Free & easy was something I don't really liked as one had to planned everything which I admitted am lazy to do.
Decided on Taiwan or Australia, one would hot while the other would be colde, on would be easy to travel while one would be easy if can drive and lastly one would be cheaper over the other. After ding-donging for a few days, finally decided on a Taiwan.
With just around 1 more week to plan for the itinerary, I decided to try asking for quote from one website : www.taiwanfreeandeasy.com.sg, to see hows much and whats the itinerary they will planned.
They came back with :
1 night in Taipei
- 10 hours private transfer - shifen release sky lanterns, jiufen, yehliu ecological park and keelong night market
2 nights in Yilan
- via train
- 8 hours of private transfer - wufengchi scenic area, visit to spring onion farm to pluck spring onion and make spring onion cake, cold spring, luodong night market
1 night in Cingjing
- cingjing farm
- swiss garden
-hehuan shan
- 5 hours private transfer
2 nights in Hualien
- 1x8 hours private transfer
- 1x5 hours private transfer
- taroko gorge
- seven star lake
- whale watching
- lichuan clam digging
- ziqiang night market
1 night in Taichung
- puli liyu tan day trip
- paper making
- fengjia night market
- Mixture of minsu, and hotel
Wow......that seems to be quite costly, haiz, bo pian, decided to do it myself.
After much debating and "arguments", the finalised itinerary is as follows:
For the rail, it is advisable to book early as sometimes the rail might be fully booked. Take note the fully booked is for the seats, there is another type of tickets that is free standing. Meaning that there is no seat allocated for the ticket, you can sit in any seat provided there it is not booked by another with tickets to the seat.
There are 2 types of rail, the high-speed rail and the normal rail, the high-speed will cost roughly 2x more than the normal rail but the traveling time will be cut by half.
The website for the rail -> http://www.railway.gov.tw/en/index.aspx
For the bus to Cingqing, there are 2 types:
a. http://www.ntbus.com.tw/ <-- Cheaper but cannot booked, you need to go down to the station half an hour or earlier to buy the tickets
b. http://www.cingjingbus.tw/ <-- Can booked but slightly more ex
The private car is from the recommendation by the Starry House Minsu and later in the trip there was a changed to the cost, not for the worst of course. To know more, read my blog, :P.
Oh yeah, nearly forgotten, the air tickets were booked via Zuji, strange but the offer in Zuji for Cathay Pacific was actually cheaper than Cathay Pacific main website.
Lastly, remember to visit the Taiwan Tourism with two documents to get your freebies, the freebies could be MRT card, free theme park vouchers, etc, it would varies from time to time.
Two documents needed: One document on your hotel/minsu booking for at least 1 nite and one document to show your air tickets booking to Taiwan.
I made the mistake to go down the first time without the hotel/minsu booking thinking that with the air tickets it would be enough. 2nd time was due to the time, the place closed around 4+pm so remember to go down early, before 5pm, best 4:30pm.
The Taiwan Tourism Board address
With everything set, it was time to go for Taiwan Free and Easy tour !!!
With just around 1 more week to plan for the itinerary, I decided to try asking for quote from one website : www.taiwanfreeandeasy.com.sg, to see hows much and whats the itinerary they will planned.
They came back with :
1 night in Taipei
- 10 hours private transfer - shifen release sky lanterns, jiufen, yehliu ecological park and keelong night market
2 nights in Yilan
- via train
- 8 hours of private transfer - wufengchi scenic area, visit to spring onion farm to pluck spring onion and make spring onion cake, cold spring, luodong night market
1 night in Cingjing
- cingjing farm
- swiss garden
-hehuan shan
- 5 hours private transfer
2 nights in Hualien
- 1x8 hours private transfer
- 1x5 hours private transfer
- taroko gorge
- seven star lake
- whale watching
- lichuan clam digging
- ziqiang night market
1 night in Taichung
- puli liyu tan day trip
- paper making
- fengjia night market
Itinerary Planning + Transportation + Accommodation is estimated to be
SGD$2,650.00 (Max/Group, 10% Discount - S$2400.00) and include the following:
- Mixture of minsu, and hotel
-Breakfasts all included
Exclude:
- Lunch and dinner
- Entrance ticket (inexpensive)
- train ticket
- high speed rail ticket
- to and fro airport transfer
Wow......that seems to be quite costly, haiz, bo pian, decided to do it myself.
After much debating and "arguments", the finalised itinerary is as follows:
Day
|
City
|
Hotel
|
Transportation
|
Tips
|
1
|
Taipei
|
Cityinn Hotel Taipei Station Branch I
Booked in Tripadvisor
|
Cheaper to book from their website:
Small hotel but the rail station and MRT station are all very near.
|
|
2
|
Taichung
|
53 Hotel Taichung
Booked in Tripadvisor
|
Rail from Taipei
|
A very good hotel that is near the rail station.
|
3
|
Cingqing
|
Starry house nantou minsu
Booked via website:
|
Bus from Taichung
|
|
4 & 5
|
Hualian
|
Hualian Bay Minsu
Booked via email
|
Private car from Cingqing
NT5000
|
Cheaper to book via their website or email.
|
5 & 6
|
Taipei
|
This was booked after reaching Taiwan to keep my option opened.
Royal Seasons Hotel Taipei
Booked in Hotels.com
|
Rail from Hualian
|
For the rail, it is advisable to book early as sometimes the rail might be fully booked. Take note the fully booked is for the seats, there is another type of tickets that is free standing. Meaning that there is no seat allocated for the ticket, you can sit in any seat provided there it is not booked by another with tickets to the seat.
There are 2 types of rail, the high-speed rail and the normal rail, the high-speed will cost roughly 2x more than the normal rail but the traveling time will be cut by half.
The website for the rail -> http://www.railway.gov.tw/en/index.aspx
For the bus to Cingqing, there are 2 types:
a. http://www.ntbus.com.tw/ <-- Cheaper but cannot booked, you need to go down to the station half an hour or earlier to buy the tickets
b. http://www.cingjingbus.tw/ <-- Can booked but slightly more ex
The private car is from the recommendation by the Starry House Minsu and later in the trip there was a changed to the cost, not for the worst of course. To know more, read my blog, :P.
Oh yeah, nearly forgotten, the air tickets were booked via Zuji, strange but the offer in Zuji for Cathay Pacific was actually cheaper than Cathay Pacific main website.
Lastly, remember to visit the Taiwan Tourism with two documents to get your freebies, the freebies could be MRT card, free theme park vouchers, etc, it would varies from time to time.
Two documents needed: One document on your hotel/minsu booking for at least 1 nite and one document to show your air tickets booking to Taiwan.
I made the mistake to go down the first time without the hotel/minsu booking thinking that with the air tickets it would be enough. 2nd time was due to the time, the place closed around 4+pm so remember to go down early, before 5pm, best 4:30pm.
The Taiwan Tourism Board address
| Address: | 30 Raffles Place, #10-01, Chevron House, Singapore 048622 |
|---|---|
| phone: | 65-6223-6546 |
| FAX: | 65-6225-4616 |
| Email: | tbrocsin@singnet.com.sg |
With everything set, it was time to go for Taiwan Free and Easy tour !!!
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