Cycling down the Taroko Gorge

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
8
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
1
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
8
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
8
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
2
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
7
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
77 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
71st/457
Top 20%
continent
Asia
country
Taiwan
Length of time
1 day or less
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$80 (typically $40 - $120)
Time of year visited
May
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Canyons Cycling Mountains
All Tags
Adrenaline rush Buddhist site Cliffs
Wow Factor
Two scores: first is the wow factor which ranges from ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️, and a separate category for the truly "gash". The second is the more analytical travel experience score, which considers 6 varied criteria to give an overall score out of 100.
⭐⭐⭐

Summary

Taroko Gorge on the east coast of Taiwan is stunning.  Steep, bright and beautifully cut marble walls, lush vegetation, mountains, and cascading waterfalls all the way down.  Cycling this is one of the highlight experiences for any trip to Taiwan.

 

One big tip – stay at the Taroko Lodge who can drop you off at the top of the gorge for a nicer cycle downhill.  Whilst not super hard, the cycle up from the Visitor Centre, at the entrance to the valley, to just past the Tianxiang area, where most people finish, is around 20km / 1.5miles and with a net uphill of around 500m / 1650ft.  For sure its a nice challenge for the 1.5 hours or so, but it can be a little bit of a slog uphill.    If you stay at Taroko Lodge, which is a nice old-school homestay, they can arrange to rent you bikes and drop you off anywhere on the gorge, which takes the slog out of the whole experience.  I took a very leisurely 2.5 hours to cycle from the bridge by Tianxiang back down to the Lodge.  Bloody loved it.

Highlights

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#1 Having a super chilled out downhill cycle as you watch the stunning scenery go by

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#2 Exploring some of the hidden gorges and bridges a bit further up from the typical tourist starting point of Tianxiang, and having them largely to yourself

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#3 Cycling through the marble (yes, marble) sided tunnels of the gorge

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#4 Walking on some of the pedestrian bridges to the various Buddhist sites scattered throughout the gorge

Experiences nearby

Wow Factor Score Two scores: first is the wow factor which ranges from ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️, and a separate category for the truly "gash". The second is the more analytical travel experience score, which considers 6 varied criteria to give an overall score out of 100. LowHigh
  • Elite, unmissable
  • World-class, downsides
  • Meets the Wow Factor
  • Worth it
  • Meh
  • Gash

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Cycling around Vinales

Cycling through Stanley Park in Vancouver

Cycling around Kyoto and sampling whiskies in the Suntory Distillery

Cycling through Bangkok’s green Phrapradaeng Peninsular

Cycling and views around Tam Coc

Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences - from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

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