Scenery is good, but have to visit in right season. Short of vegetarian restaurant. The staff at the restaurant that catered our breakfast were not friendly, they showed us a sour face while we asked if they served vegetarian and laughed behind us. Some staff at the convenient store too were not very friendly. However we met a local lady who was very friendly and helpful. She told us the clouds were coming and should wait to see the sunset while we started to walk back to the hotel.
Alishan national park has good facilities in transportation but a public bus is not enough for travelers. If we didn't buy a ticket earlier, you cannot get a ticket in evening. For whom who has a luggage ( you can keep your luggage at visitor center during you are at Alishan mountain, don't forget to come back to pick up your luggage before 16.30 p.m.) and need to go to a hotel in that evening, it is a challenging thing in finding a taxi to your hotel. A taxi price is quite expensive. It costs 250- 400 NT dollars/person. If you would like to see a sun rise at Alishan mountain, you should stay a hotel nearby Alishan scenic area, don't stay at other places otherwise you will need to pay a taxi in very high price from your hotel to Alishan in the early morning.
Beautiful and peace place, value to go However, pls check the weather careful before you will stay night at Alishan Forest Area or not. I stay here 1 night to see sunrise, but it was raining in the morning so I couldn't go to see. Waste money for 1 night hotel in Alishan.
The breakfast buffet is not good. I actually got sick. For Dinner there are no options but the buffet and that was just ok for the price and what was available. Would like to see more local food from the area instead. Staff can not communicate well in English. Otherwise the location is amazing. The hotel is gorgeous and comfortable. I would stay here again but would go into the lower town for food.
Alishan park is either a one-day or two-day visit for most people. Typically, you will watch the sunrise which requires you to get up very early to catch the narrow gauge train, and you then plan the rest of your sightseeing - the Park, the TREES (cypresses mainly), the walks - around it. Food availability is basic, 4-5 local restaurants and a 7-11 (24 hours) is about all there are, unless you are staying at the few large hotels with their own restaurants. Must do: Narrow-gauge train, Watch sunrise, see the TREEs. Getting up/down Alishan can present a challenge if you are travelling by yourselves during high season as there are only about 10-12 buses (from Chiayi Train Station) each day each way (most people drive or come in tour groups). The bus company does not have online ticketing though you can buy them from Family Marts across Taiwan ahead of time. My advise is to have a friend who lives in Taiwan who can buy bus tickets for you after you have made hotel reservations to ensure you can actually get to the Park. Note there are also a few (3 as of this writing) departures each day from/to Chiayi High Speed Rail Station.
If you are a nature lover and love big trees and sunrise, Alishan is a place for you! There are many gigantic trees around (oldest tree known was 3000years old but has been brought down due to safety issues. There are many many stairs though so be ready to climb them! :)