Taroko Gorge on the east coast of Taiwan is stunning. Steep, bright and beautifully cut marble walls, lush vegetation, mountains, and cascading waterfalls all the way down. Cycling this is one of the highlight experiences for any trip to Taiwan
One big tip – stay at the Taroko Lodge who can drop you off at the top of the gorge for a nicer cycle downhill. Whilst not super hard, the cycle up from the Visitor Centre, at the entrance to the valley, to just past the Tianxiang area, where most people finish, is around 20km / 1.5miles and with a net uphill of around 500m / 1650ft. For sure its a nice challenge for the 1.5 hours or so, but it can be a little bit of a slog uphill. If you stay at Taroko Lodge, which is a nice old-school homestay, they can arrange to rent you bikes and drop you off anywhere on the gorge, which takes the slog out of the whole experience. I took a very leisurely 2.5 hours to cycle from the bridge by Tianxiang back down to the Lodge. Bloody loved it