Things to Do and FREE Shuttle Bus for South Korea Trip
"Traveling should be fun and not feel burdened with things that you actually don't want to do" - MJ
This is my second time visiting this country, (check my first visit in Winter 2012 here and also the itinerary back then here ) actually at first I only want to relax and not well-prepared for this trip, I booked myself the ticket already like a year before haha..planning to do solo traveling and choose end of October because I want to see Autumn and someone said the perfect dates are around end of October, so I booked Jakarta (CGK) - Kuala Lumpur (KUL) (connecting flight) - Seoul Incheon (ICN), round trip for 20 - 27 October 2016.
This is my second time visiting this country, (check my first visit in Winter 2012 here and also the itinerary back then here ) actually at first I only want to relax and not well-prepared for this trip, I booked myself the ticket already like a year before haha..planning to do solo traveling and choose end of October because I want to see Autumn and someone said the perfect dates are around end of October, so I booked Jakarta (CGK) - Kuala Lumpur (KUL) (connecting flight) - Seoul Incheon (ICN), round trip for 20 - 27 October 2016.
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| Spring in Japan and now Autumn in Korea! :) |
We shared our itinerary and start making plan, we traveled together but it shouldn't bother us if some itinerary are not matched, like I want to go to Jeju Island but she doesn't so I went to Jeju Island meanwhile she's staying in Seoul and plan another things. And when we are together mostly the itinerary would be the place I haven't been to beside shopping or market which I don't mind :) Traveling should be fun and not feel burdened with things that you actually don't want to do.
What did I prepare for this South Korea trip?
1.Flight Ticket
Booked already so no need to worry about it, anyway sometimes no need to wait for promo period to get promo flight ticket, sometimes you may find cheap flights at some period, just check Skyscanner or Kayak both this website helps me a lot, I even installed the apps to make easier and almost check it every time just for fun though haha :p (bitten by travel bugs so well, checking this apps is like play a games)
2. Wishlist
Write down your wishlist to visit or do or eat in South Korea
3. Korean Visa
Apply your Korean Visa at least a month before D-day, check my experience here to apply Korean visa for Indonesian
4. Get FREE discount coupon booklets
Once your Visa approved, go to Korean Tourism Organization (KTO) and check their program, I went there to get some FREE Awesome Things! since they have a program called FIT (Free Independence Traveller) and you may get such as FREE Discount Coupon Booklets, FREE T-Money KRW 10,000 coupon, FREE maps etc. check my experience here
5. Itinerary
Start arranging your itinerary, this is the beginning to know when will you book another flight (in my case, Jeju Island), guesthouse but somehow it depends how your traveling style. I love making itineraries for my trip, so I will know estimation cost and knowing how much money should I bring at least. First, I just make rough itinerary but when the time is getting closer sometimes I love to put itinerary things in details, takes time? of course haha :p
But I don't want to waste my time (to get lost) and money, especially in the country where having high living cost haha. I will share my itinerary in details in the end of my blogpost for this trip or you can click here, you're welcome :)
6. FREE Shuttle Bus
Check FREE Shuttle Bus Schedule for your destination, I will list down what kind of shuttle bus that I took for my trip below
7. Download useful Apps
Download some useful apps for your Korean trip, my Top 3 Apps that I used in Korea are :
a)Google Maps (always have & frequent used)
b)Subway, ohhh I really love it (only for Seoul area), helps me extremely a lot, you can use it offline, you can just point your current station and your destination station, they will calculate what's the fastest way or fewest station (no need to transfer much) hahaha plus they also calculate the price and duration of your journey! awesome!!
