Alishan National Forest Recreation Area — Attraction in Alishan Township

From Taipei, I took HSR from Taipei Metro Station to Chiayi HSR station. It took about 1 hour 25mins to reach Chiayi HSR station. I bought the ticket at the counter for 1080 TWD one way. To track your HSR station, I would suggest downloading the ibus公路客运. It is a very useful apps. I tracked my location in the HSR train towards chiayi station. The train was a good ride with the maximum speed that I could see was at 299km/hour. Amazing speed. At chiayi HSR station, there were only 4 buses in a day to go to Alishan. The buses are 7329 and 7329A at 9.30am, 10.10am, 10am and 13.10pm. both buses 7329 and 7329A have the same bus routes and final stop at Alishan bus stop. The only difference is that the 7329A will stop at Fenqihu station. Please check the timetable again on the website. There are plenty of buses from chiayi train station to Alishan bus stop. Upon arrived at chiayi HSR station, go to exit 2 and platform 7 to catch the bus to Alishan. You can pay with cash or an easy card. If you choose to pay with cash, please kindly pay the exact fare 278 TWD for one way as the driver might not always return the balance. I came on non peak season, just walk in and get on the bus. It took about 2 hours and 25mins to the last stop at Alishan bus stop. Before you get off the bus, the bus driver will give you a yellow paper that can give you up to 50% discount when you purchase the Alishan national park entrance ticket which the normal ticket is 300TWD. So if you present the ticket, you only need to pay 150TWD. If you are staying at Alishan, then you have to call your hotel to get the free shuttle to pick you up at the 7-eleven shop (exactly the same place the bus drops you off at the Alishan bus stop). There are many ways to travel around Alishan national park, if you are planning to watch sunrise at Zhushan then you are advisable to buy the ticket one day before (office only open till 4.30pm) or on the spot. One way ticket is 150TWD. You can buy the ticket at the Alishan train station. You can also buy a return ticket at the same time. The train can get very packed because there is no seat number. First come first serve basics. If you can't get the seats then you need to be packed like a canned sardine by standing. Remember there is only one train to go back from zhushan station to Alishan or zhaoping station. Please ask the staff. During my visit, the train left from zhushan station by 6.20am. If you miss the train then you have to walk down for an hour plus to the town. Zhushan station is cold at around 15 degree Celsius. So please wear some warm jackets. Regarding the hiking trails in Alishan, you can basically walk around all over by yourselves without any guide or public transportation. But I will advise you to take E-bus (60TWD for one way or return is 100TWD. Only buy from the counter) from Alishan town to zhaoping station then from there you can walk to Shuishan giant tree for about 45mins. If you take the E-bus, once you get off the bus and you are facing the train railway, then turn left and walk down the road. From there, there are two ways to go to Shuishan giant tree. First one is to take the main pavement road on your left and pass the guard house on your right, walk up the small slopes for around 900m until you see the colourful pavement and then turn to right into the hiking trail, till you see the giant tree and walk back via the abandoned railway track. Second route is when you get off the E-bus then you turn left and walk down the road till you see the railway track on your left then walk all the way in till you see the giant tree and go back thru the pavement road and get out via the guard house. I would suggest taking the first route as it is much easier and less tiring. After you are done with the shuishan giant tree, then go back to the Zhaoping train station and walk towards the Alishan hotel. You will be able to see the sign of going to the sisters ponds. Just follow the signboards and the pathway.It is less than 15mins walk to sister ponds. Then follow the path you can go to shenmu...

We visited the Alishan National Forest Recreation Area during the Sakura season.

We originally planned to take the Forst Railway up from Chiayi Train Station but didn't manage to get any ticket: by the time we attempted to book online (about 5 hours after ticketing was opened) all tickets were sold out!

Eventually, we took the shuttle bus service from Chiayi Train Station up to the entrance of the Recreation Area. We booked the ticket in advance and secured our seats, so we don't have to stand in line to wait for a place (otherwise, you might have to wait for more than an hour before you could get a seat!) Likewise, we booked seats for our return trip in advance, otherwise we might have to wait in line for a long time.

The Alishan National Forest Recreation Area is quite a big area, with many walking trails and areas of interest. We stayed over for one night, so we had the afternoon (on the day we arrived) and the morning (on the day we left) to explore the area.

There are an internal shuttle bus service and train service that will get you around to different places, which was convenient.

We went to see the sunrise on the second morning (you have to purchase the train ticket the day before). By the time we arrived at the train station at 4:45 am, there was already a long line waiting to board the train. We eventually managed to squeeze into one of the cars, standing just next to the train door. This turned out to be a blessing, as we could arrive at the sunrise viewing platform first and secured a good viewing spot.

Being sakura season, many of the sakura trees were blooming. However, most of the trees did not have the "full-bloom" feel. While we did enjoy seeing the flowers, we didn't think the blooms were spectacular.

The Forest Recreation Area felt like a "theme park", with a central shopping area (like in Disney's or Universal Studio's theme parks) and from there you could visit various attractions that are spread out from the central shopping area. The train and bus services bring you from the central area to the other attractions and back.

Food is readily available here, though they are mostly Chinese food. There isn't any fast-food restaurant here (which is actually a good thing!)

The park was rather crowded during our two days there, with lots of tourist from a neighbouring country. They talked loud and was rather inconsiderate in their behaviour, which marred our experience.

We thoroughly enjoyed the nature and scenery! Having a two-half-days one-night stay seem to be just the right amount of time to spend here (in...

A lovely forest park in the mountains with giant ancient trees, temples, ponds, a light railway, basic hotels, a few restaurants, and most importantly, two 7-11s. Clean, well maintained paths (all wooden steps or boardwalks), lots of rest rooms, and a fair entrance price, which is valid for 3 days.

You've probably already read the touristy descriptions, so I'll keep to the practical stuff and tips.

Maybe you're wondering why 4 stars not 5? It's because of the awkward transport links and lack of information for foreign tourists. Getting to Chayi by train from Tapei is very straightforward. We booked seats on the high-speed train, but there were lots of unreserved seats available.

From Chayi, you will need to take a bus, from right outside the station (Moss Burger exit).

Getting tickets in advance is tricky. They only go on sale 24 hours before and have to be bought from a machine at the Family Mart. No English. My wife had to watch a YouTube video explaining it and then use Google lens to translate instructions on screen. You can get on the bus using the Easy Card for unreserved if available. Queue early.

Coming back, you are supposed to be able to buy tickets from the 7-11 at the bus terminal near the park office, again only 24 hours before. When we tried the staff said the machine was broken so we got there early and queued. Lots of foreign tourists looked a bit stressed.

The information could be a lot clearer considering how many foreign tourists are visiting this wonderful park.

Tips: The food at the 7-11 (inside the park) is good enough for breakfast with fresh fruit, rice triangles, egg sandwiches, and decent coffee.

If you go for the sunrise train (tickets can only be bought from the day before), get there early if you want a seat. Locals queue early for these. Otherwise, you're standing for about 20 mins. We paid to go up and walked down (easy 1 hour walk and arrived at the same time as the first train down).

When you arrive at the viewpoint, go to the steps on the left, which will lead you to a less crowded viewpoint without the loud tour guides. It's not far. You have enough time.

Overall, Alishan was a lovely experience. Kudos to the National Park for such a good job. As always, get up early to...