Taipei to Taichung 🇹🇼 | DIY Day Tour | via Bullet Train | the origin of boba milk tea 🧋| more more 😁

How to get there?
Fastest way is by High-Speed Rail (1 hr). Since we are only spending one full day in Taichung, this is the most convenient & practical way for us to achieve our itinerary smoothly.
Other option: by bus or car.
Approximately, 1-3.5 hour travel, depends on the mode of transportation.
Via HSR
From Taipei Main Station, take the HSR (level B3). Tickets were booked via KLOOK (promo NTD537 vs regular price NTD700). You will find instructions on the KLOOK App on how to reserve a seat online. For RESERVED tickets (with seats on a specific date & time), you still need to get the physical ticket from the ticket office bec they need to verify your passport. We claimed ours from Taipei Main Station a day before our travel. There is also an option to buy the unreserved ticket (NTD675), which what we did going home from Taichung to Taipei as we were not certain what time we would be leaving. You can ask for the HSR departure schedule (timetable) from the ticket counter so you can plan your day ahead. An unreserved ticket means first come, first served basis. In our case, we managed to grab a seat. PAY ATTENTION to the train SCHEDULE and CAR no. for the unreserved seat.
Always follow the PLATFORM and CAR number indicated on your ticket.
You can find the following facilities on the bullet train:
CAR No. 4,12 for power sockets
CAR No. 1,5,11 for vending machines
CAR No. 5 for breastfeeding room
CAR No. 1,3,5,7,9,11 for toilet
CAR No. 6 Train Master
Route
From Taipei Main Station via HSR, get off at Xinwuri Station. Then from Xinwuri Station, transfer to an MTR ride going to Taichung Station (NTD15). You can use your Easycard or buy tickets from ticket vending machines or counters in Xinwuri Station. We suggest that you use your Easycard for a smoother and faster travel experience.
Start your journey from Taichung Station.
Depending on your itinerary, if you are planning to visit the following, we are happy to share ours with you:
📍 Rainbow Village
📍 Fu Din Wang
📍 Painted Animation Lane
📍 Miyahara
📍 Chun Shui Tang
First Stop
Rainbow Village (彩虹眷村)
Address: 408台中市南屯區春安路56巷25號
No Entrance Fee
How?
From Xinwuri, instead of getting off at Taichung Station, we got off at Wuri Station, which is only one stop away. From there, we took a taxi (NTD200) going to Rainbow Village. It’s a small village which you can practically finish in less than 1 hour.
Second Stop
Fu Din Wang (富鼎旺豬腳-中正店)
Address: 400台中市中區臺灣大道一段560號
Price range: NTD20-145/pax
How?
From Rainbow Village, we met Rr’s uncle at Taichung Station via taxi (12km), and from there, we took another taxi to Fu Din Wang. It was close to Taichung station (2.2km) so we only paid the minimum (around NTD75 to NTD100). This is a Michelin recommended restaurant being tagged as the most delicious Braised Pork Rice “Lu Rou Fan” not only in Taichung but in Taiwan. We spent around NTD450 good for 3 pax (meals and drinks). Waiting time took around 20 to 30 minutes to dine in. If you love Taiwanese cuisine and pork meals then you should definitely not miss this one.
Third Stop
Painted Animation Lane (動漫彩繪巷)
Address: 403台中市西區林森路100巷
How?
Taxi, again, only 1.1km away, it is also reachable by walk. If you are an anime or cartoon lover, you’d probably want to check this out.
Fourth Stop
Miyahara (宮原眼科)
Address: 400台中市中區中山路20號
Price range (ice cream): NTD100-300+
How?
We took another taxi from Painted Animation Lane to Miyahara. It was also very close (1.7km) so you have the option to take a walk. There are gazillion of ice cream flavors to choose from or you can simply try their MENU of the day and be surprised. Although the line was pretty long, the service was quite fast. Might take 20-30 minutes overall waiting time.
Last Stop
Chun Shui Tang (春水堂 四維創始店)
Address: 403台中市西區四維街30號
Price range: NTD50-150+
How?
This time, we walked for roughly 15 minutes (1.1km) from Miyahara. Along the way, we stumbled upon Taichung’s City Hall. Chun Shui Tang is famous for being the birthplace of BUBBLE TEA or also known as Pearl Milk Tea. Aside from milk teas, they also offer traditional Taiwanese dishes and snacks. Just keep in mind that dining is limited only to 90 minutes.
Overall, as per one of their locals, most of the taxi drivers are friendly and trustworthy. Just make sure to prepare a Chinese translation of your itinerary to avoid confusion. So far, our experience was fun and hassle-free with our DIY Taichung venture via HSR + taxi + walking on a rainy day. Always check the weather forecast and it’s not a bad idea to keep an umbrella with you. If you feel lost, don’t hesitate to ask around because the locals are approachable and they will try their best to help you (based on our experience).
We started our day around 08:00am and left Taichung at 5:00pm. You might want to add the night market or Zhongshe flower market in your itinerary if you love going to such places.
• TAIWAN 2024