One of the great family trips.

What works, by kind of event

Lantern festivals and illuminations are the perfect family evening: outdoors, spectacular at child height, and early enough to end before bedtime. Christmasland in Banqiao runs the same trick for a month. Night markets feed everyone differently from ten stalls in one evening, which solves the picky-eater problem completely. Train days are adventures in themselves: the Pingxi branch line, the Maokong Gondola over the tea hills, and the high speed rail at full pace. Beach and island days carry the middle of a summer trip: Kenting in the south, Penghu in season, and the east coast when the surf is gentle.

The logistics that help

Convenience stores are on every corner with milk, snacks, nappies and suncream at all hours. The MRT systems in Taipei and Kaohsiung beat traffic with a stroller, and children under six ride free on most transport with an adult. Intercity travel is easiest by high speed rail for the west coast and by the express trains for the east, booked ahead on long weekends. Heat and rain are the real planning constraints in summer: sightsee early, rest or swim through the middle of the day, and go out again for the evening markets.