Korea - Day 3 (Petite France - Gapyeong Rail Park - Nami Island - The Garden of Morning Calm)

Planning my own day trip to Nami Island, Petite France and The Garden of Morning Calm will give me more freedom to explore at my own pace but it will be more stressful because language is a barrier and we need to do a lot of walking. Apart from that, we will have to wait for a bus or train following their timetables and it can be crowded during rush hour. Worst case scenario, we might miss the bus and need to find our way back to Seoul! After much consideration, I decided to follow Klook day tour package.

The biggest disadvantage of a tour package is you don't have much control over the schedule as the plans are set by the tour company. You might want to spend more time at a particular place but you're suddenly rushed away because the tour bus is leaving. Look on the bright side, we get to visit many attraction places and it's more comfortable as I don't need to plan anything but fully enjoy the destination.

So we booked a Klook Pass Seoul that includes Petite France, Gapyeong Rail Park, Nami Island and The Garden of Morning Calm. (Package price per person - RM 370.55 exclude meal). We choose the meet up point at Myeongdong Station exit 3 since it's just 2 minutes walking distance (150m) from Nine Tree Hotel Myeongdong. There's a city tour bus stop in front of The North Face Store and Cafe. 

It's a Monday morning and temperature is around 3℃. We need to arrive at the location 10 minutes before the departure time which is at 7.30am. Our bus (no: 1216) departs 5 minutes earlier since everyone has arrived. There's 30 of us and our tour guide of the day is Lanson. He speaks both English and Mandarin fluently. He gave us a short briefing and we estimate to return to Seoul by 7.30pm. He encouraged us to book our lunch with them to save time before entering Nami Island.

We arrive at our first stop, Petite France around 8.20am and we are the only tour bus there. Lanson brief us for 10 minutes and gave us 1 hour 10 minutes to explore Petite France on our own. All of us must meet at the exit point at 9.40am. Petite France is a French culture village set in Gapyeong. It is also known as the filming location of the popular Kdrama My Love from the Stars. The whole area looks like a fairy tale town with colourful buildings. Perfect place for photoshoots. However, we didn't get to walk the "Bonjour" walkway due to time constraints. 


The North Face Store & Cafe


Klook bus


Klook bus


Ticket office (main entrance)


Our tour guide Lanson


Theatre de letoile (European fairy tale puppet show)


Petite France


Petite France


Exit (back door)


Petite France


Maison d'Orgel (Orgel demonstration)


Fountain Square


Fountain Square


Fountain Square


Petite France


Gallery "Cote D'Azur


Petite France


Petite France


Maison de Marie


Maison de Marie


Marie's room (a replica of a French woman's room)


Amor Blue


Beethoven Virus filming site & Traditional French Game House


Traditional French Game House


Beethoven Virus filming site


Observatory


Petite Terrace


Petite France


Traditional French House


Traditional French House


Traditional French House


Antiques Flea Market "Antika"


Amphitheater


Petite France


Petite France


Petite France


European Doll House


European Doll House


Petite France


Marionette House


Petite France


Petite France


Petite France


Petite France


Antique Porcelain House


Address:
Petite France
1063 Hoban-ro, Cheongpyeong-myeon,
Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do,
South Korea
Opening hours: 9am to 6pm (last admission 5pm)


Next stop is Gapyeong Rail Park. It's approximately 30 minutes bus ride from Petite France. The rail bike tour departs from Gapyeong Rail Park Station to Gyeonggang Station (rest for 10 minutes) and back to Gapyeong Rail Park Station. There's 4 seaters or 2 seaters rail bike. Since both of us has been assigned for the 4 seaters rail bike together with the Taiwanese couple, we have no other option but to take turns to sit on the front seat. Basically you get better view by sitting in the front row. It's approximately 25 minutes ride from Gapyeong Rail Park Station to Gyeonggang Station and another 25 minutes ride back from Gyeonggang Station to Gapyeong Rail Park Station. The bike moves automatically after you pedal several times.

We let the Taiwanese couple to sit on the front seat from Gapyeong Rail Park Station to Gyeonggang Station and in return they let us sit on the front seat from Gyeonggang Station to Gapyeong Rail Park Station. Along the way from Gapyeong Rail Park Station to Gyeonggang Station, look out for the photo taking station. You can view and purchase your photo at the Gyeonggang Station photobooth. (paper case - ₩ 7,000 or glass frame - ₩ 15,000). There's also a small cafe at Gyeonggang Station and my partner bought a cup of Chamomile tea - ₩ 5,000.

