Taipei to Lanyu | TRA + Route 201 + Ferry, Same Day. Best connection: Puyuma Express 402 (06:05) → Route 201 · Land-Sea-Air Express A 10:30 → Fugang ferry 12:30, arriving 15:00, about 8h 55m end-to-end.
Same-day Taipei to Lanyu is tight but doable. The standard chain is EMU3000 Tze-Chiang Limited Express or Puyuma Express to Taitung, Puyuma Transport Route 201 to Fugang Ferry Pier (Taitung), then a ferry to Kaiyuan Harbor (Lanyu). TRA covers Taipei–Taitung in about 3.5 hours at the fastest, the bus runs about 20 minutes, and the crossing is roughly 150 minutes — plan on 6–7 hours door-to-door to avoid a squeeze. Ferry is NT$1,200 one way.
Fugang to Lanyu runs only 2 sailings a day in high season (07:00 and 12:30) — limited capacity, tight buffers. Same-day, only two combinations work:
- Take the late-night EMU3000 from Shulin (around 23:00), arrive Taitung around 05:00, board the first Route 201 at 06:20, reach Fugang at 06:40 and connect to the 07:00 first sailing with a 20-minute wait. - Catch an early train out of Taipei a little after 06:00, arrive Taitung before noon, then take the 11:30 bus to Fugang at 11:50 and wait 40 minutes for the 12:30 sailing — workable, but a small train delay eats your buffer.
If you would rather not gamble, overnight in Taitung and take the 07:00 first sailing the next morning — eat, shower, sleep, and take the 06:20 bus to Fugang the next day. Smoothest trip overall. Plenty of places to stay near Taitung Train Station.
In winter (November–March) the Lanyu route runs on a government-subsidized schedule — fixed sailings on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, with selected Sundays added (check the monthly calendar on ferry.tw for exact dates). Sailings can also be cancelled at short notice for typhoons or strong northeast monsoon, so always confirm on ferry.tw before you set out.