnip cake (菜頭粿), the sticky-rice sausage (糯米腸) and the morning-only noodle counters. Come hungry, pay cash and be done by early afternoon: this is a breakfast-and-lunch market, not a night market.

Afternoon: Shenji New Village and the museum district

Shenji New Village (審計新村) is a block of former civil-servant dormitories turned into small shops, studios and cafes in the West District, a short walk from the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts (國立臺灣美術館) and the tree-lined Calligraphy Greenway (草悟道). Hours depend on each shop; most open late morning, and the courtyard market is busiest at weekends. From Taichung Station take any city bus along Taiwan Boulevard (台灣大道) to the Science Museum (科博館) stop and walk south, or take a taxi. From the HSR station, the Green Line to Taichung City Hall (市政府) leaves you a walk away. Give it two hours, then head back to Taichung Station for the coast.

Evening: sunset at the Gaomei Wetlands

The Gaomei Wetlands (高美濕地) are a tidal flat on the coast at Qingshui, famous for the wooden boardwalk that runs out into the shallows under a line of wind turbines. Taichung Tourism lists bus 309 from Taichung Station and bus 655 from HSR Taichung as the direct routes; allow well over an hour each way, and at weekends the queue for the last buses back is long, so note the return times at the stop when you arrive or budget for a taxi. Time it around sunset: check the day's sunset time, be on the boardwalk an hour before it and stay for the blue hour when the turbines light up. The boardwalk shuts when the tide is in or the weather turns, and there is little to eat out there beyond a few stalls, so pick up dinner at a night market on the way back.

Day 2: Sun Moon Lake by bus 6670, boat, ropeway and bike

Getting there: Nantou Bus 6670

Nantou Bus (南投客運) route 6670, branded as the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle Sun Moon Lake line, starts at the Gancheng (台中干城) terminal, stops at Taichung Station (臺中車站) and HSR Taichung, and ends at Shuishe (水社) on the lake, with some trips continuing to the Xiangshan Visitor Center (向山遊客中心). Fares are NT$193 one way from Gancheng or Taichung Station, NT$360 return and NT$166 from the HSR station. Pay on board with cash, an EasyCard or mobile payment, or buy return tickets at the Gancheng counter, at the ibon machines in 7-Eleven or on Nantou Bus's own booking site, Nantou Holiday. Allow about 90 minutes from Taichung Station and 60 to 90 minutes from the HSR station. Nantou County's tourism office puts the frequency at roughly every 30 to 40 minutes on weekdays and every 20 to 30 minutes at weekends, and the first buses leave Taichung soon after seven in the morning. Coming straight from Taipei instead, Kuo-Kuang Bus 1833 runs a handful of direct departures a day and takes about four hours.

On the water, in the air, on two wheels

Boats run counter-clockwise from Shuishe Pier (水社碼頭) to Xuanguang Temple Pier (玄光寺碼頭) and Ita Thao Pier (伊達邵碼頭) and back to Shuishe, first boat 09:00, last boat 17:00, every 15 to 20 minutes. Ticket prices are set by the boat operators rather than the scenic area; Nantou County's tourism site quotes a standard day ticket of NT$300, valid for unlimited rides that day and sold at the three piers. Ita Thao (伊達邵) is the lakeside village of the Thao people and the best place for lunch: wild-boar sausage, millet wine and the food street behind the pier. From Ita Thao it is a short walk to the Sun Moon Lake Ropeway (日月潭纜車), 1.877 km and 7 minutes over the ridge to the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village (九族文化村). Since 1 June 2026 the adult round trip is NT$420 and the concession ticket NT$330; children under 3 or under 100 cm ride free. It runs 10:30 to 16:00 on weekdays (ticket sales 10:00 to 15:30) and 10:00 to 16:30 at weekends (tickets 09:30 to 16:00), and it shuts on the first Wednesday of each month for maintenance, so if your lake day is a Wednesday, swap the two days. Admission to the culture village itself is NT$1,100 and includes the ropeway on the same day.

Between the piers, the round-the-lake bus 6669 (遊湖巴士) links Shuishe, Xiangshan, Xuanguang Temple and Ita Thao. Fares are by distance with a discount for IC cards, or buy the NT$80 one-day pass; the first bus leaves Shuishe at 06:40 and the last at 17:05. Bikes are the other way round the west shore: the Xiangshan section of the lakeside bikeway (日月潭自行車道向山段) between Shuishe and the Xiangshan Visitor Center is the flat, famous stretch, open 09:00 to 17:00, and rental shops line the road above Shuishe pier. Do the ride in the morning light, the boat and the ropeway after lunch.

Which pass to buy

If you are doing bus, boat and ropeway, package C at NT$940 beats buying the pieces separately (NT$360 plus about NT$300 plus NT$420 plus NT$80). If you would rather cycle than ride the ropeway, take package B. If you are already at the lake or came by car, package A. Buy online before you go or at the Gancheng counter on the morning; the scenic area's FAQ warns that package prices are revised at the start of each year, so treat these as September 2026 figures and confirm on the Nantou Bus site.

Read the full description

左半部是路線：台北車站搭高鐵到高鐵臺中站約 50 分、NT$700；高鐵臺中站搭台鐵區間車到臺中車站約 15 分；台中干城站與臺中車站搭南投客運 6670（虛線）到日月潭水社約 90 分、NT$193，高鐵臺中站上車 NT$166；臺中車站搭 309 公車到高美濕地。右半部是日月潭：水社、向山、玄光寺、伊達邵四個點，遊湖船逆時針 09:00 到 17:00 每 15 到 20 分一班、一日票約 NT$300，環湖巴士 6669 一日券 NT$80，纜車從伊達邵到九族文化村 7 分鐘、來回 NT$420、每月第一個週三保養，向山段自行車道 09:00 到 17:00。Left: Taipei Main Station to HSR Taichung by THSR in about 50 minutes for NT$700, TRA local train to Taichung Station in about 15 minutes, Nantou Bus 6670 (dashed) to Shuishe in about 90 minutes for NT$193 or NT$166 from the HSR station, bus 309 to the Gaomei Wetlands. Right: the lake with Shuishe, Xiangshan, Xuanguang Temple and Ita Thao, the boat loop 09:00 to 17:00 every 15 to 20 minutes at about NT$300 a day, round-the-lake bus 6669 day pass NT$80, the ropeway to the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village in 7 minutes for NT$420 round trip closed on the first Wednesday of each month, and the Xiangshan bikeway open 09:00 to 17:00.

Sample timings, paying, and where to go next

Paying and language: cash rules at the Second Market, the Gaomei stalls and the Ita Thao food street; cards work at Miyahara, at hotels and at the ropeway, and IC cards cover the buses and the MRT. The Sun Moon Lake scenic area publishes its getting-there, bus and boat pages in English, and the ropeway and Taiwan Tourist Shuttle sites have English versions too, so you can check timetables without Chinese. From the lake you can also keep going instead of turning back: the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle runs a Sun Moon Lake to Alishan (阿里山) line for the tea-and-sunrise leg of a longer trip, and from HSR Taichung the high speed rail reaches Zuoying (左營) for Kaohsiung in about 50 minutes.

Taichung on Mokaair: hotels, transport and things to do

Where to eat in Taichung: the Mokaair food directory

Entering Taiwan in 2026: the online arrival card, visa-free days and customs limits

Taiwan HSR and TRA tickets: how to book, early-bird discounts and seat types

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