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Jiufen (九份 or Jioufen) is one of the most popular day trips from Taipei and one of the top things to do in Taiwan. To learn more about why everyone loves this charming little mountaintop village so much, see my detailed guide to Jiufen Old Street.
Getting to Jiufen from Taipei is very easy, but there are quite a few different ways to do it, including direct bus, train + bus, and day tours.
It also makes sense to combine your Jiufen trip with other popular Taipei day trips in the area, like Jinguashi Gold Ecological Park, Golden Waterfall, Shifen Waterfall, Houtong Cat Village, Keelung city, Keelung Night Market, and even Yehliu Geopark if you plan it right.
Below I’ll tell you every detail you need to know on how to get to Jiufen and Shifen Waterfall from Taipei City, or how to combine all the above in one epic day trip from Taipei!
If you decide to book any of the transportation passes, shuttle buses, or tour options I recommend in this article, make sure to sign up for Klook with my referral link first to get NTD100 off your first booking! Also see these important tips for traveling in Taiwan.
How to Do it all, in a Nutshell
Before we get into all the details, here’s how to plan an epic day trip from Taipei to Jiufen, Shifen Waterfall, and more.
- Ride an early train from Taipei to Ruifang (45 min)
- Transfer to the Pingxi Small Train Line and ride it to Shifen (30 min) for visiting Shifen Waterfall (opens 9 AM)
- Ride from Shifen to Houtong (20 min) for visiting Houtong Cat Village (skip if too rushed)
- Ride from Shifen/Houtong to Ruifang (30/5 min) and transfer to Jiufen bus (15 min) for visiting Jiufen Old Street
- Catch bus 788 going downhill from Jiufen Old Street to Keelung Station (50 min)
- Transfer to bus from Keelung station to Yehliu Geopark (50 min, closes at 5 PM, skip Yehliu if you can’t make it before closing, or take a taxi there – 30 min)
- Back to Keelung for dinner at Keelung Night Market
Taipei to Jiufen and Shifen Day Tour
Total time needed: Full day tour
Total price: around TWD 1000 (price varies)
There are some really great, cheap shuttle bus tours available that allow you to easily see Jiufen, Shifen, and other places in one day without worrying about all the transportation information.
Currently, this popular shuttle bus day tour from Taipei includes stops in Jiufen, Golden Waterfall, Shifen, and Yehliu. Before COVID, there were several other tours like this one. Each one includes slightly different routes and stops. Hopefully more of these will come back again soon.
For what you get, I think these are great deals, and they save you a lot of time compared to doing it all on your own.
Hire a Private Driver
There are many reasons you might want to hire a driver for the day. Traveling with kids or elderly? Don’t want to figure out all the buses and trains? Want to see as many places as possible? Then it could be a great idea.
This deal on Klook gives you a car + driver for 8 hours, definitely enough to plan the perfect customized trip to Shifen, Jiufen, and more.
Train + Bus to Jiufen
Total time needed: 1 to 1.5 hours
Total price: around TWD 70-100 each way
If you’re planning on traveling to Jiufen during rush hour, then taking the train to get out of Taipei then a bus for the final leg to Jiufen is the best idea.
This option is also good if you are staying near Taipei Main Station (or one of the other train stations, like Banqiao, Wanhua, Songshan, or Nangang) in Taipei.
The train takes 30-60 minutes (NTD49 to 76) depending on which type of train your catch. There are more than 30 per day, so you can pretty much just show up anytime and catch the next one, but you can also find the current times on the Taiwan railway site.
If you catch one called LOCAL TRAIN, there are no seat reservations. PUYUMA EXPRESS requires a seat reservation (no standing ticket allowed). Other types allow seat reservation or standing ticket.
After you arrive at Ruifang, simply cross the street in front of the train station and walk about 200 meters to the left (east) on Mingdeng Rd. to this bus stop just past the police station. Make sure to get the bus on the police station side; the bus stop across the street from the police station is for buses from Ruifang to Taipei
Catch bus 827, 856 (Taiwan Tourism bus), 788, 825, 965, or 1062 (NTD15-20) for the final 10 to 15-minute ride from Ruifang to Jiufen. The buses usually say Jiufen/Jinguashi in English on the front.
