Yehliu & Jiufen & Shifen Day Tour (Departure From Ximending)

This trip was very well organised and Johnson did really well to control a full coachload of people from many countries. Parts of the trip did feel somewhat hurried and maybe it would have been good to have slightly more time in a couple of the places. I would advise people to take some snacks with them, as the food option at the lantern place were shockingly bad - every place sold the same thing and it all looked dire. Consequently nearly everyone in the group was in the Family Mart buying food for lunch (this was the only place in the town). Food options in Jiufen were so much better and we had more time there, but logistically we were there last. All in all it was a good and full day !

Dillian Hsu is a very good, knowledgeable, professional tour guide. And the tour was so also excellent despite the rai

Our tour guide Dillian was excellent. The tour was super smooth, efficient and well organized. We also loved being able to pre-order experiences and food while on the bus and arrive to destinations with everything set up and ready!

We had an amazing time with Raymond. It was very knowledgeable and kind with us.

Jeff was a great tour guide. He was very efficient and helpful with a good sense of humour. We enjoyed all the stops and had good advice on how to best enjoy each within the allotted time .

Jacky was very engaged and motivated to give the group the good time. He shared many interesting stories. Thank you for making this tour amazing. Only one thing which I was not satifisied was lack of information about pickup in my booking and ticket. I had to text tour operator seperately few hours before to ask because I didn’t know where is the pick up place. Please try to put all trip info in the ticket - will be much easier. Apart from that, tour was absolutely wonderful. Thank you!

The tour is very well organized. Sophie gave us all the necessary information, showed the sights, organised lunch, helped with tickets, answered questions, and she was very pleasant and kknowledgeable. The stops were very interesting. We especially enjoyed the waterfall. The bus was comfortable and clean. The driver made the ride smooth. Overall, we had a very good time.

Michael was a great tour guide! We enjoyed our visit to Taiwan and this tour was one of the highlights. The spirited away tea cafe was very surreal. Thanks 🙏!

Ken was a fabulous guide, and I had a wonderful time. I saw parts of the country I never would have been able to see on my own. I’m very grateful for this tour.

Great day out. Good communication pre tour. Enjoyed sites with tour leader Tommy. The bus was comfortable and safe. Tour leader was approachable and ensured we had the information we needed for the sites we visited. Good value for money.

So glad to have booked with this company. Our guide was Emma and she was the best!! She’s very caring and was informative about the entire trip and making sure we get the most and best for each visit. When I thought about staying longer at Juifen Old Street, she made recommendations and advice on how to get back to Taipei using the local bus. I really appreciated her. I ended up getting back with the group after realizing I’ve had enough steps for the day. 100/10 recommend this tour and I hope you get Emma.

Definitely recommend this affordable and comprehensive tour! The transportation was prompt and we travelled to multiple main attractions from the Yehliu Geopark with the iconic rock formations, the Shifen Waterfall and Shifen and Jioufen Old Street which was my favourite as I loved the vibes! This is the best experience out there and thanks to our lovely tour guide Emma who made the day more memorable and pleasant! Choose this one!

Great time! From a dry warm place, definitely not acclimated to the humidty (it wasnt even particularly hot today!) But that goes for all of Taiwan, not just the places we have visited. Had a great time on this tour and saw some beautiful sites and our tour guide Emma was fantastic! I would definitely recommend this experience if youre looking to see what is outside the city for the day!

Had a lovely experience. Ivy was a superb tour guide.

It was a long day but a good day and ticked a lot of boxes. Would recommend. Take the tour guide up on their offer for food and drinks for pre-order.

Highly recommended😊😊😊 Tour Dillian is very delightful, accommodating, and helpful throughout our trip. We felt safe and comfortable during our entire tour because of her. She made our travel experience more enjoyable and memorable. Thank you so much Dillian for taking good care of us and making our international tour travel a great one! We truly appreciate you 🥰🥰🥰🥰

We had an absolutely wonderful day with Dillian! Our tour took us to Yehliu Geopark to see the unique rock formations, Shifen to see the beautiful lanterns, and Jiufen to explore the charming old streets and local market. The tour was excellent from beginning to end. Dillian has such great energy and did an amazing job keeping our large group together and on time without ever making the day feel rushed. She shared interesting stories and information about each place, and I especially enjoyed the mini food tour she gave us along the way. She also had excellent suggestions for unique gifts and souvenirs to bring back home. She was friendly, knowledgeable, organized, and genuinely made the day more enjoyable. I would highly recommend Dillian and Routor Travel to anyone visiting Taipei. She was a fantastic guide and helped make our day truly memorable.

