Two days in Hualien | DAY 1: How to get there, where to stay, what to do.

What to do in Hualien for two days

There’s lots to do in Hualien and we didn’t want to waste a moment in this town. In two days we visited several food stops, explored a national park, drove atvs by the beach, and ate at the largest nightmarket in Hualien. For Day 1 we decided to visit non-touristy spots, and saved Taroko Park and the nightmarket for Day 2.

DAY 1: WOW HOSTEL, CHONGDE BEACH, SUSHI

How to get to Hualien
To get to Hualien take the TRA from Taipei Main or Songshan to Taroko. Each ticket is 440ntd and it’ll take around 2 hours to get there. You can also purchase your tickets online which I recommend since they fill up fast. See ticket times and prices here.

Where To Stay: Ecofriendly WOW Youth Hostel
Once we got to Hualien we checked into our colorful hostel: 洄瀾窩青年旅舍 Hualien WOW Youth Hostel. It’s situated right across from Hualien station and has private rooms or single beds in a shared room. It’s super clean, ecofriendly, and so cute! I would recommend it to people looking for a safe, clean, and affordable place to stay. The rooms include unlimited drinks (tea, water, etc), ensuite bathrooms with showers, hairdryers, and free breakfast in the morning (free range eggs, toast, tomatoes, fruits, ham, and more).

Wow Hostel has lots of cozy nooks in their shared common areas.

Colorful and helpful.

The hostel has free tea and drinks in the shared room.

Wow Youth Hostel
Location: No.83, Guolian 1st Rd., Hualien City, Hualien County 970
Check in Time: 3:00pm
Check out Time is 11:00am

Where To Go: Chongde Beach
From the hostel, we took another train which accepts the Taiwan metrocard to Chongde beach. Because of the incoming typhoon we couldn’t swim but we were still able to wade in the shallow end, ride the ATV’s and try a little archery.

Chongde Beach

We tried archery on the beach in an open area.

The view was gorgeous, to the right we had looming mountains, to the left the clear blue sea.

We ate sticky rice as a snack by the beach.

What To Eat: Sushi
At the end of the beach day, we decided to head back to Hualien to grab dinner and hang out in the hostel. We went to 八丼手作日式料理 for some fresh seafood and to try their special Taro Sushi. It’s a close walk to the hostel so after filling up on sushi and sake, we stopped by 7/11 to grab some more drinks to bring to the hostel. Would recommend this sushi spot as they are so friendly, and give pretty big portions. Our sushi dons were delicious, and we couldn’t help but order more dishes to share between us, even though we were really full.