The Rough Guide to Taiwan (Rough Guides)

I bought this Taiwan Rough Guide for an upcoming two month visit to Taiwan -- which I knew well five decades (!) ago, but has obviously changed for the better in many ways. I'm impressed with what I've read and scanned through so far. There are more than 50 pages devoted to Taipei, chock full of good, capsule descriptions of museums, sites, walks, and restaurants. There are some -- not that many -- recommended places to stay, but I think today's savvy traveler has the best chance of finding what s/he wants by getting on line and spending a few hours searching for the area, the price, etc., comparing and contrasting, and weighing, previous traveler reviews. Without a guide I found what appears to be a great place (eight terrific recommendations and no naysayers), in a convenient neighborhood, and at a very reasonable price (albeit on a monthly basis). Getting back to the Rough Guide here, the author obviously has put a lot of heart into it and some sections are quite interesting and useful: quite a few pages on the "Taiwan Strait Islands," Taiwan religious information, and a very good political/historical rundown. Over 125 pages are devoted to down-island Taiwan, I haven't yet looked at this material, but if it is at the same standard, given the author's enthusiasm and obvious cultural and historical knowledge and sensitivity, this should be a great companion to any travel outside Taipei and the north. The information throughout appears quite fresh as of mid-2015. In several cases, the author said in a few words what I've heard from other knowledgeable visitors to Taiwan.

Great guide book to Taiwan. This book gives you the ins and outs of traveling Taiwan without a tour group. Bus lines, train stations, ticketing info.... Very helpful. The book goes into detail about the main attractions in each region of the island and offers a generous background on the history of Taiwan. I compared this to another top-rated travel guide on Taiwan which I also purchased, and this one beats it hands down.

i buy a lot of rough guides and this one was just ok. either taipei doesn't have secret cool places or this guy wasn't giving them up. i loved taipei and it's outskirts and had a local show me around. so i was able to compare what the book said vs where my friend was taking me. for example in maokong has an area that you can stroll with restaurants and tea houses. he doesn't tell you about that. there is also a lovely park to the old tea farms that he doesn't share. that's just one area. i will be going back to taiwan. it's beautiful and friendly and a great time but i will try another book for my next trip.

Bought this book just prior to taking a full tour of the island followed by a 3 week stay in Taichung. The book was very helpful and seems to be quite up to date. I highly recommend it, especially for English speaking folks like me.

Beautifully written and organized. Full of the information that I am looking for and one of my favorite chapters is the translation of words and phrases that you will most likely use when traveling in Taiwan.

It is very nice book. It has a lot of information provided for you to read on. It is also a very organized book to read.

Excellent guide to Taiwan. A few out-of-date restaurants, (ie closed) but that's to be expected. And there are plenty of fabulous places to eat!

This guy travels by public bus. There are no driving directions. Many descriptions lack details and I question that the authors even visited many of the sites in the book. Descriptions make Taiwan sound like a fantastic place to visit, but I found it quite underwhelming.