In this post, I will outline the route that I intend to take for my upcoming trip to Kinmen, Penghu and Matsu.
First of all, the only constraint that I have for this trip is the number of annual leaves that I can apply (even though I have enough leaves to travel for a month). The maximum number of days that I can be absent from work is 12 days. That gives me 2.5 weeks after adding in 3 weekends — a total of 17~18 days.
I miss the old days where I could just quit my job 😈 and travel without any leaves constraint... Yes, I made a 107-day trip to Yunnan, China, followed by Taiwan without much of a plan since I had all the time in the world. I was "forced" to return home due to expiring visas and the looming Chinese Lunar New Year season in 2013 that turned both places into super-peak period that made travelling expensive and inconvenient.
Back to this trip, after taking into considerations the time factors, the transports available, the sight-seeing spots, etc, I have worked out a travel route that covers most of the major islands and, as much as possible, avoided spending too much time on the mainlands. I want to focus more on the islands, not the "touch-and-go" tourist style.
My travel route will be as follows:
Day 1 (Thur | Sun | Tue) * : Xiamen to Kinmen
Fly from Singapore to Xiamen Gaoqi Airport (4.5 hrs)
Take airport transfer to Wutong Pier (15 mins)
Take ferry to Kinmen (30 mins)
Check-in accommodation
* See reason for Day 5.
Day 2 ~ 4 : Kinmen & Little Kinmen
Cycle around Kinmen, hunt for Wind Lion Gods, see sorghum fields, visit Liangjin Farm, eat the 3 weird food of Kinmen, etc (2 days)
Take ferry to Little Kinmen, cycle around the island, hunt for Wind Rooster, etc (1 day)
Day 5 (Mon | Thur | Sat) : Kinmen to Penghu
Fly to Penghu Makung Airport at 11:20am (40 mins)
Stay 1 night in Makung City
Tour Penghu Old Town, try the local food
‼️ Kinmen to Penghu flight is only available on Monday, Thursday and Saturday. So the travel period must be carefully selected to make this happens.
Update 20 Oct 2019:
Due to the super-low peak travel season in November and December, there are only Monday flights to Penghu. All flights on Saturday and Thursday are "unavailable".
Day 6 : Qimei Isle
Take ferry to Qimei Isle at 9:30am, (2+ hrs)
See Twin-Hearts Stone Weir, etc
Stay overnight on Qimei Isle
Day 7 : Wang'an Isle
Continue Sight-seeing on Qimei
Take 1:30pm ferry to Wang'an Isle (1 hr)
See old village, beach, etc
Stay overnight on Wang'an Isle
Day 8 : Back to Penghu
Continue sight-seeing on Wang'an
Take 2:30pm ferry back to Penghu (1 hr)
Stay in Makung City again
Day 9 : Penghu
Tour Penghu Island
See Kuibi Hill splits the Sea in Huxi Township, Daguoye Columnar Basalt in Xiyu Township, etc
Day 10 : Penghu - Taichung - Nangan
Fly to Taichung in the morning
Fly to Matsu Nangan at 1:35pm
Tour Nangan
Stay in Nangan
Now, I have 2 options after reaching Matsu Nangan, which is dependent on the mode of transportation to Taipei at the end of the trip.
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OPTION 1⃣️ : The Sea Route
This plan will make Dongyin the last island of visit before sailing to Keelung, Taipei, by ferry.
Day 11 ~ 12 : Beigan Isle
Take ferry to Beigan (20 mins)
Tour Beigan
Stay 2 nights at Qinbi Village
Day 13 : Nangan Isle
Take ferry back to Nangan
Continue to tour Nangan
Stay in Nangan... (can't be helped as there is only one ferry a day to Dongyin 🙁)
Day 14 *: Dongyin Isle
Take ferry to Dongyin at 8:30am 🚨
Visit Dongyong Lighthouse, Taiwan's northern most point
Buy ferry ticket to Keelung ‼️
Stay overnight in Dongyin
* The sailing day must NOT fall on a Tuesday!
Day 15 : Dongyin - Keelung
Take day-time Taiwan-Matsu Star (台马之星) ferry to Keelung 🚨
Stay overnight in Keelung or Taipei
If this day falls on a Monday, use the overnight Taiwan-Matsu ferry (台马轮) to Keelung, Taipei. There will be no need to stay another night in Keelung.
Day 16 : (Buffer Day)
Buffer day for delays or changes in schedule
Can stay in Matsu for an extra day or in Taipei
Day 17 : Fly Home
Take train to Taipei, then to Taoyuan International Airport
Fly to Singapore
🚨 Ferry routes to Dongyin and Keelung interchange on alternate days and service may be halted during bad weather. Any last-minute change in schedule or route may result in missing the flight home on Day 17.
🚨 This option has too many one-night stays at each location within the tight timeline. It will be good if I have longer time to make each location a minimum 2-night stay. Probably for another trip in the near future... 😁
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OPTION 2⃣️ : The Air Route
This plan will make Beigan the last island of visit before flying to Taipei.
Day 11 : Around Nangan
Continue to tour Nangan
Stay for another night
Day 12 : (Buffer Day)
Can stay in Nangan for another day, or visit Dongju or Xiju island
Subjected to ferry schedule for Dongyin, the trip to Dongyin can be brought forward to this day.
Day 13 *: Dongyin Isle
Take ferry to Dongyin at 8:30am 🚨
Visit Dongyong Lighthouse, Taiwan's northern most point
Stay overnight in Dongyin
* This day must NOT fall on a Tuesday! And also not on a Monday as there may be no ferry service back to Nangan the following day — unless staying on Dongyin for 2 nights.
Day 14 : (Buffer Day)
Can stay in Dongyin for another day in case of bad weather
Can stay in Matsu for an extra day or in Taipei
If I can confirm the ferry schedule till end of the year, I can probably allocate an extra day in Penghu County for Jibei Isle to the north.
Day 15 : Dongyin - Nangan - Beigan
Take ferry back to Nangan, then take another ferry to Beigan
Stay in Qinbi Village (2 nights)
Day 16 : Beigan Isle
Tour Beigan
Day 17 : Fly Home
Take flight to Taipei Songshan Airport
Transit to Taoyuan International Airport
Fly to Singapore
Evidently, I will go for Option 2 due to lesser change of accommodations every day and lesser unknowns from the ferry schedule. In addition, additional buffer days will allow for any change in schedule so as not to miss the flight home.
Note that the above is still a plan and is subjected to changes. I will update this post until I depart for the trip.
I have worked out the following:
The Objectives — what to see, do and eat,
The Transports — how to get in, around and out,
The Route — where and when to go (above),
Next, the "need to know" for the trip: