TRAVELLING IN KOREA - Useful Transport tips

During the year of 2014 my wife and I spent many weekends, national holidays and any other spare time we could manage, travelling throughout South Korea. We were inspired to see as much as we could and do it all. Coming from South Africa, more than 10 000 km away, everything seemed so new and different. The culture - ancient and mysterious, the food - unique and somewhat exotic, the people - shy yet friendly and the scenery was incredibly more than we originally expected.

During our travels we became more aware, we learnt how to use the public transport system and what kind of accommodation was best to use. We also learnt that anything dubbed 'famous' in Korea will be horded over any national holiday or weekend. We want to share what we have learnt; hopefully it will help you with your future travels in South Korea.

Public transport

Easy to use and reliable, the public transport system in Korea has been so useful we never even considered buying a car, and can I just say it has been such a pleasure not having to drive anywhere or worry about the responsibilities that go along with owning one. Anyway I digress. The Taxi’s and intercity busses are resourceful for getting around town, they are also really cost effective, especially in the beginning when you are still learning where everything is. Use the trains and busses to get out and about; once you know the location of your destined attraction you can plan the trip. Keep in mind, that often you won’t get a bus or a train directly to where you want to be, so allow for additional time to make up for detours or intervals between stops. To book a ticket online for the train, use (www.letskorail.com/ebizbf/EbizBfIndex_eng.do) and for the bus you can use two different sites depending on the route, www.kobus.co.kr and www.hticket.co.kr. Also if you are looking to travel within the district of your town, be sure to check the schedules and routes of your intercity busses at the local bus terminal. Lastly one can also use this site; http://ga82.com/ as a general public transport locator, it’s useful and has helped us many times. I realize, to many, I must seem quite fanatic and overly keen about the public transport, that is only because I’m from a country where a successful public transport scheme is still a distant dream.

Bicycles in Korea

While on the topic of transport I want to just make mention of how valuable and truly fun it can be, owning a bicycle in Korea, especially when they are so affordable. My wife and I are able to travel all around our city of Chungju, unbound by any taxi fare or bus schedule. We have saved thousands of Won by just “popping down on the bikes”. Another great reason to have bikes, is to make use of the many well erected bike routes in Korea, for example the Hangang Bike Route – which we can certify as awesome after cycling 180 km to Seoul one weekend along the biggest river in Korea. Unbelievably one can cycle from Seoul to Busan on these well maintained bike routes and see the entire country by bike. A person can actually cycle along the four major rivers in Korea, the Hangang River, Nakdonggang River, Geumgang River, Yeongsangang River which in total stretches 1,757 kilometers across the country and takes riders past traditional Korean villages, historical relics, and restaurants with traditional Korean food. Connecting the land from east to west, and from north to south. We hesitated buying a bicycle when we first got to Korea and we regretted it, now we have simple mountain bikes that get us everywhere and have supplied us with boundless hours of enjoyment seeing more of this beautiful country. Honestly I think once we did the open air experience seeing an area, stopping where we wished and going where our two wheels could take us, the tour bus just didn’t ‘cut it’ any longer. For those keen to see more of Korea by Bicycle please click here for maps of the main cycle routes with information along the routes.

The Tour Busses

We know of two tour companies that offer packaged tours to the foreigner market in Korea. It usually consists of a bus load of bubbly foreigners from all over, with the occasional Koreans all travelling together for a day trip, weekend or long weekend. We have used both and honestly prefer the services offered by WINK Travels (www.facebook.com/WinKTravels), which stands for “When in Korea.” The owner William Cho is a chilled out Korean/American that often guides the trips. Their packages are well organized and the schedules often jam–packed; however the trip organizers seem to make it all work smoothly. We definitely recommend using their services to see as much of Korea as possible, especially when you are still getting your bearings and are a little ‘green behind the ears.’ It would also be perfect to use them to see as many of the festivals as possible in Korea. As far as price per tour goes they are quite affordable and you can expect great value for money. Lastly please also check out Seoul Hiking Group (www.facebook.com/groups/seoulhiking/) for any packaged tours they might be offering. They often have good deals and the owner Warren Kim is friendly and helpful.

Moving around Korea to see all the attractions it has to offer can be quite easy and achieved on a budget, planning is however 90% of the work for any task done well, so familiarise yourself with the transport websites and use google maps and naver maps to check destinations and possible bus terminals or stations. I hope this has been somewhat helpful..

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