- All four trips work without a car. Nami Island and the Garden of Morning Calm sit on the Gyeongchun Line (ITX-Cheongchun train or the slower subway), Yangpyeong is on the Gyeongui–Jungang Line, and Pocheon Art Valley needs an intercity bus.
- Nami Island now costs ₩19,000. That is the regular adult ticket and it already includes the round-trip ferry. The official fee table has no separate foreigner rate; buying and boarding before 08:00 gets the ₩13,000 Early Bird price.
- Check closing days before you go. Pocheon Art Valley closes on the first Tuesday of each month, Herb Island on Wednesdays, and the Gapyeong City Tour Bus does not run on Wednesdays. The Garden of Morning Calm is open every day.
Quick Comparison — 4 Destinations
Fees are adult prices from each official site, checked on 25 October 2026.
Nami Island (남이섬) — The Famous One
Korea's best-known day trip from Seoul. The island officially belongs to Chuncheon in Gangwon Province, but you board the ferry in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi.
Garden of Morning Calm — 아침고요수목원
A private garden in Gapyeong's Sang-myeon, open every day of the year.
Ticket and hours: Adults ₩11,000, youth ₩8,500, children ₩7,500. Open 08:30–19:00 daily, last entry 18:00. During the winter light show (오색별빛정원전, early December to mid-March) it opens 10:00–21:00, and until 23:00 on Saturdays. Tickets are bought at the gate on the day; pets are not allowed.
Getting there: Take the ITX-Cheongchun or the Gyeongchun Line subway to Cheongpyeong Station (not Gapyeong). From there, city bus 30-6 runs from Cheongpyeong Terminal via Cheongpyeong Station to the garden; the garden's timetable lists 17 departures from the terminal between 09:00 and 19:30, and the last bus back leaves the garden at 20:00. A taxi takes about 20 minutes without traffic.
Gapyeong City Tour Bus: Since 2 April 2026 it runs as two routes: A (Gapyeong side, including Gapyeong Station and Nami Island) and B (Cheongpyeong side, including Cheongpyeong Station and the garden), with transfers at Petite France. An adult day pass is ₩8,000, bought from the driver. No service on Wednesdays unless it is a public holiday. The garden's own timetable page may predate the April change, so check times locally.
Yangpyeong — Rivers and Slow Days
Dumulmeori, where the North and South Han rivers meet, is the easiest first stop.
What it is: Dumulmeori (두물머리, “two heads of water”) is the meeting point of the Bukhangang and Namhangang rivers. VISITKOREA lists it as open 24 hours with no admission fee. Next to it is Semiwon, a water garden with a separate ticket; in 2026 its lotus festival ran from 26 June to 17 August.
Getting there: The ITX-Cheongchun does not serve Yangpyeong. Take the Gyeongui–Jungang Line subway (T-money works) to Yangsu Station for Dumulmeori and Semiwon. For Yangpyeong town itself, KTX-Eum trains from Cheongnyangni take about 26 minutes (book them like any Korail train).
Best for: A slow half day of riverside walking and cafes. If you want one big landmark, Nami Island is the better pick.
Pocheon Art Valley — 포천아트밸리
A former granite quarry turned into an arts park, with a lake between sheer stone walls.
What it is: Pocheon granite was quarried here for about 30 years from the 1960s. After production declined in the 1990s the site was left abandoned, and Pocheon City rebuilt it as an arts and culture park between 2004 and 2009 (VISITKOREA). The astronomy science center on site is free with your ticket.
Ticket and hours: Adults ₩6,000. The optional monorail costs ₩5,800 return or ₩4,800 one way. Under the schedule the park posted in March 2026: Monday–Friday, Sundays and holidays 09:00–18:00 (last entry 17:00), Saturdays 09:00–22:00 (last entry 20:00). Last winter (November–February) it opened 09:00–18:00 every day, Saturdays included, so check the official site for winter hours. Closed on the first Tuesday of every month (the next day if that Tuesday is a holiday; for example 3 November 2026); the monorail is checked on Monday mornings.
Getting there: There is no subway or train. Intercity bus 3000 from Dong Seoul Bus Terminal, or bus 1386 from the Dobongsan Station transfer center, stops at “Sinbuk-myeon Administrative Welfare Center (Pocheon Art Valley)”. From there the park's own FAQ says to take bus 73 (one stop, but every 130–150 minutes), a taxi (about 5 minutes, about ₩5,000) or walk about 30 minutes (1.7 km). Since 13 April 2026 Pocheon's tourist bus 99 also runs from Pocheon Terminal via Art Valley, four round trips a day.
Combine with Herb Island: A herb garden and European-style complex in the same district, reached by taxi. Weekdays ₩10,000, weekends and holidays ₩12,000. Closed on Wednesdays unless it is a public holiday. From 19 September to 13 June it opens 10:00–21:00 (until 22:00 on Saturdays and holidays).
The ITX-Cheongchun — Train You Need to Know
A Korail intercity train between Yongsan and Chuncheon, the fast way to Cheongpyeong and Gapyeong.
Route: Yongsan → Cheongnyangni → … → Cheongpyeong → Gapyeong → Chuncheon. It runs on the Gyeongchun Line, so it serves Nami Island and the Garden of Morning Calm, not Yangpyeong.
Tickets: You need a train ticket: a reserved seat, a free-seat (자유석) ticket or a standing ticket. A T-money card on its own is not a ticket. Since 27 February 2026, free-seat passengers can self check-in by scanning the QR code on the seat with their phone instead of waiting for a conductor. Travel blogs quote about ₩6,900 for Yongsan–Gapyeong in standard class; check the current fare when you book.
Booking: Use Korail's English site (korail.com/global/eng) or the Korail+ app (formerly KorailTalk). Foreign cards are often rejected online, so if payment fails, buy at the station ticket window. Weekend and holiday trains to Gapyeong can sell out early in spring and autumn, so book ahead.
Cheaper, slower option: The Gyeongchun Line subway follows the same route and takes T-money; Sangbong to Gapyeong is about 50 minutes.
Also in Gyeonggi — Suwon and the DMZ
Two more day trips with their own guides.
Suwon: Hwaseong Fortress, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is covered in our Suwon & Gyeonggi day-trip guide.
Paju and the DMZ: Panmunjom (JSA) tours for the public have been suspended since July 2023. The Third Tunnel and Dora Observatory are still open through Paju's DMZ Peace Tour from Imjingak: ₩9,200 on foot or ₩12,200 with the shuttle lift, closed on Mondays, original passport required. Details are in our DMZ guide.
Sources (checked 25 October 2026)
- Nami Island official English site (namisum-en.imweb.me): admission fees, ferry schedule, how to get there
- Garden of Morning Calm official site (morningcalm.co.kr): fees, hours, bus 30-6 timetable (its City Tour Bus timetable may predate the April 2026 route change)
- Pocheon Art Valley official site (artvalley.pcfac.or.kr): fees, monorail fares, closing-day notices, public transport FAQ (2025-03-06)
- VISITKOREA: Pocheon Art Valley (history, hours) and Yangpyeong Dumulmeori (hours, fees)
- Herb Island official notice (herbisland.co.kr): hours and admission
- Korail announcement via news reports (2026-02-26): free-seat self check-in on the ITX-Cheongchun
- Yonhap News (2026-03-23): Gapyeong tourist loop bus split into routes A and B from 2 April 2026
- Gyeonggi Province news (gnews) and Asia Economy (2026-04-13): Pocheon tourist bus 99 launched via Art Valley
- Inner Korea DMZ guide (updated 2026-10-25) and KTX booking guide (Korail English site, Korail+)