The secret is out: Taiwan is quickly earning its place as one of the best places in the world for bike tourism.

The country offers a range of landscapes, including vibrant cities, bucolic countrysides, striking coastlines, charming archipelagos, and awe-inspiring mountains. More than 90% of Taiwan’s 23.4 million residents live on the densely populated western plains, leaving the island’s rugged interior and eastern regions sparsely inhabited. Between October and March, the weather is usually dry, with daytime temperatures averaging 16 to 24 degrees Celsius (61 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit). 

Road surfaces throughout Taiwan are well-maintained, and because so many Taiwanese commute by motorcycle or scooter, motorists are used to sharing the road with two-wheelers. Thanks to the well-developed cycling industry, riders are able to source top-quality accessories and spare parts in every major city. What is more, tasty and inexpensive snacks and refreshing drinks are available at almost every stop.

Taiwan’s size makes it ideal for a multi-day round-the-island adventure, or huandao (環島) as it is called in Mandarin Chinese. To help would-be huandao bikers plan their journey, several years ago the authorities established Cycling Route No. 1. 

In the western part of Taiwan, much of the 960.8-km-long route follows Provincial Highway 1. In the east, the main axis is Provincial Highway 9. Both roads offer an abundance of sights, accommodation options, and places to refuel the body.

Cycling Route No. 1 also connects more than two dozen popular local biking routes, some of which utilize the country’s 7,900-km network of cycle-only trails. One such detour takes in the National Museum of Marine Science and Technology and Longdong Bay Ocean Park on the north coast. Another is the circumnavigation of Dapeng Bay in Pingtung County. Culture vultures will want to set aside time for the Southern Branch of the National Palace Museum and/or Tainan’s Chimei Museum.    

Cycling Route No. 1 is, of course, a guide and not a mandate. Pedaling travelers fond of ocean views may prefer Highway 11, the 178-km-long link between Hualien City and Taitung City, to Highway 9. Those with legs of steel might want to tackle one of the cross-island highways that traverse the Central Mountain Range.   

Each fall, the Taiwan Cycling Festival culminates in a series of events that make the most of the season’s weather. This year, the Formosa 900 ride attracted 1,227 participants, 29% of whom hailed from overseas. For a change, riders used e-bikes to more easily access the hill country of inland Hsinchu and Miaoli, a region synonymous with Hakka culture, agricultural traditions, and rich woodlands.

This year, because a serious earthquake on April 3 damaged parts of the usual route through Taroko Gorge, competitors joining the Taiwan KOM Challenge entered the highlands via another stunningly scenic road, Highway 7A.

Cycling tourists blessed with tremendous stamina can also attempt this climb, which starts on the Lanyang Plain in Yilan County and crests at Wuling, 3,275 meters above sea level. Breaking this ride into two or even three days is advisable, even if you are going downhill toward Yilan, as those taking this route will experience four distinct climate zones, on top of one gorgeous view followed by another.

Compared to Taiwan’s high-altitude zone, Siraya National Scenic Area offers visitors a very different experience. Named for the Austronesian Siraya people – whose descendants are lobbying the central government to recognize them as an indigenous tribe – the scenic area encompasses a large part of rural Tainan and some of neighboring Chiayi County.

In addition to its well-known attractions, which include Guanziling’s hot springs and the coffee-growing area of Dongshan, Siraya National Scenic Area has for more than a decade hosted a colorful and unusual element of the Taiwan Cycling Festival: Taiwan’s largest non-motorized vehicle design contest.

Go CreCar is a soap-box derby that celebrates creativity, eccentricity, and individuality. By assembling two-, three-, or four-wheeled unpowered vehicles, participating teams show off both their craftsmanship and their talent to entertain. In previous years, entrants have drawn inspiration from cartoon characters, Marvel movies, Ancient Rome, classic motor cars of the 1920s, and even warships.

Each vehicle is launched down a gentle gradient to test its robustness and the driver’s steering skills. After negotiating the course, which includes a tricky chicane, they are awarded points for speed, roadholding, and aesthetics.

Under the slogan, “A new era is for unlimited possibilities,” this year’s Go CreCar event will be held on November 24 at Tsou Ma Lai Farm in Tainan’s Danei District. At the end of a day filled with vehicle presentations, live music, delicious local foods, and other forms of fun, prize money totaling NT$450,000 (US$14,000) will be divided among the most successful teams. The overall winner stands to receive NT$180,000.  

Since the end of last year, Taiwan’s Tourism Administration has been promoting 16 additional bicycle tour routes. These fall into six categories: Coastal, Riverside, Rural, Mountain Loop, Mountainous, and Outlying Islands.

Among them is the well-known bike path around Sun Moon Lake. Back in 2017, CNN’s website declared it one of ten cycling routes around the world “that’ll take your breath away.” Another is the 39.7-km-long Maolin Diversified Bike Tour that highlights the delightful scenery of Kaohsiung’s Meinong and Liugui districts.

The Cycling in Taiwan website helpfully marks locations in Meinong where visitors can rent public access YouBikes. Tourists interested in doing this should register in advance for an account – this is easy to do through YouBike’s English-language website – so they can pick up a shared bicycle at any of the system’s 5,000-plus rental points around Taiwan. These facilities are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

As part of the YouBike 2.0 initiative, the authorities are rolling out e-bikes at many rental points. These machines can provide up to 80 km of eco-friendly touring without the rider having to break a sweat.

Through the YouBike app and website, users can check how many bicycles are available at a particular station, whether any of them are e-bikes, and if the latter are charged up. At the end of each YouBike journey, the bicycle can be returned to any rental station. Even if cycling is not the focus of your trip to Taiwan, you may well find these bicycles a great way of getting from A to B.

TOURIST INFORMATION
Travelers planning to explore Taiwan by bicycle or enjoy the charms of the Siraya National Scenic Area can gather additional information from the following websites:

Cycling in Taiwan (multilingual website)
Siraya National Scenic Area (multilingual website)
Tourism Administration (Ministry of Transportation and Communications) (multilingual website)

The 24-hour tourist information hotline at 0800-011-765, which is toll-free within Taiwan, can answer all kinds of questions in English, Japanese, and Chinese.