Travelling to Taiwan with a baby sounds like a new parenting challenge!
Months before we welcomed baby V, we were toying with the idea of travelling after the confinement period. But after she arrived, we couldn’t bear to leave her here in Singapore while we were miles away. Eventually, we decided to bring her along and my parents as a support team. LOL. Proper planning is definitely required especially when bringing a baby overseas.
For a checklist on what and how to pack the luggage, our previous article might help ease those nerves.
We had about 7 days in Taiwan and our route was: Taipei > Taichung > Cing Jing > Taipei, approx. 2 nights at each area.
As first time parents plus first time flying with a baby, we did have several considerations (including eventually bringing my parents along. Oops!), so to new parents in the same shoes: It’s not undoable (is there such a word??)!! We came back in one piece happy! :P



Taiwan Travel with Baby Day 1: Singapore – Taipei – Taichung
Beacon Hotel – Feng Jia Night Market
Almost 4 hours later, we arrived at Taipei International Airport, hopped on the shuttle bus headed for the Taipei High Speed Rail (HSR) Main Station (there’s only 1 bus that goes there! Get tickets from the right counter.) where we were due to take our pre-booked train ride to Taichung. Journey to Taichung takes about 30minutes by the High Speed Rail.
We booked the Business Class seats as my parents wanted a more comfy ride. It was definitely more spacious, chairs are bigger (2-seater instead of 3-seater at Economy Class) and drinks (choice of juice, hot tea, coffee, water) and a small cake was served.

Upon reaching the Taichung station, we headed to the McDonald’s at the station to meet the local driver uncle who was to send us to the hotel. Journey to Beacon Hotel took about 40 minutes but the ride didn’t seem that long as the traffic was pretty smooth in the evening and it was a 7-seater (yay!) so all’s good.
Despite it being our first time travelling to Taiwan with a baby, my energy level shot up instantly upon discovering that Feng Jia Night Market was literally at our doorsteps! REJOICE!! We checked into the room, freshened up baby Vera and scooted out pronto – that explains the lack of pictures of the room… LOL!
Hotel rooms in Taiwan are usually “just right” or sometimes less spacious. With a king-sized bed plonked in the centre, a mini fridge, full height 2-door wardrobe, 42″ LCD TV, toilet amenities with glass-doored partitioned shower area and a study table + chair; we couldn’t ask for more knowing it’s going to be a place to snooze re-energize. Baby cots are available upon request during booking, and the room came equipped when we entered. Only to realize it became a white elephant because baby Vera has been co-sleeping with us at home anyway, what more with a King sized bed now!
The attentive folks at the reception asked if we needed a bathtub too, so do note to request from them if you’re planning to travel to Taiwan with your baby. It was a simple Combi bathtub, good enough but just be careful if the baby is learning to crawl or likes moving around as it does get slippery in there if you’re used to using a bath mat or other accessories for added friction.
Feng Jia Night Market is hailed as a must-go place when visiting Taichung, and prices are presumably cheaper compared to Taipei city. It covers a pretty big area and there were several food stalls with long queues (especially the 大肠包小肠 stall that was just next to the hotel. Hub immediately proclaimed that he was going for it!), and we noticed quite a few strollers being pushed around.
We opted to skip the stroller and simply put Vera into our carrier since it was already night time when we arrived and we weren’t planning to stay out too late. We were glad about this decision because it freed up our hands when we scouting around for snacks and munching them as dinner. With a carrier, it was also easy for me to nurse her on-the-go whenever she needs.




The night ended quite early (by our standards of a usual Taiwan trip) as we didn’t wish to overtire Vera and turn her schedule topsy-turvy. Indeed, she snoozed like a log after nursing to sleep – we actually had some proper rest as she slept right through; it’s been a long time! Things were looking rosy on our first holiday with our baby! :D
Taiwan Travel with Baby Day 2:
Local Produce Store – Hong Rui Zhen Sandwich – Miyahara Eye Hospital – Dong Dong Yu Yuan – Xinshe Castle – Mushroom Town – Feng Jia Night Market
We started the day with breakfast at the hotel’s café and baby V had her share of plain porridge from the buffet line. Seeing that we were all eating, she felt left out I suppose. So we put her on the high chair and took turns “entertaining” her while we gobbled ate.










After breakfast, driver uncle came to pick us at the lobby and we discussed the itinerary for the day. First stop was a store to get the “best Tai Yang Bing (Sun Cakes)” as he proclaims. They were very generous with samples and gave each of us a full piece. I tried them but wasn’t too impressed, so I didn’t get any and I obviously didn’t remember its name either. Oops.

Along the way to Miyahara Eye Hospital, we stopped by Hong Rui Zhen Sandwich as driver uncle was sharing that it was popular among the locals for its fresh and soft sandwiches. They have only one store in the whole of Taiwan so we bought some to try. Our verdict: tastes soft and fresh but a tad sweet for me.


Before we decided to travel to Taiwan with baby V, I did some research on what to see/do at Taichung. Interestingly, Miyahara Eye Hospital (宮原眼科- Gong Yuan Yan Ke) came up, and it looks too pretty to miss!
With a unique story proposition like being converted from an eye hospital, and turning it into a spanking new snacks boutique with pretty packaging. They are part of Dawn Cakes, the same team who are famous for pineapple cakes and the works. But at the eye hospital, packaging sells. There’s a sit-down restaurant on the second floor, so if you’re planning for a date or high tea, this can be a nice option too. Let the pictures tell you more!















We didn’t get to try the ice cream cos the queue was soooo long!? I read about others raving about their special flavours. But seriously, with what seemed like 40 pax in the queue – no thanks, man, because queues are blah (to me, at least. not very Singaporean, hor? LOL)





Next stop: Xin She Castle (新社古堡). There’s a Lavender Cottage (薰衣草森林) that some tourists recommended too but my mum isn’t too much a fan of flowers and grass (as she claims), so we skipped that.
Along the way to Xin She Castle, we swung by Dong Dong Yu Yuan for yam balls and sweet potato balls that drive uncle was raving about. Seems like there’s only one of this shop too, and apparently popular with the folks in Taichung.


Xin She Castle is at an open space area with a mini man-made waterfall too. But the weather was scorching, so it wasn’t too enjoyable.
Fortunately, I remembered to whip out baby V’s sunblock! Unfortunately, I forgot about myself applying it on myself, so I had to dig out the sunblock we bought from Watsons’ the day before. It was much cheaper to buy it from Taiwan, especially since it’s Summer, hence, most sunblocks/sunscreens/anti-UV/BB creams/CC creams and whatnots were on sale! Happy bee! :P
Baby V’s Mustela sun protection cream was easy to spread and didn’t leave unsightly white patches on her skin. It didn’t really feel sticky too, so that was a good thing!
For adults (okay, basically I was the only one who bothered to apply sunblock), Biore Super UV Milk was light on the body’s skin, spreads easily due to its watery nature and seems to turn slightly powdery, without a sense of stickiness. On my face, Aqualabel UV Milk (bought from Watsons Singapore) was watery and spreads with no fuss, but it seemed to give me a tinge of white on my face/pearly effect, so it made me look whiter according to Hub.

We toured the area in under an hour and took some pictures. Skip the gift store – the items are from different parts of the world and tagged with high prices. The entrance ticket comes with vouchers to offset your purchase (I think it was TWD$100?) but nothing was priced at that value and we couldn’t find anything worth buying so we walked out in 5mins.
Along the drive to our next destination, driver uncle mentioned that his 17-year-old daughter was holidaying in Singapore for the first time, with her friend. It was her first overseas trip etc… so we were casually chatting away. Until later, we understood why…








