Guides · Cycling in Taiwan
Getting from Taoyuan Airport to the Ten-Day Traverse Start Line in Kaohsiung
Riders who want to cross Taiwan in ten days usually skip the full loop. They start in Kaohsiung in the south and work counter-clockwise up the island, handing the flat western city stretches over to transport and saving the east coast and the mountain roads for their own legs. This "traverse" cuts almost a week off a full circuit. But it raises a very practical problem on day one. How do riders, bikes and luggage get from Taoyuan Airport to Kaohsiung, more than 300 km away? This guide lays out the real thresholds on all three options. The High Speed Rail size rules, the Airport MRT's new bike policy, and a direct transfer. So you know what arrival day looks like before you book the flight.
Why a traverse instead of the full loop
A full circuit of Taiwan takes roughly two weeks, which simply does not fit a ten-day holiday. A traverse breaks the loop apart. The western plain is mostly cities and industrial zones, heavy with scooters and visually repetitive, so many riders skip it by high speed rail or transfer vehicle. What remains, the east coast and the Central Mountain Range. Is the part people actually came to ride. Same holiday, very different quality of road.
The recommended direction is counter-clockwise, south to north. Taiwan drives on the right just as Korea does, so riding counter-clockwise keeps the coastline on your own side of the road, with better views and fewer lane changes. Starting from Kaohsiung has another practical benefit. The first few days are largely flat, giving your body time to adjust to Taiwan's heat and humidity. By the time the route reaches climbs like Taroko and Wuling, you already have close to a week in your legs.
The real threshold on the HSR is that 220 cm line
A standard reserved seat from Taipei to Zuoying costs about NT$1,490, and a direct train covers it in a little over an hour. Which is why this leg comes up in almost every traverse plan. Bringing a bike aboard, though, is stricter than most people expect. No single item longer than 150 cm, combined length plus width plus height no more than 220 cm, and total weight no more than 40 kg. Meet all three and pack it properly, and it travels free like ordinary luggage in the large-baggage area at either end of the car.
The clause that catches people out is what happens above those limits. If the package exceeds the hand-luggage spec but stays within 200 cm tall, 40 cm wide and 70 cm long, you must buy an additional full-fare reserved seat for it at your carriage class. In other words, roughly another NT$1,490 on the Taipei–Zuoying run. Packaging also has to be a proper bike bag with nothing exposed; plastic bags, cloth sacks and improvised wrapping are not accepted, and staff check at the gate or on board, with the right to refuse carriage. Given the 220 cm ceiling, removing only the front wheel is usually still over the limit. Most riders need to take the rear wheel off as well and drop the seatpost. It is worth measuring at home before you fly.
The Airport MRT takes assembled bikes, but rarely works for groups
Since 10 March 2026, every station on the Taoyuan Metro Airport Line allows fully assembled, non-disassembled bicycles. Good news for anyone who would rather not break a bike down at the airport. The conditions, though, are substantial. On regular weekdays it is open only from 10:00 to 16:00 and from 22:00 until the last train, with no bikes outside those windows. The size cap is 180 cm long, 120 cm tall, 70 cm wide. A dedicated bike ticket is required, adding a flat NT$50 to the normal fare. And bikes are only permitted on all-stop trains, never the express.
For a traverse, the binding constraint is quantity. Bikes may only be placed at doors 1-1 and 1-2 on the first car and doors 4-2 and 4-3 on the last car, with a maximum of two per door zone. Eight bikes per train, total. A group of eight or more therefore cannot move together this way and has to split across departures. Add the requirement to walk bikes via stairs or lifts rather than escalators, and hauling luggage plus a bike through an interchange stops being trivial. A bike that is folded or disassembled and packed under 165 cm on its longest side, with combined dimensions under 220 cm, travels free as ordinary luggage with no time window or surcharge. But that means taking the bike apart again.