Dillian was amazing! Very fun tour and moved at a perfect pace. The price was very reasonable. The tour lasted 9hours.

I did this tour solo and Sophie was very welcoming and we saw a lot and we were kept safe on time. I love the organization and the information about Taipei. If you are thinking about it just do it.

Amazing full day out to see multiple sites. Great contrast to the city. Beautiful coastline. Waterfalls to scenic views a must not miss

Just had a blast with my tour thru R Day Travel with our extra awesome guide Eric (aka superman!) It was done with great efficiency & we were all taken cared of in every stop, especially me since I am traveling alone. Can’t highly recommend enough for group or solo travel, definitely go with R Day/ Router Travel. Big shoutout to Eric, I’m group #8 for Aug 14 tour & will definitely be recommending my friends/ family your way.

We had a fantastic day out. Emma was an awesome host, loved the lantern experience. Would highly recommend. Thankyou Emma from Mark and Donna New Zealand.

I have fallen in love with Taiwan as a country and doing this tour just made it even better it’s so beautiful and very green. The locals are so kind and our tour guide Dillian was so wonderful always making the ride in between stops feel shorter with entertainment and very cool facts about Taiwan. Overall would absolutely recommend this tour it was a wonderful experience

Michael made very enjoyable recommendations trip to future visitors, quite warm so be prepared for weather conditions

All day fun tour! Our guide Kevin is most amazing. He is funny, informative, knowledgable, considerate and energetic. We love that we got to visit all our destinations for the day. He is also kind to offer to take pictures and very keen on his store recommendations.

Perfect daytour, on time during the complete trip. Emma was perfect tour guide, changing from both mandarine and English.

Best tour ever, especially Michael, he is the best.

Great experience solo traveling. Tour guide Kevin was great. There were a lot of great sites we got to see on the tour.

Our guide, Kevin, is amazing and very helpful.. The trip is very well organized. We really enjoyed it.

Black is a funny guy! Great sites. Black sells you things on the bus so you don’t have to wait in line so bring cash but don’t feel like you have to buy anything.

Dillian was a great tour guide and was very knowledgeable about each destination!

This was fun and our guide, Black was very accommodating, friendly and funny. He nailed the Southeast Asian humor thing. Wish we had more time to take pictures in the Taoshi bus stop though. Also shout out to our driver that day, don't know his name but he was so good at driving! He kept us safe and on time. Will definitely recommend this travel agency!

Such a great experience. A lot of sceneries are good for taking photos. Having Sung-Ping as our tour guide made our travel and tour experience more enjoyable with his humors and jokes. Thank you!

Excellent tour service! The guide was knowledgeable, friendly, and well-organized. The itinerary was enjoyable, and everything ran smoothly from start to finish. Highly recommend for anyone looking for a stress-free and memorable experience

