Taiwan Food Tours
Searching for Taiwan food tours? We are here for you!
As devoted food lovers, the ChinaTours.com crew just had to create this carefully curated selection of food tours of Taiwan. What could be better? An idyllic island, gorgeous scenery, friendly people - and that vital ingredient - amazing food.
For the traveler who gathers food memories like a collector of treasured artworks, we reached deep into our network of partners to assemble experiences, dishes, and destinations that will ensure your tour with us enlivens your tastebuds and is embossed in your mind as it should be; a beautiful travel memory. Like the millions from Asia who travel to Taiwan for the sole purpose of its food, on our Taiwan food tours, you’ll have the opportunity to explore a cuisine that draws on rich influences reflecting the island’s heritage - Hokkien, Hakka, Chaochow, Aboriginal, Japanese, and Dutch. Make daily forays and discover Taiwan’s best markets, sample exciting street food, create a farm-to-plate feast, discover traditional dishes, imbibe the local culture, and more. We know you want to travel that enriches and what better way to realize that goal than with new culinary experiences hosted by our lovely local bilingual guides. Read more
We know it takes more than food to make a tour, so expect our Taiwan food tours to bear all the hallmarks of quality ChinaTours.com travel: Exceptional accommodation options, exposure to traditional culture and contemporary local life, guides who care about every little detail, and a relaxed travel itinerary. Our tours are designed to bring you this tiny island’s coveted highlights: the National Palace Museum, the National Center for Traditional Arts, Jiufen Old Street, Yehliu Geopark, Sun Moon Lake, national parks, markets, big cities, tiny villages, and more.
If you’re ready to open your eyes to Taiwan and take an exciting food journey, we’d love to take you. Talk to our team today.
Every tour we create is a thoughtful curation of experiences, highlights, and landscapes, and our selection of food tours of Taiwan is no exception. Our goal for you? That you reach the end of your travel adventure feeling enriched, enlivened, and topped up with beautiful travel memories and more than a few delicious foodie experiences to boot. We want you to see and experience Taiwan as we do; a beautiful idyllic island with lovely, friendly people, and amazing, eclectic cuisine that broadens your culinary horizons.
Our twenty-plus years of designing vacations mean that we know a fabulous tour experience is always in the details, and that's why our mantra is:'no detail is too small.' We take great pride in creating our itineraries and selecting our travel partners, and would love you to experience that care on one of our Taiwan food adventures.
● Explore exciting cities like Taipai, Tainan, Taitung, and Kaohsiung.
● Discover destinations rich in natural beauty, like Taroko, Alishan, Kenting, Sun Moon Lake, and Yehliu Geopark.
● Unpack history at places like the National Palace Museum, Chikhan Tower, Fort of Anping, and old-world streets in places like Jiufen that provide a window into history.
● Wandering Taipei's famous traditional food markets.
● Farm visits and home stays that provide an experience of real Taiwan and its people.
● The opportunity for a hands-on experience with a cooking class in Taipei.
● Opportunities to delight in the full spectrum of Taiwanese cuisine, from street food to night markets, fabulous five-star and Michelin restaurants, a locals' favorite canteen, an operating trout farm, and even a traditional miner's lunchbox.
And if you've found an experience that's not on our itinerary, reach out. We'll do the research and make it happen.
● Design your own adventure - Have one of our tours in mind but want to add some extras? No problem. Change our tour or design your own from the ground up. If you want to explore more, we can arrange that with ease.
● Create your own pace - A traveler who likes to run their own race? It's all good. We can adjust your itinerary to suit, whether it's faster, slower, or in between, we can revise the tour itinerary to make it manageable and enjoyable for you.
● Add more experiences - You can mix and match any additional experiences to round out your own private tour by choosing from our extensive list of Taiwan experiences. Want it in? We can do that for you! Just ask us.
Curious and want to know more about our custom tours? Simply get in touch with our friendly travel consultants.
● Wander through Taroko National Park - For its fabulous walking trails, incredible views, and world-class photo opportunities.
● Immerse yourself in Alishan - Mountain views and the opportunity to immerse yourself in a forest of giant cedars.
● Amazing stone sculptures - Visit another world at Yehliu Geopark, a fascinating assembly of natural rock sculptures bearing an uncanny resemblance to all weird and wonderful things.
● Visit traditional food markets - Wander one or many of Taiwan's traditional food markets that are frequented by locals each day as they stock up on ingredients for daily dishes.
● Enjoy authentic local food - Dive into the unusual, interesting, and delicious flavors of authentic Taiwanese cuisine, itself a mix of many influences. From street food to five-star fabulous restaurants, Taiwan has something for every palate.