c)Daum Maps, is in Korean so you need to be able to read Korean words and if you can read it then it's really useful especially when you talk to Korean since sometimes they don't understand English. In addition, sometimes even in Google Maps, you gotta type the name of place in Korean ><'
8. Korean Subway Link that useful :
- Seoul Subway website, this website helped me a lot when I made my itinerary
- Busan Subway website, this one for Busan :)
9. Book local flight in advance
If you plan to go outside Seoul maybe instead of bus or train you might want to book local flight and get good deal :) you can get below KRW 100,000 for Seoul (Gimpo) - Jeju Island round trip ticket, usually cheapest airlines are Jeju Air, T'way Air etc. I checked through Skyscanner and booked Jeju Air for my flight, got KRW 58,000 for round trip Seoul (Gimpo) - Jeju Island, actually you can get below KRW 50,000 for round trip but well you need to book looong time before you leave, around 3 - 6 months before. I have my own reason why I didn't book when I saw that good deal, check here for my Jeju Island travel diaries.
10. Book your Accommodation
I got mine through Agoda.com, they have good price comparing with another website when I checked at that time, got discount coupon code and for bonus, they cooperate with Air Asia Big Points, so when you book some rooms, you will get additional Air Asia Big Points.
11. Check Discount Coupon on some websites
Get another good deal when shopping, check discount coupon on VKC, Trazy or Korea Grand Sale, here you may find discount coupon, I used some especially for buying some make up. You can also get discount coupon for some tourist attractions here like Petite France, Korea Folk Village etc., I don't use it much because I have my own free discount coupon booklets (point no. 4)
12. Bus Options to Out of Town
Check Kobus, to see bus schedule for some routes like Seoul - Busan or Seoul - Sokcho etc. For foreigners, you can't book the bus in advance through online since they will need local Korean ID number.
13. Money Changer
Get some KRW at good money changer, based on reference I bought my KRW at ITC Kuningan, Value Artha Mas, (since I live in Jakarta) they had a good rate at that time comparing with others, rate 1 KRW = Rp 12.05 (day 1) and 1 KRW = Rp 12 (day 2). I also bought few things with Credit Card in Korea and when I got the bills, got the good rate around Rp11,5 so I am happy about it haha, depends on your luck I guess.
Those are things that I prepared for my trip, hope it will be useful for you and below I will list down the free shuttle bus that I took during my Korean trip, it will be quite long but very useful.
LIST SHUTTLE BUS RECOMMENDATION FOR SOUTH KOREAN TRIP :
1. EDELWEISS SWISS THEME PARK
Open : Weekdays 10.00 - 18.00, Weekends 09.00 - 18.00
Admission Fee : KRW 10,000
How to go there :
Cheongpyeong Station, Exit 2, wait Shuttle Bus at the Bus Stop in front of station
FREE Shuttle Bus Schedule (available only weekend or public holiday)
From Cheongpyeong Station :
09.30, 11.00, 13.00, 15,00
From Edelweiss Swiss Theme park :
10.10, 12.00, 14.00, 17.30
Ticket : FREE
How long on Shuttle Bus : 40 minutes
See my experience here :)
2. JADE GARDEN
Open : 09.00 - Sunset (18.00 - 19.30)* depend on weather condition
Admission Fee : KRW 8,500
How to go there :
Gulbongsan Station, wait Shuttle Bus in front of station
FREE Shuttle Bus Schedule
From Gulbongsan Station :
10. 45 - 16.45 every an hour
note. Bus departing at 12:45 available on Weekends & Holidays only
From Jade Garden :
11.10 - 17.10 every an hour
Ticket : FREE
How long on Shuttle Bus : 10 - 15 minutes
See my experience here :)
3. NAMI ISLAND
Open : Look the Ferry Schedule below
Admission Fee : KRW 8,000
How to go there :
Gapyeong Station, Exit 1, wait Shuttle Bus in front of station, queue right away so you can have a seat, usually will be crowded
Ticket : KRW 6,000/day, buy from the driver
You can hop on and off with this Gapyeong Shuttle Bus, so keep your ticket carefully, when you get on the bus just show the ticket to the driver, best route to optimize your ticket is Nami Island - Petite France - Garden by Morning Calm, or you can arrange which place you want to go first.