[Summary]The itinerary and route itself were well-planned, but the entire experience was completely ruined by a highly unprofessional guide. Joining a tour with this agency is a total gamble on how low your guide's standards can get. 🚨 Three Major Offenses of the Guide: Ah-Bin 1. Absurd Language Arrangement & Forced Audience:We clearly signed up for a "Chinese-speaking tour," but the guide insisted on conducting the entire tour in English just to accommodate a few people who didn't speak Chinese. When some tour members mentioned they couldn't understand English, the guide actually replied: "Just have the other tour members translate for you." To make matters worse, his English was incredibly poor, showing he is clearly not a professional English-speaking guide. It was a painful struggle for him to speak and pure torture for us to listen—complete mutual suffering. 2. Extreme Double Standards & Hypocrisy:Right at the start of the trip, the guide severely threatened everyone that they must be on time, otherwise, the bus would leave without them. Ironically, when we arrived at the attraction, the guide himself was late, leaving the entire group waiting for him out in the open. 3. Appalling Attitude & Complete Lack of Professional Boundaries:His guiding competence is completely below par. Throughout the trip, he barked orders and shouted at us, demanding that we "stop chatting, put away our phones, and pay attention" whenever he spoke. We paid to join a vacation tour, not a primary school field trip. He has no right to micromanage us like children. Does he even know he is a tour guide? He completely forgot who the paying customers are. 🗺️ Attraction Details & Survival Tips (Honest Advice for Future Travelers) Yehliu Geopark (70-minute stop):The NT$120 admission ticket is not included. I highly recommend buying your tickets online in advance to get a cheaper discounted rate. The guide will not enter the park with you to provide any commentary; you are completely on your own once you pass the gates. Shifen Old Street (50-minute stop):The schedule here is extremely rushed. If you choose to release a sky lantern, you will have absolutely no time to eat. The guide will aggressively promote his NT$200 set meal, which is just mediocre. I strongly advise those who are not releasing lanterns to skip his meal and find lunch on the old street on your own, as the variety of choices is much better. Shifen Waterfall (40-minute stop):A terrible experience. There is a proper tour bus parking lot right next to the waterfall, but the agency or the guide forced the driver to drop off and pick up passengers on the side of the highway just to save money. As a result, when leaving, the entire tour group had to stand on the busy highway baking under the sun for 10 minutes waiting for the bus. Jiufen (75-minute stop):Lunch is on your own here. Since it was a weekend holiday, the area was packed. Shockingly, the guide even missed the correct stop and got off at the wrong place while leading us on the shuttle bus... It makes me wonder if just any random person can become a tour guide in Taiwan. It is an absolute insult to the profession. ⚠️ The Truth Behind the 5.0-Star Google Ratings Please do not trust the high scores you see online. On the return trip, the guide was incredibly aggressive in forcing everyone to give a 5-star review on Google for "Routor Travel (路特旅行社 루터 트래블)". He was so aggressive that he would literally take tour members' phones to write the review himself! Now you know exactly how those high scores were manufactured.(Note: Since I strongly suspect the travel agency might delete negative reviews, I am posting this exact review across Google Maps, Trip.com, and TripAdvisor to prevent more travelers from falling into this trap.)

Great time visiting the south side of the island. Launching a lantern was cool. My recommendation, don’t buy the lunch. The street food in the village is better.

Our tour leader, Dillian, was fantastic. She made everything run smoothly and she did it with great talent, professionalism, and humor. If you have a chance to go on this tour, ask for her to be your guide.

Wonderful trip. Well organized and excellent tour guide. Thank you Sophie.

Our tour Guide, Tommy, was fantastic! Instructions on the meet up spot were clear and Tommy did a great job of providing very detailed guidance and recommendations on how to enjoy each location. Note that there is a decent amount of walking and the popular photo spots in jiufen are not wheelchair accessible. Otherwise, I highly recommend the tour to anyone who is interested in exploring Taiwan outside of Taipei!

We really enjoyed this trip. Tommy was very knowledgeable and informative. He and driver made trip great. Would recommend to anyone considering this trip without any hesitation. Recommend 100%. Thanks.

This tour was a great way to get outside of Taipei and learn more about Taiwan. Our guide Cindy was amazing. She was knowledgeable, funny and very organized with how she managed the tour. It was a fully enjoyable day.

The tour was very organized and so much fun. The tour guide Cindy made the day fun and inclusive. The time spent at each stop was perfect.

Mr. Black was great. The tour was smooth and he was in command at every turn.

This is a great introduction to northern Taiwan, the scenery, the history and the people. Our guide, Tommy, was informative, friendly and entertaining. Be prepared to do some shopping and try new foods.

We had such an amazing experience on this tour! It was convenient, the price point was great, and best of all — our tour guide, Dillian, was great! 100% recommend.

Kevin gave an educational experience. I learned a lot

Well planned tour. Our guide Kevin was excellent at making sure everyone knew when and where to meet so we would stay on schedule for each destination. He was also kind in assisting with entrance tickets etc.

Highly interesting, especially the Yehliu Geopark, which offers unique landscapes. Emma was an excellent guide. A very positive overall experience.

Excellent value and a great tour! Just the right amount of time at each stop. Michael the tour guide was very good and kept everything organized and on time. His English was good and he kept the time between stops go fastby sharing information about Taiwan.