New Taipei City in 3 days

Yehliu Geopark sits on a 1.7 km cape in Wanli District on New Taipei's north coast. Over millions of years, waves, wind and the rising land wore the Miocene sandstone into roughly 180 mushroom rocks, plus honeycomb rocks, candle rocks and pothole-pitted ledges. The Queen's Head is the best known: a roughly 4,000-year-old rock about 2 m tall, whose profile looks like Egypt's Queen Nefertiti. Its neck erodes a little every year and now measures about 1.4 m around, so geologists expect it to break off one day. You'll see ropes and staff keeping visitors from touching it. Yehliu has been a public attraction since the early 1960s. No architect was involved, but a life-size replica stands in the first zone so you can take close-up photos without joining the line. The park is open daily from 08:00 to 17:00, and until 18:00 in July and August. Tickets cost NT$120, or NT$60 for students, seniors and children. Walk the three zones in order: the dense mushroom rocks of Zone 1, the Queen's Head and Fairy's Shoe in Zone 2, then the quieter, wave-cut tip in Zone 3. That's where you'll find the Sea Goddess Rock and the statue of Lin Tian-zhen, a local man who drowned in 1964 while trying to save a student. Most tour groups turn back before Zone 3. Insider tip: tour buses usually arrive from 10:00, so get there at opening or after 15:30, when the low sun brings out the orange iron bands in the rock. Wear shoes with grip, because the ledges near the water are slippery, and a red painted line marks how far you can go. Afterwards, walk five minutes to Yehliu fishing harbour, where restaurants cook the day's catch however you like. From September to November, try the Wanli crab, especially the flower crab. To get there, take Kuo-Kuang bus 1815 from Taipei Main Station, which takes about 75 minutes.

Shifen Waterfall sits on the upper Keelung River in Pingxi District. It's about 20 m high and roughly 40 m wide, which makes it Taiwan's widest curtain waterfall. The river spills over a tilted rock ledge into a horseshoe-shaped pool. On sunny mornings the spray often throws a rainbow, which is why locals call it Taiwan's "Little Niagara." No architect was involved. What shaped this valley was coal: the Japanese-era Taiyang Mining Company built the Pingxi rail line between 1918 and 1921 to carry coal out of these hills. The line survived the mine closures of the 1990s and now carries visitors from Ruifang through the narrow valley instead. The falls are open daily from 09:00 to 16:30, and until 17:30 from June to September. Entry is free. From Shifen Station the walk takes about 25 minutes. The path runs alongside the tracks, past the visitor centre and over the Guanpu suspension bridge. Several viewing platforms get you close enough to feel the spray. A one-day Pingxi Line pass costs about NT$80 and lets you get on and off anywhere between Ruifang and Jingtong. Before or after the walk, spend time on Shifen Old Street, where shops line both sides of the working railway. Paper sky lanterns cost NT$200 for one colour or NT$250 for four. Write your wishes on them and release them from the tracks between trains. For food, try the boneless chicken wing stuffed with fried rice (around NT$75) and peanut ice-cream rolls. Two train stops away, the Taiwan Coal Mine Museum and its old coal wagons explain what the valley was built for. Insider tip: take the first train out of Ruifang and reach the falls by 09:30. You'll have the morning sun behind you for the rainbow and the platforms mostly to yourself before the tour buses come. On the way back, stop at the smaller Yanjing Cave Waterfall, just a few minutes off the same trail.

Pingxi's sky lantern custom dates to Qing-dynasty settlers in the 1800s. Villagers hiding in the hills from bandits were told it was safe to come home by paper lanterns sent up over the valley. Coal mining changed the area in 1921, when the Pingxi Railway Line was built to carry coal out. The mines have closed, but the single-track line still runs, and today the lanterns are mostly lit for tourists. Most releases happen at Shifen Old Street, where trains pass within arm's length of the shopfronts, and on the smaller Pingxi Old Street a few stops further up the line. Lantern shops open roughly 09:00–20:00 daily. A single-colour lantern costs about NT$150–200 and a four-colour one NT$200–250, with each colour standing for a different wish, such as health, wealth, love or career. Staff hand you brushes and ink, help you paint all four sides, then light the lantern and take photos as you step out onto the rails between trains. Shifen Waterfall, a 40-metre-wide curtain of water often called Taiwan's Niagara, is a flat 20-minute walk away. Entry is free, and it's open 09:00–17:00, or until 18:00 in summer. For food, try the deboned chicken wings stuffed with fried rice (around NT$75) and peanut-brittle ice cream rolls with coriander. The yearly Sky Lantern Festival takes place on the fifteenth day of the lunar new year, in February or early March. Thousands of lanterns rise together in timed waves from a field in Pingxi. Free festival lanterns are handed out through an advance lottery, so register early. The Pingxi Line day pass (NT$80) also covers Jingtong at the end of the line, where visitors hang wishes written on bamboo tubes. Insider tip: come on a weekday after 16:00, when the tour buses have left. Lanterns look far better against the dusk, and the shopkeepers have time to chat.

