South Korea Day 3: Bike along Gangchon Railway, Explore Nami, Visit Petite France then View the Lights of Banpo Bridge and Namsan Tower
On our third day, we woke up so early to secure our slots for Gangchon Rail Bike. We were supposed to be there by 9am but due to the distance of Sangil-dong to Gimyujeong, we arrived there at 9:30.
From Line 5
Subway Sangil-dong Station, we have to transfer at Gunja Station. After 9 stations (18
minutes), take the exit and transfer to Line 7 Subway Gunja Junggok
bound then transfer at Sangbon Mangu bound. After 5 stations (9 minutes), take the exit and transfer to Gyeongchun Line Sangbong Mangu bound.
After 18 stations (1 hour and 12 minutes), arrive at Gimyujeong Station.
The Rail Park is just next
to the Gimyujeong Station.
To go back to Gimyujeong
Station by shuttle bus, you need to walk around 10 minutes to go to shuttle bus
boarding. Turn left and go straight until you find the sign pointing to the location of shuttle bus. Walk past the resort with ATVs then turn right and walk straight. The ticket box is just under
the suspension bridge. And the shuttle bus is also just next to the ticket box.
This red shuttle bus will bring you back to Gimyujeong Station.
Then, take a Gyeongchun Line subway at same platform and get off at Gapyeong Station (4 stops away from Gimyujeong station).
When you take the exit and go outside the Gapyeong Station, you can easily spot the bus stop acros the road. Wait until the Gapyeong Circle
Bus take you to Nami Island (10 – 15 minutes). Pay 6,000 Korean Won to the driver and you will earn the all-day pass to board the Gapyeong City tour bus. The photo below shows the schedule of the bus and the recommended sequence of tour around Gapyeong City.
Backup: Take a taxi or regular bus.
Tip: Be patient on waiting the Gapyeong City tour bus because it will be the best option to visit all the places on time. It will also save a lot of money since the tourist spots are far from each other.
At 1:00 p.m., we entered the Naminara Republic where we were issued with a visa worth 8,000 Korean Won to explore Namiseom Island.
It was around 4:00 pm when we reached Petite France via taxi. We spent 18,000 Korean Won just to be there disregarding the existence of the city tour bus. We did not wait for it and we did not foresee how far was it from Nami Island. Best advice still is to wait for the Gapyeong City tour bus.
When you enter Petite France, you can use the voucher from this link: http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/upload/eng_content/2016_Gyeonggi-do_FIT_eng.pdf.
You can print this out to get the 6,000 Korean Won discounted price of the ticket.
A lot of things can be seen in this French cultural village set in the Korean countryside. The concept of Petite France encapsulates flowers, stars, and the Little Prince. Aside from that, this place is the filming location of Beethoven Virus, Butterfly Park, Love’s bell, Running Man, You Who Came from the Stars and Secret Garden. We certainly did not waste time to get a lot of photos as evidence.
By 5:30, we hopped in the Gapyeong City Tour Bus to catch the 8:00 pm Banpo Bridge Rainbow Fountain Show.
You can go to the Banpo Bridge via Dongjak Station (Seoul Subway Line 4), Exit 1 or 2; or, Express Bus Terminal Station (Seoul Subway Line 3,7 or 9), Exit 8-1. Go straight for 250m, and turn right at the Express Bus Terminal 4-way intersection.
It was past 7pm when we arrived there via Dongjak Station. The sun was still up. We waited for the 8pm show but to no avail. We did not lose hope until 9:30 pm for the show to start but then there was no show though websites tell that there is 8 and 9 pm shows.
What eased the pain was the beautiful scenery of the bridge over the Han River and the Namsan Tower at night.
When we went home, we found out that there are no rainbow light shows during cold weather. The show will resume during summer days.
In general, we felt a bit disappointed for our third day due to lot of money spent and unavailability of the Banpo rainbow fountain show.
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