What are the best day trips from Taipei?

Jiufen is the obvious first pick, 35 km northeast of Taipei on the mountain coast. Bus 1062 from Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT runs every 15-20 minutes, costs NT$102 one way, and takes about 80 minutes along the freeway and mountain switchbacks. The old gold-mining settlement sits at around 300 meters elevation and catches sea breezes that make it 3-4°C cooler than central Taipei in summer. A-Mei Teahouse serves full oolong sets for NT$300 per person on a terrace facing the Pacific and Keelung Island. Each set arrives in a clay pot with dried longan and pineapple cakes. Worth noting, the narrow Jishan Street gets shoulder-to-shoulder by 11am on weekends. Arrive before 9:30am or after 3pm. For a quieter afternoon, walk 3 km east along the ridge to Jinguashi and the Gold Ecological Park (NT$50 admission). The Japanese-era mining tunnels stay cool and damp even in August. One partner can explore the 1920s Crown Prince Chalet, a wooden residence built for the Japanese heir's visit, while the other descends into the mine shafts. The park closes at 5pm, leaving time for grilled seafood back on Jishan Street before the last 1062 bus around 9pm.

Pingxi and Shifen sit 30 km east, reached by TRA local train from Taipei Main Station to Ruifang (NT$59, 50 minutes), then transfer to the single-track Pingxi Branch Line (NT$19 to Shifen, 30 minutes). The branch train runs roughly once an hour from Ruifang, so check the posted timetable or you'll wait 40-50 minutes on a platform with no air conditioning. Shifen Waterfall drops 20 meters wide into a misty pool. The 15-minute walk from the station follows a shaded path along the Keelung River, and the spray off the falls drops the temperature a few degrees below Taipei's summer heat. Shifen Old Street is where couples release painted sky lanterns from the middle of the train tracks. A four-sided lantern costs NT$150-200 and you write wishes on each panel with brush and ink. The lanterns float up over the valley. Every 30 minutes or so a diesel train rolls through at walking speed while everyone shuffles off the rails, about 200 lanterns going up per hour on weekends. If the history-oriented partner wants more, Houtong, two stops back toward Ruifang, has old coal-mine ruins and a village of roughly 100 stray cats.

Yehliu Geopark on the north coast, 30 km from Taipei, is a 1.7 km cape of sandstone eroded into shapes that look like mushrooms, candles, and the famous Queen's Head formation. Guoguang bus 1815 from Taipei West Bus Station costs NT$96 and takes about 90 minutes. Admission is NT$80. The rock formations photograph best before 10am when morning light hits the Queen's Head from the east. Mind you, there's no shade on the Yehliu cape and the salt wind is constant, so bring sunscreen and tie back loose hair. The full walk takes about 90 minutes. Combine Yehliu with Keelung, 15 km east along the coast by bus 790. Keelung's Miaokou Night Market opens around 5pm in the lanes behind Dian Ji Temple on Ren'ai Road. The pepper-fried crab at stall #27 runs about NT$400 and is messy enough that you'll both need the wet towels they hand you. Grilled squid-on-a-stick (NT$60) and the nutritious sandwich (NT$55, a local peanut-and-egg creation despite the name) round out a shared dinner for under NT$500 per person.

Wulai, 25 km south of Taipei, is the compromise when one of you wants hot springs and the other wants a hike. Take the MRT Green Line to Xindian terminal, then bus 849 (NT$30, 40 minutes) through a river gorge with steep forested walls. The Atayal indigenous village has a free public hot spring pool along the Nanshi River where your feet soak in 42°C mineral water while the river below runs cold. Private hot spring rooms at the riverside hotels start around NT$1,000-1,500 per couple for 90 minutes, with towels and tea included. The Wulai Waterfall drops 80 meters, and a heritage mini-train (NT$50 one way) runs 1.5 km along the old logging rail above the gorge. Yangmingshan National Park, established in 1985 about 15 km north of central Taipei, suits couples who both prefer hiking over soaking. Bus 260 from Taipei Main Station takes 40 minutes. The Qingtiangang grassland trail is flat, 2 km, with water buffalo grazing at 800 meters elevation. In February and March the cherry blossoms along Yangde Boulevard turn the hillside pink for about three weeks.