Overnight layover in Seoul, South Korea

xplod140 · 3rd July 2012, 12:52 PM

So I'm going to Europe and I have an 18 hour, overnight layover in Seoul.

Korean Air is putting me up in their Hilton Hotel so no worries there, but I am interested in taking advantage of the time I have and seeing some of the sights.

Any suggestions on what I can cram into 8-ish hours where everyone is probably in bed asleep?

Trawler · 4th July 2012, 9:46 AM

I just came to this forum to ask some questions about my stop over as well.

I'm flying over on the 19th.

I think you'll find you'll be staying at the Hyatt Regency Incheon, a very nice hotel. Great food as well, breakfast buffet is excellent - make sure you check out the fresh pastry selection.

http://incheon.regency.hyatt.com/hya...index.jsp?null

Great pool there so if you feel like a swim to kill the time take some swimmers.

I believe there are organised bus tours departing from the hotel and into town. The Korean Air website has some info on tours:

http://www.koreanair.com/

I'm was going to ask if there were any shops near the hotel or at the airport that would be selling electronic equipment (i.e. Samsung mobiles or tablets/ultrabooks) at lower prices than what we can get in Australia?

xplod140 · 4th July 2012, 3:04 PM

I have been told by a work colleague that it's actually a very expensive place to shop but it depends on where you go and what you're after.

I also found out that the Expo 2012 is on at this time (I fly on the 21st).

http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/...7&out_service=

So that could be worth seeing too.

esaitchkay · 4th July 2012, 4:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trawler

I just came to this forum to ask some questions about my stop over as well.

I'm flying over on the 19th.

I think you'll find you'll be staying at the Hyatt Regency Incheon, a very nice hotel. Great food as well, breakfast buffet is excellent - make sure you check out the fresh pastry selection.

http://incheon.regency.hyatt.com/hya...index.jsp?null

Great pool there so if you feel like a swim to kill the time take some swimmers.

I believe there are organised bus tours departing from the hotel and into town. The Korean Air website has some info on tours:

http://www.koreanair.com/

I'm was going to ask if there were any shops near the hotel or at the airport that would be selling electronic equipment (i.e. Samsung mobiles or tablets/ultrabooks) at lower prices than what we can get in Australia?

I went to Seoul earlier this year, and tbh, hardware isn't that much cheaper in comparison to Australia. Also, it's quite rare to come upon mobiles outright, as most people in the country are on plans. Your best bet would be duty free stores, but even then, I doubt you'll find a phone (and if you do, it'll probably be cheaper to buy in AU via grey import). However, if you are interested in just checking stuff out, the major tech-hub is in Yongsan(subway line 1: stop: yongsan) : prices suck, so you have to bargain, but it'll be pretty hard to get a good deal if you don't speak korean

For shopping, Korea is pretty good for clothing (seeing as australian retail is useless in pricing) - check out myeong-dong (subway line 4, station: myeong-dong) - huge amount of stores like g-star, nike, etc - there's also a lotte duty free there. But in order to get from the airport to seoul, you have to take a train or bus, as incheon is just an island.

a777 · 4th July 2012, 4:56 PM

I have not been there but a few friends have done the stopover like you and had a good time.

You might find something useful on this page if you haven't read it already:-
http://wikitravel.org/en/Seoul

Zee · 5th July 2012, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xplod140

So I'm going to Europe and I have an 18 hour, overnight layover in Seoul.

Korean Air is putting me up in their Hilton Hotel so no worries there, but I am interested in taking advantage of the time I have and seeing some of the sights.

Any suggestions on what I can cram into 8-ish hours where everyone is probably in bed asleep?

My best suggestion is to join up to couchsurfing.org, and hit up some locals to meet up with you and take you for a bite to eat. I did this earlier in the year, and was not sorry - got taken to an awesome Korean BBQ place, ended up costing $15, with beer, for both of us.

You will not be there quite long enough to go to Seoul proper, or I'd suggest checking out the Palace. I'm pretty sure there is also some sort of theme park in Incheon that is supposed to be pretty cool...

Z...

Grant · 5th July 2012, 10:56 AM

Play some StarCraft 2? You may end up missing your flight though...

Zee · 5th July 2012, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grant

Play some StarCraft 2? You may end up missing your flight though...

Z...

xplod140 · 9th July 2012, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zee

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n1/EtherealZee/koreangirls.jpg

Z...

Daaaaaaaaaamn, Now I want to stay for longer.....

Revenge · 9th July 2012, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xplod140

Any suggestions on what I can cram into 8-ish hours where everyone is probably in bed asleep?

