KOREA TOUR: Nami Island, Petite France, The Garden of Morning Calm, Railbike
Day Tour outside Seoul:
Every time I visit South Korea, I always make sure to include Nami Island on my itinerary. My last three visits were during different seasons and I felt like Nami Island was different on these 3 occasions.
If your a long time Korean drama fan, you might remember watching Winter Sonata. There are still some parts in the island that serves as memorabilia for the show. However, you can still enjoy the island without being a fan. There are a lot of things to do and eat at the island. It's also fun to take photos with the row of trees as background. You may also rent for a bike and roam around the island.
It was Running Man that made me visit this place. If you are a fan of Running Man, you might remember the episode with Taecyeon and Nichkhun (of 2PM) were having a name tag race against the members. That episode was taken at Petite France. Some scenes on Love from the Star were also taken at this place.
Nami Island
Every time I visit South Korea, I always make sure to include Nami Island on my itinerary. My last three visits were during different seasons and I felt like Nami Island was different on these 3 occasions.
If your a long time Korean drama fan, you might remember watching Winter Sonata. There are still some parts in the island that serves as memorabilia for the show. However, you can still enjoy the island without being a fan. There are a lot of things to do and eat at the island. It's also fun to take photos with the row of trees as background. You may also rent for a bike and roam around the island.
 |
| July 2015 |
 |
| March 2016 |
 |
| November 2017 |
Petite France
It was Running Man that made me visit this place. If you are a fan of Running Man, you might remember the episode with Taecyeon and Nichkhun (of 2PM) were having a name tag race against the members. That episode was taken at Petite France. Some scenes on Love from the Star were also taken at this place.
Petite France was smaller than I thought. It was very congested thus it's very hard to stroll around or take photos without the crowd.
I used to have no interest on visiting this place, however, after watching 'Love from the Moonlight', I became very much interested and decided to include this on my itinerary on my next visit to Korea. I had fun roaming around the garden and took a lot of photos. Unfortunately, most of the flowers have withered and leaves have fallen during my visit. The place must be more beautiful during spring and mid-autumn. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the place.
I saw the rail bike on some of the variety shows in Korea. I was really not that interested maybe because I am not much fond of physical activities. However this was included on the tour package I availed during my last visit.
My biggest worry for the rail bike is that it would be difficult to pedal. However, it was assured to us that we should just enjoy the ride. The start was downhill so it was easy. Then there were certain parts of the track where one person to pedal was already enough. We passed by several tunnel, the last one being the longest. Each tunnel was different. They installed some lighting and sound effects on the tunnel. At the end, there would be a train that will pick up all the bikers and will bring them to the station.
Directions:
Do-it-Yourself
If you intend to visit numerous places you may be interested to avail the Gapyeong City Tour , however from Seoul you have to ride MRT to Gapyeong Station or Cheongpyeong Station.
The Gapyeong City Tour cost around 6000 won and it is already an unlimited ride for the whole day. Each place (mentioned above) is included as a stop. There is also a schedule for each stop.
Quick Review:
On my first visit, I tried this City Tour. My itinerary on that trip was Petite France and Nami Island. I spent around 2 hours in Petite France and around 3 hours in Nami Island. The hassle on riding the City Tour was the timing of the scheduled tour. You have to make sure you properly manage your time so that you won't spent much time on waiting for the next bus.
From Seoul to Gapyeong Station or Cheongpyeong Station
If you intend to go Gapyeong Station you may ride the KTX from Cheongnyangni instead of the MRT. This cost a little bit more however this is faster and more convenient. You may also reserve your ticket online and pick it up on the day of your trip.
For Cheongpyeong Station, the MRT will bring you there.
NOTE: Gapyeong Station is nearer to Nami Island while Cheongpyeong Station is nearer at Petite France/ Garden of Morning Calm.
Nami Island only
If you are only interested on visiting Nami Island, you may ride the KTX or MRT to Gapyeong Station and hail a taxi. From the station to Nami Island is just 10 to 15 minutes ride and it will not cost you that much.
Quick Review:
On my second visit to Korea, we only visited Nami Island. We stayed 5 hours in the Island. We took a lot of photos, rode the bike, ate our lunch and stroll around on every corner of the Island. It was very fun and relaxing. I suggest that if you are a first timer in visiting Nami Island, allot more time here since there are a lot of activities to do and a lot of places to explore especially if you like taking photos.
