Travel to South Korea: Gapyeong Story (Nami Island & Petite France)

I think not many tourists aware there’s a county near Seoul called Gapyeong. But I’m sure they know Nami Island, one of the top 10 tourist attractions in South Korea. Nami Island is located at Gapyeong County in Gyeonggi Province, 90 minutes away from central Seoul by train. 

Had been delayed the plan for about 4 days due to the rain and my schedule to visit Jeonju and Busan, I finally managed to go to Gapyeong County on Saturday with a clear sky. My destination? A small European village called Petite France and of course the famous Nami Island.

There are several ways to reach Nami Island from Seoul. Two of them are by shuttle bus and train. If you prefer to take the shuttle bus, you can find the bus departure point at Jamsil (at the front of Lotte Mart nearby exit no. 4-Jamsil Station line 2) or Insadong (nearby the West Gate of Tapgol Park). This shuttle bus will cost you 15.000 won for round trip or 7.500 won for one way. The bus depart from Jamsil/Insadong on 09.30 and go back on 16.00 from Nami Island (parking lot in front of the ticket office) every day. 

I chose to take the train, the more economic one. Myeongdong station was my start point. I had to transfer from SMRT (Seoul Subway) to ITX (the train that runs through Gyeongchun line) at Sangbong Station (line 7) and got off at Gapyeong Station. I just had to pay around 2.000 won for the long train ride and I used my T-Money card to pay :) From Gapyeong Station, I still had to take a bus or taxi to Gapyeong Wharf then took the ferry to reach Nami Island. I had a plan to take The Gapyeong Shuttle Bus that has a circular route and strategic drop off point for tourists. The tourists who want to ride this bus just have to pay 5.000 won to the bus driver and they can hop in or hop off from the bus as much as they want to for one day! The bus will stop at the bus/taxi shelter in front of Gapyeong Station or the other designated points of the bus route. As a sign, there’s a shuttle bus’ time table on the shelter or drop off point. There’s a tourist information center in front of Gapyeong Station if get lost. I went there and they gave me 3 helpful brochures: The Gapyeong Shuttle Bus, Nami Island, and Petite France, all in English. 

 Gapyeong Shuttle Bus' time table

Unfortunately, my brother and I arrived at Gapyeong Station a little bit late from the schedule and we missed the 11.10 bus. So, we decided to take a taxi to Gapyeong Wharf for 10 minutes ride (5000 won). 

Before got into the ferry that would take me to Nami Island, I had to pay the entry “visa” first. Nami Island declared itself as Naminara Republic. Visa fees for a foreigner are 8000 won, include the round trip ferry and tax. The ferry depart every 10-20 minutes (09.00-18.00) and every 30 minutes before 09.00 or after 18.00. The first ferry from Gapyeong Wharf depart at 07.30 and the last ferry from Nami Wharf will depart at 21.45 every day. If you’re an adrenaline seeker type, you can try to slide down to Nami Island use the Zip-wire for 38.000 won (include Nami Island entrance fee).

Nami Island is famous for its various tree lanes and Winter Sonata, Korean famous Drama, filming location. Here’s the glimpse of Nami Island on early November (late autumn) :)

“Situated 63 km from Seoul in the middle of Han River, Nami Island looks like a leaf floating gracefully on top of Cheongpyeong Lake. The island has an area of 480.000 m² and a circumference of 5 km. Formed with pebbles and sand, there are no mountains in the island, but there are trees tall enough to touch the sky. Wide grassy gardens where deer, ostriches, rabbits, squirrels, ducks, and countless types of birds flourish, Nami Island is a place where not only nature but also human beings can coexist. Nami Island was named after General Nami, a notable figure in Korean history who courageously fought in battles but died at the age of 26. Seasonal rain used to transform this land into an island, and with the construction of Cheongpyeong dam, it is now an island all year long. In 1965, thousands if trees were planted by Mr. Byeong-Do Minn. Today Nami Island is a place for rest and relaxation. Human beings, animals and trees share peace, love and harmony far away from crowds and civilization.”  (Words are taken from Naminara Republic’s brochure)

The colors of autumn: yellow, brown, orange, and red!

