6 Hours in Seoul

HI,

I have a six hour stop over in Seoul. I hope to be able to head into the city for a very quick look. Is this practical given that I would need to be back in the airport at least an hour before the plane leave for London?

Thanks for any help.

Terry

Allow 90 mins to get into the city, and another 90 to get back to Incheon (depending pn time of day).

I say no, too risky. You need 30 mins to clear customs, conservatively 3 hours to travel to and from the airport, and 90 mins prior to check in, leaves you with 1 hour to see Seoul. I travel to Seoul regularly for work, we land at 10pm and have a hotel car pick us up (no no waiting time) and I have never got downtown in less than 110 mins from the plane landing. Incheon airport is meant to be the best in the world, relax in the spa or enjoy some Korean food before your long flight to London.

Asiana offers a free transit tour, but you may need to have an 8 hour layover. Worth checking out though.

6 hours--I understand your desire to see a bit of Seoul, but it is not worth the risk with respect to missing a flight. My advice: stay at the airport.

How about a seven hour layover?

I arrive in Seoul 12.25 on Asiana from Frankfurt, my onwards flight to Hanoi departs 7.35pm, so I have seven hours, which I do NOT want to spend in the airport all the time (I kinda booked Asiana on purpose because I wanted to seize the chance to take a quick look at Seoul/Korea since I've already seen the other convenient layover points like Kuala Lumpur for Malaysia Airlines or Singapore). I found the 5-hour-tour the Korea Tourism Board offers but I find it rather expensive and perhaps a bit too long - if I can't board this tour straight after clearing customs, I won't make it for my onwards flight. So I thought of just taking whatever public transport there is into Seoul, wander around for 1-2 hours and go back.

So how doable this is? If I can only pick 1-2 spots in Seoul, what's the ultimate must-see?

Since I will fly on to Hanoi I guess I don't need to pick up my luggage or anything, I can just walk through customs with my cabin luggage and come back in the evening?

Sorry for asking stupid questions, but I've actually never done this before, so far I arranged my layovers so that I'd actually take my baggage, stay overnight, etc. before going onwards.

As before, it'll take you between 60-90 mins to get into Seoul. Your best bet is the Airport Limousine, an express bus service that runs to various parts of the city. The ticket booths are located in arrivals. Ask at Information if you can't find them.
Jongno would be a sensible place to head for, as there are a few palaces and temples round there, as well as giving you a good taste of the modern city too. If you are heading out of Seoul late afternoon/early evening, I'd allow the maximum time to get back to Incheon again, as traffic will be heavy. Check that your baggage is cleared all the way to Hanoi when you check it in at Frankfurt, but I'd be very surprised if it isn't.

An easier (although less interesting) option, would be to forget about Seoul, and just go into Incheon city instead. You'll get just as much of a flavour of Korea, and more time to wander around.

Seoul Eats has some delicious looking suggestions if you want to stay in the Incheon area: http://www.seouleats.com/2009/08/have-layover-in-incheon-airport-what.html

Thanks for the advice so far. I've done a bit of "homework" and decided to try and see Changdeokgung and Gyeongbokgung Palaces and Jogyesa Temple, since these are all pretty close to each other (Is that the "Jongno" area?). I can go without food if necessary, since Asiana will hopefully feed me between Frankfurt and Seoul and later between Seoul and Hanoi.

So I assume that I should take a bus to somewhere in the city where I can change to the subway. Should I try for Seoul East/West/South or North? I have a subway map but I have no idea where the bus stops are... :(

If traffic gets busy in the late afternoon (of course it would be!), should I perhaps try to go back on the subway instead of the bus? I guess I could take subways to Gimpo Airport and then take the train to Incheon?

Ooo, I hope AREX gets the train extension to Seoul Central Station going in time, it says on the website "to be opened in 2010" and the journey will take 40mins. It would be the answer to all my problems.

You want North. If you take the bus that goes to the hotels, try to go to the Lotte Hotel, or Koreana, they are sort of close to where you want to go.

jxzy, you can take bus number 6011 or 602 that will bring you to Anguk station 9000won (one way) and you will be almost in front of the temples. For me it took around 60 minutes (just the bus ride) but I did it only once (yesterday ;))

However, for such a short time I would rather spend it walking on the main streets to see the atmosphere of Seoul, perhaps in myeong-dong (or something similar)

cheers!

To be honest, I'd go for either Changdeokgung, or Gyeongbokgung, rather than both. Changdeokgung has to be done on a guided tour which has a timetable obviously, and there are only two or three a day, whereas Gyeongbokgung you can just wander around yourself. There isn't that much between them to warrant visiting both if you only have a few hours. Jogyesa is cool, and very close to Insadong, which is nice for teahouses and crafts etc. All of this is within ten minutes walk of Jonggak station (Jongno).

aah, thanks for the great info! I had been thinking about Changdeokgung because of the famous "Secret Garden", but might just skip it then and focus on Gyeongbokgung. And those buses directly to Anguk sound great! I do want to see a little of Korean culture/heritage as opposed to "just walking the streets" (knowing myself, that would only lead me into shops and spending money anyway ;)

So, looks like I'm armed with enough knowledge now to have a few great hours in Korea, thanks again everyone!

I am with zt123 on this one. A 6-hour layover in Seoul is a bit risky. The bus on a Saturday took at least an hour to get from the city to Incheon when I had a 12 hour layover in Seoul this summer. Personally, I would use the layover to take a shower in the free public showers at Incheon and to chill.

don't forget that the airport (ICN) offers a variety of transit tours. The shortest is a 1 hour tour that takes you to a very peaceful nearby temple on a small hill, at the whopping cost of $5. It's very easy. After you pass through immigration, go down the escalators and straight to the transit tour desk. They have several other longer tours that may suit you, also reasonable, but usually require a group of people.
have fun!

I have a 13 hour layover in Seoul as well. A friend of mine just got back from Seoul and she took the subway into the city (45 minutes) then took that Hop on/off city tour bus. So I think I might do that since I can't afford to waste time.