Be careful with your belongings as they may drop during the ride. You may put your bags and other belongings underneath your seats. Besides that, you need to keep a safe distance of over 15 meters and do not unbuckle your seat belts during the ride. You can only stop the rail bike at the designated rest area. It gets a bit chilly during the ride. So layer up to stay warm. Basically we spend around 1 hour 30 minutes at Gapyeong Rail Park.



Gapyeong Rail Park


Gapyeong Rail Park


Gapyeong Rail Park


Gapyeong Rail Park


Gapyeong Rail Park


Gapyeong Rail Park


Gapyeong Rail Park


Gapyeong Rail Park


Gapyeong Rail Park


Photo booth


Gyeonggang Station Cafe


Chamomile tea - ₩ 5,000


Gyeonggang Station


Gyeonggang Station


Gyeonggang Station


Gapyeong Rail Park


Gapyeong Rail Park


Gapyeong Rail Park


Gapyeong Rail Park


Address:
Gapyeong Rail Park
14 Jangteo-gil, Gapyeong-eup,
Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do,
South Korea


Nami Island is located in Chuncheon, approximately 10 minutes bus ride from Gapyeong Rail Park. This place is famous for dakgalbi, a popular Korean dish of spicy chicken with vegetables and rice cake cooked in a big metal pan. All of us booked our lunch through Lanson, as we were told the restaurant will prepare our food in advance. We reached Nami Island around 12pm and Lanson brought us to this Naruteo Charcoal Stir-fried Chicken Restaurant located at 3rd floor. We were given one hour lunch break. We requested less spicy for our dakgalbi. Chicken is juicy but overall it's not a superb dish for us. After our lunch, we gathered at the Zip Wire Tower and Lanson gave us a short briefing.

Total bill - ₩ 32,000



Naruteo Charcoal Stir-fried Chicken


Restaurant ambience


Grilled chicken 400g for 2 person - ₩ 28,000


Side dishes


Rice for 2 portion - ₩ 4,000


Grilled chicken with rice


Address:
Naruteo Charcoal Stir-fried Chicken
1019 Bukhangangbyeon-ro, Gapyeong-eup,
Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do,
South Korea


Nami Island is named after General Nami, a notable figure in Korean history who courageously fought in battles but died at the age of 26. Ferry ride takes approximately 5 to 6 minutes and we took the 1.15pm ferry to Nami Island. We were only given 2 hours to explore Nami Island on our own. The island is famous for its beautiful pine trees. You can enjoy a scenic walk on Metasequoia Lane, Ginkgo Tree Lane and Pine Tree Lane. However some of the pathway is muddy. There's a snow fun zone in Nami Island and that's the first time I experience real snow!

Lanson told us there's a stall selling hotdog which is good. We decided to give it a try and he's right. There's restaurants and cafes in Nami Island but we didn't have the time to explore it. In fact, we didn't manage to cover the whole island. Well, that's the disadvantage of a tour package. We rushed back to Nami Wharf at 3.10pm to catch the 3.20pm ferry back to Gapyeong Wharf. Glad that we have a group of extremely punctual people and our bus departs on time at 3.40pm to The Garden of Morning Calm.

Ferry timetable departure at Gapyeong Wharf:
a) 8am to 9am - every 30 minutes after first ferry
b) 9am to 6pm - every 10 to 20 minutes
c) 6pm to 9pm - every 30 minutes until last ferry



Ticketing counter


Gapyeong Wharf


Gapyeong Wharf


Ferry


Ferry


Zip-wire tower


Nami Wharf


Nami Wharf


Tourist enjoying some marshmallows by a campfire


Nami Island Information Center


Central Korean Pine Tree Lane


Tomb of General Nami


Central Korean Pine Tree Lane


The Song Garden


First Kiss Glass Sequoia Bridge


Weeping Willow Lane


Tulip Tree Lane


Walking towards Winter Sonata First Kiss


Winter Sonata First Kiss


Island Culture Center


Winter Sonata


Metasequoia Lane


Nami Island


Nami Island


Metasequoia Lane


Nami Island


Metaforest


Nami Island


Winter Sonata Statue


Janggang and Hwangha - maternal love nestled on Nami


Nami Island


Ginkgo Tree Lane


Nami Island Millennium Waterfall


Nami Island


Nami Island


Nami sausage


Nami sausage - ₩ 4,000


Goblin Knoll


Goblin Knoll


Nami Island


Nami Island


Nami Island


Nami Wharf


Nami Island


Ferry


Ferry


Ferry

Address:
Nami Island
1 Namiseom-gil, Namsan-myeon,
Chuncheon-si, Gangwon-do,
South Korea


