Gapyeong and Nami Island guide: trains, tour bus, gardens and crowds

Day trip or a night: how to plan Gapyeong

Gapyeong works as a day trip because the main sights sit along one river corridor served by one railway line. A comfortable day is Nami Island in the morning and one more stop in the afternoon: the Garden of Morning Calm if you like gardens and walking, or Petite France if you are travelling with children or K-drama fans. Trying to do Nami Island, Petite France, the rail bikes and the Garden of Morning Calm in one day means spending much of it on the bus.

Stay a night if you want Nami Island before and after the day crowds, both the island and the garden without rushing, or the Garden of Morning Calm's winter lighting festival, which runs into the evening. VisitKorea describes Hotel Jeonggwanru as the only accommodation on Nami Island; its main building has 44 rooms, with a choice of ondol (heated floor) rooms or beds, and the hotel's Islana Lounge serves breakfast from 8:30 to 10:30. Gapyeong town is the practical alternative: the station, the intercity bus terminal and the market are close together, and taxis to the Nami Island pier are short.

Nami Island: ferry, tickets and what to do

Nami Island lies in the Bukhangang and, although you reach it from Gapyeong, its address is in Chuncheon, Gangwon. The ferry leaves from the Gapyeongnaru pier at 1024 Bukhangangbyeon-ro, Gapyeong-eup. When we checked on 3 October 2026, VisitKorea listed the island as open 08:00–21:00 every day, with ferries from the pier every 30 minutes from 08:00 to 09:00 and every 10 to 20 minutes from 09:00 to 18:00, and noted longer hours in the spring blossom, summer holiday and autumn foliage seasons. It listed regular admission at 19,000 won, discount admission at 16,000 won and special admission at 13,000 won, with free entry for children aged 3 and under; VisitKorea's Nami Island column gives the same prices at the ferry dock. Confirm on the island's own site before you go.

The island is flat and easy to walk. The best-known sight is the Metasequoia Lane, made famous by the 2002 K-drama Winter Sonata; VisitKorea also describes riverside paths, 27 themed gardens, a picture-book lounge and art installations, and animals such as rabbits, peacocks and ostriches roaming the grounds. Bicycles, including tandems and e-bikes, can be rented on the island (VisitKorea notes that a driving licence is needed for an e-bike), and a short UNICEF charity train and a guided Story Tour Bus help if walking is difficult.

Instead of the ferry you can arrive by zip wire. VisitKorea describes riders launching from an 80-metre tower on the Gapyeong side, with lines to Nami Island (940 metres) and Jara Island (640 metres). When we checked, it listed the Family Course at 55,000 won and the Adventure Course at 58,000 won, including Nami Island admission and the return ferry, with weight limits of 35–120 kg and height limits of 140–200 cm. Operation depends on the weather.

The Garden of Morning Calm and the Cheongpyeong side

The Garden of Morning Calm (Achim Goyo Sumogwon) sits below Chungnyeongsan Mountain at 432 Sumogwon-ro, Sang-myeon, closer to Cheongpyeong Station than to Gapyeong town. VisitKorea says it was designed by Professor Han Sang-kyeong of Sahmyook University and opened in May 1996, and that it has about twenty themed gardens, forest paths, a pine grove and more than 5,000 plant species, including over 300 native to Baekdusan. Its best-known feature is the Sunken Garden, planted to represent the Korean Peninsula.

When we checked on 3 October 2026, VisitKorea listed opening hours of 08:30–19:00, and 10:00–21:00 in the winter season from December to March, open every day, with adult tickets at 11,000 won, teenagers 8,500 won and children 7,500 won. The winter hours are for the Lighting Festival: VisitKorea's listing for the 2025–26 edition ran from 5 December 2025 to 15 March 2026, from 17:00 to 21:00 (to 23:00 on Saturdays).

On the same bus route, Petite France at 1063 Hoban-ro is a French-themed village built around The Little Prince, with a memorial hall to Saint-Exupéry and a music-box house; VisitKorea lists it as a filming location for many K-dramas. When we checked, VisitKorea listed 09:00–18:00 and 16,000 won for adults and teenagers. Come for it if you have children with you or a favourite drama filmed there; otherwise the garden is the better use of an afternoon.

Getting there: ITX, subway, intercity bus or shuttle

Train is the simplest option for most visitors. VisitKorea's Nami Island column gives two rail options to Gapyeong Station, each taking about an hour: the ITX-Cheongchun from Yongsan or Cheongnyangni, or the Gyeongchun Line from Sangbong Station on Seoul Subway Line 7. The ITX-Cheongchun is an intercity train with a top speed of 180 km/h that runs from Yongsan to Chuncheon; VisitKorea explains that Korail tickets usually go on sale a month ahead at 07:00, through Korail's website and app, NAVER and Kakao T, or at stations. On autumn weekends, book the outbound train as soon as you know your date.