There are two stops you can get off at in Jiufen. The first is the Jiufen police station (九份派出所), where you’ll find the small Jiufen Visitor’s Center and a staircase that leads directly up to Amei Teahouse (Jiufen’s most famous attraction). Note that bus 1062 (the Taipei to Jiufen bus) doesn’t stop here, but all the others do.
The more popular stop to get off is two stops later, Jiufen Old Street (九分老街), and just about everyone will get off here. After you get off the bus, follow the road uphill about 85 meters to find the entrance to the old street beside 7-Eleven.
This method of getting to Jiufen has more variables in terms of price and time, and note that the train from Taipei to Ruifang (or pretty much anywhere) can be REALLY packed on weekends. On weekdays, you can often get a seat on the train without reserving one.
If you’re determined to get a seat on the train, a smart thing to do is to get on at Banqiao or Wanhua, before the train reaches Taipei Main Station, but of course that takes longer and still won’t guarantee you a seat, just a better chance. If you really, really care about getting a seat, you can even reserve one on some trains, but personally I wouldn’t bother for such a short ride. They never sell out.
You can pay for the train and bus rides with an EasyCard. Make sure to swipe when you enter and exit the train station, and when you get on and again when you get off the bus.
For returning from Jiufen to Ruifang, note that the bus stop is in a different location. From the entrance to the Old Street, don’t go downhill to where you got off the bus when you arrived. Instead, walk about 100 meters further uphill along the main road for the Jiufen to Ruifang & Taipei bus stop (see picture of bus stop in the #3 section below).
Get off the bus at Ruifang Train Station (瑞芳火車站), and walk 200 meters in the same direction the bus was heading to reach Ruifang train station.
Taipei to Ruifang train times
Trains from Taipei to Ruifang leave throughout the day, from around 5:15 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. They come every 15-45 minutes, with the morning generally having more frequent departures.
Check the current departure times for your date of travel on the Taiwan Railway website.
You can swipe your EasyCard when you board and get off these trains, so there’s no need to buy a ticket.
Direct Bus from Taipei to Jiufen
Total time needed: 1 –2 hours (depends on traffic)
Total price: NTD 100
Probably the most convenient option for traveling to Jiufen on your own is to take the direct bus from Taipei to Jiufen. Once you get on, you’re guaranteed a seat, and it’s smooth sailing directly to Jiufen. There are two possible bus choices from Taipei to Jiufen: 1062 and the newer 965.
If you have a Taipei Unlimited Fun Pass (buy pass here), it should work for bus 965 but not for 1062. The pass works for all Taipei/New Taipei buses that have 1-3 digits, but doesn’t work for 4-digit buses.
The most popular is bus from Taipei to Jiufen is bus 1062, operated by the Keelung bus company, traveling directly from Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT station to Jiufen, continuing to the terminal stop, Quanji Temple a few stops past Jinguashi Gold Ecological Park, before returning to Taipei on the same route.
To find the bus stop for Jiufen, simply go out exit 2 of Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT, turning left when you reach the top of the escalators, and walk about 50 meters south on Fuxing South Road (復興南路), the road which has the MRT line running above the street. You will most likely see a long line of people waiting for the Jiufen bus.
The only downside to this bus is that the line can be really long at peak hours (late morning and all afternoon). You might have to wait for one or two to pass before you can get on. If the line is really long when you arrive, you can always take a taxi to Jiufen (see below). Also note, there’s no toilet on the bus.
When I took this bus recently, I arrived at 7:30 a.m., and there were only five people in line. But when I got to Jiufen around 8:45, most of the shops weren’t open yet (they mostly open around 10). This was fine, though, as I went directly to Amei tea house (opens at 8:30 a.m.). I had the famous teashop almost entirely to myself, but in the daytime it can be so crowded you can’t even get in (you can always solve that problem by ordering your tea set online at least one day in advance).
A second, lesser-known choice for taking a bus from Taipei to Jiufen is bus #965. You can board this bus here at Fuzhong MRT exit 1, here at Banqiao MRT exit 2, here at Wanhua Railway Station, here at Ximen MRT exit 2, or here at Beimen MRT exit 2.
