1679-1 Seocho-dong, Seocho-Gu, Seoul, South Korea
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My fiance and I have a 9.5 hour layover in Seoul on January 4, 2011. We land at Incheon Airport at 6:50 am and our next flight isn't until 4:30 pm later that day. I have heard that they were constructing a subway to the airport that was supposed to be completed by 2010. Does anyone know if it is open yet?
What is the best / fastest way into the city and with a limited amount of time what should we see and where should we eat? Also how long will it take us to get into the city from the airport? We're trying to figure out what time we would need to leave Seoul to get back to catch our flight.
Thanks!
Subway does not go all the way to Incheon airport. You have three options:
1) taking the train to Gimpo airport, then taking the subway from there (cheapest, but could take 1.5hr).
2) taking express bus to downtown (about an hour)
3) taking a taxi (about 45 minutes)
However if you want, Incheon does offer transit tours:
http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_5_1.jsp
Unless you are familiar and/or comfortable with navigating Seoul, I'd suggest you stick to the transit tour with such a limited time.
My friend was in the same situation and I had her take a bus to Myeong-Dong [shopping, culture, foreigner friendly, food] and we met up at a hotel in meyong dong (sorry, i forgot the name of the hotel! but the people at the ticket booths at the airport will help you out) there and spent around 4 hours just walking around, shopping and eating. There is a lot of street shopping, boutiques with korean-designed fashion and international stores like H&M, adidas, etc.
Meyong Dong station (line 3 [orange], line 4[sky blue] exit #6] is a good starting and reference point.
Also there are several affordable make-up/lotion/etc shops around and theyre worth a visit and great for gifts [some shops include: nature republic, the faceshop, etude house, tony moly... etc]
you can take a bus there and take the bus back to the airport. buses come they come every 15 minutes or so and cost around 10,000-15,000 won (10-15 USD one way). At the airport just walk outside and you'll see a booth titled "ticket box" just tell the lady that you want to go to meyong dong/or a major hotel in meyong dong. if your plane is set to take off at 4 30, then i recommended that you get on a bus between 2-2:30 (it will take around 40 mins-60 mins to get back to the airport)
good luck and have fun!
Actually to go from Incheon Airport into Seould city, you can take Airport Express Train, and than switch to a subway (I believe at Kimpo Airport, the old international aiport).
However starting on Dec 29 2010 it will be simpler.
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/11/04/2010110400947.html
"Starting from Dec. 29 travelers can check in luggage at Seoul Station before heading to Incheon International Airport.
The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs also said that the Airport Express Train which links Incheon and Gimpo airports will be extended to Seoul Station, reducing the travel time from central Seoul to the airport to just 40 to 50 minutes.
..."
More discussion on this here:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/archive/t-1146471.html
Btw, don't forget about free shower facility (clean/nice as 4 star hotel) at Incheon airport. Renting towel costs $6, I believe they accept US cash or Korean Won only, no credit card. Renting towel/soap/shampoo costs a bit more. The towel they rent is small by US standard.
Gwanghwamun, the main gate of Gyeongbokgung (Palace).
The restoration project will return the historic gate to its original site 14.5m to the south and 10.9m to the west and turn it 5.6 degrees clockwise.
and A 500m long and 27m wide public area named Gwanghwamun Plaza will be established in the middle of Sejongno in downtown Seoul by the end of 2008.
1 ( il )
2 ( i )
3 ( sam )
4 ( sa )
5 ( o )
6 ( yuk )
7 ( chil )
8 ( pal )
9 ( gu )
10 ( sip )
100 ( baek )
1000 ( cheon )
10000 ( man )
43500wom: saman-samcheon-obaek won
Jongno3ga: Jongno-sam-ga
Bongcheon4dong: Bongcheon-sa-dong
An-yeong-ha-se-yo: Hi! Hello!
Gam-sa-ham-ni-da: Thank you
Eol-ma-eip-ni-kka?: How much
Yeogiga-eodi-eip-ni-kka?: Where are we now?
Ye: Yes
A-ni-yo: No
One thing strange about Korea is that there are no self-serve gas stations.
Even stranger, is that they hire local cute girls to dance at the entrance to get customer's attention.
I'm not complaining.
Driving a motorcycle in summer is nice. Even nicer when you have to get gas.
Sadly the only pics I have of this are recent, just after Fall hit. They are all wearing jackets...
I'll be sure to get many pics when Spring hits.
Korean bills come in only 1000, 5000, and 10,000 Won notes. Coins come in 50, 100, and 500 won. Since the exchange rate is around 1150 Won to a dollar, you'll see that it takes a lot of paper to pay your rent or buy major items. Luckily, there are bank checks for 100,000 and 1,000,000 won, not really money, but it's the next best thing.
A new 5,000 Won note has been used since 1 Jan 2006 and A new 1,000 Won note was recently revealed and will go into circulation in 2007.
Pack as lightly as you can. For autumn...it is best to try layering than bringing all those bulky sweatshirts and jackets.
Bring good, sturdy and comfy shoes for everyday walking. Eye drop - I didn't realize that it is necessary to bring one. I visited in autumn and my eyes felt so dry and itchy all the time.
Plastic Strips (Band-Aids) - bring lots and lots of these medical wonder ;0). I'm prone to blisters but then I never thought I'd be doing loooong walks in Korea. Before end of my trip, I have used up at least half box of strips.
Medicines - When I had to buy a pain reliever in one of the pharmacies, I had difficulty getting one because the pharmacist couldn't understand what I was saying. I tried different kinds of tricks, saying the brand name, generic name, saying body pain, fever, motioning, etc. In the end, I asked for a pen and pencil and bingo! he managed to understand me. The only problem is that, I could not take the medicine before I actually checked from my Korean friend if the man gave me the pill that I wanted.
Lip balm - your lips could easily get chapped with the cold weather.
Oil, lotion - for moisturizing, prevents you from having those dry and itchy skin. For Digital Camera Users, bring a high capacity memory cards as there would be many photo opportunities in Seoul. It is also good to bring blank CDs as you can burn your photos daily to free those precious memory cards. Note: all of the above are of course available in Seoul. Bring them nonetheless to save time, effort and money.
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