We did all three, Jiufen, Shifen and Yehliu Geopark, in a single day out of Taipei, and going in I genuinely wasn't sure a Jiufen Shifen Yehliu day tour was worth the money over doing it ourselves. It felt like something we should be able to string together with an EasyCard and Google Maps. Short answer: we booked a group tour through GetYourGuide for S$69 per person, and it was the right call, mostly because of one stop that would have been a real logistical headache on our own. It costs about S$30 more than DIY, so I'm laying out the real numbers on both sides here.
This was part of a 4 day trip to Taipei with my boyfriend in early July. Yes, that's typhoon season, and yes it was humid, but it never actually rained on us the whole trip. We flew Scoot for about S$250 return and stayed at Caesar Park Taipei, right at Taipei Main Station, which turned out to be exactly where this tour picked us up from too, so we didn't even have to think about getting to a meeting point. If you want the full trip, it's all in my 4D3N Taipei itinerary and budget.
What's actually in a Jiufen, Shifen and Yehliu day tour?
Most operators bundle the same stops because of where they sit on the map: Yehliu Geopark on the north coast, then Jiufen up in the hills, then Shifen further inland along the old Pingxi rail line. On paper it looks like a triangle you could drive in an hour. In practice you're looking at winding coastal roads and mountain switchbacks, which is exactly why almost nobody drives themselves.
We booked through GetYourGuide, picked up right outside our hotel at Taipei Main Station, and rode in a proper coach, seats 40, with a driver and a guide who spoke English and Mandarin. It wasn't an intimate small group thing, it was a full bus. The day ran a clean 8am to 5pm, 9 hours out and back to the same spot. Entry to Yehliu Geopark and a sky lantern at Shifen were both built into the price, which meant no separate ticket lines to deal with.
If you want to book the same combination, this GetYourGuide day tour covering Shifen, Jiufen and Yehliu Geopark is the one to look at.
How much does the Jiufen, Shifen and Yehliu day tour cost?
We paid S$69 per person for ours through GetYourGuide, entrance fee and lantern included. Prices shift around with season and how far ahead you book, so treat that as a real number from this July, not a guarantee.
Here's the actual money breakdown, tour versus doing it yourself:
| Group tour (what we paid) | DIY by train and bus | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per person | S$69 | About S$39 all in: train and bus fares, Yehliu's entrance fee, and a lantern at Shifen |
| Time needed | 9 hours, 8am to 5pm, pickup and drop off handled | 12 to 14 hours if Yehliu is included, starting around 7am |
| Transport legs | 1, the tour coach | 8 separate trains, buses and transfers |
| Entrance fees and lantern | Included | Paid separately, at each stop |
So DIY comes out to about S$39 per person all in, against S$69 for the tour, a difference of about S$30. What that S$30 buys you is the other side of the table: no transfers to plan, no risk of missing Yehliu's closing time, and getting back to the same spot outside our hotel at the end of the day. Whether that's worth S$30 to you is really the whole question of this article. Use code ALYDIGITAL5 for 5% off if you're booking through GetYourGuide.
Yehliu Geopark: what to expect
Yehliu was our first stop, and it's the one I knew the least about going in. It's a narrow cape of wind and wave eroded rock, and the famous one is the Queen's Head, a rock formation that genuinely does look like a profile wearing a crown. There's a small crowd built up around it at any given time, all waiting their turn for a photo, so don't expect to have it to yourself.
Bring a hat. There's very little shade out on the rocks and we were there in July, so the sun was doing its worst by mid morning. The paths are uneven in places, and some of the more famous formations are roped off now because the rock is fragile, which is fair but worth knowing if you were picturing yourself standing right next to the Queen's Head. The official New Taipei City Travel page for Yehliu Geopark has current opening hours if you're planning around them.
Jiufen Old Street: the photo spot everyone is chasing
Jiufen is the one people book this whole tour for, mostly because of a single image: a steep stone stairway lined with red lanterns, the one that shows up on every Taiwan Pinterest board and gets credited (often wrongly) to Spirited Away. We found it by walking down from the main old street toward what's numbered street 155, then down about 40 steps to reach the spot with the best angle.
It's narrow, it's crowded, and everyone is trying to get the same shot without a stranger in it, so patience helps. Beyond the lantern stairs, Jiufen Old Street itself is a tight, covered maze of food stalls and teahouses climbing the hillside, worth wandering even if you've already got your photo. We didn't get anywhere close to trying everything, which is honestly the point. It's a snack crawl, not a sit down meal.
Shifen: the waterfall, the lanterns, and the one rushed stop
Shifen was the stop I'd tell you to budget the most time for, and the one our tour gave us the least. Shifen Waterfall is genuinely worth seeing, it's the widest waterfall in Taiwan and there's a proper viewing platform for it, but we were basically herded through in a way that made it feel more like a photo checkpoint than a chance to actually take it in.
