Though the capital of Taiwan, Taipei, is popular among the tourists because of its historical culture and night markets, particularly Shilin Night Market, it is not just the place you can go when visiting Taiwan. We also enjoyed ourselves and appreciated the amazing spots in the 2nd largest city in Taiwan has to offer, Taichung.
Taichung City is located in Central Taiwan and is a 2-hour trip away from Taipei City. Even though it is a long trip away from the city, there are still a lot of tourists visiting.
When we went to Taichung, we availed a private tour from Taipei since the best places are quite far from each other. Here’s the complete list below:
1. Lavender Cottage
According to stories, the Lavender Cottage was built by two young girls with full of dreams. They dreamt of living peacefully in a mountainous area and run a small restaurant business. After working for how many years, they both decided to make their dreams a reality and thus, Lavender Cottage was created.
As you enter the place, you will already smell the Lavender fragrance that makes the place more romantic and relaxing. The place just serves its primary purpose -to create a place to reflect and dream big!
For kids at heart, you will be thrilled to find a carousel in the middle of the forest. Go take a ride and reminisce your childhood memories. There will be an additional charge for every ride.
At the top of the hill, there’s a place where you can tie your wishes to. There are papers and pens provided for you.
ENTRANCE FEE: 200NTD with a 100NTD voucher that you can exchange with souvenirs inside.
OPENING HOURS: Sat-Sat 10:00-19:00; Mon-Fri 10:30-18:30; Sun-Sun 09:30-18:30
2. Xinshe Castle
Longing for a European experience? Then you should definitely visit Xinshe Castle, also known as Summit Resort. Located in the mountainous area of Taichung, this medieval-themed place is perfect spot for your prenuptial photos – from its large garden and lake, magnificent man-made waterfall to its Roman pillars and castle.
Even though it was a European-designed castle, it was not built or left behind by some Europeans who stayed in Taiwan. It was just built to serve as a perfect get-away outside the city to enjoy its panoramic view.
ENTRANCE FEE: 250NTD with a 100NTD voucher that you can exchange from the restaurant inside. For those who wanted to take their prenuptial photos here, the charge is 3,500 NTD which is inclusive of a free entry for 6 people.
OPENING HOURS: Mon-Fri 09:00 to 18:00; Sat-Sun 08:00 to 18:00
3. Zhongshe Flower Market
The weather in Taichung is a perfect and notable place where flowers bloom at its most beautiful form, especially during autumn season where they have an annual flower event – Xinshe Sea of Flowers. However, Zhongshe Flower Market is open all year round and is available for view for all flower lovers out there. This is also a great spot for photography that features a landscape of colorful flowers of different kinds.
As you step foot in the market, you will be welcomed by an impressive array of flowers. The place is one of the most IG-worthy spots in Taiwan. Every spot in the market has some props to make your photos look great – white piano, bicycle, pumpkin ride, and a windmill.
ENTRANCE FEE: 150 NTD per person from January to March, and 120 NTD per person from April to December.
OPENING HOURS: Mon-Sun 09:00 to 18:00
4. Rainbow Village
Rainbow Village is an unexpected tourist destination in Taichung. It was originally a village that’s built for Kuomintang soldiers and their families, until the land were sold by the government to housing companies for redevelopment and residents were offered compensation.
Out of all the Kuomintang soldiers who resided in the area, only Mr. Huang was left and because of boredom, he started to paint the village with random murals of vibrant colors – animals, dolls, and other characters. Until one day, the students from Ling Tung University discovered the village and has become one of the major attractions in Taichung. From then on, the local government decided to suspend the demolition.
Admission to the Rainbow Village is for free but donations are highly appreciated for maintenance. You can also see a small shop that sells some souvenirs based on the artwork of Rainbow Grandpa.
5. I’m Talato
After a whole day of taking pictures and exploring the wonders of Taichung, we all deserved an ice cream before heading back to Taipei.
I’m Talato is a gelato / ice cream shop where the interior is IG-worthy! At the entrance of the shop, there is a seesaw where you can weigh which is heavier – you or the ice cream. While inside, you can see an ice cream pool in pastel colors that would totally match your IG-feed!
Actually, there’s not that much tables and chairs inside to accommodate a lot of customers. It’s almost closing time when we went there, and the staff told us that we could not dine in anymore, only take-outs. This is quite an advantage for us since we don’t need to buy an entrance ticket for 150NTD per pax which you can exchange for an ice cream. What we did was to buy one scoop of ice cream worth 70NTD and since it’s almost closing time, the staff just decided to let us take some photos of the place including the pool of ice cream!
OPENING HOURS: Mon-Sun 11:30 to 19:30
A day trip to Taichung will surely complete your Taiwan experience. It is worth every penny spent and you get to visit the other side of Taiwan. If you have more time, you can also visit Kaohsiung and Tainan – southern part of Taiwan, another great places to visit, for a full 4-Day Tour. After all, when traveling, it is not the money that matters, it is the experience.
Hi! I was searching for sample itineraries for Taiwan and I saw your blogpost and amazing pictures!!! May I just ask how did you get to Houli Flower Farm from Taipei? I tried searching how to get there via MRT but there are a lot and it’s confusing so I just wanted to ask. Thank you in advance!
Hello Anna, sorry for getting back to you late. There’s no MRT going to Houli Farm. We hired a private transfer going to the farm as it can save time and we can also go to a lot of places in Taichung 🙂
Hi. What month did you go to Houli Flower farm? Planning of going there this June however since it’s summer time, maybe only a few flowers will be in full bloom. Can you maybe shed dome light on this?
Hello John, sorry for getting to you back really late. The flowers in Houli Farm are available all year round 🙂
Whaou!!! The pictures are GORGEOUS <3
The flower markets look so cool and charming!
Thank you for the compliment, Thomas! 🙂
wow what a colorful vibrant scenery
Taichung is really known for its flower farms which makes it more colorful in pictures 🙂