Korea - Day 3 (Petite France - Gapyeong Rail Park - Nami Island

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

Ticket office (main entrance)

Our tour guide Lanson

Theatre de letoile (European fairy tale puppet show)

Petite France

Exit (back door)

Petite France

Maison d'Orgel (Orgel demonstration)

Fountain Square

Petite France

Gallery "Cote D'Azur

Petite France

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

Antiques Flea Market "Antika"

Amphitheater

Petite France

European Doll House

Petite France

Marionette House

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

Photo booth

Gyeonggang Station Cafe

Chamomile tea - ₩ 5,000

Gyeonggang Station

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

Ferry

Zip-wire tower

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

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 sausage

Nami sausage - ₩ 4,000

Goblin Knoll

Nami Island

Nami Wharf

Nami Island

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

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

J's Cottage Garden

Pond Garden

The Garden of Morning Calm

Walkway of light

Sunken Garden Viewpoint

Sunken 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

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

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