The lantern release on Shifen Old Street is the bigger draw, and it's the kind of thing you want a few unhurried minutes for. You write your wishes in marker on each side of the lantern, someone lights the base, and you let it go while it drifts up over the old train tracks running straight down the middle of the street. We got through it, but I wouldn't have minded another 15 minutes there.
If you're hungry, get the chicken stuffed with glutinous rice from one of the stalls along the old street. It's not something I'd seen anywhere else in Taipei and it held us over until dinner back in the city.
Can you do Jiufen, Shifen and Yehliu without a tour?
Yes, and plenty of people do, though Yehliu is the stop that makes it complicated. Jiufen and Shifen on their own are a fairly simple loop: a train from Taipei to Ruifang for around NT$40 to NT$76, then either the Pingxi branch line to Shifen (around NT$56 for a day pass covering Ruifang to Shifen and back) or a local bus up to Jiufen (bus 1062, about NT$15, roughly 25 minutes) and back down again. Taiwan Railway's official timetable tool is the one to check for current departure times before you go.
Yehliu is the outlier. It's not directly on that Ruifang loop, so the DIY version usually means routing through Keelung and catching another bus out to the geopark, then a longer bus back to Taipei at the end, roughly 75 minutes on bus 1815. Add it up across the whole day and you're looking at 8 separate legs of transport and something like 12 to 14 hours door to door if you want all 3 stops, starting as early as 7am to make sure you're not racing Yehliu's 5pm closing time.
It's doable. We just didn't want to spend our one full free day on that trip figuring out bus numbers and platform changes, especially with the Pingxi line's limited daily trains and Yehliu's hard closing time hanging over the schedule. If you're comfortable with Taiwan's public transport already, or you're short on cash and long on time, DIY is worth it, the savings are real, about S$30 per person. If either of those isn't true for you, that's where the tour earns its keep.
So is the Jiufen, Shifen and Yehliu day tour worth it?
For us, yes, even paying about S$30 more than the DIY route would have cost. It would have eaten most of a 4 day trip's one flexible day on logistics instead of the places themselves. The tour handled the Yehliu detour that makes the DIY version genuinely annoying, kept us on schedule for the lantern release, and meant neither of us had to be the one checking train times on our phone all day. Pickup right outside our hotel at Taipei Main Station made the decision even easier.
Where it fell short was Shifen, specifically not giving us enough time at the waterfall and the lantern release, which are arguably the two best parts of the whole day. If you're someone who wants to linger rather than move through stops on a schedule, that's worth weighing against the convenience.
My honest take: book the tour if this is one day trip out of a short Taipei stay and the S$30 premium is worth not losing hours to transfers. Go DIY if that S$30 actually matters to your budget, you've got a full extra day to spare, or Shifen in particular is the stop you care most about and want without a group schedule attached to it.
If you're ready to lock it in, here's the Shifen, Jiufen and Yehliu Geopark day tour we booked, entrance fees and lantern included, with code ALYDIGITAL5 for 5% off.
FAQ
Is the Jiufen, Shifen and Yehliu day tour worth it?
For most short Taipei trips, yes. It condenses a day that would otherwise involve 8 separate transport legs and 12 to 14 hours into about 9 hours with one pickup, for about S$30 more per person than doing it yourself.
How much does the Jiufen Shifen Yehliu tour cost?
We paid S$69 per person through GetYourGuide, with Yehliu's entrance fee and the sky lantern included. DIY by train and bus works out to about S$39 once you add those in separately, so the tour costs about S$30 more.
Can you visit Jiufen, Shifen and Yehliu without a tour?
Yes. Jiufen and Shifen are a simple train and bus loop through Ruifang. Yehliu is harder to add in, usually requiring a detour through Keelung, which is why most DIY travelers skip it or do it as a separate trip.
How long does the Jiufen Shifen Yehliu day tour take?
Ours ran 8am to 5pm, 9 hours door to door. The DIY version takes closer to 12 to 14 hours once Yehliu is included, mostly due to transfer waiting time.
Do I need to book the tour in advance?
Yes, book in advance. July is peak season for lantern releases at Shifen, and the larger coaches fill up on weekends, so lock in your date at least a few days out if your trip dates are fixed.
Quick links
- GetYourGuide: Shifen, Jiufen and Yehliu Geopark day tour, the tour we booked. Entrance fees and lantern included in the price. Code ALYDIGITAL5 for 5% off.
- Klook: Yehliu, Jiufen and Shifen day tour, a cheaper alternative covering the same 3 stops, meets at MRT Ximen. Code ALYDIGITALKLOOK for 5 to 10% off.
