Likely part of most traveller’s dream Taiwan itinerary, Alishan National Forest Recreation Area in Chiayi County is one of Formosa’s fantastic natural wonders.
From its ancient tall trees to cherry blossom trails, sea of clouds and the famous Alishan Forest Railway, this is an amazing way to get back to nature.
Getting to Alishan and staying in Alishan Park isn’t as complicated as you might think BUT the key is to plan and book in advance, particularly during public holidays and Alishan cherry blossom season (usually March or April).
We’ve done a few day-trips to Alishan but recently in early 2025, we spent several nights staying in Alishan Forest National Park, so we could see the famous Alishan sunrise, visit nearby tea-plantations in Shizhuo and tackle the forest trails.
From where to stay to suggested things to do, here is our Alishan itinerary and how to spend two or three days in Alishan itself.
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Where to stay in Alishan
We’ve written a guide to all the best Alishan accommodation located with the park >
There are many places to stay on the outskirts of Alishan, but if (like us), you want to stay within the Alishan National Forest Recreation Area itself, be sure to book your accommodation months in advance as they usually sell out well before.
Whilst it isn’t cheap, there are lots of good quality accommodation in the park within walking distance of the train station.
Some of our recommended Alishan hotels and accommodation include:
Chinshan Hotel in Alishan
After much research, this is where we chose to stay based on the close proximity to all the Alishan Forest Recreation Area (and price), plus it is a 5 minute walk to Alishan Railway Station.
It is also within walking distance of Alishan Transport Center where the Chiayi to Alishan shuttle bus drops you off.
The bed was comfy and the room was lovely and bright, plus we had a nice view.
There are hot and cold water machines on every floor and free breakfast was served at various local restaurants organised by the hotel (breakfast was quite average though).
It wasn’t advertised, but there is a hotel shuttle that can drop you off at Alishan Transport Center.
Check out the Chinshan Hotel Alishan room-rates and availability on Agoda and Booking.com.
Alishan Hotel 阿里山賓館
If you want to splurge / treat yourself, the eponymous Alishan Hotel is a 4 star hotel with spacious rooms and views of the forest.
It is located a 14 minute walk away from Alishan station (but they provide complimentary shuttle buses).
The hotel also has buffet restaurants, cafes, bar, karaoke room, gym and spa. It is also the highest rated (based on guest reviews) of all the hotels inside Alishan Park on Booking.com.
Book on Agoda.com | Booking.com | Expedia.com | Hotels.com
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Alishan Gou Hotel 阿里山閣大飯店
Located a little inside the park near to Chaoping Station, this is the best Alishan hotel to base yourself in, if you want to be close to and walk the nearby Tashan Trail and Giant Tree Cluster Trail – the beautiful Alishan Shouzhen Temple is also a short stroll away.
Breakfast is available and the onsite cafe serves Starbucks coffee. A few people think it is a little remote at night given the location, but the main park restaurant and shop area is about a 10 to 15 minute walk away (or use their free shuttle service).
Book on Agoda.com | Klook | Hotels.com
For some cheaper Alishan accommodation alternatives, check out our Alishan hotel guide >
Alishan Itinerary – Day 1
Day 1 Morning – how to get to Alishan
Unless you have access to a car, most people arrive in Alishan from either Chiayi (like us) or get the Sun Moon Lake to Alishan shuttle bus – find out more about to get to Alishan from Sun Moon Lake here >
The two main ways to get from Chiayi to Alishan by public transport are the Alishan Forest Railway or the Alishan bus / tourist shuttles that depart from outside Chiayi TRA Railway Station or Chiayi HSR Station.
The shuttle bus journey is around 2.5 hours long and you can either book your tickets in advance at FamilyMart stores using the FamiPort ticket machines (which allows you to reserve a seat) – or you can just queue up and pay with your EasyCard.
Read our step by step guide to taking the Alishan to Chiayi shuttle (with 2025 prices) >
You can also look to book onto the Chiayi to Alishan Forest Railway but please note train tickets usually sell out in less than a minute after they go on sale (the tickets are released a couple of weeks before).
Alternatively you can arrange for a private driver to take you to Alishan, or book onto an Alishan day tour from either Klook, Get Your Guide or Viator.
Alishan Itinerary Day 1 – arrive in the afternoon
We’ve kept this Alishan itinerary afternoon schedule a bit flexible for day 1 as it kind of depends on what time you arrive and whether you are getting one of the more frequent buses or the Alishan Forest Railway.