See my experience here :)
Timetable Gapyeong Shuttle Bus provided
From Gapyeong Station to the next station :
09.10 - 18.10 every an hour
How long on Shuttle Bus : 15 minutes to Nami Island Bus Stop
Buy ticket to Nami Island, ticket including entrance and round trip Ferry, ride takes 5 - 6 minutes
Nami Island Ferry Schedule :
4. PETITE FRANCE
Open : 09.00 - 18.00
Admission Fee : KRW 8,000
How to go there :
Took Gapyeong Shuttle Bus, I continued from Nami Island to Petite France, but if Petite France is your first destination then same like to Nami Island, take the Gapyeong Shuttle Bus from Gapyeong Station and stop at Petite France.
How long on Shuttle Bus : 25 minutes (Nami Island - Petite France)
See my experience here :)
5. GARDEN OF MORNING CALM
Open : 08.30 - Sunset (closed at 21.00 during winter)
Admission Fee : KRW 9,000
How to go there :
Took Gapyeong Shuttle Bus, continued from Petite France to Garden of Morning Calm. If you start from Seoul then you can take Gapyeong Shuttle Bus from Cheongpyeong Station.
How long on Shuttle Bus : almost an hour (Petite France - Garden of Morning Calm)
See my experience here :)
6. KOREAN FOLK VILLAGE
Open : Weekdays 09.30 - 18.00, Weekends 09.30 - 18.30
Admission Fee : KRW 15,000
How to go there :
Suwon Station Exit 4, go to bus station in front of tourism information center
FREE Shuttle Bus Schedule
From Suwon :
12.30, 14.30
From Korean Folk Village :
14.00, 15.30, 16.30
Ticket : FREE
How long on Shuttle Bus : 35 minutes
note. I planned to take this free shuttle bus but on that day I didn't because I missed the time so I went to Korean Folk Village by public transportation
See my experience here :)
After that I am ready to go and will enjoy my trip for sure!! Please keep looking forward for my next stories, happy reading and here I come to Korea! :)
Booked already so no need to worry about it, anyway sometimes no need to wait for promo period to get promo flight ticket, sometimes you may find cheap flights at some period, just check Skyscanner or Kayak both this website helps me a lot, I even installed the apps to make easier and almost check it every time just for fun though haha :p (bitten by travel bugs so well, checking this apps is like play a games)
2. Wishlist
Write down your wishlist to visit or do or eat in South Korea
3. Korean Visa
Apply your Korean Visa at least a month before D-day, check my experience here to apply Korean visa for Indonesian
4. Get FREE discount coupon booklets
Once your Visa approved, go to Korean Tourism Organization (KTO) and check their program, I went there to get some FREE Awesome Things! since they have a program called FIT (Free Independence Traveller) and you may get such as FREE Discount Coupon Booklets, FREE T-Money KRW 10,000 coupon, FREE maps etc. check my experience here
5. Itinerary
Start arranging your itinerary, this is the beginning to know when will you book another flight (in my case, Jeju Island), guesthouse but somehow it depends how your traveling style. I love making itineraries for my trip, so I will know estimation cost and knowing how much money should I bring at least. First, I just make rough itinerary but when the time is getting closer sometimes I love to put itinerary things in details, takes time? of course haha :p
But I don't want to waste my time (to get lost) and money, especially in the country where having high living cost haha. I will share my itinerary in details in the end of my blogpost for this trip or you can click here, you're welcome :)
6. FREE Shuttle Bus
Check FREE Shuttle Bus Schedule for your destination, I will list down what kind of shuttle bus that I took for my trip below
7. Download useful Apps
Download some useful apps for your Korean trip, my Top 3 Apps that I used in Korea are :
a)Google Maps (always have & frequent used)
b)Subway, ohhh I really love it (only for Seoul area), helps me extremely a lot, you can use it offline, you can just point your current station and your destination station, they will calculate what's the fastest way or fewest station (no need to transfer much) hahaha plus they also calculate the price and duration of your journey! awesome!!
