Taroko Gorge Travel Forum

hello vt'ers. as always, i know i can count on you :)

taroko gorge tour...anyone been on one? and is it better to book the tour or to take a bus and go alone? see, i'm really turned off by the ideas of tours and having someone dictate how much time i can spend somewhere, what i see and do. but is a tour the only option? i would really like to spend more than a half hour at a lot of sites that are all crammed into one day, which, with my research, is what i have found.

any alternatives from people who have been to the gorge??

(p.s. this is what i'm really looking forward to)

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_TLPrh4Uc3yI/TNAKlPhk4KI/AAAAAAAAAM0/AwmaHq0Op2I/s1600/taroko_gorge-pictures.jpg&imgrefurl=http://worldtravelinformations.blogspot.com/2010/11/taiwans-taroko-gorge.html&usg=___0yd7yWL8cdyBtazHYYNvlOqAy4=&h=450&w=600&sz=78&hl=en&start=0&sig2=blCkmttbrPZR0KDLOT5nCw&zoom=1&tbnid=yz57HO8N_FyicM:&tbnh=116&tbnw=160&ei=7mk1Tfz4AoiecN2r0KAH&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dtaroko%2Bgorge,%2Btaiwan%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26rlz%3D1C1CHFX_enUS401TW412%26biw%3D1024%26bih%3D499%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=119&vpy=70&dur=445&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=148&;ty=85&oei=1Wk1TbzkJobMuAOSj4TECw&esq=18&page=1&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0

can you say money shot??

well...you can go on your own. We spent a night there many years ago and the problem was transport. We took the bus to the hostel ended up walking half of the way down. It was a great way to see the gorge slowly, but there were no sidewalk for the most part back then and we had to keep watching for falling rocks and traffic. If I go again I would rent a car for sure, or hire a driver instead. The bus back then had infrequent service.

As posted, the bus back does have infrequent service, but if you are on the main road, you can flag it down and they will pick you up even if you are not at a designated bus stop.

I personally took the bus up, walked down for a few hours, doing some of the hikes and loops myself. As I was waiting for a bus to pick me up, there were countless taxi's passing by. I negotiated one down to a couple dollars with another guy on the street and we shared the fare back to the train station.

Alternatively, there are a few places that rent bicycles. I do not have any contact information for them, but the tourist information booth at the train station will give you full information. But you must pick up the bike before a certain hour (maybe 1pm) because otherwise they will not rent to you for fear that you will not make the return journey in time for closing.

I have also read that there is a new hop on/off bus that started this last year, but I don't know any further details on it.

I just want to clarify the info regarding the bikes. I posted that I don't have contact information because the web link that I had is no longer valid. I'm not sure if the phone numbers are still working. However the technical details of my tip should still be good. Check my Taroko page for bike rental details for a self tour.

thank you for your replies! i'll do some research.

Hi
Another option is to look for passengers once you arrive in Hualien.
There are many twosomes who have booked a cabbie tour for the day and looking for others to share the expense i.e. NTD3,000 ~ NTD3,500 Divided by number of pasengers 3~4 persons.
You get to see all and more on the DIY tour at your convenience.
At Hualien or on the train , you can ask around as Many Many Singaporeans and Malaysian heading there daily.
You can also post your interest to join others here:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g293910-i9303-Taiwan.html

There is a free shuttle bus that departs from outside the Hualien tourist info center approx every hour. This stops at various locations around the Taroko Gorge. I used it last month. The staff in the tourist info center speak english and will help you get on the right bus.

thank you!