Hualien→Wulai: hire a driver is the fastest, and tripool is the cheapest

It is not recommended to take the High Speed Rail (HSR) from Hualien to Wulai. HSR is expensive, slow, and has difficult taxi access. Although there can be up to 90 trains from Nangang to Banqiao a day, running from the first at 06:15 to the last at 22:50, once service ends for the night until early morning, alternative transportation is still required. Assuming you depart from Hualien City, Hualien County and head to the nearest Nangang HSR station, a taxi ride would cost about NT$5,200 and take approximately 225 minutes. After arriving at the HSR station, the time to walk in, purchase tickets, and wait on the platform is about 20 minutes. Then, take a 17-20-minute (18 min on average) HSR ride from Nangang Station to Banqiao HSR Station. The ticket price is NT$70 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 53 minutes with a fare of NT$800, you will arrive at your destination at Wulai (Wulai District, New Taipei City). The entire journey, including transfers, takes a total of 5 hours and 25 minutes. Assuming one person traveling alone, the total transportation cost is NT$6,070. However, in Hualien County, there are only just over 1,000 licensed taxis. The taxi density is 0.5% 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 Hualien 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, it will only cost NT$1,700, and the journey takes 4 hours and 41 minutes. Choosing the HSR over a private charter will not only cost at least an extra NT$4,370 in fares but also waste an additional 44 minutes on transfers and waiting. Book with Tripool now!

Although you can choose to rent a car to drive from Hualien to Wulai, 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 Hualien and Wulai or rent the car for multiple days. In this case, the estimated cost starts at NT$3300 for a sedan and NT$6300 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 Hualien 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 taxi fleets, such as 統一無線計程車, 中美計程車, 美崙計程車 to try to book a ride. Based on the meter, the estimated fare is between NT$4,315 and 6,500, but you could save up to NT$4,800 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 Hualien County, there are only about 1,010 licensed taxis. The taxi density is just 0.5% 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 Hualien County flat-out refuse to use the meter. Nearly 32% 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 Hualien to Wulai in terms of both price and service quality.

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.

Tripool provides private day tours and charter services all around the island, including Wulai and Hualien. Tourists are welcome to choose from point-to-point transportation service to 2~12 hours private trip service. The price is 100% transparent without any hidden fee. What you see on the website/app is the actual price. There is no need to email us or even make a phone call to verify. The full-day service price may not be lower than other providers. But if you only need a few hours or just a one-way transfer service, we can guarantee that our price is the most competitive in the market and tripool is the best choice. We offer 5-seater sedans, SUVs, and 9-seater vans. If your group is more than 9, we can arrange a bigger bus for you.

Passengers can hire a driver on tripool website and app from your doorstep to anywhere accessible by a vehicle. Whether daytime, nighttime, or even midnight, we guarantee there will be a car waiting for you at the pickup location as making a reservation one day before by 6 pm.

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.

As long as you can choose the date, time, and finish the booking on our website or the app, tripool guarantees our driver will show up. However, tripool is not a ride-hailing yellow cab company. All the reservations have to be pre-booked. If you want to go to Wulai from Hualien, the soonest is finishing the booking four hours in advance.