Taipei to Kenting Travel - The Fast and Easy Way!

Traveling From Taipei to Kenting is really easy, affordable, safe, and convenient.

taipei to kenting by train bus — Taipei is in the north, Kenting is at the southern tip of Taiwan.

You do not need to travel from Taipei City to Kenting National Park with a tour. You can easily arrange the whole trip by yourself on the very same day you want to travel.

HSR High-Speed Train + Shuttle Bus

Here are the steps to travel from Taipei to Kenting by HSR (High-Speed Train) and Shuttle Bus (Express Line). Total time is about 3.5 hours, depending on traffic situation and possible road construction. (HSR 01h30m, shuttle bus 2 hours)

Start your strip at Taipei Main Station 台北車站.
Take the HSR high-speed train all the way to Zuoying Station 左營站 in Kaohsiung. One-way fare is 1490NT.
From Zuoying HSR station, take the express shuttle bus to Kenting 墾丁. You can buy your bus ticket at the booth near Exit #2. The shuttle bus stops in Hengchun, Nanwan, and Xiaowan. Cost of one-way shuttle bus ticket is 350NT$ per person from Kaohsiung to Kenting. Bring a warm sweater on board the bus as the AC will probably be dialed to maximum and it might be super cold in there.
Note: the HSR (high-speed rail) does NOT go all the way to the southern tip of Taiwan. It only goes as far as Kaohsiung City.

Normal Train + Local Bus

A cheaper (slower) option is to take the normal train (TRA) from Taipei Main Station to Fangshan Station 枋山站, then a public bus from Fangshan to Kenting. This option will save you about 300NT$, but will also be about 2 to 3 hours longer depending on which train you take. Note that the two fastest trains from the TRA are:

Tzu-Chiang Limited Express 自強號
Taroko Express 太魯閣號

I do not recommend you take the slower Chu Kuang train (莒光號) as it’s really slow, and many trains are seriously showing their age.

BTW: Fangshan Station is the southernmost train station along the west coast of Taiwan, from here, it veers east through the mountains, toward Taitung City.

Travel from Taipei to Kenting by Car

From Taipei City, take Freeway #3 all the way down south past Kaohsiung City.
Take the exit for Provincial Highway #17.
Head southeast all the way to Fangliao 枋寮, there you switch to Provincial Highway #1. About 30 minutes later, in Fangshan, there is a big intersection: left leads to Taitung City, keep right for Kenting. From here road #1 seamlessly becomes #26. Head south until you reach your destination.