When you’re into nature, mountains and amazing views, Seoraksan National Park is a must visit when in South Korea.
What to do at Seoraksan NP?
Cable car
Take the cable car and walk the short trail up to Bonghwadae peak. The cable car is ₩18.000 and is a popular attraction. The ride up cannot be reserved and is only sold at the station on the day. Apparently they sell out in the morning. When I arrived at 2PM I was lucky they had 2 tickets left for the 2:30PM departure, perfect!
On the top stands Gwongeumseong fortress and a gorgeous view of the valley below.
Biseondae Rock trail
An easy and pretty flat trail of 3km one-way. I walked this trail in the late afternoon after I went up with the cable car. It’s the same route back and forth walking along the stream.
Ulsanbawi
The highlight of Seoroksan NP is the trail to Ulsanbawi. It’s 3.7km one-way. The first part is flat on a wide paved path. The last kilometer is where it gets more strenuous as you’re only going up from here, about 800 meters in elevation up. On a beautiful clear day the view on top is worth it! We started the hike at 6:30 AM to beat both the crowds and the heat.
How to get there?
Take the Express bus from Seoul to Sokcho. From the Express Bus Terminal in Seoul, buses depart every hour. On the weekend this can be a popular route and I advise you to book your bus ticket ahead. I’m usually not a fan of third party websites for bookings, but the Korean Kobus website didn’t seem to work, thus I booked my tickets through Klook. Which was a seamless process. I chose the date and time, selected my seats on the bus and immediately received a QR code in my email to scan when boarding the bus.
After a ride of 2.5 hours you arrive at the Sokcho Express Bus Terminal. Here you can take bus 7 or 7-1 to Seoraksan NP. The bus departs about every 30 minutes. I opted for a taxi, which was lined up right in front of the terminal. The taxi ride is ₩18.000 (€10).
How much time for Seoraksan NP?
I spent 1.5 days here. On the first day I departed from Seoul, arriving in the park at 2 PM. Giving me the afternoon to explore. The second day I had a full day in the park.
Where to stay?
The first night I preferred to stay close to the park and got a room at the Kensington Hotel. This hotel is the only hotel just outside the park. Which made it possible to get an early start the next day before it gets busy.
The second night, after finishing exploring the National Park, I grabbed my luggage and stayed in Sokcho close to the Express Bus Terminal. The rest of the evening I could relax on the beach, grab dinner and take the first bus early in the morning to Seoul, and continue on to Jeonju.
