7-hour Join Tour - Jiufen Village & Shifen Town

This review is for the tour company ProTourGuide . They gave us the wrong start time of 9 am instead of 1:15. After much run around they offered to book us on a tour with an extra stop and pay for entrance fee to the park which turned out to be about $3 USD. They told us to go to the meeting point and they left without us as it was booked so we were again stranded and had to call and wait two plus more hours before they got us on another tour. I purposely booked a small tour of 15 or under passengers as we were with my elderly mom. They said it was an upgrade but it was a large tour bus with about 40 people . The bus was difficult for my mother to navigate. I repeatedly asked for some discount to compensate for the wasted time and inconvenience as well as the tour was not what we expected but they denied us. It seems they only cared about keeping our money then making us feel like they cared about their customers and their experience .

First stop Shifen Waterfall which is Taiwan’s widest waterfall, measuring about 40 metres wide and 20 metres high. Often called the “Little Niagara of Taiwan. The famous sky lanterns are released in Shifen Old Street, right on the railway tracks that run through the town. Then to Jiufen is a historic hillside village in northern Taiwan that became prosperous during the gold-mining boom of the late 1800s. Today it is famous for its narrow lantern-lit streets, traditional teahouses, local snacks, and stunning views over the Pacific Ocean.

The tour is really great, Nana (Josephina) is super professional and fast, with a great sense of hospitality. We did the afternoon tour: Shifen falls, shifen old town (lanterns) and Jiufen by night. The first 2 spots are done very fast, no time for shopping or to go to the rest room, but we enjoyed. Jiufen by night was amazing, you feel lost in an animation. We got time to have a great traditional black tea in Jiufen tea house.

We signed up for a small tour. What we got was a massive chaotic tour with the guide do the tour in three different languages. It was so chaotic that people were making jokes that this must be the first time they got into touring business. I gave it 2 stars since the places we visited were very nice.

Pauline is an excellent tour guide! Well organized and lots of communication. The villages and the geo park were amazing even in the rain. This was an awesome experience. Thank you for a very memorable tour!

It is a must do if Visiting Taipei! It is a trip for the whole familly and our guide Mr jack was Fabulous and friendly! For people that have difficulties to walk

Our Shifen and Jiufen Night Tour was amazing! 🌙✨ Our tour guide, Nana, was so thoughtful and it really showed how much she loves her job. She also took beautiful photos for us and made sure we were well taken care of the whole time. The only thing I wish is that we had more time to explore!

The best thing about this tour is being able to try different local foods at the stalls, especially at Jifen. Jerry the tour guide did what he could I suppose, since he had to narrate in 3 languages. He was good with pointing out the highlights. The instruction for the meeting point is not very clear as the Taipei Main Station has a high speed rail side, and a MRT side exit.

Tour had a bit of everything to see, especially just for a short visit from my family coming from Australia and Philippines. Our guide now Tito Steve was so friendly and helpful. Would definitely recommend to my other friends and family this tour experience.

Our group was of eventually only seven guests and a melange of mainly different Asiatic nationalities, were greeted by Steve, our unassuming guide. It became increasingly evident that Steve was an experienced guide whom loved his job, perhaps, I dear say, his only and full time occupation. Steve is Polyglotte and quickly put all of us at ease with his quirky and amicable manner. We visited so many different places, it seemed like, coupled with his careful driving and his quintessential way of explaining things that we never experienced a dull moment. The highlight was, for me, most definitely our visit to Shifen ( to witness the launching of the good luck lanterns) followed by Jiufen, where we negotiated many steps, had ample time to eat, take photos and do shopping.. Steve was engaged in securing a vegetarian restaurant for me, which was admirably appreciative. One element which was clearly strange was the amount of the photos and videos Steve wanted to take of the group, but which became evident at the end of our excursion, upon being sent later that evening, a 4 mins video clip, masterfully edited, of the, our group. Our tour ended at one of the most popular night markets in Taipei, highly conveniently situated next to the metro station at the terminus of the green line ( sorry, I forgot the name and no longer have the metro map at hand). All in all, a wonderful full day tour, worth every penny or cent and trust me, you will not be disappointed. Just ask for Steve!!

If you like time efficiency this is the tour for you. George was so friendly. The van was very comfortable. We loved the tour size. We loved the time itinerary for the tour. It did not feel rushed but it also did not feel eternal. Each location we were given the appropriate amount of time.

Very well tour, love it. excellent tour guides, take care us from A-Z. They are very friendly, helpful and informative.

Very nice trip, nice nature and villages. Not far from Taipei and the length of the trip is therefore ok.

The guide Joana was the great! So nice and friendly , really help us to get the best from Taiwan. Look forward to come back.