From Gapyeong Station, VisitKorea puts the Nami Island pier about 30 minutes away on foot or about 5 minutes by taxi. A taxi saves time when you have an early ferry to catch.

Intercity buses run from Dong Seoul Bus Terminal (Gangbyeon Station, Line 2) to Gapyeong Bus Terminal in about 1 hour 10 minutes, according to VisitKorea; the terminal is about 3 km from the pier, so take a taxi from there. VisitKorea also describes shuttle buses from Hongdae, Myeongdong and Dongdaemun direct to the Nami Island pier, bookable online only, with a single morning departure and an afternoon return in its 2024 listing. They save changing trains but tie you to one fixed slot on the island; check the current timetable on Nami Island's official site.

Getting around: the Gapyeong circular tourist bus

Gapyeong County runs a hop-on, hop-off circular tourist bus (gwangwangji sunhwan beoseu) that ties the sights together. Its 2026 timetable, which we read on the county's tourism site on 3 October 2026, ran in one direction from Gapyeong Bus Terminal via the Gapyeong Rail Bike, Jara Island, Gapyeong Station, Nami Island, an art museum, Petite France, Cheongpyeong Terminal and Cheongpyeong Station to the Garden of Morning Calm, and back the same way. The outbound buses left Gapyeong Terminal every hour on the hour from 09:00 to 18:00; the 09:00 bus, for example, was timed at Gapyeong Station at 09:20, Nami Island at 09:25, Petite France at 09:50 and the Garden of Morning Calm at 10:35. Return buses left the garden hourly from 10:00 to 18:00 for Gapyeong Terminal, reaching Nami Island about 1 hour 15 minutes later; later runs went only as far as Cheongpyeong, and a 20:00 run operated in winter only.

The county listed a one-day ticket at 8,000 won for adults and 6,000 won for teenagers, children, seniors, people with disabilities and soldiers, with children aged 3 and under free. You buy it from the driver, it allows unlimited rides on the loop that day, and admission to the sights is extra. If a bus is full, you wait for the next one, so on busy days build in an hour of slack.

With the bus, a workable day is the train to Gapyeong, Nami Island from the first ferries, a lunch break, then the bus from the Nami Island stop to the Garden of Morning Calm and back to Cheongpyeong Station for the train to Seoul. Check the timetable at the stop: the 2026 table is the county's, and it can change.

River activities: rail bikes, Jara Island and cycling

Gapyeong's riverside is easiest to enjoy on wheels. Gapyeong Rail Park, at 14 Jangteo-gil in Gapyeong town, runs pedal rail bikes on the old railway line; VisitKorea describes a return route over the Gapyeongcheon and Bukhangang iron bridges and through a zelkova tree tunnel, a stretch that featured in the 1997 film The Letter. When we checked, VisitKorea listed sessions from 09:00 at roughly 90-minute intervals, varying by season, so book or check the times before you go.

Jara Island, a few minutes by car from Gapyeong town, is a group of four river islets (Dongdo, Seodo, Jungdo and Namdo) with lawns, a large campground and riverside walks; VisitKorea lists it as free and open 24 hours. It is best known for the Jarasum International Jazz Festival, which has been held there every year since 2004, usually in October. Check the festival's official channels for the current dates, because accommodation in Gapyeong fills up that weekend.

On Nami Island, renting a bike for an hour is the most efficient way to cover both the shady lanes and the riverbank. We did not verify longer bike routes along the Bukhangang from official sources, so plan those separately if you want a long ride.

Beating the crowds

Nami Island's ferry timetable hints at when it is quietest: before 09:00 the boats run only every 30 minutes, and from 09:00 every 10 to 20 minutes. The Seoul shuttle bus in VisitKorea's 2024 listing reached the pier at 10:40, and day trippers by train build up through the morning, so the first hour after opening is the best time for the Metasequoia Lane. On autumn weekends, aim for an early ITX or Gyeongchun Line train and get to the pier by taxi.

If you must come at a busy time and are staying nearby or driving, reverse the usual order: start at the Garden of Morning Calm when it opens at 08:30 (the first circular bus only reaches it at 09:55) and reach Nami Island in the late afternoon, when the day visitors are leaving and the island is open until 21:00. Avoid Korean public holidays such as Chuseok if you can, and plan a weekday for the foliage peak from mid-October to early November.