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Things to Know Before Kaohsiung Shore Excursions

Best Time to Visit Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Kaohsiung is a perfect place to visit since it is good to come at any time of the year. The weather is warm around the year. In Kaohsiung, there are two main seasons, they are the dry and rainy season. The dry season is from October to March, it’s also the ideal time for the excursions in Kaohsiung. Moreover, the Kaohsiung Lantern Festival happens in early to mid-February, so if your excursion right at this time, you will have an extra special experience. The rainy season is from May to September. And from July to September, it is the typhoon season (about 3-4 typhoons hit Taiwan every year). If you have planned your excursion during this time, make sure to check the weather forecast in advance and have a plan B.

Best way to get from Taipei to Kaohsiung

The distance between Taipei and the city of Kaohsiung is about 350km, so the easiest way to transfer from Taipei to Kaohsiung apart from the private car is to take the high-speed train. The train takes from 1:30 to 2:12 hours in duration to get Kaohsiung, it depends on the specific train. There stand 75 trains every day from 6:26 am to 10:16 pm, every 15-20 minutes at the average. Normally, the fare is $1490 (Taiwanese Dollar) for this route, or $50 (USD), but when you buy up to 28 days, you can get 10-35% discounted tickets. This train leaves from Taipei station, which can be accessed on metro red & blue lines. The train arrives at Xin Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung, connected to the city by the metro red line. From Taoyuan International Airport, take the shuttle bus 705 to Taoyuan THSR station to board the train. It takes 25 minutes and 30 Taiwanese dollars for your transfer. China Shore Excursions recommends that you should check the latest schedule and booking a seat online at the official website.

How to Get Kaohsiung from Hualien

From Kaohsiung, you have three options to go from Hualien, choose one that makes the most sense to you, but we highly recommend flying. The first option is flying. Mandarin Airlines has a daily direct flight from Hualien to Kaohsiung and every flight takes about 1 hour. You just have to pay around 100USD for this flight. The other airlines still have a flight from Hualien to Kaohsiung, but they take over 5 hours. The second option is to train. Hualien is on the east coast, thus there was no high-speed train. The train takes Taiwan Railway train 801 and the travel time is 4:41 to 5:45 hours and costs only from $15-$25. The last option is driving. With a distance of about 350 km, it takes around 5 hours to get Kaohsiung from Hualien. You drive south past Taitung and then turn west to reach Kaohsiung. Note: there is no direct bus option available.

How to get into the center of Kaohsiung city the Airport

There have so many ways to get into the city of Kaohsiung International Airport, but we recommend the metro as the way to get Kaohsiung International Airport since it’s very convenient and doesn’t cost much. The airport is on the Metro red line, thus it’s quite easy to follow signs inside the terminal to get the metro station. The first train start at 5:56 am and the last train is at 0:02 the next morning. If you transfer by train, it just takes 15-30 minutes to get to most parts of the city center. Wonder about the cost? The fare is 35 Taiwanese Dollars to the most places in Kaohsiung, it’s 1.2USD. You can get the latest metro system fare and the departure information on the official website of KRTC. By the way, a ticket purchase is by cash only. However, if you have a MasterCard or UnionPay contactless tapping card, choose to skip ticket purchase and then go ahead to the station by tapping the card. If you don’t want to use the metro, you can refer to some taxi information hereunder: • The average taxi fare from the airport to the city center ranges from 250-350 Taiwanese dollars or 8-11.5 USD. • Should bring cash to pay. • Taxi are parked outside the arrival lobby, all painted yellow.

How to Call Taxi in Kaohsiung

It’s a clever option when using the app to get a taxi in Kaohsiung, the price is similar to the traditional taxi, it’s more convenient. You can refer some apps as below: • Uber: it’s same as elsewhere in the world • Findtaxi: Highly recommend. The app can give you the kind of car that you want, the driver (male or female), seat (normal or booster),… This app can be active on both Android and iOS appliances • Another way is to call the traditional taxis (on the street, dispatch number, a nearby hotel,…) Hopefully, the information that China Shore Excursions provides can help you have the wonderful Kaohsiung Shore Excursions.