To enter Alishan Forest National Park, you will need a visitor permit which lasts for your entire trip. It costs NT$300 per person but if you show a special yellow receipt given to you from the bus driver when you arrive in Alishan, it is only NT$150 per person.
Most Alishan accommodation and hotels have check in from 3pm so we tried to time our arrival to Alishan Bus Station for just before 3pm. The majority of the hotels are a 5 to 10 minute walk from the bus station and any further away Alishan hotels will usually provide shuttle bus services.
Once you’ve dropped your bags off, we’d recommend heading straight over to Alishan Train Station to purchase your Alishan sunrise train tickets (unless you plan to walk the long journey in the dark tomorrow morning).
Tickets for tomorrow’s sunrise train are usually on sale until around 4:30pm (or you can book them in advance online here).
In the station, you’ll also find signs by the ticket desk stating what time the Alishan sunrise is plus what time the train departs (usually about an hour before sunrise).
Taiwanderers tip – One of the most useful Taiwan apps to download is the Sea of Clouds (雲海人) app which helps you determine the chances of seeing the famous sea of clouds. So if you are staying several nights in Alishan, you can make a judgement call on the best morning to see sunrise.
Afterwards, if it is before 5pm, we’d recommend walking over to the Alishan Visitor Center (map) to pick up some maps and any find out any updates on closed trails. Alishan Visitor Center is open daily from 8am to 5pm.
Other things to do on day 1
Nearby trails
Depending on how much time you have left or whether it is dark already, you could hit some of the nearby trails like the Alishan Forest boardwalk trail that leads directly from Alishan Station.
Alternatively go a little bit further and do the Shuishan Trail (1,600m) or Shuishan Healing Trail (800m). We’ll give an overview of all the main Alishan trails on day 2 of our Alishan itinerary.
Alishan Post Office 阿里山郵局
You might also want to check out arguably Taiwan’s most beautiful Post Office, which is also the highest post office in Taiwan.
Open until 4:30pm on weekdays only, the amazing architecture is reminiscent of a beautiful temple and you can buy Alishan postage stamps and souvenirs inside. Outside is also one of the few Alishan ATMs / cash machines in the forest / park area.
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Alishan Stamp Collecting
One of the most popular topics in our Taiwan Travel Tips (TTT) Facebook group is collecting ink stamps around Taiwan – you can even buy a dedicated Taiwan stamp collecting book >
Alishan is actually one of the best places to collect stamps (or even start your Taiwan stamp collection). Each Alishan Forest Railway station has their own unique stamp PLUS Alishan Visitor Center has several stamps, including a date stamp which they update daily.
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Night time Alishan Stargazing & Fire Fly Tours
Due to the high elevation of Alishan high up in the mountains, it is one of the best places in Taiwan for stargazing, with next to no light pollution.
Some hotels and tour operators in Alishan offer stargazing tours – ask in the Alishan Visitor Center or find more information on the official Alishan National Scenic Area Headquarters website >
Alishan restaurants and eating out
There are actually a limited number of restaurants within Alishan National Forest Recreation Area (plus a couple of food-courts) – and most of these close at 8pm.
We ate a couple of times at the Naromafei Food Court 娜若瑪菲 小商圈 (map) as many of the other restaurants had queues plus relatively expensive menus.
We dined at Xiangyi Xiaochi (21 noodle dishes) 香姨小吃(21麵食) (map) where the food was hearty and cheap, plus some naughty fried food at the chicken and chips stall next door, 協力旺炸雞 (map).
For late night food in Alishan National Forest Park, you only really have one option…
Alishan 7-Eleven
There is one 7-Eleven in Alishan itself open 24 hours – sadly the 7-Eleven at Alishan Transport Center / Bus Station closed down permanently in mid 2025 – so be sure to grab your snacks from within the park before going to the bus station (or there is a nice cafe on the upper levels with views looking out over Alishan).
Whilst we aren’t saying you should be going to 7-Eleven in Alishan for every meal or snack (shop local), you might find our guide to what you can buy in the Alishan 7-Eleven useful (especially if you didn’t pack a rain mac)!
Alishan Itinerary Day 2
Morning – Alishan Sunrise / Sea of Clouds
For the second day, it is likely a very early start if you are going on the Alishan sunrise train to hopefully see the famous ‘Sea of Clouds’.