Our last stop of the day is The Garden of Morning Calm. It's just 30 minutes bus ride from Nami Island. We reached there around 4.15pm and we were given 1 hour 30 minutes to explore the garden. The Starlight Garden Festivals starts from 9th December 2022 until 19th March 2023, from 5pm to 9pm (Saturday until 11pm). We walked along the frozen lake and it's so beautiful. Sadly we have to leave by 5.45pm and couldn't really see the winter light festival. We have to leave early because Lanson told us the traffic heading back to Seoul is pretty bad. However, the traffic was quite smooth and we reach Myeongdong Station around 7pm.  



Food stalls


Ticket Office


Garden Shop


Love Tunnel


Love Tunnel


The Garden of Morning Calm


The Garden of Morning Calm


Korean Food Restaurant


The Garden of Morning Calm


Millennium Juniper (1,000 years old)


Rock Garden


The Garden of Morning Calm


The Garden of Morning Calm


The Garden of Morning Calm


J's Cottage Garden


J's Cottage Garden


Pond Garden


Pond Garden


The Garden of Morning Calm


Walkway of light


Sunken Garden Viewpoint


Sunken Garden


Sunken Garden


Sunken Garden


Sunken Garden


Stream Garden


Stream Garden


Moonlight Garden


Church


Heaven Garden


Happy Tunnel


The Garden of Morning Calm


Bonsai Garden


Cloud bridge


The Garden of Morning Calm


Drooping Tree Garden


The Garden of Morning Calm


Spotted a fat cat

Address:
The Garden of Morning Calm
432, Sumogwon-ro,
Sang-myeon, Gapyeong-gun,
Gyeonggi-do
Tel: +82 - 1544 6703
Opening hours: 11am to 9pm (Saturday until 11pm) Last admission 1 hour before closing time


We had our dinner at Wangbijib Chinese Embassy Store, 8 minutes walking distance (600m) from Nine Tree Hotel Myeongdong. We ordered Premium Korean beef tenderloin (140g), Premium Korean beef chuck flap tail (140g), Iberico pork shoulder (140g), rice cooked in iron pot and beef brisket soybean paste stew. They served at least 7 types of side dishes before the main course is out. I love their kimchi and potato salad. All the side dishes are refillable and the potato salad is so good that we asked for a second serving. The potato salad comes with boiled potatoes, corns, mayo and hard boiled eggs. My favourite meat is the beef tenderloin. It's perfectly tender and juicy. Beef brisket soybean paste stew on the other hand is thick, comforting and slightly spicy. Service is good as they will help you to grill your food. Overall we enjoyed our dinner very much.

Total bill - ₩ 139,000



Wangbijib Chinese Embassy Store


Cold water


Side dishes


Side dishes


Side dishes


Side dishes


Side dishes


Side dishes


Charcoal bbq


Premium Korean beef tenderloin (140g) - ₩ 51,000 and Iberico pork shoulder (150g) - ₩ 19,000


Korean bbq


Beef brisket soybean paste stew - ₩ 10,000


Rice cooked in iron pot - ₩ 4,000


Premium Korean beef chuck flap tail (140g) - ₩ 55,000


Korean bbq

Address:
Wangbijib Chinese Embassy Store
64 Namdaemun-ro, Jung-gu,
Seoul, South Korea


After dinner we dropped by GS25 convenience store and bought some snacks back to our hotel. I bought a packet of corn chips, grape juice and strawberry ice cream. Corn chips are light, thin and crispy. It has a strong corn flavour. My pulpy grape juice doesn't taste good to me but I like my strawberry ice cream as it comes with mini marshmallows and most importantly it's not too sweet. My partner had grape ice cream which is a bit too sweet for my liking.

Total bill - ₩ 5,900

Note: ₩ 1,000 =  RM 3.40



Grape flavour ice cream - ₩ 1,500


Strawberry flavour ice cream - ₩ 1,500


Corn chips - ₩ 1,500 and grape juice - ₩ 1,400


Address:
GS25
22 Myeongdong 8ga-gil,
Myeong-dong, Jung-gu,
Seoul, South Korea

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