The fare from Banqiao or Taipei to Jiufen is NTD90. This bus runs from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. (weekdays) and 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. (weekends), coming every 30-40 minutes (peak hours) and 40-60 minutes (off-peak hours). Since fewer people know about this bus, the lines may be shorter at peak times.
The easiest way to pay for any bus to Jiufen is with an EasyCard; just make sure you have enough money loaded onto it before your trip. You can also pay by exact cash. Remember to swipe when getting on and again when you get off.
You can also order a traditional Chinese Qipao in advance for taking photos in Jiufen!
Taipei to Jiufen bus times
The bus times for Taipei to Jiufen on this route can be found here (click “timetable”). Last time I checked, the bus’s first and last departures from Taipei are 8:00 a.m and 5:10 p.m. (subject to change).
Taking the bus from Jiufen to Taipei
As described in the previous section, to take the bus from Jiufen back to Ruifang or Taipei, walk 75 meters uphill from the entrance to the Jiufen Old Street to find the well-marked bus stop (picture above). Buses 1062 or 965 go all the way back to Taipei (965 goes all the way to Ximen and Banqiao as well) and have signs on the front in English.
Once reaching Taipei City, if you’re bored of sitting on the bus, you can get off at Songshan MRT station instead of riding all the way back to Zhongxiao Fuxing.
Tourist Shuttle Bus
Total time needed: 1 to 1.5 hours
Total price: Free if you have a Taipei Unlimited Fun Pass or Taipei Fun Transport Pass, similar to taking regular buses if you use an EasyCard
Just a heads up, this section is going to be a little complicated. Taiwan Tourism is really good at making things complicated and not providing much info.
It is possible to take a Taiwan Tourism shuttle bus from Taipei’s Muzha MRT station station directly to Shifen Waterfall (bus #785). There is also a bus (#856) from Ruifang train station (you’ll need to ride the train there first) to Jiufen. However, there is no shuttle bus running from Shifen to Jiufen, so you can’t visit both places in one day by shuttle bus alone.
Visitors who purchase a Taipei Unlimited Fun Pass or Taipei Fun Transport Pass can ride these shuttle buses for free. The Unlimited Fun Pass includes entrance to 16 major attractions, unlimited Taipei and New Taipei City buses and MRT rides, and the five tourist shuttles. The Taipei Fun Transport Pass is for the transportation only, not the 16 attractions. Read by guide to using Taipei Fun Passes to find out if either of these passes are really worth the money for you.
For Jiufen, you’ll need to first pay to get from Taipei to Ruifang on the train (NTD 49-76, not included on the Fun Pass). The bus stops at the same spot as all the other buses to Jiufen (see picture and details in section 3 below).
After visiting Jiufen and Jinguashi, you can ride this shuttle bus further to some other cool spots, including Bitoujiao, Longdong, and Fulong Beach, or you can return to Ruifang on it. Read more about all these places in my Taipei day trips article.
However, this shuttle DOES NOT go to Shifen. If you wanted to visit Shifen as well on the same day, you’d have to take the same shuttle back to Ruifang, then take the Pingxi train to reach Shifen. For the Pingxi train, you can pay for a single ride, swipe an EasyCard, or buy an all-day Pinxi train line pass (NTD80) if you plan to make a couple stops.
For Shifen , shuttle bus #795 travels from Muzha MRT station in Taipei to Jingtong, Pingxi, Shifen Old Street, and Shifen Waterfall.
So if you want to visit Jiufen and Shifen in one day, which shuttle bus should you take? I think it depends on where you are coming from in Taipei. If going to Muzha MRT is more convenient, then maybe you can take the Muzha-Pingxi shuttle bus first, ride it to Shifen Old Street and/or Shifen Waterfall. From there, take the Pingxi train to Ruifang, and transfer to the Gold Fulong Shuttle bus to Jiufen (or any regular bus to Jiufen, also included with your pass).
If you want to depart from Taipei Main Station, first take the train to Ruifang, shuttle or regular bus to Jiufen and back, then Pingxi train to Shifen. At the end, you can return to Taipei by going back to Ruifang, or take the other shuttle bus to Muzha MRT.