Grab a rifle and take some pot shots at North Korean border guards?

If that doesn't fill in some time, while also producing an exciting outcome... nothing will !!

.

Pirki · 9th July 2012, 12:21 PM

Incheon Airport is great, on my last layover which was only overnight or so
I spent some time at the airport, which is where I bought by DSLR.

Here are some travel options to get to Seoul
http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/ena/GK/GK_EN_2_2_2_3.jsp

Not sure what you would do once you got there though

Spacenoodle · 10th July 2012, 10:38 PM

I spent a lot of time in Korea (Korean family), so I can give some good advice for hanging out in Seoul.

Inchon is about 40minutes to an hour outside Seoul by bus. Not sure about subway since I never stayed there other than to fly in fly out.

8 hours is not a lot of time, but here are a few suggestions.

Insadong is a little suburb in the city which is where a lot of traditional tea houses and souvenirs shops.

Shincheon and Hongdae are inside the university triangle, so they are student kinda suburbs with lots of net cafe's, bars, restaurants, etc. Interesting bars and clubs here.

Apgujeong is a posh shopping suburb where celebs hang out. If you want to buy some Jimmy Choo or some Channel you go here.

Itaewon is near a big US army base and generally considered to be the Kings cross of Seoul, it's also home to the best war museum I've ever seen. Great jazz bar there called "Once in a Blue Moon" (friend of mine plays sax there).

You could do a DMZ tour if you have a full day, don't do the tour tunnels its boring, you should do the DMZ town of Panmunjom.

As far as shopping goes, electronics are about a similar price to what you would pay in Australia. Last time I was there the import tax on Japanese electronics was high, but if you are buying Samsung or LG its probably cheaper in Korea.

For clothes you can go to Dongdaemun. The quality is questionable, fit is weird, but the clothes are all covered in the worst engrish you've seen and great for picking up a stack of cheap basics.

That's about I can think of off the top of my head.

Let me know if you want more info on something I've listed there.

Nattynoos · 11th July 2012, 12:09 PM

Ohhai! My husband and I did the same thing heading back to Brissie from Europe last year. I got all excited thinking we'd be going to the Hyatt hotel, but we didn't

I can't remember the name of the hotel at all though, dammit! But we got some brekky, lunch and dinner vouchers which was great because Korean food is yummo. Make sure you try some bibimbap in a stone bowl!

We were super jetlagged and slept for the first day/night, then went into Seoul on the train the next day. We caught the hotel bus to the airport, then jumped on a train from the airport into Seoul and wandered around. We found some markets which were cool, and wandered through a couple of temples as well. Oh, and got our photo taken with some random girls in the street too (I was blonde at the time and husband is super super tall). It was a nice place to have an extended stopover in, but I would have liked to have been less jetlagged to enjoy it!

Ohhhhh, a really important thing to know is that you can actually do day trips to the North Korean border!! Look up "USO Panmunjom tour". I was miffed that there wasn't one running when we were there, but there are also lots of other day-trip companies that go out there. USO ones get you to see the most sights. They only leave from Seoul city though, so it'd be an early start to get in there to get picked up by the bus.

colche · 31st July 2012, 6:00 PM

you can catch the arex train so you don't have to worry about traffic...
53 minutes stopping all stations or 43 minutes express right into Seoul Station.

Most expensive ticket is about $7.5 aud for the express and $3.5aud stopping all stations till the end.

8 hours might be long enough to just take a wonder around Myeongdong or Hongdae area...have some street food or Korean BBQ...

I wouldn't bother with hardware...not cheaper...

3rd July 2012, 12:52 PM	#1
xplod140 Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Melbournia Posts: 3,365	Overnight layover in Seoul, South Korea So I'm going to Europe and I have an 18 hour, overnight layover in Seoul. Korean Air is putting me up in their Hilton Hotel so no worries there, but I am interested in taking advantage of the time I have and seeing some of the sights. Any suggestions on what I can cram into 8-ish hours where everyone is probably in bed asleep? __________________ I've upped my standards, now Up Yours.

4th July 2012, 3:04 PM	#3
xplod140 Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Melbournia Posts: 3,365	I have been told by a work colleague that it's actually a very expensive place to shop but it depends on where you go and what you're after. I also found out that the Expo 2012 is on at this time (I fly on the 21st). http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/...7&out_service= So that could be worth seeing too. __________________ I've upped my standards, now Up Yours.