It was nearing noon, so driver uncle said that he would bring us to dine at their popular mushroom eateries. Apparently, that whole stretch of road houses various restaurants that focus on mushrooms. Interesting to know, because many of them have their own mushroomy farms so it’s basically hort (hot, geddit, geddit??) off the soil!
We were a tad disappointed with the place he took us to, as it wasn’t like anything he had described. We had a steamboat of mushrooms and veggies, stir-fried veggies and meat. Soup-based tasted herbal but slightly bland. Excuse the lack of pictures here, but I guess you can check out that stretch for many mushroom dining places.
My colleague went to an indoor one and she said the food was good. Ours was a little rundown, it was outdoors, and the weather was rather hot, plus steamboat smoke in our faces! Haha, what were we thinking?!
At this juncture, drive uncle told us that his daughter just rang him and that she was arriving in Taipei soon but didn’t know how to get home from the Taichung airport (?!) so driver uncle needed to pick her from the airport instead.
Thus, he pre-arranged for another driver to send us around. As ours was a 7-seater, we asked him if it’d be the same type of vehicle. Well, after our meal, the other driver came and it was a regular 4-passenger yellow cab! So we squeezed our barang barangs in the boot and ended up like sardines with 3 adults sitting at the back and a baby. Gosh! Oh well, I mean, what can we say or do, right?


We spoke with this stand-in driver uncle that we wanted to go shopping elsewhere apart from Feng Jia Night Market, so he brought us to another area for shopping. I can’t recall the name, but it’s those typical night market format.
Unfortunately, it started pouring just when we started shopping. The grounds were wet and shelter was limited. The men (my dad and the hub) went to purchase some umbrellas so we walked for another half an hour or so while waiting gingerly for the rain to cease. It started to get heavier, so we decided to call for the driver uncle to pick us up, and we headed back to the hotel to clean up as well as bathe baby Vera before making our way to Feng Jia Night Market for our second round of shopping plus tummy fillers!
By now, you’d realised that our holiday in Taiwan with baby V was planned around having her well-rested too :)









Part 2 of our Taiwan holiday itinerary can be found here.
Taiwan travel with baby Day 3:
Rainbow Village – Cultural Village – King Garden – Paper Dome – Feeling 18deg Cafe – Cing Jing (Star Villa)
The day started with breakfast at the hotel again, and we were kinda sad as it was pretty much the same food offered. Nonetheless, after a quick breakfast, we hopped onto our 7-seater (our actual driver+car came back! LOL) and started to plan the day with him.
First stop, Rainbow Village (台中彩虹眷村), where we saw vibrant, colourful walls adorned with illustrations. These murals were done by a 90-year old uncle fondly known as Grandpa Rainbow (彩虹爺爺), who was present at the site for autographs too! He beautified the walls in a bid to save the area from redevelopment and successfully turned it into a talking point and a popular must-visit attraction for tourists and locals alike.
There was also a street performer – Rainbow Iron Man – who sang Chinese songs under the scorching Sun. The weather was a killer, seriously but we managed to get some postcards as souvenirs too.


We quickly headed back to the car for aircon while baby Vera was already in dreamland! And got ready to drive to the Cultural Village.

As its name suggests, it was all things cultural there. Traditional toys and games, exhibits, food stalls, food variety and presentation style etc were in sync.
We explored Carton King, one of the places to visit when you’re in Taichung. Also, we were told that there were no admission charges here as opposed to the store at Cing Jing. To be fair, this store was bigger than the Carton King at Cing Jing.

Lunch was a meal of minced meat noodles (not the same as Bah Chor Mee, okay!) and my legs were getting tired from all the walking. Had to nurse and eat at the same time, which was often done during the trip. Haha, multi-tasking takes on a new level with our first family holiday to Taiwan with a baby! :P





























Then, we made our way to King Garden (元首館), where an English-looking establishment with giant chess pieces and a horse carriage greeted us. Several visitors were posing with these props for photo moments, and many others were streaming into the building.
With the scorching weather in Taichung when we visited, being indoors was the best bet. Inside, it was akin to stepping into the confectionary section of a department store – displays of snacks such as their local favourites of pineapple cakes and tea were sitting on the shelves. There was even a bakery and that explained the crusty aroma of fresh bakes. The hub couldn’t resist it and we bought some bread to share with the family.
Mum’s attention was caught by a lady selling nougats. These came in multiple flavours from sweet to savoury, even soft or hard types too. Mum sampled a couple of flavours and ended up buy over a dozen sticks! Baby V was also in a jovial mood, flashing cheeky smiles when I whipped out my mobile :P






After getting some food for my colleagues, we left to make our way to Paper Dome (紙教堂).
Driver uncle recommended this place as it held memories of a major earthquake that destroyed the actual church in Kobe. Shigeru Ban, an internationally known Japanese architect, came up with an idea to recreate the temporary church using only paper (cardboard tubes). It has since been transported over to Taichung, sitting in a garden-like area which is opened to the public. NT$100/pax fee applies which can be used to offset purchases in the small shops/stalls within the area.
Tip: In fact, you can simply spend that NT$100 value like money, without any minimum purchase. We got some cute hair clips for baby Vera and hand-sketched postcards from the local folks there from the shops deeper in the area. Skip the first shop you see, unless you’d like to get a drink.




