Is Wulai Taiwan Worth Visiting? My Honest Experience Visiting From Taipei

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Wulai is a mountain village south of Taipei, known for its indigenous culture and hot springs. I visited independently as part of a day trip from Taipei, using the local bus. Due to its location, it often receives a lot of rainfall. I was super lucky to visit on a sunny day, but on the other hand, some of the attractions were closed for renovations! Based on my experience, I still think Wulai is worth visiting, even if it’s just to enjoy the scenery!

How to Get to Wulai From Taipei

• My Route: 🚌Bus 849 = Approx 1hr 20 (45NTD)

If you search online the quickest way is to ride the green Songshan – Xindian MRT line to Xindian at the end of the line and then switch to bus 849. This takes around 1hr30.

For me personally, I was staying close to Taipei Main Station, close to where Bus 849 starts the route. It departs every 20 minutes. Rather than saving 10 minutes, riding the MRT and then switching to the SAME bus further down the route, I just decided to just ride the bus the whole way. I used my EasyCard to tap in and tap off.

In hindsight, this was a great choice. I was one of the first on the bus so I got a seat for the whole journey. Once it reached Xindian station there was a big line to get on the bus and nearly everyone got on there had to stand. The last part of the route down to Wulai is along winding roads, so I was glad to have my seat!

For more details, including the return journey and alternative ways to get there, I will be writing a full guide to getting to Wulai from Taipei [COMING SOON].

Things To Do In Wulai: What I Experienced

Enjoy the scenery along the river

The closest ‘attraction’ to the bus stop is the Wulai Suspension Bridge. This is a bright red bridge spanning the Nanshi River. A common theme with my trip to Wulai, this was also being renovated during my visit due to previous typhoon damage. I could just about see it, but I wasn’t able to cross it. On the other side of the river is a small temple.

Something that I found impressive was the colour of the water! On a sunny day the river was turquoise blue and against the green of the valley and with the buildings dotted along the hillsides, it was very picturesque! If you can plan a visit around the weather, this makes a trip to Wulai worth it on its own.

The best views of the river are from the bus stop to Old Street and then from the Langsheng Bridge at the other end of Old Street.

Once upon a time you were allowed to go into the river to experience the natural hot spring water, but I believe this is now restricted. There are signs up along the main river saying you can be fined for going in. (Although I did see some locals playing in the shallow part of one of the side streams, so I can’t say for sure the exact rules for this and whether it applies to the whole river or not).

Wander around Wulai Old Street

I aimed to reach Wulai quite early, so when I arrived, Old Street was still ‘opening up’. Looking on Google Maps, a lot of the places don’t open until 10am, so I actually did this on the way BACK to the bus. To reach many of the attractions in Wulai you’ll still need to walk along Old Street regardless.

There were many food vendors mostly selling local street food, but there were a handful of souvenir shops too! I collect pressed pennies and was happy to find a machine along Old Street! I got one with the Yun Hsien Resort cable car on it!

The Wulai Log Cart – Unfortunately closed during my visit

One of the most popular things to do in Wulai is to ride on the Scenic Train. This way one of my main reasons for visiting, as I really wanted to go on it as I thought it was novel, but it was closed during my visit! (They were resurfacing the road alongside the log cart and unfortunately they were unable to operate it safely!).

Visitors can ride the little cartoon decorated trains along the 1.5km track, which was historically used to transport logs through the valley. If you want to discover more about the history of the area and the log carts, you can visit the free Wulai Forestry Living Museum, which is opposite the waterfall station (closed on Tuesdays).

The journey from Wulai Old Street to the waterfall takes around 10 minutes and tickets are very reasonably priced (around £1.10 for a single journey). I had booked my Log Cart tickets* on Klook, but when I discovered it was closed, I was able to get it refunded instantly.

If you don’t want to ride the train, you can choose to walk to Wulai falls. The route is slightly longer than the scenic train, at 1.7km and it takes around 25 minutes.

Other than getting some unplanned additional exercise, I don’t feel like I missed out too much. For the most part I was following the tracks, so still got to experience the same scenery. Even though it runs along side the river, you can’t always see it. It feels more like walking through a forest.

There were also some public toilets half way along the route!

Wulai Waterfall

Wulai Waterfall is a 262ft, and is the highest waterfall in Northern Taiwan. There are a couple of viewing platforms and cafes from where you can enjoy the views. Depending on recent rainfall, this can change the strength of the waterfall.

My personal favourite photo spot, was a rooftop area near the car park. It had a moon and star swinging seat where you can see the waterfall in the background. It was also fun to watch the cable car going up to the top of the mountain (see below)!

When planning my trip I saw lots of people recommend Wulai Three Cafe for the large window overlooking the waterfall. But when I did my research, the drinks are quite expensive in comparison to other places and you can get very similar views for free outside. Unless you specifically wanted to pose with a drink, you could probably skip it.