c)Daum Maps, is in Korean so you need to be able to read Korean words and if you can read it then it's really useful especially when you talk to Korean since sometimes they don't understand English. In addition, sometimes even in Google Maps, you gotta type the name of place in Korean ><'
8. Korean Subway Link that useful :
- Seoul Subway website, this website helped me a lot when I made my itinerary
- Busan Subway website, this one for Busan :)
9. Book local flight in advance
If you plan to go outside Seoul maybe instead of bus or train you might want to book local flight and get good deal :) you can get below KRW 100,000 for Seoul (Gimpo) - Jeju Island round trip ticket, usually cheapest airlines are Jeju Air, T'way Air etc. I checked through Skyscanner and booked Jeju Air for my flight, got KRW 58,000 for round trip Seoul (Gimpo) - Jeju Island, actually you can get below KRW 50,000 for round trip but well you need to book looong time before you leave, around 3 - 6 months before. I have my own reason why I didn't book when I saw that good deal, check here for my Jeju Island travel diaries.
10. Book your Accommodation
I got mine through Agoda.com, they have good price comparing with another website when I checked at that time, got discount coupon code and for bonus, they cooperate with Air Asia Big Points, so when you book some rooms, you will get additional Air Asia Big Points.
11. Check Discount Coupon on some websites
Get another good deal when shopping, check discount coupon on VKC, Trazy or Korea Grand Sale, here you may find discount coupon, I used some especially for buying some make up. You can also get discount coupon for some tourist attractions here like Petite France, Korea Folk Village etc., I don't use it much because I have my own free discount coupon booklets (point no. 4)
12. Bus Options to Out of Town
Check Kobus, to see bus schedule for some routes like Seoul - Busan or Seoul - Sokcho etc. For foreigners, you can't book the bus in advance through online since they will need local Korean ID number.
13. Money Changer
Get some KRW at good money changer, based on reference I bought my KRW at ITC Kuningan, Value Artha Mas, (since I live in Jakarta) they had a good rate at that time comparing with others, rate 1 KRW = Rp 12.05 (day 1) and 1 KRW = Rp 12 (day 2). I also bought few things with Credit Card in Korea and when I got the bills, got the good rate around Rp11,5 so I am happy about it haha, depends on your luck I guess.
Those are things that I prepared for my trip, hope it will be useful for you and below I will list down the free shuttle bus that I took during my Korean trip, it will be quite long but very useful.
LIST SHUTTLE BUS RECOMMENDATION FOR SOUTH KOREAN TRIP :
1. EDELWEISS SWISS THEME PARK
 |
| NICE!! warming up for Europe haha |
Admission Fee : KRW 10,000
How to go there :
Cheongpyeong Station, Exit 2, wait Shuttle Bus at the Bus Stop in front of station
FREE Shuttle Bus Schedule (available only weekend or public holiday)
From Cheongpyeong Station :
09.30, 11.00, 13.00, 15,00
From Edelweiss Swiss Theme park :
10.10, 12.00, 14.00, 17.30
Ticket : FREE
How long on Shuttle Bus : 40 minutes
See my experience here :)
 |
| wait on that bus stop |
 |
| Edelweiss Free Shuttle Bus :) |
2. JADE GARDEN
 |
| if you love Korean drama you may recognize this place :) |
Admission Fee : KRW 8,500
How to go there :
Gulbongsan Station, wait Shuttle Bus in front of station
FREE Shuttle Bus Schedule
From Gulbongsan Station :
10. 45 - 16.45 every an hour
note. Bus departing at 12:45 available on Weekends & Holidays only
From Jade Garden :
11.10 - 17.10 every an hour
Ticket : FREE
How long on Shuttle Bus : 10 - 15 minutes
See my experience here :)
 |
| there are 2 shuttle, yellow and green |
 |
| Nami Island on Autumn, perfect!! |
Admission Fee : KRW 8,000
How to go there :
Gapyeong Station, Exit 1, wait Shuttle Bus in front of station, queue right away so you can have a seat, usually will be crowded
Ticket : KRW 6,000/day, buy from the driver
You can hop on and off with this Gapyeong Shuttle Bus, so keep your ticket carefully, when you get on the bus just show the ticket to the driver, best route to optimize your ticket is Nami Island - Petite France - Garden by Morning Calm, or you can arrange which place you want to go first.