By then, it was around early evening, so we started to drive towards Cing Jing; estimated to take about 2 hours or so on a direct trip.
Before embarking on the route, driver uncle raved about a coffee place that was very popular in Taichung. He asked if we take coffee, and it was a unanimous “yes!” from us. LOL.
The best thing was, everyone gets to drink for free! Why is that? Basically, the FREE coffee and tea serve as crowd pullers (or lost leaders in the business sense), and the real deal comes from the sale of chocolates and cakes. In fact, Feeling 18 deg Café (18度巧克力工房) was generous with their cake samples too.
The beat the scorching evening sun, some folks (including us!) “hid” at the bakery to stay in the air-conditioned area. If your skin is thick, you can keep grabbing their cake samples to go along with your free cup of drink. And surprise, surprise! The queue to purchase chocolates was snaking long too! The entire style of the place is clean, minimalist and pretty Japanese-inspired too.












After we finished our drinks, we hopped onto the van to proceed with our drive to Cing Jing.
Our accommodation for the night was Star Villa at Cing Jing, and the town is known not to have any nightlife. Hence, before we got banished up in the highlands, driver uncle arranged for our dinner near the hotel.





My legs started to feel the chilling wind during dinner.
After devouring homecooked local fare to fill our tummies, we popped over to a nearby 7-11 for food or drinks we might need. The men got some alcohol and instant noodles, and off to our mountain home!
Mind you, since Star Villa was on high grounds, lots of climbing expected as there are no lifts. Parents travelling with babies and young children might want to request for rooms on the first level (ours was on 3rd and superbly big, and my parents took the 4th floor) but those rooms might be the smaller ones. You will need to lug PLENTY of things: luggage, stroller, diaper bag – basically, pre-empt your hubby on the impending workout which is part and parcel of travelling with your baby, alright? Keeps him warm, anyway :P



