How Many Days to Drive Around Taiwan? 5-, 7- and 10-Day Loops Compared

How Many Days to Drive Around Taiwan? 5-, 7- and 10-Day Loops Compared

"How long do I need to drive around Taiwan?" is the question GoodCars is asked most often. There is no single number — it depends on how many hours a day you are willing to be behind the wheel. The loop is roughly 1,000 km. Five days is the compressed version, seven is what most people choose, and ten is the first length that lets you go into the mountains or out to an island. This guide lays out the daily driving time, what each version gives up, and who it suits, so you can decide before you book the car.

The loop is not only coastline — the inland valleys deserve a place in the plan (illustrative image)

The short answer: how the three lengths differ

What GoodCars sees again and again: people underestimate time spent at the stop, not time on the road. Forty rushed minutes versus a proper meal and a walk through an old street is the difference of a whole day over a week.

Five days: the highlights, mostly on the freeway

On the five-day version, city stops are half a day at most (illustrative image)

Route: Taipei → Taichung/Sun Moon Lake → Tainan → Kaohsiung/Kenting → Taitung → Hualien → Taipei.

• Day 1 Taipei → Taichung on National Freeway 1 or 3; Sun Moon Lake or Gaomei Wetlands in the afternoon.
• Day 2 Taichung → Tainan; the old city in the afternoon, night in Kaohsiung.
• Day 3 Kaohsiung → Kenting → Taitung on the South Link Highway — the longest leg of the trip.
• Day 4 Taitung → Hualien, either the rift valley or the coast road.
• Day 5 Hualien → Taipei on the Suhua Highway; return the car in the afternoon.

⚠️ Do not add a half day at Taroko to this version — day 5 becomes a race. If Taroko matters to you, sleep near it on day 4 instead.

GoodCars' advice for five days: separate "driving days" from "sightseeing days". Day 3 is scenery in itself, so do not stack stops onto it; days 2 and 4 are where you can slow down. Pack light too — you change hotel almost every night.

Seven days: the version most people choose

Seven days buys you a second night in Hualien — the clearest difference (illustrative image)

Seven days does not add destinations so much as half a day at each one: another night in Tainan, a full day in Hualien, and enough time to actually walk a trail in Taroko. The day-by-day plan, hotels and stops are already covered in the GoodCars 7-day Taiwan road trip itinerary, so we will not repeat it here.

Ten days: islands, mountains and slow cities

The real value of ten days is being able to stay put long enough to wander (illustrative image)

Use the three extra days on two of these — not all three:

• Xiaoliuqiu or Penghu: leave the car at Donggang or Magong and take the ferry across for a night.
• Alishan or Cingjing and Hehuanshan: the mountain road alone is two hours each way, so stay overnight.
• Tainan or Hualien at half pace: treat one city as a rest day with no long drive.

The classic mistake on ten days is spreading the extra nights evenly and still packing every morning. GoodCars suggests two nights each in two places instead; it changes how the trip feels. Longer rentals also tend to bring a better daily rate — worth comparing when you book.

Driving times between stops

Typical times in normal traffic, compiled by GoodCars. Add 30–60 minutes on holiday weekends:

When is the best season for the loop?

GoodCars recommends spring (March–May) and autumn (October–November): comfortable temperatures, little rain, clear mountain views. The rest of the year needs adjusting:

Return it where you started, or one-way?

The last leg is usually Hualien back to Taipei, and plenty of people would rather not drive it. Two options:

• Same-branch return — pick up and drop off in Taipei, no one-way fee, you drive the whole loop.
• One-way — for example pick up in Taipei and drop off in Hualien, then take the train back. There is a fee, but it removes the tiring leg. Routes and costs are in the GoodCars guide to one-way rentals and ten popular routes.

With more than thirty branches — Taipei Main Station, Taichung HSR, Tainan HSR, Zuoying HSR, Hualien and Yilan among them — most one-way combinations can be arranged.

Five things to sort before you go

Documents, rooms and weather settled in advance make the drive itself easy (illustrative image)

1. Documents: a Taiwanese licence, or for visitors the original home licence plus an IDP and passport — and an endorsement if you stay over 30 days. See the IDP guide for Taiwan.
2. How charges work: GoodCars bills rental plus a mileage fee and gives you a fuel card — swipe it at the pump, pay nothing, and no need to refill before returning. A loop runs up kilometres, so estimate it on the mileage fee page first.
3. Book rooms early: Hualien, Taitung and Kenting sell out in season.
4. Watch the weather: in typhoon season (July–October) the Suhua and South Link highways can close; check again the day before.
5. Never put a mountain road on the last day: Taroko, Alishan and Hehuanshan each need a full day — not the day you fly.

FAQ

Q1. Can I do the loop in three days?

Not sensibly. A thousand kilometres in three days means five hours of driving daily and little else. With three days, do the north and east out-and-back, or a one-way run through the south instead.

Q2. Clockwise or anticlockwise?

Anticlockwise (Taipei → Taichung → Kaohsiung → Taitung → Hualien → Taipei) is the common choice, leaving the long South Link and Suhua legs for later in the trip. Clockwise works if you would rather get them out of the way first.

Q3. Should I use the freeways?

On the west coast, yes; the east coast has none. Tolls are charged electronically by distance and GoodCars settles them after you return the car.

Q4. How many kilometres is the loop?

About 1,000 km for the circuit itself, and usually 1,200–1,500 km once side trips are counted. The mileage fee is charged on actual distance with no cap.

Q5. Is the loop worth it solo?

It is tiring but very free. If you would rather not drive all of it, take the HSR down the west coast and rent only for the east — GoodCars has branches at the HSR stations.

Q6. How many days with young children?

Seven or more, with under two hours of driving a day. Child seats can be added when you book; the rules are in the guide to Taiwan's child car seat regulations.

Q7. Can I do the loop in an EV?

Yes, but charging shapes the itinerary and the east coast is thinner on chargers. For a first loop, a petrol car keeps the plan flexible.