So who should use these shuttle buses? Well, if you’ve decided to get the Unlimited Fun Pass anyway, then it only makes sense to use these shuttle buses for visiting Jiufen and/or Shifen. But your pass also gives you free rides on all buses in Taipei, New Taipei City and Keelung, so you can hop any local bus to Jiufen or Shifen if it comes first! But it’s important to note that Unlimited Fun Passes DON’T include buses with 4-digit numbers. For example, you can’t use your pass to board the 1062 bus to Jiufen, but there are several others with 3-digits that you can use (see below).
The only downside is that the shuttle buses don’t go to all the stops on the Pingxi line, but you can always just hop on the Pingxi train if you need to. For example, to travel from Shifen to Ruifang or any of the stops between, the Pingxi train is your only option.
If you don’t plan to get a Taipei Unlimited Fun Pass, then you can still ride these shuttle buses, but you’ll have to swipe an EasyCard just like normal buses, and rides cost NTD 15-90, depending on how far you go.
Taking a Taxi from Taipei to Jiufen
Total time needed: around 45 minutes
Total price: $1000-1200 per vehicle (each way) or 300-400 per person (for larger taxis that fit more people, you may get a seat for as low as 200 per person as we once did).
Taipei taxi drivers are smart and know that some people will get bored of waiting in that long line for the bus to Jiufen at Zhongxiao Fuxing, especially at peak times. They will stand around and try to pool people together for a ride.
I’ve done this with my friends before, and it’s not a terrible deal if you just want to skip the line and get to Jiufen quickly. You can try to barter with them a little, but they aren’t likely to go down much.
Getting from Taipei to Jinguashi
All the Jiufen buses from Taipei and Ruifang continue another 10 minutes to Jinguashi (金瓜石), site of the Jinguashi Gold Ecological Park. It’s a much less crowded attraction than Jiufen, and like Jiufen it features impressive views of the coast (the views at Jinguashi are even better, I would say).
Jinguashi is also the starting point of a great hike to Teapot Mountain (pictured above), which takes 1-2 hours. Another really cool attraction at Jinguashi is the Golden Waterfall.
Make sure to get off at Jinguashi Gold Ecological Museum (金瓜石黃金博物館) stop for the entrance to the Gold Ecological Park; most buses actually continue for two more little stops before they turn around.
Getting from Taipei to Shifen
Shifen, a small town on the Pingxi train line, is another extremely popular day trip from Taipei, and since it is relatively close to Jiufen, it makes sense to do both on one day.
To get to Shifen, simply take any train from Taipei to Ruifang (30 min to 1 hour, NTD 49-76), as described above. At Ruifang, you’ll arrive at either platform 1 or 2, and you’ll have to cross underground to platform #3, where the Pingxi train sets off (check the signs, because this could change).
The train from Ruifang to Shifen takes 12 minutes and costs NTD15. It only departs about once per hour; you may want to take a train from Taipei that has a good connection time so don’t have to wait a long time while transferring at Ruifang.
From Shifen station, it’s a 15-minute walk to the awe-inspiring Shifen Waterfall, the widest waterfall in Taiwan.
As I mentioned earlier, this shuttle bus tour is a great deal that includes both Shifen Waterfall and Jiufen, with return transportation from Taipei.
Getting from Shifen to Jiufen
If you’re visiting both in one day, I recommend visiting Shifen first because it opens at 9 AM. Most shops in Jiufen don’t open until 10 or 11 AM.
After visiting Shifen waterfall, walk back to Shifen train station. Ride the train back to Ruifang. Then exit the train station and follow the directions I described above for getting to Jiufen by bus. If you’re going the opposite direction (Jiufen to Shifen), just do the same thing in reverse!
For more information on your visit to Jiufen, don’t miss my guide to Jiufen and Jinguashi.
Are there taxis available from Ruifang station to Jiufen? If it’s only a 10-15 min bus ride, taxi may be easier for us to travel with a 5 yo.
Yes, they are waiting in front of the train station!
Hello, what station I get off in shifen when riding the train from Ruifang?
The station is called Shifen 🙂
Walk to end of bus stop farthest from Beimen MRT exit #2 to catch bus #965.
Thanks for the info!