After checking in and cleaning up baby Vera, we took turns to shower and got ready for a good rest in the uber big bed!
Oh, not forgetting to eat some peaches that we bought along the journey up. Taiwan peaches are famed for being juicy and sweet, but they spoil easily so buy what you can finish so food is not wasted. Off dreamland in the cold mountains! :)
We toured Cing Jing the next day, and made an amazing discovery which many do not know of yet! Look out for the next article as we share our family experience exploring Taiwan with our baby – Baby V’s First Trip – Taiwan Escapade (Part 2)!
Join us on our family adventures via Facebook, Instagram & Pinterest too!
Hi, came across your blog post and liked the trip details blogged by you. Oh, do you also mind sharing on the contacts of the 7-seater car driver? Will be heading to Taiwan in 2 weeks time with 3 toddlers.
Thanks much! :)
Hello Alicia, wow 3 toddlers?! No mean feat! Sure, maybe you can drop me an email and I’ll pass his contact details over. Might not be nice to post up publicly. Haha.. cheers and thank you for reading! :)
Hi, would u mind sharing wif me the contact details n the pricing of the driver too if u could still remember. N also noticed that there’s this high chair cover u r using for Vera where did u get it frm?
Appreciate yo kind advice.
Thks
Hello Lynn! Do drop me an email at thehootingpost(at)gmail.com and I’ll be happy to send u his contact :) The high chair cover was from NewBabySingapore and it comes in different colours too – hope this helps! Have a great day! :)
Baby V looked like she had such a great time there! Totally salute ur hubby for carrying such a big backpack and babywear Vera at the same time!
Haha oh dear, looked like he kena tekan by me right?? LOL!;We took turns to carry either that crazy bag or kangaroo our junior and my shoulders and back were breaking after that :( Trying hard to explain… hahaha
Hi babe, I could not find your email contact. May i trouble you to drop me an email instead for the driver contact and its pricing scheme? Thank you very much! Baby V is fluffy cute!! :D
By the way, what are the major problems you have encountered when bringing an infant on an overseas trip? Crankiness or meal feed issues? Am quite worried that our itinerary will be super delayed, having us to deal with to the 3 toddlers niece and nephews (all below age of 2) along the way.
Hello Alicia! Sure, I’ll email u his contacts. Have deleted yr email add to avoid bots or phishing :) Am on the plane now for our next trip hehe.. send you a note when I get wifi later :) have a good weekend ahead!! :)
Hello Alicia!
We’ve just gotten back from Penang, apologies for the delayed email reply! Do check your mailbox and hope you have fun in Taiwan too! Hear from you again :)
Hi,
Your blog is a great tip for me. Will be travelling with my lo soon to Taiwan. Is it okay for you to share the contacts of the 7-seater car driver and the price? TIA
Hello Emily!
Aww, good to know it’s useful! Sure, i’ll be dropping you an email shortly. Keep a lookout ;)
hihi, how did u manage the sterilization of the baby stuff? Did u use boiled tap water or boiled bottled water?
Hello Del!
We boiled water in the hotel to sterilize the utensils when we got back at night. It helps that the hotel has an electric kettle. Alternatively, sterilizing tablets can be used as well. They can be purchased at the main baby stuff shops :)
Hi, im planning to bring my 10 mth old to taiwan soon. Thanks for your blog cos it’s our first time travelling with a baby.
May i ask you for the driver’s contacts and pricing? Is he reliable?
On average for your itinerary, did you have to rush? What time you left hotel in the morning usually? Im planning for a leisure one but would also like to go as many places as possible.
Also, does starvilla provide baby cot? Thank you!
Hi Kate, great to know our tips have come in useful for your upcoming trip :)
Well, the main reasons we didn’t really like about the driver was when he suddenly told us that he had to pick his daughter and had to transfer us to another driver. He mentioned the new ride would fit us comfortably just like what we booked but along came a taxi! Not sure if we should say it was quite a rude shock. To make matters worse, he actually asked my hubs to help him pass some items to his I-don’t-know-who in Singapore! So, we were taken aback at this strange request from… well, pretty much a stranger! That was our experience then, but if you’d still like to have his contact, do drop me a note at thehootingpost@gmail.com, and i’d be happy to send over :)
As for the itinerary, we left it rather free and easy, and ad-hoc. So we pretty much took our time, leaving the hotel only at 10plus or 11am. Which areas will you be visiting? With your tot, it might be good to take it slow and easy, especially since there will be other stuff to lug around e.g. stroller/carrier, diaper bag etc.
Star Villa was lovely, not to mention the awesome weather up there! :D We had a super king bed and co-slept and the room was huge, but you might need to ask if they do provide a baby cot. Can’t recall why we didn’t have one in our room – either they didn’t have, or my hubs just decided we should all co-sleep, since we do that at home anyway. And the rest of the cots that we requested for in other hotels ended up as white elephants. Haha!
Hope this was helpful. Happy planning! :)
