Chiayi County→高雄市立美術館

To take the High Speed Rail (HSR) from Chiayi County to 高雄市立美術館, HSR is comfortable and quick but pricey and has difficult taxi access. From the earliest departure at 06:59 to the latest at 23:30, there are up to 60 high-speed rail from Chiayi to Zuoying each day. Assuming you depart from Taibao City, Chiayi County, you may walk or take a bus—if available—to Chiayi HSR station. Including walking to the platform, buying a ticket, and waiting for the train, it takes at least 15 minutes. Then, take a 29-31-minute (30 min on average) HSR ride from Chiayi Station to Zuoying HSR Station. The ticket price is NT$410 per person, followed by a 10-minute walk to exit the station, wait for a ride at the taxi stand, and after a trip of about 20 minutes with a fare of NT$200, you will arrive at your destination at 高雄市立美術館 (Gushan District, Kaohsiung City). The entire journey, including transfers, takes a total of 1 hour and 15 minutes. Assuming 6 people traveling together (and have to split into two taxis), the average cost per person for the HSR and transfers is NT$480. However, in Chiayi County, there are only just over 300 licensed taxis. The taxi density is 0.4% of that in the Taipei/New Taipei metro area. In other words, hailing a taxi on the spot is 200 times more difficult than in a major city like Taipei. Even if you are lucky enough to hail a cab, a minority of taxi drivers in Chiayi County may not use the meter, and might overcharge or take detours, especially with passengers who appear to be from out of town. In contrast, if you use Tripool for a door-to-door private car service, the average cost per person is about NT$420, and the journey takes 1 hour and 52 minutes. For long-distance travel, the HSR is indeed faster, but it comes with an extra transportation cost of about NT$360. Therefore, for those who are not in a major hurry, booking with Tripool is the more cost-effective option. If you are traveling in a group of three or less, you can also consider Tripool's carpooling service to save up to an additional 50% on transportation costs.

Although you can choose to rent a car to drive from Chiayi County to 高雄市立美術館, the cost can be significant. Rental companies typically charge by the day. A small sedan like a Toyota Yaris or Nissan Kicks starts at NT$1500 per day, while a 9-seater van like a Ford Tourneo or Volkswagen Transporter costs around NT$4500 per day. Extra costs such as fuel (approx. NT$3/km), eTag tolls (approx. NT$1/km), roadside parking (approx. NT$40/hour), insurance, and fines are not included. If your daily mileage exceeds 200-400 km, there will be an additional surcharge of NT$100-2,000. Since the vast majority of rental companies do not offer one-way rentals, you either need to make a same-day round trip between Chiayi County and 高雄市立美術館 or rent the car for multiple days. In this case, the estimated cost starts at NT$2700 for a sedan and NT$5700 for a 9-seater van. Booking a one-way private transfer with the Tripool app is the most affordable and convenient option for traveling to the attraction.

If you choose to take a taxi directly, in the Chiayi County area, you can use apps to hail a cab from 55688 Taiwan Taxi, and if you cannot hail a cab on the street, you can also consider calling 北港新港萬通計程車 to try to book a ride. Based on the meter, the estimated fare is between NT$2,535 and 3,000, but you could save up to NT$1,100 by booking with Tripool instead. But if you cannot book in advance or prefer to hail a cab on the spot, be aware that in the whole Chiayi County, there are only about 330 licensed taxis. The taxi density is just 0.4% of that in the Taipei/New Taipei metro area, meaning it is 200 times more difficult to hail a cab on the spot compared to Taipei or New Taipei. Furthermore, some taxi drivers in Chiayi County flat-out refuse to use the meter. Nearly 47% of them will try to negotiate the fare on the spot—often asking far above the standard rate. If you’re not familiar with local pricing, you are an easy target. To avoid getting ripped off, it is strongly advised to book online in advance. Considering all factors, Tripool is your best choice for traveling from Chiayi County to 高雄市立美術館 in terms of both price and service quality.

There are many gypsy cabs or illegal taxis in Line and Facebook groups. Their fares are cheap but with many risks. If the cabs are pulled over by polices, passengers cannot continue the trip. If there is an accident, none of the insurance companies will settle a claim. Worst of all, illegal drivers may conduct crimes without any trace. Don't put your life at risk for just saving a few bucks. On the other hand, tripool contracts with legal drivers without any criminal record. All vehicles provide up to $5 million in insurance. The easiest way to distinguish a legal vehicle is the car plate number. Unless the initial character of the car plate number is either T or R, the car is 100% illegal for taxi service.

Tripool will send a receipt through the third-party system one week after the ride. If passengers need to claim reimbursement for travel expenses, there is a blank to fill with the company's title and tax ID. It's legal, and there is no extra 5% for the receipt. Once the receipt is received via email, it can be printed out for reimbursement or saved as a PDF.

Tripool provides 5-seater sedans, SUVs, and 9-seater vans for private car service. Toyota, Ford, Volkswagen are the most used brands, and there are also a few Lexus, Tesla, and Mercedes-Benz. All vehicles are legal, in good condition, non-smoking, and with up to $5 million insurance. If you have special requests or passengers are more than 8, tripool can arrange a VW Crafter, a 20-seater minibus, or a 40-seater tour bus. Please fill up the request form on our homepage, and we will provide a quote.

Passengers can request additional stops for a ride from Chiayi County to 高雄市立美術館. Every 5 km of additional distance for a stop charges NT$200, whether it is along the way or not. It's necessary for the driver's extra time.

Fewer travelers book hotels through traditional travel agents, and most go through OTAs (online travel agents). It is easy to filter areas, prices, types of rooms, special needs on OTAs' websites. Still, customers can also get a 20~40% discount compared to hotels' official websites. The most popular OTAs in Taiwan are Booking.com, Agoda.com, Hotels.com, Expedia.com, and Trip.com. In general, travelers can make reservations on websites or apps. Once finishing the online payment, everything is set, and there is not necessary to double-check the reservation by phone. However, some hotels may oversell their rooms on multiple platforms. To avoid being rejected by hotels once you arrive, choose high-rated hotels with more reviews online or make a phone call to hotels to confirm again. For B&Bs (also called minsus), locals prefer to book rooms through B&Bs' websites or contact the hosts directly. Sometimes, the price is better than OTAs. The downside is that their websites don't accept foreign credit cards or guests have to do wire transfers. If you want to save all these troubles and find decent B&Bs, Airbnb and AsiaYo (a local brand) are the best alternatives.