The Ultimate Day Tourist: Gapyeong Rail Park, Nami Island, and The Garden of Morning Calm

Some tourist traps are so compulsory to visit that you have to fall in, even if you know it’s a trap! The Gapyeong area northeast of Seoul is filled with such attractions. For anyone visiting South Korea for a short vacation, there’s probably no reason to prioritize visiting this area. However, if you stay in Seoul for any length of time, you’re unlikely to escape going at least once. It is a very photogenic area to visit in the fall, and we wished we’d been able to visit in October when the leaves were at their peak.

We decided to visit three of the top Gapyeong attractions in one day, a feat that technically can be accomplished using public transportation. However, because of the low number of tourists around during COVID times we got a deal on a tour and had our own van driver for the day. It also helped that we visited in November, just past the autumn leaf-peeping rush.

Gapyeong Rail Park

Gapyeong Rail Park, an optimal spot for selfies and other photo ops, was created using a set of rail tracks no longer in use for train traffic. Instead, visitors can rent two or four-person leisure “bikes” to pedal on the tracks.

The entry to the park is a mishmash of themes, the main theme being “take a photo here”! We had our pick of photo spots as this was not a busy place on a weekday morning in November. (We hear that weekends in this area get really crazy, which we were eager to avoid.) I did especially like the giant “books” lining the park.

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Our driver got us to the park super-early, so we were on the first bike of the day. As all the instructions were given in Korean, it was helpful that our driver was there to translate for us. (Nothing that some hand motions couldn’t have reasonably accomplished, but it’s always nice to know you understand what’s going on!)

We sometimes get tickled by the safety priorities in South Korea. You can fall off any crazy hiking trail you want, but don’t take any photos from the four-wheeled bike you are riding down a track while wearing a seatbelt!

After the very “dangerous” beginning (i.e. gentle downhill slope), we pedaled along a very flat track the rest of the way around the park. The scenery along a stream and through an agricultural area was peaceful on a sunny fall morning.

A series of four tunnels all have “themes,” mostly displayed through lights and music. Admittedly, the intended themes mostly escaped us. We have a feeling the tunnels may be an excuse for often carefully-supervised young couples to enjoy a few moments of privacy…

If you’d like to take part of the ride along with us, you can watch this short video. In this particular tunnel, we enjoyed our first South Korean opportunity to hear Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You.” As it turned out, this was only the first of many such opportunities during the holiday season.

When the biking course is done, it’s all aboard the Romance Train to take you across the Han River and to the end of the trail.

Nami Island

Nami Island is a large park in the middle of the Han River offering numerous tourist activities. It was created in 1944 with the construction of the Cheongyeong Dam and was developed for tourism in about 1966. Part of its tourist schtick is calling itself “The Republic of Naminara” and selling visitors a “visa” along with the park entrance fee.

Visitors can access the island by ferry or by zipline (for an extra fee, of course). To its credit, the ferry ride is a lovely, though brief, trip across the Han River.

This is a park designed for scenic photos, and even on a quiet weekday we encountered plenty of couples and families taking advantage of the late fall scenery for that purpose. Admittedly, this was not a difficult way to spend a sunny day!

Although the leaves had already fallen from Nami Island’s iconic rows of yellow ginkgo trees, the metasequoia forest still had plenty of color to offer. Around the island, including in this area, are reminders that a well-known K-drama, “Winter Sonata” (2003) was filmed here.

We have loved walking along the Han River in Seoul, and it was equally enjoyable to take a river stroll on Nami Island.

The scenery is picturesque, if more than a little staged. Best just to fall all the way in to the trap and have fun with some silly photo ops!

The Garden of Morning Calm

The Garden of Morning Calm is a privately owned arboretum, opened to the public in 1996. We were there just at the changeover from fall colors to the winter lights display. The garden certainly lived up to its name, with plenty of quiet vantage points from which to take in the scenery as the sun was setting.

We appreciated the musical themes interpreted through flowers.

I always find miniatures impressive, and there were some cool ones here. The seasonal chrysanthemum bonsai were especially interesting.

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And of course, no South Korean day tour would be complete without plenty of couple shots. Our driver was happy to oblige. This post probably represents the most photos taken of the two of us in years!

A resurgence in COVID cases around Seoul foiled our plan to return to the garden at Christmas with friends to see the lights. However, that trip is still on our agenda if it becomes possible again within the next few weeks. In the meantime, we were able to see some lights up even in early November.

Quick Tips

Should you find yourself on this day tour, here are some pointers for the trip.

• Consider taking a tour if you want to visit more than two places in this area in one day. For us, it wasn’t much more expensive than the cost of taking public transportation and paying the admission fees to all the attractions. And it saved us a lot of hassle figuring out bus schedules.
• Go on a weekday if you can. Friends who visited these same attractions on a fall weekend had a much more crowded visit.
• Eat at Nami Island. Gapyeong Rail Park and The Garden of Morning Calm have coffee and snacks but no good options for real food.

Want to see more photos of these attractions? Visit our Flickr page to see more Gapyeong Rail Park, Nami Island, and The Garden of Morning Calm.