The last stop on our week-long group trip to Taiwan was Tainan! After spending a long day in Alishan, we drove to Tainan. We had drivers throughout our trip around Sun Moon Lake and Alishan due to the size of our group but Tainan is very accessible from Taipei. You can take a high speed train directly to Tainan. Tainan doesn’t have a subway system like Taipei so you’ll need to use taxis to get around but they aren’t too expensive.
Day 1
We arrived in Tainan around 3-4pm and headed straight to the coolest airbnb I’ve ever stayed in. It was a small hostel type apartment building where you could rent the entire place or individual beds. We got the whole place for our group and each had a private pod that included AC and TVs.
Airbnb
Fort Provintia
I was excited to be a touristy in Tainan and learn more about Taiwan’s history. Tainan is the oldest urban city in Taiwan and has a lot less English speakers than Taipei. It’s a great city to immerse yourself Taiwanese history and of course stuff your face with food. I dragged Ke to check out Chihkan Tower and Fort Provintia while others in our group went to grab shaved ice.
Fort Provintia was an old Dutch outpost that is now composed of gardens and Chihkan Tower and a small museum. I think it’s worth a visit if you’re in the area.
Dadong Night Market
After checking into our Airbnb and exploring the surrounding neighborhood, it was time for dinner. Our first night market stop was Dadong Night Market. A lot of night markets in Tainan had homemade green onion pancakes stands…they are amazing! We got them every time we saw them.
Day 2
Anping Old Street and Fort Zeelandia
The next day Ke and I headed out early and visited Anping Old Street. It has lots of street food and vendors on old historic streets. The entrance to Fort Zeelandia is also along the streets so we stopped there too for more history lessons.
Blueprint Culture & Creative Park
We grabbed lunch with some of Ke’s old school friends and then headed to the Blueprint Culture and Creative Park. This place was a ton of fun! To begin with, it was made for Instagram. There are multiple art installations, art murals, and super cute local shops and cafes. This was one of my fav spots in Tainan.
Tainan Flower Night Market
On the last night in Tainan we went to the Flower Night Market, the largest market in Taiwan. This place was huge!!! There was a large section for food, another area for shopping, and then another section with carnival games, it felt like a mini carnival. Once again, our group grabbed more green onion pancakes along with a ton of other street foods. Sadly, I was too busy eating to snap a lot of photos haha but this is must-do if you’re ever in Tainan.
The End to an Amazing Trip
This trip was one of the best trips I’ve ever been on. In one week we saw so much of Taiwan, from Taipei, to Sun Moon Lake, Alishan, and finally Tainan. After Tainan, we all took the HSR back to Taipei for our flights home. My first time in Taiwan, I came solo. I had such a blast but it was a bit lonely towards the end of the trip. I’m so happy I got to share this second time in Taiwan with such an awesome group of people.
