Day 1: Nami Island, Petite France & N Seoul Tower

Our adventure just gets more exciting everyday! Yeah! But we woke up around 7AM Incheon Time (6AM PH Time) and decided to have breakfast first before going out. Though the breakfast is at 8:30AM, we just waited.

We were able to depart from the hotel at around 10AM and we will supposedly follow the directions given by the hotel owner. But, we found our own way. But before that, we got lost for a couple of minutes. First time tourists problem! hahahaha

 We did not miss the chance to take a photo of our neighborhood. That Korean feels you see on the KDramas. 😀

How does Korea look like!

From Hotel Korea Original, we will be going to Gapyeong Station and then ride a bus to the wharf to Nami Island.

MRT experience.

Province in South Korea. They are really rich in agriculture.

How to get there

From Dongmyo Station, ride a train on the Blue Line:

Dongmyo Station -> Sinseol-dong -> Jegi-dong -> Cheongnyangni -> Hoegi

alight at Hoegi Station then transfer to the Light Green Line:

Hoegi Station -> Hankuk University -> Jungnang -> Sangbong

alight at Sangbong Station then transfer to the Dark Green line:

Sangbong Station -> Mangu -> Sinnae -> Galmae -> Byeollae -> Toegyewon -> Sareung -> Geumgok -> Pyeongnae Hopyeong -> Cheonmasan -> Masok -> Daeseong-ri -> Cheongpyeong -> Sangcheon -> Gapyeong

There are different tour packages that are offered for Nami Island inluding transfer. So if you find it inconvenient to take the train, you can book a tour package online or ask the hotel staff.

For those who will be commuting through the subway, just remember that your destination will be Gapyeong Station. It is easier to depart there to Nami Island.

This is Gapyeong Station. The upper right is the Information Center. Their staff can speak English. While the lower right is the taxi and bus station where you will wait for the bus to Nami Wharf. The bus schedule is being posted here too.

From Gapyeong Station, you can take a taxi to the wharf or the bus. The bus fare is 6000 KRW (around PHP 270) and an unlimited ride for a day including to destinations like Nami Island, Petite France and The Garden of Morning Calm.

The travel time is more than 1 hour.

We arrived at Gapyeong Station at almost 12NN. We spent our whole morning getting lost. hahahaha..

We waited for the bus that will depart at 12:15PM at Gapyeong Station. When it arrived, we paid the fare to the driver. Make sure to keep the ticket as the driver will ask for it every time you ride the bus.

From there, it will take for about 20 minutes to arrive at the bus terminal to Nami Island. There are a few stops before reaching our destination. From the station, we were given the direction on how to reach the wharf.

It takes a few minutes of walking to reach the wharf. Upon arriving, buy the visa (as what they call it) for 8000 KRW (around Php 360). Once you had bought, you can then proceed to the immigration where you will be greeted by the immigration officer that can speak Tagalog as well. Then, there you go! It is time to ride on the ferry!

Nami Island Here We Come!!!

Nami Island is just 5-10 minutes away from the wharf. Too near, right? But of course, you cannot walk on the river. But you can always choose the Zip Wire for 10000 KRW if you don’t want to take the ferry.

The fare includes the roundtrip ferry transfer and the entrance to the island.

And after the long trip… The wait is over!

Hellooooo to the love island, Nami Island!

We did a few photo ops and strolled around looking for the restaurant as we were already hungry (that’s past 1PM already).

Visitors go to this area in the island where rocks are scattered. As they say, you have to put the rocks on top of each other and as high as possible then what you wish will come true. 🙂

After our sumptuous Korean Lunch, we strolled around the island, take more photos, enjoy the moment, look for the Winter Sonata shooting locations and meet with tourists & locals.

Some of the locations of the Korean Drama Winter Sonata

At around 4PM, we decided to head to Petite France. It is more or less an hour away from Nami Island Wharf.

Photo shots in the famous and the most instragrammable place in the island. It’s like you’ve never been in Nami Island if you have no photos here. 😛

Bonjour! Bienvenue en Petite France!

Petite France is like a small French community. From its structure, to the colors, to the displays, to the flowers, to the foods, to the love locks, to the Eiffel Tower replica, to Pinocchio, to Mona Lisa, to Little Prince. There is not a lot of things you can do here but take pictures, stroll, have some afternoon tea, relax and enjoy the scenery especially there is an overlooking view. It is kinda relaxing. I prefer to visit here in the afternoon.

Entrance Fee is 8000 KRW.

The three of us having fun in Little France. The view too is amazing.

Just like Paris, they also have the famous Eiffel Tower (replica) and the love locks! 🙂

After a couple of minutes, we decided to head to our last destination, N Seoul Tower. We were not sure if we can even reach there before it is close. But we need to… we have to… we should… because we already bought a ticket online and it cannot be used on another day.

Goofing around while waiting for the bus. Their road is sooo wide and the cars can go as fast as they want.

The view along the way to/from Petite France.

We started our travel to Myeongdong Station (this is the nearest station to N Seoul Tower) at 7PM. It is not yet dark but the sun gonna set anytime soon.