We’d recommend getting the Alishan Sunrise train otherwise you’ll need to get up even earlier to do the hike to Zhushan sunrise viewing platforms in the dark.
The train from Alishan Station to Chushan station takes around 25 minutes.
As you arrive at Chushan Station, walk out and you’ll find some food stalls in front of you to the left. These open very early serving dishes like Chinese omelette, tea eggs, french toast, a variety of soups or sausages. They also sell hand warmers for $NT40 and raincoats for $NT50.
If it is a cold day or you are a caffeine craver this early in the morning, tea and coffee can also be bought here.
You now have a choice of two main Alishan sunrise observation decks – Zhushan Sunrise Observation Deck 祝山觀日平臺 (located right next to Zhushan Station) or Xiaoliyuanshan Lookout 小笠原山觀景台, around a 550 metres walk from the station (approx a 10 minute walk).
Based on images we’d seen on Google Reviews, we decided to head to Xiaoliyuanshan Lookout as it looked much quieter (which it was) and the views were more ‘panoramic’.
Check out our full guide to see the Alishan sunrise and Sea of Clouds here >
Post Sunrise
After sunrise, you can either get the train straight back to Alishan Railway Station or stick around to enjoy some morning tea and then walk back – which we did.
Mountain Ali Tea No.35
茶田35號 小笠原二館
Time for Taiwanese tea – a quick mention of a cute little teahouse called Mountain Ali Tea No.35 which is on the trail between Chushan Station and Xiaoliyuanshan Lookout.
Open daily before the sunrise until 1.30pm, we decided to do a pitstop in this tea shop with real altitude on the way back after sunrise. Handily, there are also free toilets for all below the main cafe area.
The owners welcomed us in and sat us next to the heater (it has been a cold sunrise) and offered us some tea (which was served with cake).
The views are stunning and it was nice to have a cup of Alishan tea looking out towards the mountains – it kind of reminded us of a ski chalet in the Swiss Alps!
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Late Morning / Early Afternoon
Exploring Alishan National Forest Recreation Area
Depending on what time you get back to the main Alishan National Forest area, the remainder of your day can be spent exploring the forest trails.
We picked up a very detailed Alishan map for free from the visitor center – they also recommend downloading the Alipedia app (Apple | Google Play) which has lots of information about the local area and augmented maps.
There are many different trails and short hikes in the main forest area. Some of the Alishan National Forest best trails and things to do include:
Alishan Forest Railway
Whether you are hiking through the forests or just want to let the train take the train, it is well worth taking a trip on the iconic red and white trains through the forest.
Alishan Forest has several railway stations with all trains going to and from Alishan Station.
- Alishan Station is the nearest station to the park entrance, many hotels and the transport center,
- Zhushan Station is where you need to go to see the sunrise (the station is only open for 1 return journey per day at sunrise).
- Sacred Tree Station is located in the heart of the forest.
- Zhaoping Station is the midway point between Zhushan Station and Alishan Station.
Most of the rail journeys last only a few minutes but there is something magical about riding through the forest on a steam train waving at tourists (and the occasional squirrel).
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Alishan Cherry Blossom Trail
The peak flowering period for Alishan cherry blossoms is March to mid April and there is a dedicated Alishan Blossom Festival each year (usually in March).
Alishan is famed for its Tokyo King tree, sometimes referred to as the King of Cherry Blossom. The cherry blossom area dates back to around 1913 when a forestry worker named Mr Kondo started an appeal to raise money to buy blossom trees – he ended up having enough money to buy over 1,900 trees!
Three Generations Trees
A trio of generations of cypress trees have grown from the same root system, with the first generation likely to have been established over 1,500 years ago.
Around 250 years after it died, new seeds started to grow here using nutrients from the old tree before being followed by a new generation 300 years later.
Now, protected by wooden fencing, these moss covered trunks and branches look magnificent and are a reminder of how long Alishan has been around, growing from nothing.
Giant Trees Plank Trail
If you only have limited time in Alishan, this easy trail through century old trees is probably the one walk you need to experience. This is a wooded walk consisting of two loops, one of which is 600 meters in length and one 400 meters in length.
If you’ve seen misty pictures of Alishan’s forests before, this is likely where they were taken and it is genuinely like taking a step back in time (well apart from the tourists in bright jackets using phones and cameras)!
The trails are fine for anyone with a good general level of fitness and at the end, you could always make your way to the Sacred Tree Alishan Forest Railway Station and get the train back to the main park.