4th July 2012, 4:56 PM	#5
a777 Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Queensland Posts: 2,781	I have not been there but a few friends have done the stopover like you and had a good time. You might find something useful on this page if you haven't read it already:- http://wikitravel.org/en/Seoul __________________ -

4th July 2012, 9:46 AM	#2
Trawler Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 288	I just came to this forum to ask some questions about my stop over as well. I'm flying over on the 19th. I think you'll find you'll be staying at the Hyatt Regency Incheon, a very nice hotel. Great food as well, breakfast buffet is excellent - make sure you check out the fresh pastry selection. http://incheon.regency.hyatt.com/hya...index.jsp?null Great pool there so if you feel like a swim to kill the time take some swimmers. I believe there are organised bus tours departing from the hotel and into town. The Korean Air website has some info on tours: http://www.koreanair.com/ I'm was going to ask if there were any shops near the hotel or at the airport that would be selling electronic equipment (i.e. Samsung mobiles or tablets/ultrabooks) at lower prices than what we can get in Australia?

5th July 2012, 10:56 AM	#7
Grant Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Wollongong Posts: 865	Play some StarCraft 2? You may end up missing your flight though...

9th July 2012, 12:21 PM	#11
Pirki Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Sydney Posts: 937	Incheon Airport is great, on my last layover which was only overnight or so I spent some time at the airport, which is where I bought by DSLR. Here are some travel options to get to Seoul http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/ena/GK/GK_EN_2_2_2_3.jsp Not sure what you would do once you got there though

10th July 2012, 10:38 PM	#12
Spacenoodle Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 43	I spent a lot of time in Korea (Korean family), so I can give some good advice for hanging out in Seoul. Inchon is about 40minutes to an hour outside Seoul by bus. Not sure about subway since I never stayed there other than to fly in fly out. 8 hours is not a lot of time, but here are a few suggestions. Insadong is a little suburb in the city which is where a lot of traditional tea houses and souvenirs shops. Shincheon and Hongdae are inside the university triangle, so they are student kinda suburbs with lots of net cafe's, bars, restaurants, etc. Interesting bars and clubs here. Apgujeong is a posh shopping suburb where celebs hang out. If you want to buy some Jimmy Choo or some Channel you go here. Itaewon is near a big US army base and generally considered to be the Kings cross of Seoul, it's also home to the best war museum I've ever seen. Great jazz bar there called "Once in a Blue Moon" (friend of mine plays sax there). You could do a DMZ tour if you have a full day, don't do the tour tunnels its boring, you should do the DMZ town of Panmunjom. As far as shopping goes, electronics are about a similar price to what you would pay in Australia. Last time I was there the import tax on Japanese electronics was high, but if you are buying Samsung or LG its probably cheaper in Korea. For clothes you can go to Dongdaemun. The quality is questionable, fit is weird, but the clothes are all covered in the worst engrish you've seen and great for picking up a stack of cheap basics. That's about I can think of off the top of my head. Let me know if you want more info on something I've listed there.

11th July 2012, 12:09 PM	#13
Nattynoos Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 59	Ohhai! My husband and I did the same thing heading back to Brissie from Europe last year. I got all excited thinking we'd be going to the Hyatt hotel, but we didn't I can't remember the name of the hotel at all though, dammit! But we got some brekky, lunch and dinner vouchers which was great because Korean food is yummo. Make sure you try some bibimbap in a stone bowl! We were super jetlagged and slept for the first day/night, then went into Seoul on the train the next day. We caught the hotel bus to the airport, then jumped on a train from the airport into Seoul and wandered around. We found some markets which were cool, and wandered through a couple of temples as well. Oh, and got our photo taken with some random girls in the street too (I was blonde at the time and husband is super super tall). It was a nice place to have an extended stopover in, but I would have liked to have been less jetlagged to enjoy it! Ohhhhh, a really important thing to know is that you can actually do day trips to the North Korean border!! Look up "USO Panmunjom tour". I was miffed that there wasn't one running when we were there, but there are also lots of other day-trip companies that go out there. USO ones get you to see the most sights. They only leave from Seoul city though, so it'd be an early start to get in there to get picked up by the bus.

31st July 2012, 6:00 PM	#14
colche Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 21	you can catch the arex train so you don't have to worry about traffic... 53 minutes stopping all stations or 43 minutes express right into Seoul Station. Most expensive ticket is about $7.5 aud for the express and $3.5aud stopping all stations till the end. 8 hours might be long enough to just take a wonder around Myeongdong or Hongdae area...have some street food or Korean BBQ... I wouldn't bother with hardware...not cheaper...