See my experience here :)
 |
| go queuing directly there :D |
 |
| Gapyeong Shuttle Bus KRW 6,000/day |
 |
| credit. google |
09.10 - 18.10 every an hour
How long on Shuttle Bus : 15 minutes to Nami Island Bus Stop
Buy ticket to Nami Island, ticket including entrance and round trip Ferry, ride takes 5 - 6 minutes
Nami Island Ferry Schedule :
 |
| ready onboard to Nami Island (5-6 minutes ride) |
Open : 09.00 - 18.00
Admission Fee : KRW 8,000
How to go there :
Took Gapyeong Shuttle Bus, I continued from Nami Island to Petite France, but if Petite France is your first destination then same like to Nami Island, take the Gapyeong Shuttle Bus from Gapyeong Station and stop at Petite France.
How long on Shuttle Bus : 25 minutes (Nami Island - Petite France)
See my experience here :)
 |
| Another European themes :) |
Open : 08.30 - Sunset (closed at 21.00 during winter)
Admission Fee : KRW 9,000
How to go there :
Took Gapyeong Shuttle Bus, continued from Petite France to Garden of Morning Calm. If you start from Seoul then you can take Gapyeong Shuttle Bus from Cheongpyeong Station.
How long on Shuttle Bus : almost an hour (Petite France - Garden of Morning Calm)
See my experience here :)
 |
| soo pretty :) |
 |
| LOVE!! |
Open : Weekdays 09.30 - 18.00, Weekends 09.30 - 18.30
Admission Fee : KRW 15,000
How to go there :
Suwon Station Exit 4, go to bus station in front of tourism information center
FREE Shuttle Bus Schedule
From Suwon :
12.30, 14.30
From Korean Folk Village :
14.00, 15.30, 16.30
Ticket : FREE
How long on Shuttle Bus : 35 minutes
note. I planned to take this free shuttle bus but on that day I didn't because I missed the time so I went to Korean Folk Village by public transportation
See my experience here :)
 |
| Back to Joseon era, woww, I love this place |
VERY USEFUL THANK YOU!
ReplyDeleteThank you for coming here! :)
Deletehai mbak, kmren menuju ke gapyeong via apa mbak ? subway atw bis ? thankyou
ReplyDeletehai..kemarin aku naik subway :)
DeleteMbaknya transfer itx di stasiun mana ?
ReplyDeleteDi St. Sangbong :) maap late reply yaa ><
DeleteHalo~ mau tanya untuk kupon http://vkc.or.kr/en/special-offers/discount-coupons/ kita perlu daftar log in atau hanya print voucher aja trs tinmggal tunjuk-in ke loket? Terima kasih
ReplyDeleteHello,
DeleteGa perlu daftar, tinggal print voucher nya aja dan pas transaksi kasih print out voucher nya ya :)
Cheers,
MJ
Halo, mau tanya, Edelweiss dan Petit France bagus yg mana ya? Kl garden of morning sama jade garden juga bagusan mana? Terus, kalo mau ke Nami, Petite, Garden of Morning, Edelweiss, dan Jade Garden harus 2 hari ya? Bisa minta saran sebaiknya rutenya gmn? Thanks ya before :)
ReplyDeleteHello,
DeleteKalau menurut aku :
Edelweiss/Petite >> Edelweiss
karena tempatnya bagus, cantik banged bangunannya dan dikelilingin bukit gitu, uda gitu teratur kalau mau ke sana krn tinggal ikutin peta aja dari nomor 1 diurutin aja, ga begitu banyak orang, mungkin krn letaknya jg yg agak jauh dan belum trlalu terkenal, kalau Petite uda terlalu common and mainstream :p
Garden of Morning Calm/Jade Garden >> susah milihnya, tapi mgkn aku pilih Garden of Morning Calm