Follow the Giant Trees boardwalk through the forest and along the way, you’ll find 20 labelled ‘Great Cypress Trees’ (amongst many others) that have stood the test of time.
There are only five species of cypress tree left in the world of which two types can be found in Taiwan (the others are in the US, Canada and Japan).
Thousand Year Cypress & Wooden Bo’ai Pavillion
Once named the ‘Banzai’ (the Japanese for 10,000 years) because forestry officials once thought it looked like two arms being raised to wish an emperor long life. It was renamed Thousand Year Cypress to be more representative of its true age.
Nearby, the Bo’ai Pavilion looks magnificent made out of wood and marking the start of the No.1 tree on the Giant Tree Trail.
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Dr Kawai Memorial Monument
The inscribed stone monument dates back to 1933 to commemorate Dr Kawai Shitaro, who completed a game changing tree survey in 1903. His work showed that Alishan Forest was home to over 300,000 trees which led to a logging development plan.
Ciyun Temple & Sea of Clouds viewing platform
Once known as Alishan Temple, this is one of best places in the forest itself to see the mystical ‘Sea of Clouds’ when the weather conditions are favourable – on a clear day, you can see for miles around and there is also a little tea shop outside.
Ciyun Temple is a Buddhist place of worship and dates back to 1919 – visitors are not allowed inside the temple but you can explore the grounds, including the big bronze bell outside.
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Xianling and Shouzhen Temple
Xianling is the area where a lot of coach trips and tourists depart from. It is famous for its Magnolia Garden plus its huge several storey Shouzhen Temple – you just don’t expect a temple of such magnitude to be in the forest!
Shouzen Temple was built in the 1940s and apparently has the highest elevation of any temple in Taiwan.
Xianling Service area has a food-court with about a dozen or so food and souvenir kiosks, in case you are in need of a snack or drink during your Alishan Forest foray.
Sisters Ponds
A pair of naturally formed ponds, the larger of the two (Elder Sister Pond) has a pavilion in the center made from local cypress wood.
The area is said to be full of myths and legends – Younger Sister pond is usually full of water in the summer months but often disappears completely in the winter months.
From Sisters Ponds, we walked up the remaining trail through the forests past Alishan Gou Hotel to Zhaoping Station.
We then got the train through the forest back to Alishan Station, collecting another souvenir stamp at Zhaoping Station before we boarded.
By now, it should be early evening so grab some food back at the Alishan Forest National Recreation Area.
If the weather was bad on night 1, you could look to do your stargazing trip tonight instead.
Optional Day 3 Alishan Itinerary
For your third and final day in Alishan, you can either:
- Spend your day at leisure in the park or do further away hikes and trails, like Tashan, Mountain known for its steep cliffs and amazing views of Yushan (Jade Mountain), Duigaoyue and Mabolasi Mountain.
- Do a day trip to nearby Shizhuo or Fenqihu by bus. The two main Taiwan tourist shuttle buses 7329 and 7322 depart regularly from Alishan and stop at Shizhuo (only a few go to Fenqihu).
Day trip to Shizhuo
‘Drink in’ the tea-filled views of Shizhuo – this traditional Taiwanese town high in the hills is small but sublime which makes it easy to explore with several short Shizhuo trails 石棹步道群.
Taiwan’s tea fields are aplenty around here and thankfully, the green and verdant valleys of Shizhuo are just a bus ride away from Alishan and Chiayi.
The main Taiwan shuttle buses that go through Shizhuo (sometimes via Fenqihu) are bus numbers 7329 and 7322.
Famous trails here include the Mist Trail, Tea Trail, Sunset Trail and Sakura Trail and many can be completed in about half a day – be sure to make some time for tea!
Read our guide to all of the Shizhuo Trails here including more transport information >
Another popular day-trip is Fenqihu, famous for its old street and tranquil trails – this is where we’d like to explore next time we are back in Alishan.
Other things to know about staying in Alishan
- No smoking is allowed in the park apart from a few designated areas like the booth next to the first traffic checkpoint – if caught, smokers will be fined between NT$2,000 and NT$10,000.
- No pets are allowed in the Alishan Forest Recreation Area, to prevent the spread of rabies (although we saw loads of stray cats).
- No barbecuing or camping is allowed inside the Recreation area.
- Remember to get a park permit (NT$300 per person, NT$150 with proof of a bus ticket) as you enter the Recreation Area.
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