One of the best things about Taipei is how quickly you can leave it. Within an hour of the city centre you can be in a hot spring, on a mountain ridge, or standing at a fishing harbour on the northeast coast. Here are the three day trips I would actually recommend, plus a note on the one I would think twice about.

These work best as single-day outings, leaving from and returning to Taipei in the evening. Do not try to combine two of them in one day, however tempting the map looks. The roads along the coast are slow and the buses do not run as often as you would like.

Jiufen, and how to do it without the crush

Jiufen is a hillside village of narrow lanes and teahouses that has become very famous, partly because of a film and partly because of the way it looks at dusk, when the lanterns come on and the alleys glow. It is genuinely pretty and it is genuinely packed.

The trick is timing. Arrive by 10am, before the coaches, walk the old street while it is still navigable, and have lunch early. Then either leave before 2pm or stay through to the evening and accept the crowds in exchange for the lights. The middle of the day is the worst of both worlds.

Keep walking uphill past the main street. Five minutes above the tourist lanes the crowds thin sharply and you get the view over the coast without anyone standing in front of it.

Beitou, for hot springs and a slow afternoon

Beitou is a hot spring district at the northern end of the metro line, and you can be there in 35 minutes from Taipei Main Station. The springs are sulphuric and the whole valley smells faintly of eggs, which is part of the deal.

Options at different budgets

• The public hot spring baths, which are cheap and have specific opening days and hours. Bring your own towel.
• The private hot spring rooms in the mid-range hotels, bookable by the hour. This is what most people actually do and it is good value.
• The historic Japanese-era bathhouse, now a museum, for a look at how this was done a century ago.

Beitou also has a library built into the trees that is worth ten minutes, and a temple above the springs with a good view back down the valley. A half day here resets you completely.

The northeast coast and its rock formations

Take the train along the coast toward Fulong and the scenery does most of the work through the window. The draw is the strange honeycomb-weathered rock at Yehliu Geopark, sandstone sculpted by wind and sea into shapes that look deliberately carved.

Yehliu is popular and the main formations have designated photo spots with queues. Go early or late, and then push on to the quieter stretches of coast, where the road runs along cliffs above the water and there is almost nobody around. If you have a full day, continue to Fulong for the beach and the old tunnel bike path.

The one I would think twice about

Shifen, with its lantern releases on the railway tracks, is on every list. The lanterns are a real tradition and the photographs look lovely. In practice it is a small street, it is extraordinarily crowded, and the lantern releasing has become a production line. If you go, go on a weekday and combine it with the nearby waterfall, which is the better half of the trip.

Getting around

Taiwan's trains are punctual and cheap, and an EasyCard covers trains, the metro and buses. For Jiufen and Yehliu, buses from Taipei run regularly, but a shared taxi or a small group tour takes the guesswork out. Bring a light rain jacket whatever the forecast says, because the northeast coast makes its own weather.

Originally published on 71Asia Tours blog.