Beitou sits at the foot of Yangmingshan in Taipei City's northernmost district. It became a spa town under Japanese rule, and the Xinbeitou MRT spur line still delivers bathers to the edge of a steaming river valley. The water comes up at anywhere from 40°C to nearly 100°C. The main source is Thermal Valley (Hell Valley), a sulphur-fogged crater lake of acidic "green sulphur" water at around 90°C. It is free to visit, open Tuesday to Sunday 09:00–17:00 and closed on Mondays. Radioactive hokutolite ("Beitou stone") forms in the stream below. It is the only mineral named after a place in Taiwan. Downhill, the Beitou Hot Spring Museum occupies the 1913 Beitou Public Bathhouse. It was modelled on the Izusan baths in Shizuoka, with a brick lower floor, a timber upper storey and a Roman-style pool lit through stained glass. It restored and reopened in 1998. Entry is free and it's open Tuesday to Sunday 10:00–18:00. Take your shoes off at the door. For a soak, the open-air Millennium Hot Spring public pool charges about NT$60 and requires swimwear. It runs in timed sessions from 05:30 to 22:00 and closes for cleaning in between. Hotels along Guangming Road rent private tubs by the hour. Nearby, see the timber-clad Beitou Public Library (2006), one of Taiwan's first green buildings. The Ketagalan Culture Centre covers the area's Indigenous people, and the restored 1916 Xinbeitou Historic Station stands by the park. To eat, go to Beitou Market for braised pork rice or have sulphur-cooked eggs near the valley. Insider tip: take the 05:30 session on a weekday. You'll share the pool with local elders instead of tour groups. Avoid Mondays, when the valley and museum both close.

The Spanish built the first fort here in 1628–29 and named it Santo Domingo. The Dutch drove them out in 1642 and rebuilt it in stone in 1644 as Fort Anthonio, which is why locals call it the "Red Fort of the Red-Haired Barbarians". Britain leased the site in 1867 and used it as its consulate until 1972. The red-brick Consular Residence next door went up in 1891, built in the colonial veranda style with arched brick galleries. Today the complex is the centrepiece of the Tamsui Historical Museum. It is open 09:30–17:00 on weekdays and 09:30–18:00 at weekends, and closes on the first Monday of each month. Adult entry is NT$80 and concessions NT$40, and the ticket also gets you into Hobe Fort and the Little White House. Inside the fort, look at the thick Dutch walls, the ground-floor cells the British used as a jail and the Qing-era cannons on the lawn. In the residence, the upstairs rooms are furnished as they were in the late 19th century, and the veranda looks across the Tamsui River to Guanyin Mountain. Leave time to walk up the lane to Aletheia University, where Oxford College was founded by the Canadian missionary George Leslie Mackay in 1882. For food, head down to Tamsui Old Street. Try a-gei (fried tofu pouches stuffed with glass noodles), fish-ball soup and the chewy, soy-braised "iron eggs" that Tamsui is known for. Getting there is easy: take the MRT Red Line to Tamsui and walk 20 minutes along the waterfront on Zhongzheng Road, or take bus Red 26. Insider tip: at weekends, visit the Old Street first and arrive about an hour before closing. The tour groups will have gone, and in the cooler months the sun sets over the river mouth, right in front of the residence's west veranda.

The ferry from Tamsui to Bali is the oldest way across the Tamsui River (Danshui River) estuary. Boats have carried farmers, fishermen and traders between the two banks since the Qing dynasty, long before the Guandu Bridge opened in 1983. Today several small operators run the crossing from the pier just below Tamsui Old Street. The trip takes about seven minutes. Adult one-way tickets cost roughly NT$25–35, and you can pay with an EasyCard. Boats leave every 10–15 minutes from about 07:00 to 19:00 on weekdays, and until 20:00 or later on weekends and holidays. Crowds and weather change the timetable, so check the board at the pier. Bali feels slower than Tamsui. The riverfront promenade, called Bali Left Bank, runs under the green bulk of Guanyinshan, and a flat, well-kept cycle path follows the water. Bike rental stalls by the pier charge from about NT$100 an hour. The path runs about 4 km west through mangroves and wetlands to the Shihsanhang Museum of Archaeology. The museum opened in 2003, and its tilted, metal-clad building by Kris Yao of Artech Architects looks like a ship coming out of the ground. It covers an Iron Age settlement dug up nearby. Entry is free. It's open 09:30–17:00 on weekdays and until 18:00 on weekends, and it closes on the first Monday of each month. To eat, try the twin doughnuts (shuangbaotai), sweet fried dough sold warm at stalls by the pier. Also try a plate of "peacock clams" (green mussels) stir-fried with basil at one of the riverfront seafood places. A plate usually costs NT$150–250. Insider tip: cross in the late afternoon, cycle to the museum and ride back along the water at dusk. From the Bali bank, the sun sets over the river mouth, and you get the lights of Tamsui across the water without the crowds on the Tamsui side. **Check before publishing:** I wrote this from memory, without looking anything up. The fare, ferry times, museum hours, bike rental price and food prices may be out of date, so confirm them before the text goes live.