Tour
For my third visit, I was scrolling around Klook and Funtastic Korea when I saw their tour package. Since I was planning to visit Garden of Morning Calm, the package that suit me is the Railbike+Nami+Garden. I tried calculating the cost of DIY (with roundtrip KTX plus Gapyeong City Tour and the entrance for the 3 tourist spots) and I notice that the difference was not that big. I decided to join the tour for convenience since riding MRT/KTX will have several transfer and I have time to catch up on the Gapyeong City Tour.
Quick review:
We departed Myeongdong around 8AM and arrived past 9AM at Garden of Morning Calm. We have around 1.5 hours to tour around the Garden. Then we proceed to Nami Island. We had 3 hours for Nami Island including lunch. Our last stop was the Gapyeong Railbike before our return to the city. The tour was very convenient. The guide will drop you to the places, a little orientation and sharing of tips then you are free to roam around the tourist spot. On every spot, they advice us the scheduled time to return to the bus. We arrived in Seoul around 7PM.
If you prefer convenience, I would suggest to avail the tour.
Garden of Morning Calm
I used to have no interest on visiting this place, however, after watching 'Love from the Moonlight', I became very much interested and decided to include this on my itinerary on my next visit to Korea. I had fun roaming around the garden and took a lot of photos. Unfortunately, most of the flowers have withered and leaves have fallen during my visit. The place must be more beautiful during spring and mid-autumn. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the place.
Gapyeong Rail Bike
I saw the rail bike on some of the variety shows in Korea. I was really not that interested maybe because I am not much fond of physical activities. However this was included on the tour package I availed during my last visit.
My biggest worry for the rail bike is that it would be difficult to pedal. However, it was assured to us that we should just enjoy the ride. The start was downhill so it was easy. Then there were certain parts of the track where one person to pedal was already enough. We passed by several tunnel, the last one being the longest. Each tunnel was different. They installed some lighting and sound effects on the tunnel. At the end, there would be a train that will pick up all the bikers and will bring them to the station.
Directions:
Do-it-Yourself
If you intend to visit numerous places you may be interested to avail the Gapyeong City Tour , however from Seoul you have to ride MRT to Gapyeong Station or Cheongpyeong Station.
The Gapyeong City Tour cost around 6000 won and it is already an unlimited ride for the whole day. Each place (mentioned above) is included as a stop. There is also a schedule for each stop.
Quick Review:
On my first visit, I tried this City Tour. My itinerary on that trip was Petite France and Nami Island. I spent around 2 hours in Petite France and around 3 hours in Nami Island. The hassle on riding the City Tour was the timing of the scheduled tour. You have to make sure you properly manage your time so that you won't spent much time on waiting for the next bus.
From Seoul to Gapyeong Station or Cheongpyeong Station
If you intend to go Gapyeong Station you may ride the KTX from Cheongnyangni instead of the MRT. This cost a little bit more however this is faster and more convenient. You may also reserve your ticket online and pick it up on the day of your trip.
For Cheongpyeong Station, the MRT will bring you there.
NOTE: Gapyeong Station is nearer to Nami Island while Cheongpyeong Station is nearer at Petite France/ Garden of Morning Calm.
Nami Island only
If you are only interested on visiting Nami Island, you may ride the KTX or MRT to Gapyeong Station and hail a taxi. From the station to Nami Island is just 10 to 15 minutes ride and it will not cost you that much.
Quick Review:
On my second visit to Korea, we only visited Nami Island. We stayed 5 hours in the Island. We took a lot of photos, rode the bike, ate our lunch and stroll around on every corner of the Island. It was very fun and relaxing. I suggest that if you are a first timer in visiting Nami Island, allot more time here since there are a lot of activities to do and a lot of places to explore especially if you like taking photos.
Tour
For my third visit, I was scrolling around Klook and Funtastic Korea when I saw their tour package. Since I was planning to visit Garden of Morning Calm, the package that suit me is the Railbike+Nami+Garden. I tried calculating the cost of DIY (with roundtrip KTX plus Gapyeong City Tour and the entrance for the 3 tourist spots) and I notice that the difference was not that big. I decided to join the tour for convenience since riding MRT/KTX will have several transfer and I have time to catch up on the Gapyeong City Tour.
Quick review:
We departed Myeongdong around 8AM and arrived past 9AM at Garden of Morning Calm. We have around 1.5 hours to tour around the Garden. Then we proceed to Nami Island. We had 3 hours for Nami Island including lunch. Our last stop was the Gapyeong Railbike before our return to the city. The tour was very convenient. The guide will drop you to the places, a little orientation and sharing of tips then you are free to roam around the tourist spot. On every spot, they advice us the scheduled time to return to the bus. We arrived in Seoul around 7PM.
If you prefer convenience, I would suggest to avail the tour.
Comments
Post a Comment