● Overnight at a homestay - Explore the traditions, culture, and people from Wujie Indigenous Village, then sample some typical indigenous dishes for lunch or dinner.
● Channel your inner chef - Attend a cooking class and learn traditional Taiwanese dishes like the famous xiao long bao. Expect to sample beef noodles, pastries, street food, and typical local breakfast.
● Visit the night markets - Enjoy the hustle, bustle, and seriously good food at any number of night markets in Taiwan. Perfect for immersing yourself in local flavors.
● Explore local life and history - The faithfully restored historical streets of Beipu and Jiufen offer much to the curious, not least of which is deep insights into how life once was for locals.
Taiwan food tours
Our Taiwan food tours are designed with the food lover in mind. We’ve focused on creating tours that balance the best of the island’s culinary highlights with natural landscapes, traditional culture, and memorable hands-on experiences.
Extra fun for food lovers visiting Taiwan
Looking for something a little special to include on your Taiwan food tour? In just about every destination in Taiwan, we’ve optional extras that can be built into your tour. Understanding that you’ll want to make the most of every minute on tour, we can work with you to integrate these special experiences into the overall tour schedule so nothing is missed - all while keeping the tour pace manageable and enjoyable.
Michelin restaurants
Michelin restaurants
Local street food and snacks
Local street food and snacks
Make the most of mornings in Taiwan
Make the most of mornings in Taiwan
Most local Taiwanese don’t have breakfast at home. Instead, they eat at the many breakfast shops/stalls nearby in the neighborhood or even have takeaway breakfast on the way to school or work. A staple of local life, it’s a rare person who lives without these convenient and affordable snacks. Typically, there are two main breakfasts in Taiwan; the traditional Taiwanese breakfast and a western (Taiwanese version) breakfast. Brunch is now also very popular. Choose from different types of toast, crepes, sandwiches, and burgers, served together with coffee or tea.
We highly recommend partaking of a traditional Taiwanese breakfast during your tour and try the following at least once: Flatbread filled with deep-fried dough sticks (Shao Bing You Tiao); also served with soy milk (Dou Jiang) - a classic combination. Other favorites include sticky rice rolls (Fan Tuan), scallion pancake (Cong You Bing), Taiwanese egg crepe (Dan Bing), white radish cake (Lobok Gao), and steamed stuffed buns, and fried dumplings (Guo Tie).
Food for Chinese New Year
Food for Chinese New Year
- Long mustard green leaves symbolize longevity
- White radish symbolizes good fortune (due to its Hakka pronunciation).
- Min cuisine's signature dish is Fo Tiao Qiang which literally translates as Buddha jumping over the wall. It symbolizes that splendor is maintained for the family.
- A whole fish promises prosperity for the new year, while a chicken symbolizes good luck. Dumplings shaped like ancient Chinese gold or silver ingots symbolize money rolling in and sticky rice cake heralds career promotion or improvements in the study.
- Meatballs or sticky rice balls symbolize the family reunion.
Experience authentic vegetarian food
Experience authentic vegetarian food
Every type of vegetarian is catered for in Taiwan, including vegans, so your dietary choices definitely shouldn’t stop you in Taiwan. Indeed, there are even Michelin standard vegetarian restaurants, street food stalls, right through to creative gourmet food, and bento on the train. Flavor influences abound and include traditional Chinese vegetarian cuisine to Japanese, Italian, Thailand, and Indian vegetarian food. Dig in!
Night Markets in Taiwan
Night Markets in Taiwan
For food lovers, night markets hold special appeal because they are really the ‘fast track’ to knowing and experiencing authentic street food and the life of locals in Taiwan. Not only are night markets a daily destination for devoted locals, but they also appeal to travelers from all over who are looking for their own culinary adventure, inclusive of including street foods, snacks, as well as popular and traditional dishes from China.
If you have more taste buds than time, make tracks for Shilin Night Market, the largest of its kind in Taipei. Add Fengjia Night Market in Taichung to your list too. It is the “matrix” of Taiwan’s night markets; a veritable maze where losing yourself in the food is easy. Take a step back in time when you visit the Liuhe Night Market in Kaohsiung with its 60-year history, or while in Keelung, explore Miaokou Night Market, the city’s most well-known and appreciated icon. And a final suggestion? Luodong Night Market in Yilan, famous for its authentic Taiwanese street food, shopping, and entertainment, should be included in your itinerary. A visit here is the perfect way to peek into the life of locals who can be found here every night.
Ready to launch? Let’s get you on your way! Reach out to our team of specialist tour designers today.
We can help with these and many more food activities
Speak with one of travel consultants to organize additional activities for your Taiwan food tour.