The Shihsanhang Museum of Archaeology opened in 2003 in Bali District, on the south bank where the Tamsui River meets the sea. Kris Yao of Artech Architects designed it, and the building has won several Taiwanese architecture awards. It is a steep wedge of exposed concrete and weathered metal set beside a reflecting pool, and it looks across the water to Guanyin Mountain. The museum covers the Shihsanhang culture, which lasted from about 1,800 to 500 years ago. It is the only prehistoric culture in Taiwan with firm evidence that people smelted iron. Construction of the Bali sewage plant in the 1990s destroyed much of the site before rescue digs could finish, and that loss shapes the story the museum tells. Inside, look for the famous clay jar with a human face on it, burials in which the dead were laid on their side, glass and agate beads, bronze knife handles, and Tang- and Song-dynasty coins that show links to trade across the region. A reconstructed longhouse and a rooftop viewing deck complete the visit. It opens 09:30–17:00 Tuesday to Friday and 09:30–18:00 at weekends. It is closed Mondays and on Lunar New Year's Eve. A full ticket costs NT$80 and a concession NT$40, but check both hours and prices before you go. Tip: take the ferry from Tamsui to Bali, rent a bike at the pier and ride about 4 km along the Left Bank cycle path. Aim for late afternoon, then stay for the sunset over the river mouth. On the way back, stop on Bali Old Street for fried peacock clams and twisted fried dough (shuang bao tai).

Guandu Temple (關渡宮) stands where the Keelung River meets the Tamsui River. It sits just inside Taipei's Beitou District, facing Bali in New Taipei across the water. Temple tradition dates it to 1661, which would make it one of the oldest Mazu temples in northern Taiwan. Mazu is the sea goddess who protected the fishing and trading boats that once came up this river. No single architect designed it. The ornate roofs and dense dragon-pillar carving are the work of generations of craftsmen, with major rebuilding in the 20th century. The temple is open daily from about 05:00 to 21:00, and entry is free. Walk through the main hall, then take the tunnel that runs about 100 m into the hillside behind it. It is lined with gilded Guanyin statues and small shrines, and it comes out on a terrace with views of the red arch of Guandu Bridge and the river bend. Upstairs there is a quieter rooftop with the Jade Emperor shrine and more views. The busiest time is Mazu's birthday, on the 23rd day of the third lunar month (usually April), when processions, firecrackers and crowds fill the plaza. The stalls at the temple forecourt sell grilled sausages, fried snacks and sweet tangyuan soup, cheap and good after the climb. About 15 minutes' walk east is Guandu Nature Park. It is open Tuesday to Sunday, 09:00–17:00 (17:30 at weekends), and adult tickets cost NT$60. Boardwalks cross the mangroves and rice paddies, and from the hides you can see egrets, herons, fiddler crabs and mudskippers. Birding is best from October to March, when migrating ducks and shorebirds arrive. Insider tip: Get off at MRT Guandu on the red line and rent a YouBike. Visit the temple in the morning, then ride the flat riverside path about 12 km to Tamsui for sunset. Check the tide times first, because the mudflats are most active for wildlife about two hours either side of low tide.

Tamsui (Danshui) sits where the Tamsui River meets the Taiwan Strait. It was a Spanish outpost from 1628 and became a treaty port in 1860, and the town still looks like both histories. The easiest start is Tamsui MRT Station, the last stop on the Red Line. YouBike 2.0 docks sit just outside, and rides cost about NT$10 per 30 minutes if you pay with an EasyCard. A flat riverside path starts right there and runs north for about 5 km to Fisherman's Wharf. It takes 25 minutes at an easy pace, with Guanyin Mountain across the water and the Datun volcanic range behind you. Stop partway at Fort San Domingo. The Spanish built it, the Dutch rebuilt it in brick in 1644, and it later served as the British consulate. It opens 09:30–17:00 on weekdays and until 18:00 at weekends, closes on the first Monday of the month, and costs NT$80. Before you set off, eat on Zhenli Street and Zhongzheng Road. Try a-gei (fried tofu stuffed with glass noodles and sealed with fish paste) for around NT$50, fish-ball soup, and a bag of chewy iron eggs from A-Po. At the wharf, Lover's Bridge opened on Valentine's Day 2003 and is lit at dusk. The sun sets over the strait, roughly 17:10 in winter and 18:45 in midsummer. Insider tip: take your bike an hour and a half before sunset. Weekend crowds make Zhongzheng Road slow going, but the waterfront path stays clear. The YouBike docks at the wharf are often full after dark. The blue-line ferry back to Tamsui pier takes about 15 minutes and costs around NT$60, and bikes can go on it for a small extra fee. You can also take the Bali ferry across the river and ride the Left Bank path at golden hour.