Nantou County

Nantou County (南投縣) is in the Central Region of Taiwan. It is famous for its mountain scenery and is the only county in Taiwan without a coastline.

• 23.916667120.6833331 Nantou City – the county capital and narrowly largest city, located in the lowlands at the western edge of the county
• 23.983333120.7333332 Caotun – a "town" roughly the same size as Nantou City, located nearby in the western lowlands. Location of the Nan Tun Old Street.
• 23.828611120.7863893 Jiji – A small scenic town on a historic branch railway.
• 23.966667120.9666674 Puli – Nantou's third-largest town, located at 450 meters above sea level in an isolated basin in the mountains, at the geographic center of Taiwan. A common gateway to Sun Moon Lake.
• 23.816667120.855 Shuili – an alternative to Puli due to its closer distance to Sun Moon Lake, with a scenic and historic train from down the valley in Ershui
• 24.025278121.1311116 Ren'ai – An area with a nice environment and sporting a number of B&Bs with European-style architecture.
• 23.688889120.7288897 Jhushan
• 23.75120.7333338 Lugu – a rural township in the mountains, most famous for Xitou Forest
• 23.6624121.0169 Xinyi – The highest peak in Taiwan is located at the edge of this township's jurisdiction.
• 23.883333120.91666710 Yuchi – The location of the Sun Moon Lake. The area is also the home of the indigenous Thao people (邵族).

• 23.866667120.9166671 Sun Moon Lake – The largest lake in Taiwan, famous for its clear, sparkling blue water set against a picturesque mountain backdrop. It has also been a center of aboriginal life for thousands of years.
• 23.47120.9572672 Yushan – The highest mountain of Taiwan and also the name of the related National Park that lies partly in Nantou County, Hualien County and Kaohsiung County.
• 23.674778120.7968333 Xitou Forest – One of Taiwan's most popular mountain weekend destinations, at 1,000m above sea level in a 100-year-old artificial cedar forest. Owned by National Taiwan University, which does forestry research there. Next door is the "Monster Village", a Japanese-enchanted-forest themed tourist zone.
• 23.563333120.9305564 Dongpu Hot Springs – Hot spring resort village with hiking options.

Many people come in through Puli from Taichung by bus or car, especially for Sun Moon Lake. However, also consider taking the scenic and historic train from Ershui to Shuili (worth a visit) or vice-verse when heading out again.

Many bus services run in the region. Try Google Maps, which has many connections available, but is a little bad on the timing.

Due to the remote nature of the region and fewer urbanisation, hitch-hiking is straight forward. You can easily hitch-hike from Sun Moon Lake into Taroko Gorge, or vice-versa.

• JíJí Line (集集線): This historic train line, now mostly serving Taiwanese tourists, is a tranquil and picturesque way of getting in and seeing a small part of Nantou County. About once every hour and a half, it starts from Ershui in Changhua County and passes through Jiji and Shuili before ending at the tourist village of Checheng. Note that very few express trains on Taiwan's mainline stop at Ershui, so you'll probably have to transfer to a local train along the way.

Some parts of the county have popular cycling routes. As of 2026, unlike most counties in Taiwan, there's no public bicycle rental system in Nantou. However, in some tourist towns accommodations may lend or rent bicycles.

• Qing Jing Scenic Area in Ren’ai Township is popular with locals. It has a 1-km-long scenic bridge/walkway, a grassland with sheep and great views of the surrounding mountains and valleys.
• Mount Hehuan near Ren'ai is a 3,416-metre-high mountain which straddles several different districts in central Taiwan. It has 7 peaks that you can climb, many hoking trails, and a scenic bus trip.
• Jiujiufeng Forest Trail in Caotun is a 1.9-km-long hiking trail that makes a loop past a picturesque mountain range.
• Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village near Sun Moon Lake is a theme park and cultural village showcasing the cultures of nine of Taiwan's indigenous ethnic groups, namely the Amis, Atayal, Bunun, Paiwan, Puyuma, Rukai, Sasiyat, Tao and Tsou.

There are many good teas coming from the Nantou area. Donding Oolong (凍頂烏龍) is famous worldwide.

Miaoli ← Taichung ←

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→ Chiayi → Tainan