The Rough Guide to Taiwan

by Rough Guides, Stephen Keeling, Brice Minnigh

The Rough guide to Taiwan is your definitive guide to this fascinating island. From the vibrant, frenetic streets of Taipei and teahouses of Taichung to the laid-back, historic Tainan, the full-colour section highlights all the ‘things-not-to-miss’. Taiwan’s enticing markets and vast range of culinary specialities are covered in full with comprehensive reviews of all the top hotels, restaurants, bars and spas to suit every budget. There is in-depth information on all six National Parks and Taiwan’s highest mountains, including Taroko Gorge, the country’s most popular natural wonder. The guide also looks at Taiwan’s history, culture and indigenous peoples and comes complete with maps and plans for the whole island. The Rough guide to Taiwan is like having a local friend plan you trip!

Genres: Travel

560 pages, Paperback

First published May 21, 2007

About the author

Founded in 1982, Rough Guides Ltd is a British publisher of print and digital guide book, phrasebooks and inspirational travel reference books, and a provider of personalised trips. Since November 2017, Rough Guides has been owned by APA Publications UK Ltd, the parent company of Insight Guides.
With the company's personalised trip service encompassing over eighty destinations, and 200 guidebooks covering 180 destinations, Rough Guides is a multi-faceted travel platform, with global sales of 100 million guidebooks since their inception.

Reviews

[Kathleen · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is my nemesis. I now know that there is a more important book rating system than the stars, more important even than what I say to my friends, and that rating system is based on how violent I would get with the author should I meet him in a bar. If I met Ayn Rand, for example, I might be filled with disgust. Ditto for Thomas Friedman. But I wouldn't want to actually pour libations on them. The authors of this guide had better steer clear of me, 'cause I got their number and a glass of whatever's handy to throw in their faces. The maps don't correspond to the prose. The restaurants are under listed. There is no actual chinese in the text, and various Chinese names of things are missing in the boxes. There are obvious things missing from the basics section (voltage?!). I don't generally endorse the Lonely Planet because it seems to be written by a team of Asia's Drunk and Stupid White Guys (dude! if you're not partying in sanlitun you're a loser! the asian girls are hhhot!), but it turns out Drunk and Stupid totally trumps complete failure to correlate map with prose. Fear me, Stephen Keeling and Brice Minnigh. Fear me and my ready beverage.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well researched and authoritatively written. My chief criticism would be in its disastrous mixture of fonts and font sizes, which make its use at home, in a cafe, or "in the field" a displeasure. Too wide an array of expanded and condensed forms, sizes, colors, of multiple typefaces, and then add to this all the obligatory bolds and italicizations. It was difficult to look at from the first glance. Now imagine yourself at darkened bus stop in Taipei past midnight.

[atom_box Evan G · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely guide. We spent half a month in Taiwan in 2025, using both Rough Guide and Lonely Planet simultaneously. So here is our side by side evaluation of how Lonely Planet fares, versus the Rough Guide to Taiwan:

Good:
- The superior endpages are what attracted us from the start: pullout sections on indigenous peoples, history, and religions were all more helpful than in the other guide (LP).
- The language section versus LP was especially strong (pp 410 - 414). Foods and how to spell them in Chinese is CRITICAL in an Asian travel guide. I used this part heavily daily!
- The authorship had love and flavor. The writing was personal.
- Rough Guide was way better in the south, for Tainan, Donggang, and the aboriginal mountain villages of Pingtung County.
- Importantly the organizing layout was excellent. So was the index.

Weak:
Nothing. Rough Guide is the new leader in this part of the world.

[Evan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some good background info and Taiwanese history, but some odd inclusions and omissions. For example, there's no map of the Tianmu region; a section on hailing a wait said to raise your arm with your "palm down," which not only doesn't make any sense but is also not correct advice, according to the Taiwanese people.

I also think a mention for Taiwanese cafe culture is warranted; for example, the 2016 World Barista Champion has a shop a little ways from Taipei 101 ("The Lobby of Simple Kaffa"), and Taiwanese coffee is generally on the up and up. (It is also madly expensive.)

As I was only in Taipei and not other parts of the country, I can't say too much about the other sections of the book.

[Catherine Woodman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am in the begining phases of planning a trip to this island.
I have an acquaintance who made an extensive trip a year ago, and opened my eyes to the natural beauty and the temples that are found all around. Then I have found Taiwanese cooking through my cookbook group, and overall quite interested in going.
The Rough Guide is a consistent guide, and one that is great when you have decided on your itinerary, because it includes everything.
That feature makes it harder for me to use it in trip planning, because I have trouble narrowing choices in this environment.
Overall, i would recommend this. It is light on culture but long on covering towns and regions.

[A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't read through this in detail, but I read enough about Taipei that I was able to enjoy a long layover there and had a great time.

[Thomas Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simon did a great job and we used the book on a cycling tour with GrassHopper and it was a wonderful experience.