Yun Hsien Resort and Cable Car

As the scenic train was closed, I decided to go up the cable car up to Yun Hsein Resort instead. Originally I was going to skip this! I jumped onto Klook and bought the cable car ticket online* and then just showed the QR code at the desk.

Essentially Yun Hsein Resort is a hotel on top of the mountain, and the cable car is a way for guests to reach the top. I would suggest facing outwards into the valley to enjoy the views, rather than standing on the side of the mountain, I couldn’t really see the waterfall from above.

There are also a LOT of steps to then actually reach the resort (including the painted Monkey Steps!) and you pass Yun Hsien Temple half way up.

Day guests can also visit the resort and there are a couple of paid attractions that you can do too (spoiler alert…a couple of these were shut for renovation too!). On Yun Hsein lake you can rent a row boat for 20 minutes. This WAS operating during my visit, but sometimes as a solo traveller some activities don’t always feel the same when you’re doing them alone!

Another activity you can usually do is archery and paint balling with targets. You can find more about the available activities on the Yun Hsien website.

I wandered along some of the forest trails that were open, and went across Wannian Bridge, before stopping at a kiosk for a pineapple ice cream and then jumping on the cable car back down. I’m glad I saw it, especially the views from the top cable car station, but it didn’t take up a huge amount of time. I was done within the hour.

Hot Springs

Can you visit Wulai without using the hot springs?

As well as the natural hot springs, there are also many hot spring hotels in Wulai. I skipped these because I had planned to do the hot springs in Beitou instead. Beitou was one of my Taiwan highlights, I loved the area and was glad I had a couple of nights there in a ‘budget friendly’ hot spring hotel.

However if you are looking for hot springs baths that combine scenic views, I think Wulai would possibly take the edge over Beitou. In hindsight, looking back at my itinerary, it may have been worth adding a Wulai hot spring experience too.

Not all of the resorts are close to Old Street though, so you’d need to look at the locations, in case they are further along the river. Some do offer shuttles. (Also, some of the public baths are gender separated nude springs, so you may prefer to opt for a private one instead).

I did find this one: Wulai Karuizawa Hot Spring Hotel*, which is right next to Old Street and has public bath entry. It’s fairly budget friendly, but it looks like the hot springs themselves don’t have the river-side views.

Alternatively, there is a small FREE hot spring foot bath next to the tourist information centre, close to the entrance of the Old Street. But this of course wouldn’t necessarily have the same relaxing feeling.

Regardless of whether or not you include the hot springs, I do think Wulai is still worth a visit.

How Long Do You Need In Wulai?

Altogether I spent around 5 hours in Wulai (9.30am until around 2.30pm), but of course if travelling from Taipei you then have to factor in the travel time. I had an early start, around 8am, and then got back to Taipei around 4pm.

If the log train had of been open, I probably would have got a return journey, therefore cutting out the 3.4km round trip walk and saving approximately 45 minutes.

I had also eaten breakfast in Taipei, therefore only stopped for an ice cream and 7eleven drinks/snacks while in Wulai. You may want a proper lunch or cafe stop. And if you did want to visit a hot spring, you’d then need to factor in time spent there too. Adding these, it could then potentially take up a big portion of your day.

Final Thoughts: Is Wulai Worth Adding To Your Taiwan Itinerary?

Yes, I think Wulai is worth visiting! Considering how ‘close’ it is to Taipei, it feels like it’s a million miles away from the big busy city!

I do think weather could have played a big part in what the experience is like though. Yes, a few of the attractions were closed, but seeing it in the sunshine made it look even more impressive and worth the journey. I could also just sit by the river and take in the surrounding.

If it was rainy, I think I definitely would have had to include a hot spring, just to have somewhere sheltered to hide up. So much of my time in Wulai was focused on outside things, and I don’t think I would have enjoyed them as much in the pouring rain (like views from the top of the cable car).

Reasons I enjoyed visiting:	Things that were a little disappointing:
*A change of scenery from Taipei. *Beautiful valley and river scenery. *A more relaxed atmosphere. *The opportunity to experience a different side of Taiwan.	*The log cart was closed. *Some of the resort facilities were being renovated. *Minor note, I stepped in gum and had to try and clean my shoe😂

I also don’t think you necessarily need to do it as part of a guided tour*. It’s quite simple to do independently and then you aren’t restricted to times. BUT it may be a more comfortable journey as private bus transfers would be included, rather than relying on potentially busy public transport.

Would I Visit Wulai Again?

Based on my experience, I would visit Wulai again but do it slightly differently. Hopefully the log cart would be in operation so this would be on the top of my things to do! I’d also add a hot spring, specifically one that had some sort of river or mountain view.

I don’t think I would go back to Yun Hsein Resort. I’m glad I did the cable car once, but for the price, I would probably skip this on a return visit. Even if all the attractions were open, for the most part the resort did feel a little tired.