Sebenarnya susah milih jd mungkin trgantung season juga ya n kamu prefernya mau liat apa, aku ke Jade Garden karena mau liat tempat syuting Song Hye Kyo dan Garden of Morning Calm karena ga mau rugi aja klo ga ke situ sekalian pas uda beli tiket bus 6,000 won utk Nami-Petite-Garden of Morning Calm hehe, ini taman gede pake banged n lebih gede dr Jade Garden, akses nya jg gampang, uda gt tamannya cantik banged n rapi banged
Menurut aku iya harus 2 hari, Edelweiss n Jade Garden tempatnya agak jauh sendiri n kemaren aku bener2 maksimalin pake Fre Shuttle Bus jadi perginya jg ngikutin jadwal shuttle, itupun uda selalu ambil Shuttle paling pertama hari itu pas Edelweiss, saran aku maksimalin 2 hari aja, jangan diburu-buru and nikmatin aja
Day 1 : Edelweiss Swiss Theme Park - Jade Garden
Day 2 : Nami Island - Petite France - Garden of Morning Calm
Saran kalau mau ke Nami Island niatin pagi2 banged karena kalau uda kayak jam 10/11 antrinya parah banged sampe ke parkiran n panjang banged..aku beruntung krn pagi2 jadi ga antri sepanjang itu :)
Reference waktu aku pergi kemaren :
http://uknowmj.blogspot.co.id/2016/12/seoul-gyeonggido-edelweiss-swiss-theme-park-jade-garden-gapyeong-korea-autumn-banpo-bridge.html
http://uknowmj.blogspot.co.id/2016/12/korea-autumn-nami-island-petite-france-garden-morning-calm.html
Thank youuu n semoga membantu ya :)
Cheers,
MJ
hallo mba. suka sama blog nya.. membantu banget.
ReplyDeletebtw mba, jade grden dan nami itu beda arah ya? maksudnya kalo dijadiin satu hari ngga bisa kah? edelwiss, petite, jade garden, nami?
thankyou
Hello Dita,
DeleteThank you yaa uda mampir di sini dan seneng juga kalau bisa ngebantu :)
Iya beda banged..Jade Garden itu jaraknya melenceng sendiri, paling jauh sendiri, kalau dari aku kurang rekomen 4 tempat itu jadi 1 hari ya, soalnya brdasarkan pengalaman ga keburu, aku waktu itu berniat 1 hari utk Edelweiss, Jade Garden sama Garden of Morning Calm, karena bergantung sama Free Shuttle Bus, pas ke Garden of Morning Calm nya itu uda ga keburu karena kata warga sana sayang uda gelap pas sampe sana hehe..Edelweiss juga lumayan jauh..tapi lain cerita kalau sewa mobil mungkin masih keburu..tapi sayang juga kalau jadi buru-buru, mending simpen di hari selanjutnya atau supaya ada alesan utk balik ke Korea :D
Thank you!
MJ
Hi.. may I ask, is the shuttle bus service to Jade Garden free of charge at any day of visit, or only on weekends just like Edelweiss Theme Park??
ReplyDeleteThank you for this write up y the way, very helpful :)
Hi..yes the free shuttle bus is free for any day, it's just different for departure time during weekend. During weekdays there would be no bus departing at 12.45.
DeleteCheers,
MJ
hello mba..
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing, blognya bagus banget, sangat informatif
mba, mau nanya..sy buka kobus nya..ternyata dlm bhs korea..ada aplikasi bus dlm bahasa inggris ngk ya mba?
Hello, tadi saya coba buka website nya dia ada juga pilihan klo foreigner bisa pakai bahasa inggris, coba dicek lagi ya..klo aplikasi bus yg lain saya belum pernah coba pake.
DeleteMakasih yaa uda mampir di blog ini :)