Travelling to Seoraksan National Park was always considered a “must do”, while I was staying in South Korea. I travelled there the second weekend in November of 2017 and just did a day trip. I was hoping to catch more of the beautiful fall colours, however it appeared that I was a couple weeks late to truly take in the peak of the autumn season. It cost me less than I anticipated and certainly was a great way to enjoy a day out of the big city.
Travelling from Seoul to Seoraksan National Park
I took the earliest express bus that I could out of Seoul. My bus left at 6:05am from Dong Seoul Terminal (Gangbyeon Station Subway Green Line 2) and it took just a little over two hours to reach Sokcho. The ticket cost me 13,300krw and can been booked online on this website. You can search everything in English, however you can only book the bus if you move to the Korean site. I had two windows on my computer open and also used Google Translate on my phone to help me out. It may seem like a complex process, but it can be easily done! You can book one way tickets from Seoul, and then purchase the return ticket when arriving at the bus terminal in Sokcho. Out of habit I always book my ticket back right away and did so when I arrived. I was even able to change my ticket time when I was back at the terminal after my hike since I arrived almost an hour earlier than my initial booked bus time.
Intercity Bus from Sokcho Bus Terminal to Seoraksan National Park
Taking the bus from the Sokcho Bus Terminal to Seoraksan National Park is quite easy. As soon as you exit the bus terminal, turn right and about a 1 minute walk away is the bus top that you need. You can take either Bus 7 or 7-1 to Seoraksan National Park. If you have a T-Money card you can use that on the bus. If you choose to pay in cash it will cost 1080krw. The bus to the park took about an hour. Some of this time was due to the fact that traffic was bumper to bumper near the park itself. The bus will drop you off in the parking lot of the park and then the real fun begins!
Tickets
The price for a regular adult to enter the park is 3,500krw. Upon entering, I also visited the Visitor Center just to ensure I knew the route to Ulsanbawi. It turns out that it wasn’t all that necessary to visit the center since there are plenty of signs to direct your path along the way! Nonetheless I had a great chat about the park and was given a great map with my highlighted path for free! I was advised that if I wanted to travel on the cable car, it would be best to book the tickets early on for a time later in the day, as the tickets get booked up quickly. I did not have time for the cable car on my trip, but something you can keep in mind for yours!
Park Eats
There are some restaurants and cafes that line the path leading to the hikes. Knowing that I was only going to be at the park for a few hours I chose to bring my own snacks and drinks. However if you wanted to pack a little bit lighter, then eating at the park could be an option for you!
Hiking up Ulsanbawi
When I first laid eyes on pictures of Seoraksan National Park, it was the view form Ulsanbawi that I fell in love with. Learning that it was a relatively short hike, I knew that I could make a day trip from Seoul to climb it! I started my hike around 9:30am, and altogether it took two hours to climb up, and about an hour and a half to climb down. At the top I stay for about 25 minutes just to take in the views, rest, and have a snack!
The first hour of the hike is widely flat as you journey through the forest and take in the beautiful surroundings! I missed the peak of the fall season, but did get to experience some of the fall beauty along the path. Around the half way point the hike changes to a stair climb for about an hour.
The stairs do get a little tough, but the view is beautiful. I would recommend doing the climb in the peak of fall if you want to see the pop of the Autumn colours, as near the mountain most of the leaves had already fallen. Regardless, the view is beautiful and I absolutely loved it!
The hike down went by pretty quickly. If I had more time I could have went up the cable car. I was told that it takes around 5 minutes for the car to reach the top! It would have been quite a view I’m sure! Looks like I’ll have to book a trip back to see it!
When you are leaving the park you’ll see a bus stop sign along the main road. When you reach that sign, walk into the parking lot and you’ll see the bus stop right inside the parking lot itself! Again, it is Bus 7 or 7-1 that you’ll need to take you back to the bus terminal. I had reached the bus terminal with almost an hour to spare. I knew that there was another express leaving a half an hour ahead so I hopped a bus leaving at 2:30pm instead of my original booked time of 3:00pm. It took three hours to reach the Dong Seoul Bus Terminal, just as the sun was falling.
Overall it was the best day trip that I could have asked for! Altogether I was gone for almost thirteen hours away from Seoul. In total, including all bus fares, snacks, and entrance fee, I spent approximately 45,000krw.
Here is the break down of my costs:
Subway to Dong Seoul Bus Terminal: 1,200krw
Express Bus from Seoul to Sokcho: 13,300krw
Intercity Bus from Sokcho to Seoraksan National Park: 1,080krw
Park entrance fee: 3,500krw
Snacks brought on hike: 12,500krw
Intercity Bus from park to Sokcho Express Bus Terminal: 1,080krw
Express Bus from Sokcho to Seoul: 13,300krw
Subway from Dong Seoul Bus Terminal to residence: 1,200krw
TOTAL: 47,160krw
If you don’t have a lot of time and want a day getaway from Seoul, then keep Seoraksan in mind! As you can see, it can be quite manageable and doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. I know that there is SO MUCH MORE to see there, so a longer trip will need to be planned for sure!