The third option is a direct transfer, with the bike left assembled
Line the two sets of rules up side by side and the cost of a connecting route turns out not to be only the ticket price. From Taoyuan Airport you take the MRT or an airport bus to Taipei Main Station, then transfer to the HSR for Zuoying. At least two points where everything has to come off and go back on, and the bike must stay packed for the whole journey. In other words, the bike you boxed up at a Korean airport does not get unpacked until Zuoying, and every transfer in between means carrying a box or bike bag through a crowd. Go over the size limits and there is an extra full-fare HSR ticket on top.
A direct transfer removes that entire section. The vehicle meets you at an agreed pole number in the arrivals hall, bikes go aboard fully assembled, nothing has to be taken apart a second time, and there are no metro time windows or per-train quotas to work around. One vehicle to the start line in Kaohsiung or Kenting. For a group of eight or more, each with a bike plus luggage, this is usually the only way the whole team moves together. Pricing depends on group size, number of bikes, destination and time of day, so we do not fix a number here. Send us your itinerary and we will come back with a matching option.
How to plan arrival day
Oversized items like bike boxes and bike bags cannot be processed at self-service baggage kiosks; on departure they have to go through a staffed airline counter, so allow more check-in time than an ordinary passenger would on your way home. Arrival works the other way round. Clearing immigration and waiting for baggage is usually the slowest part, so there is no need to rush outside. A pickup vehicle can time its arrival around that buffer. Both T1 and T2 arrival halls at Taoyuan have clearly numbered meeting poles outside, and agreeing on a pole number with the driver in advance beats trying to find each other in a crowd.
It is also worth deciding on the start line in advance. If you want to touch Taiwan's southernmost point, Kenting is roughly another 80 km beyond Kaohsiung. A full extra day by bike. Setting the transfer's endpoint at Kenting instead saves that day and lets you start properly from the southern tip the next morning. Either way, spending arrival day confirming accommodation and the next day's resupply points is far more useful than forcing distance out of it. Taiwan's heat and humidity are unkind to a body that has just come off a plane.
FAQ
How long does it take from Taoyuan Airport to Kaohsiung?
By rail, the Airport MRT express reaches Taipei Main Station in about 36 minutes and a direct HSR train runs Taipei to Zuoying in a little over an hour. But with two transfers, luggage handling and waiting, budget most of a half day. A direct transfer runs straight through, with no connection or waiting time to account for.
How far do I need to strip the bike down for the HSR?
To travel free as ordinary luggage, the packed bike must be under 150 cm on any single side, under 220 cm for length plus width plus height combined, under 40 kg in total, and inside a proper bike bag with nothing exposed. Plastic bags and cloth sacks are not accepted. Against a 220 cm combined ceiling, removing only the front wheel usually still exceeds the limit, so most riders take the rear wheel off and drop the seatpost too. Anything over that spec but within 200 × 40 × 70 cm requires buying an extra full-fare reserved seat to carry it.
Can eight people with eight bikes ride the Airport MRT together?
In theory you are exactly at the cap. An all-stop train holds a maximum of eight assembled bikes. Two at each of four designated door zones. So if any other passenger boards with a bike, your group cannot all fit. Combined with the weekday windows of 10:00–16:00 and after 22:00, the ban on express trains, and the requirement to walk bikes via stairs or lifts, groups of eight or more usually end up moving in one transfer vehicle instead.
Can the transfer go all the way to Kenting so I start from the southern tip?
Yes. Kenting is roughly another 80 km beyond Kaohsiung, which costs a full extra day by bike, so setting the transfer endpoint there removes that leg. The exact arrangement depends on group size, bike count and arrival time. Send us your flight and itinerary and we will reply with a matching suggestion.
Sources
Rules and road conditions change — always check the official announcements before you travel.
Related guides
- Flying a Bike from Korea to Taiwan, Baggage Rules and What It Actually Costs
- Bring Your Bike to Taiwan｜Airline Baggage Rules
- TPE Taoyuan Airport Bike Pickup & Transfer
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Tell us your plan and we will suggest an option based on group size, bike count, and days.