Getting there and around
Taiwan is one flight, then a network.
One main international gateway at Taoyuan, a high speed railway down the west coast, a conventional railway that circles the whole island, and short flights and ferries to the outlying islands. Get the gateways straight and the whole calendar opens up.
Arriving
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TPE) is the main gateway, about 40 kilometres west of Taipei: the Taoyuan Airport MRT runs express trains to Taipei Main Station in about 35 to 40 minutes, with airport buses and taxis covering the rest. Taipei Songshan (TSA), in the city itself, handles regional flights and the domestic hops to Kinmen, Matsu and Penghu. Kaohsiung (KHH) serves the south, Taichung (RMQ) the centre, and both take regional international flights, so a southern or central trip does not have to route through the capital.
Getting around the cities
The Taipei MRT is the model: clean, frequent, signed in English, and paid for with an EasyCard, which also works on buses, the Maokong Gondola, YouBike hire and convenience store counters. Kaohsiung runs its own MRT and light rail on the same card. Taxis are metered and honest; ride-hailing apps are the fallback everyone uses.
The high speed rail
Taiwan High Speed Rail runs the west coast corridor from Nangang (Taipei) to Zuoying (Kaohsiung) in as little as about an hour and a half, stopping at Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Taichung, Chiayi and Tainan on the way. It is the default for the lantern season, when half the country seems to be going home. Book ahead on long weekends; reserved seats sell out, and the stations sit outside the city centres they serve, with metros, shuttles and the TRA shuttle lines connecting them.
Trains around the island
The Taiwan Railways network circles the island, and the east coast line (Taipei to Yilan, Hualien and Taitung) is the scenic one: cliff and ocean running, with the express trains booking out on holiday weekends. The South Link line around the bottom of the island connects Taitung with Kaohsiung and Pingtung. Branch lines are part of the fun: Pingxi for the lanterns, Neiwan and Jiji for slow days in the hills.
Islands: flights and ferries
Penghu (Magong), Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) are 30 to 60 minute flights from Taipei Songshan, Taichung and Kaohsiung, and the flights are the reliable route in the windy season. Ferries run to Penghu from Budai (Chiayi) and Kaohsiung, and the Tai-Ma Star sails overnight from Keelung to Matsu. Green Island and Orchid Island sail from Taitung's Fugang harbour. Schedules shrink in the north east monsoon and around typhoons: never schedule a flight home the same morning as a boat off an island.
Search airport transfersvia Klook
The luggage trick
Convenience stores double as logistics: you can ship parcels and luggage store to store across the island cheaply, and the big stations have delivery counters. Travelling light between festival stops, with the big bag following, is how the locals do long trips.