Day 14 - Sun Moon Lake 日月潭
Sun Moon Lake Bike Path 日月潭自行車步道
Ita Thao Shopping Street 伊達邵商店街
Fleur de Chine Hotel 雲品溫泉酒店
Ranked one of the Top 10 bike trails in the world, Sun Moon Lake Bike Path is how we started our exploration of the area! The drive from Alishan to Sun Moon Lake took about 2.5 hours. After the bike path, we drove to Ita Thao shopping street for some delicious street food, then checked in and spent the evening at Fleur de Chine, enjoying the amenities and food there. Fleur de Chine was the most expensive hotel of our trip, but it was also our favorite hotel! Highly recommended!
Sun Moon Lake Bike Path 日月潭自行車步道
This famous bike path around the lake is 30km in total length. You don’t have to ride the whole length to enjoy it though, and given the quality of the rental bikes, we wouldn’t recommend it either. The section from Shuishe Pier 水社碼頭 to the Xiangshan Visitor Center 向山行政暨遊客中心 is a popular section, and that’s the section we rode. There are quite a few bike rental places at Shuishe Pier, and they are negotiable, so compare rates. We picked up pretty basic bikes (with gears) for $3 each, can’t complain about the price! Just don’t expect high quality bikes. The scenery is beautiful along the way. It’s about 3.3km each way according to Google Maps, not too far, and you’ll want to make a few stops along the way for pictures.
Ita Thao Shopping Street 伊達邵商店街
This is the biggest shopping street with numerous street food vendors to choose from. They have unique food choices that are must-tries! The chicken wings stuffed with stick rice was a group favorite. The spiral fried potato isn’t unique to this place but was tasty. Rice wrapped in chicken skin was interesting. Definitely plan for a meal here!
Voyagers tips: There is an underground parking lot right below the Wyndham Hotel at the entrance of the Ita Thao shopping street, it’s super convenient!
Fleur de Chine Hotel 雲品溫泉酒店
Ah, Fleur de Chine, where you feel like a VIP! This actually wasn’t our first choice, as our well-traveled friend highly recommended The Lalu Hotel, but it was all booked up months in advance, so we picked Fleur de Chine, which seems to be the #2 hotel around here. We loved it! Starting at check-in, there was a designated receptionist who led us to a table where they serve you drinks and explain everything to us, and asked us to relax while she took our passports to do check-in for us, then brought our card keys back to us. There was a live music performance in the evening, a game room, a gym, a huge spa area, a DIY bath-salt activity in the morning… the list goes on and on! The buffet dinner included in the reservation was AMAZING! We liked it better than the expensive buffets in Vegas! And the one thing we have never seen anywhere else… a pillow-selection cart that goes to your room so you can choose from their 20+ pillow selections, from thick to thin, firm to soft, you pick the one you want and they will put it in a pillow case for you. Our younger daughter is petite and usually finds hotel room pillows too high for her, she loved being able to pick a thin one that’s perfect for her neck! The whole hotel felt luxurious, the staff was super friendly, and everything was sparkling clean, including the spa locker area where guests can change and shower. Oh, and we loved the breakfast buffet there, but if you so choose, you can order room service and have a robot deliver the food to your room. They will call you when the robot arrives at your door. How cool is that?