Alishan Forest Tour: Explore Fenqihu and Alishan Scenic Area from Chiayi City, Taiwan

We spent two weeks in Taiwan in 2018 and visited every major tourist destination in the country. Well, almost.

The most glaring omission from our itinerary was Alishan Forest in Chiayi County, a picturesque mountain retreat known for its forest wilderness and network of vintage railways. We recently spent the holidays in Chiayi City chasing after the eateries featured on the Taiwan episode of Street Food on Netflix. Chiayi is the most convenient jumping off point to the Alishan Scenic Area so we weren’t about to leave it off our itinerary a second time.

At first, I wasn’t sure how to tackle Alishan Forest. There are a few ways to get there, the most appealing being to go on our own by train then staying the night so we could experience Alishan’s much hyped sunrise. However, for a number…