It was a chilly windy day and my brother bought some irresistible hot dogs and mini-paos to warm ourselves up, but I also couldn’t resist to buy a cone of ice cream too. It’s cold but tasty ;) The ‘street’ food on this island will cost you around 1.000-5.000 won.

There’s a lot of places to explore on Nami Island. There are many tree lanes as you walk around the island: Central Korean Pine Tree Lane, Cornel Tree Lane, Metasequoia Lane, Cherry Tree Lane, White Birch Lane, Tulip Tree Lane, Reed Woods Lane, and my favorite on autumn, The “Yellow” Ginkgo Tree Line. There’s also The Lane of True Love :) The island is divided into three villages: Love Village, Happiness Village, and Dream Village. The names automatically has forced you to smile right? ^^ 

Are you a Winter Sonata fans? Then you should visit The First Kiss Bridge, Winter Sonata statue, and Namishop Sonata Drama Gallery. If you’re into art you can visit the Song Museum, Artshop Imagine Nami, Ceramic Studio, Glass Art Studio, Namisum Academy of Creativity and Baplex building. If you came with your family or your loved ones to have a picnic or outdoor activity, there are several beautiful gardens, ponds, and a children playground on this island. You can rent a bicycle (single/couple/family-serve) or try the Sky-bike, Electric Tri-way, Electric Tour Car, and Namycar to move around. To enjoy those rides, you should prepare 3.000-18.000 won. Nami Island also offers exhibition halls, stages, and guesthouse/cottages/bungalows if you want to spend a night.  Moreover, there are various types of restaurants, bank, first-aid clinic, swimming pool, and sports ground on this Island.

So, make sure you got a whole day to spend for exploring Nami Island. For more information about this island you can visit  www.naminara.com.

Sadly, I didn’t have much time to enjoy all the beauty places on this island because I had to catch the Gapyeong Shuttle Bus on 14.15 to go to Petite France and this time I successfully managed to catch the bus on time :)

Petite France is about 25 minutes bus-ride from Gapyeong Wharf. Petite France is a French cultural village set consists of 16 French-style buildings where the visitors can experience French food, clothing, and household culture. Petite France has showed up on several Korean Dramas: Beethoven Virus (2008), Personal Taste (2009), and Secret Garden (2011). Petite France entrance fees are 8000 won.

This village is literally ‘petite’ like its name. The first time I saw this village was on one of Running Man episodes with 2PM’s Nichkhun and Taecyeon as the special guests. I thought the village was big enough as Running Man members & the guests played hide-and-seek and running around inside the village. But I guess because it’s packed of people when I came to visit, it had made the village getting smaller since I couldn’t moved around that much.

Here’s some main points at Petite France:

1.      The Gallery Building (displaying puppets, dolls, sculpcutures, and paintings of le coq gaulois)

2.      Traditional France Residence

3.      Maestro’s Office of Drama ‘Beethoven Virus’

4.      Orgel House

5.      Saint-Exupery Memorial Hall (the author of Little Prince/Le Petit Prince) – you may watch Le Petit movie on screen at the 3^rd floor

6.      Amphitheatre – there’s a band playing on the amphitheater when I came visit, their music’s pretty good!

7.      Studio – you can try the oil painting with a special camera

8.      Marionette Theater – you can watch ‘Guignol’ (traditional French hand puppet show) or marionette performance and screening animation

9.      Observatory building

There are also several guest houses, visitors lounge, souvenir shops, a bistro and coffee shop in this little village. You can visit www.pfcamp.com for more info about Petite France.

After finished walking around while enjoying the pretty Petite France, I took the Gapyeong Shuttle Bus again to take me to Cheongpyong Station and went back to Seoul with the train.

It’s not the end of my South Korea travel posts. I haven’t told you about my trip to Jeonju and Busan, right? So until we meet again on another city :)