How to Get to Alishan: Tour or Go Alone

Three ways up the mountain

There are three realistic ways to reach the Alishan National Forest Recreation Area. You can join a guided day trip by bus. You can go to Chiayi and ride the forest railway or a scheduled bus up the Alishan Highway. Or you can drive Provincial Highway 18 yourself. The first is built for one day and no planning. The other two give you control over timing and let you stay overnight, which the sunrise needs. The sections below say what each one includes and who should skip it.

What the day tour is

The day trip leaves from Taichung, Kaohsiung or Chiayi and runs 9.5 to 11 hours. A live guide leads it in English, Chinese or Traditional Chinese, and you travel by bus. At the recreation area you walk forest paths among cypress trees that have stood for over a thousand years, with several short walks on paths and steps. You also get free time for shops and restaurants, at your own cost. Pickup is available, and private or small-group options appear when you check dates. The bus does the driving, so you don't handle the mountain road or the parking, which matters when fog rolls in.

• Departures from Taichung, Kaohsiung or Chiayi
• Chiayi departures also visit Fenqihu Old Street
• Start times show in the booking calendar and your confirmation
• Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead, booked through GetYourGuide

What the tour does not do

This is a forest day trip, not a sunrise tour. Its description covers forest walks, local culture and free time, and it does not mention the sunrise train, so don't book it expecting one. It also doesn't promise a ride on the forest railway. Before you book, read the inclusions list on the booking page for the things you care about, such as the forest entry fee and meals. The description says only that food in your free time is at your own expense. Also check the start time, the pickup options for your city and the not-suitable-for list before you pay.

Inside the recreation area

The recreation area covers about 1,388 hectares at 2,000 to 2,700 m. Its sights include the Sister Ponds, Shouzhen Temple, the century-old Ciyun Temple, forestry historical sites and the Xianglin Sacred Tree, which is about 45 m tall and roughly 2,300 years old. In spring there are cherry blossoms and rhododendrons. The Giant Tree walks pass red cypresses that survived the logging era. A day tour's short walks give you a sample of this; a night on the mountain lets you see more of it at an easier pace.

By forest railway from Chiayi

The Alishan Forest Railway is a 762 mm narrow-gauge line that climbs from Chiayi, at 30 m, to Alishan, at 2,216 m. The network has dozens of tunnels and wooden bridges. Its main line reopened in July 2024 after typhoon damage, but the forest agency's own page has described it as running only part of the way. Read the railway office's current notice for your date. Seats on the long sections are reserved through its online booking system, and a reservation you don't pay for straight away is cancelled. Diesel locomotives normally pull the trains, with occasional special runs behind historic steam engines.

Read next: The Alishan Forest Railway: A Logging Line Turned Wonder

By bus or car

The Alishan Highway opened in 1982 and took many passengers from the railway, because buses were faster and cheaper. Scheduled buses still climb it from Chiayi, but timetables change, so check the current one before you build a day around it. If you drive, take Provincial Highway 18, and expect parking fees in the recreation area. Fog is the main hazard. The Chiayi forestry office warns that the clear, cold weather that makes a sea of clouds also tends to bring heavy fog to the highway, so go slowly. Inside the recreation area, electric tour buses run on several lines.

From Taichung, Kaohsiung or Taipei on your own

Taichung, Chiayi and Zuoying (for Kaohsiung) are all stops on the Taiwan High Speed Rail line, which also reaches Taipei. So the usual independent route is high-speed rail to Chiayi, a local connection into the city, then the railway or a bus. Chiayi's high-speed rail station is in Taibao, Chiayi County, so allow time for that transfer. Each leg has its own timetable and ticket, and that is the planning a tour removes. The day tour doesn't leave from Taipei; from there, plan an overnight.

Fenqihu, the stop on the way

Fenqihu sits at 1,403 m, a station stop on the way up the railway. Its name means Dustpan Lake, after the shape of the land, though there is no lake. Steam trains once stopped here, passengers walked into town, and locals began selling railway lunch boxes, so the town is still known for its bento. The old street is about 500 m long and follows the hillside. On this tour, Fenqihu is part of Chiayi departures only, so check your departure city before you count on it.

Entry fees and opening

The recreation area is open to visitors at all hours, and an entry fee applies, with full, half, discounted and free categories. Children under 3 and people with disabilities and their companions are among the free groups. Amounts change, so use the forest agency's page rather than an old blog post. If you take the day tour, check the inclusions list to see whether the fee is covered. If you go independently, budget for it, for your rail or bus legs and for any parking.

Which should you choose?

Book the day tour if you have one day, are based in Taichung, Kaohsiung or Chiayi, and want someone else to handle transport and timing. Go by rail or bus from Chiayi if you want the railway itself, a slower pace or a night on the mountain. Stay overnight if the sunrise is the point, and arrange the train ticket through the railway office. Drive only if you are used to mountain roads in fog. For the dawn itself, read our sunrise guide first.

Read next: Alishan Sunrise: How to Catch It

Who this isn't for

If the sunrise is the reason you are going, the day tour is the wrong product: stay overnight and plan the train yourself. If you are leaving from Taipei, this tour does not depart there. If steps are a problem, ask before booking, because the day includes several short walks on paths and steps. And if you mainly want to ride the forest railway, go independently and reserve it yourself.