Thank you Nick. Can confirm on 22/01/20 I used the info to get train from Taipei Main to Jiufen. I don’t agree that you can “show up anytime at a HSR station and get on the next train”. We tried to do this yesterday and the next one was in more than 2± hours. So, we had to change our plans to go today. So, I highly recommend checking timetables. Once you’re at Ruifang, it was easy and services are frequent, just like Nick says. Really enjoyed my time there. Hope you do too.
Hi Nicole, thanks for you comments! What do you mean that the next HSR was in more that 2+ hours? The HSR is running every 30 minutes or more, so I’m guessing that what you mean is you couldn’t get a reserved seat on the next departing HSR. However, if you choose a “non-reserved” seat, you can get on any train, even one that is leaving in 5 minutes. There is no limit to how many non-reserved tickets they will sell. However, in really busy times (like Lunar New Year), if too many people buy non-reserved tickets, then there could be a line to board the train, but even when I did this once during the New Year holiday, we only had to wait about 30 minutes. Also, the HSR doesn’t go to Ruifang (or you are talking about two different trips?) Thanks for bringing this up this though, as this is important information for all travelers to know about it!
Hi, if I choose to stay 1 night in Jiufen, and I want to visit Keelung (night market) and Shifen (old street and waterfall), can you recommend me the best route, please? Thanks 🙂
Hi Devy, if you want to visit both in one day, I suggest you go to Shifen first.
Take the bus from Jiufen to Ruifang train station (10-15 minutes) then take the Pingxi railway line to Shifen station. After you see the waterfall, you can take the train back to Ruifang Station. From Ruifang, there are several ways to reach Keelung (try GoogleMaps to see the best one when you are there). The fastest is probably taking another train to Badu, then transferring to the train to Keelung. There are also buses from Ruifang to Keelung.
I think you should do Keelung last, so you can enjoy the night market there. It actually starts in the afternoon, but has more food in the evening. Enjoy your trip!
Hi Nick, I was confuse about the unlimited fun pass information. I’m planning to get to Rufiang Station from Taipei Main Station, do I have to pay a MRT ride to go there? Or, I can use my Unlimited Fun Pass?
Hi Jo,
The MRT does not go to Ruifang. Only the regular train or buses go there. If you are going from Taipei Main Station to Ruifang, you can just take the regular train to go there, but unfortunately regular trains are not included on the Taipei Unlimited Fun Pass. So you’ll need to pay for that train ride, but it’s really cheap. Then you can use your Unlimited Fun Pass for the bus from Ruifang to Jiufen.
I hope that answers your question!
Thank you Nick.
Hi Nick,
I’ve read from your updated Unlimited Fun Pass and also from the Klook site that there are 5 tourist shuttles added to the pass. So from Taipei you can take the MRT to Muzha station, then take the Muzha-Pingxi Route. This bus will go all the way to Shifen Tourist Center. Then from Shifen to Jiufen can take the bus as you suggested (also paid for by the Unlimited Fun pass).
So this would be a lot easier?
Hi Thao, sorry I missed this comment from a few weeks ago. Yes, you can use the Taipei Unlimited Fun Pass for the shuttle from Muzha to Shenfen. From Shifen to Jiufen, you’ll have to first ride the Pingxi Small Train from Shifen station to Ruifang Station (trains aren’t included on the pass, so this won’t be included). Then you can ride the Jiufen tourist shittle from Ruifang to Jiufen (included on the pass).
we would like to spend the night in Jiufen, then head to Hualien the next morning. What is the best way to get from Juifen to hualien? Will be travelling mid week in April.
Thanks,
From Jiufen Old Street, it is only 10 min by bus or taxi to Ruifang train station, where you can catch a train to Hualien (1 hr 45 min to 2.5 hrs). The trains sometimes sell out, especially faster ones, so it’s better to buy a ticket in advance. But if you don’t mind to stand on the train, you can buy a standing ticket even if the train is sold out. Be careful for April 1-5, which is a 5-day holiday, so it will be extremely busy.
hello! what is the fastest way to get from yehliu geopark to jiufen old street?
First, bus from Yehliu to Keelung (about 45 min). Several buses going past Yehliu go to Keelung. In Keelung, hop on bus 788 to Jiufen Old Street. You can use GoogleMaps to find the exact bus stop location.