Joanna was our tour guide and she was very informative and attentive! She's a great tour guide and I would recommend having her as my guide if I could pick! She's very kind and went out of her way to buy us something to drink because it was hot outside after leaving one destination and offered to drop us off at our hotels instead of the meeting point! 5 stars isn't enough to rate Joanna. It's 10 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Beautiful your, Tony our tour guide was very knowledgeable provided a great tour. It was a small group which made it feel more customized to what we wanted to do.

The tour went great for us. Our tour guide Mick was very funny, engaging and helpful. It was abit chaotic at the initial meeting point with multiple tours meeting at the same time, but the tour guides are pros and it all went smoothly. Definitely recommend.

Mickey was one of the best tourguides I ever had. He knows so much about the area of Jiufen and Taiwan as a whole and had some very good tipps about what to visit and what to avoid. The tour was very interesting

Good tour of Shifen and Jiufen for waterfalls, sky lanterns, shops, and night food. Justin was a great guide, funny and friendly.

Missed our flight so we didnt get to make our original booking but we messaged them hoping to go the next day. They were extremely responsive with emails when i explained our situation, and even notified us that there was a cancellation since the next day was said to be fully booked. Our tour guide justus was informative, funny and friendly. Highlight of our trip, would recommend this tour!

The trip to the place where the queens head is was extraordinary for me a visitor. If you are looking for a place u can be with wonderful creation to reflect and make meaningful retreat, this is the best place to go. Also the waterfalls are amazing. The trip was made even more beautiful by our guide Tina Wang. Very friendly and approachable. She's the best. Will definitely choose her bus to visit this wonderful again Also, the place where the windmills are located is breathtaking. It's a good place for rtreat as well especially if u ride Justin's bus.. like Tina, he's very friendly and shares a lot of information. He loves kids so if you're a traveller with kiddos, choose to ride with Justin. I will surely go back to these places, this time with my family.

It's definitely a great tour with a varietu of cool activities to take part in. But I have to say that Juifen has to be one of the most dense tourist areas that I've visited thus far. It may be well worth it to find a private tour that get there before the other thousand.

I did this tour with a good guide and it s really nice!!!We visited a lot of beautiful places and also I could learn about Taiwan. The experience to put wish in sky lanterns is unique and is a must do when you visit here. I Recommend!!!

I greatly enjoyed this tour from Taipei to Shifen waterfall, Pingxi district, and Jiufen! The communication leading up to the tour was very clear and provided easy directions to find the meet up point. The tour group was not too big and Lendl was an excellent tour guide!! Great value!! We spent an hour at Shifen waterfall and the area had several shops and local food options to enjoy there. Then the hour in Pingxi district was the highlight of the tour as we had the opportunity to write on lanterns and release them into the sky alongside the famous railroad tracks. Lastly, we spent two hours exploring beautiful Jiufen! I enjoyed the laid back atmosphere of this tour as I got to spend time in each place at my own leisure.

Have you been watching cartoons/anime when you were young? have you watched Spirited Away tv series? If yes, Jiufen village is the filming spot where the animators and writers got their story. You will have a very great chinese food trip in Jiufen village and their tiger milk tea is a must!

We did the 6 hour Jiufen and Shifen tour with Michael, and had a great time. Having a car and driver from Taipei sorted for us proved very convenient when compared to other options, and Michael's knowledge of the region and history helped make sure we didn't miss the highlights.

This was a very nice tour for the money. It would have been very challenging to do on our own, and certainly would have taken much longer and been drastically less efficient. Our tour guide Mick (Mickey) was rather entertaining adding to our enjoyment of the tour. Six hours is probably a minimum for covering these areas, and his efforts to ensure that everyone returned to the bus on time so we could keep the schedule was appreciated. Worth noting: 1. Allow plenty of time to get back down the stairs at Jiufen Village as it can be pretty crowded and the pedestrian traffic gets backed up. 2. At the Shifen Town, we should have put a marker on our maps, as we got a little lost returning to the pickup/dropoff location. This was our fault as we blindly followed our guide and didn't pay attention to the turns and landmarks we passed. Micky - 5 *****

Had the fortune to have a private tour with Jo and Erica - the founders, because I was the only person who had booked the tour on CNY eve. Even then, they kept their word and gave me a private tour on Jo's cool 25 year old blue VW. Both Jo and Erica were amazing, and took me to all these amazing places in Shifen and Jiufen (even got freebies, free food, and home cooked meals!). Not to forget all the hidden places to eat. Finally, they dropped me off at Elephant mountain because I told them that was my plan after the tour. Can't recommend them enough. Definitely the most fun tour I've had.