Thanks for your reply! I will be visiting mainly Taichung and cingjing for 7 nights. Will not venture out too far because will be our first time overseas. I’ll try and get another driver then… :) I would follow you to stay at beacon hotel, but hopefully can get baby cot in one of the hotels in Cingjing. Thanks again!
Sure, have fun and enjoy your holiday!!! Tell me how it goes when you’re back, ok? :)
Hihi !
May I know where u rent the baby car seat in Taiwan ?
Thanks !
Hi Either,
We got it from the driver whom was hired for the trip. They would usually be able to provide upon request at a fee. They only had front facing though. Hope this helps!
Hihi !
Thanks for the useful information :)
Hi Hooter,
Think we will be in the same situation as you, We hv 5 of us with my hub and me, my 2 kids and my mum. We are skipping all the Taishung place (quite a pity) and will head CJ Sta Villa immediately after Scoot into TaoY and HSR to TC. After which we are at a lost how to get there (from TC HSR to CJ Star Villa). I was thinking of using a 7 seaters. Heard that the uncle driver you are using is no good? How much he charge actually? Was thinking of going to somewhere along TC before heading to CJ (18 deg / England castle).
What I think he mentioned his daughter call him (uncle driver) is not true, why out of a sudden during your 2 days his daughter call when his father is working. Anyway idk.
Do you mind dating his name and contact?
Thanks
Hello Apple!
Sounds like a fun holiday coming up for you!
Well we had the uncle driver for our stay in TC only as the other areas are easily accessible in a way. He was good in suggesting different places to go, I’d say. And yeah! We couldn’t quite figure out why he had to pick his daughter suddenly by citing that she doesn’t know her way from airport to home. Strange that she actually went overseas on her own then. Lol. That was the main less positive part of the service. And weirdly asking us to bring things back to SG to pass to his friend… oh well.
The trip will be fun! 7 seater makes a more comfortable ride esp with kids and older folks plus the getting on and off bit :) When are you planning to go?
If you’re still keen to have his contact details, i can email you separately :) Have a great week!
Hi, we are planning to go Taichung too with 2 babies on hand. hahaha
Could you share your driver contact with me?
Hi Sock Wah! Sure, would you be able to drop me a note at thehootingpost@gmail.com? I’ll reply you in a jiffy! :)
hihi! thank you for your interesting post on your trip to Taiwan with you baby! Find it especially helpful cos we will be travelling there with my 8 month old and staying in the same hotel too. but been worried about the long ride there.. 4 hr 30 min plane ride, 20 min shuttle bus, 30 mins HSR and 40 min car ride. was it ok for your baby girl? you know how 8 months old are very kaypoh and cannot sit still now.
Hello Wendy! Thank you for dropping by :)
Hehe, yup i totally understand your concerns for the seemingly long journey. But no to worry, it was actually pretty do-able! We put her in the stroller/carrier when we’re moving around. Once seated down in the plane, bus, train or car, we put her on our laps and she was pretty happy! Do keep water and snacks with you, as well as your baby’s fave toys. That would be helpful to keep them entertained :P Hope this helps, and do tell us how it goes!
Hi Alicia, your post is really interesting. I’m heading to Taiwan this Oct and would like to get from you the contact of the driver. Also where did you rent the baby car seat? Would like to make sure LO is safely strapped in the car. Thank you so much!
Hello Angie, thank you for dropping by! I hope the message was meant for me, as I’m not Alicia.. Hehe.. The car seat was provided by the driver as we had requested for it. It’s front facing though, as they only had this. Sure, do drop me an email and I’ll be glad to share with you his contact :) Cheers!
Hi Hooter, so sorry for the wrong name! I have just dropped you an email and thanks for your help and advice!!! :)
Hi, I’m heading Taiwan with my baby. may I know where u rent the baby car seat from?
Hello Angela, the car seat was provided by the driver upon request :) hope this helps! And, happy planning for your upcoming trip too!
Hi, can I ask where to rent a clean and good baby car seat in Taipei? Thanks.
Hello Viv! We rented it through the driver, so it was provided for when he came to pick us too :) Hope that helps!
Hello! Love all your pictures of your little cutie! She’s probably not so little anymore! I will be travelling to Taiwan in Dec from California with my 1 year old. Did you bring your own stroller? What was most helpful during your trip? It will only be my husband and me. Thank you!
Hello Liezi! Thank you for swinging by to read our Taiwan holiday adventures with a baby! Haha you’re right, she’s now an active 3 year old! ;) Time flies! Yes, we brought along the stroller although she’s quite an anti-stroller child. Most of the time she was in the carrier or in our arms. If ure planning a fair bit of walking and exploration, the carrier comes in handy especially at night markets where it’s crowded. The stroller doubled up to hold our shopping bags and diaper bag! :p Hmmm, I’d say staying positive during the trip makes any challenges a better experience. Things may not go completely as planned, but it’s okay. Chill and enjoy the family time, and take loads of photos too! It’s cold in Dec, so do keep warm too! Have fun and look forward to hear about your trip! :)