We arrived at Myeongdong around 9PM. N Seoul Tower’s last admission is at 10:30PM. And we still have to walk a long way to get there. Since we are first timers, guess what? We got lost again in going there. Aside from that, we do not have an idea that it is totally very sooo far from the station. Really! haha! We were like the 3 kings following the star to reach where Jesus is. We were following the light coming from the tower. But we got lost! hahahah…

We walked for more than 1KM from the station to the foot of the stair to the tower. After that, we have to walk on a steep stair (going up) for about 1.4KM. Imagine that! What a tiring night! Our feet were aching so bad. Fortunately, the weather is kinda cold. But we were almost got hydrated. We did not bring even a small bottle of water. And we were like walking uphill, running (coz we need to reach there before the last admission) then walking. But when we got there, wow! It was all worth it.

Good evening, Namsan Seoul Tower!

Namsan Seoul Tower is located at 236 meters in Namsan Mountain, the second highest point in Seoul.

The entrance fee is 10,000 KRW. To get to the tower, you can choose any of the following:

• By Foot – just like we did. If you think you can do it, then go for it. 😀 But, do not forget to bring water with you and just walk on your own pace. Enjoy what you will see while you are walking.
• By Bus – Ride the Namsan Sunhwan Shuttle Bus (number 02, 03, or 05). Fare is 1200 KRW
  • Bus 02 closest subway station – Chungmuro Station (lines 3, 4) then take exit 2 (in front of Daehan Cinema)
  • Bus 03 closest subway stations – Seoul Station (lines 1, 4 then take exit 9. Or Itaewon Station (line6) then take exit 4. Or Hangangjin Station (line 6) in front of exit 2
  • Bus 05 closest subway stations – Myeongdong Station (line 4) then take exit 3. Or Chungmuro Station then take exit 2
• By Cable Car – Walk for 10-15 minutes to the cable car station. The fare is 8500 KRW for round trip and 6000 KRW for one-way.

The view from the top. Wonderful, isn’t it? 🙂

After our overlooking experience at the top of N Seoul Tower, we bought some souvenir then went down at the entrance of the building. There we can find more souvenirs and love locks which you can place in their love locks garden. And since we were all single and do not want to spend that much for a lock, we just went to the garden and took some photos and did something hilarious stuff that we cannot share. LOL! haha

The love locks in N Seoul Tower. You can buy the locks in their store or bring your own.

We did some stop here because the view looks more beautiful plus we are so tired.

Then we went down because our stomachs were complaining already. It is past 11PM yet we still did not eat our dinner. And so we deserve a hearty dinner! We ate in a food stall along the street just like in K Drama! haha!

By the way, we were able to pass by the house in Legend of the Blue Sea. Actually, it was Ate Tzhe who noticed it since I did not watch that series even once. 😛

Right after that dinner, we walked back to our hotel. Imagine another hour of walking! I did really burned so much fats and calories yet it’s still day 1! Along the way we saw a line of fans of G Dragon. I am not sure what they were lining up for. A meet up or a concert or an after concert event. I just don’t know. All I know was that I am totally tired, my feet was already numb and painful and just wanna lay on the bed. Hahahahha!

As our Day 1 ended, we all realized that we should be back in Korea when we found a partner. (This is not a perfect place for someone who is on a moving on phase like me who was left by the BF 2 months ago. But I am still enjoying and totally happy.) Because this place is so romantic and the people are. Young, old, family, friends!

Good night Day 1! 🙂

TIPS!!!

1. Know how to get there ahead of time. Unless, you have an extra time if in any case you get lost. Especially if you are going to a far place from where you are staying. Ask the hotel staff or Uncle Google!
2. Always give a time allowance when you are visiting places especially if it is a famous destination.
3. Do not be so hurry but be time conscious. Unless you are staying in that place for the whole day, then you can. But if you are planning to be somewhere else after, then spend just enough time. However, do not forget to treasure the moment that you are there. It is not everyday that you can visit.
4. Bring water always. You can buy a bottled water at the convenience store then just refill it anywhere you are. Most of the tourist spots in Korea have drinking water for free.
5. Bring some biscuits or sandwich. You do not know if when can you eat especially if you are travelling from one place to the other. At least you have something to munch just to feed up your stomach.
6. Bring some coat or sweater when visiting N Seoul Tower at night because it is so cold. The temperature in Korea when we visited reached 19 degrees at night.
7. Walk as much as you can but if there is a way that you can ride, then go for it. Walking when abroad is very common. You can walk for kilometers if you want. But for tourists like us that wanted to be on different places in a day, you can still walk but if there is another way to ride a bus or shuttle or cable car, then do it. It will bring you to wherever you intend to be faster and you can spend more time there. But if you are in budget, and the fare is expensive yet it can be reached by feet, then walk.
8. If you are on a budget, be practical. You do not have to buy love locks if it is not that necessary. But if you really want to lock your love for each other, then bring some locks from the Philippines. It is cheaper and you can customize if you want.
9. Always ask. Koreans may find it hard to talk or understand English but they are very much willing to help. So ask!
10. Do not forget to cherish the moment. Enjoy as much as you can. Take photos as much as you can. And try some Korean cuisine even once a day.

Most of the photos are taken by Ate Tzhe. 🙂