Incheon port to Seoul

[spuds]

We are planning our first cruise to Asia and one of our stops is Incheon (Seoul) Korea. We are not big fans of cruise tours and one thing my husband wants to do is the DMZ tour. We are in port from 7:00 am - 10:00 pm... so if possible would like to look around Seoul for a couple of hours. We would do the cruise tour for this port, but it just does the DMZ tour and then back to the ship. Since we are in port for an extended time I do not want to waste an opportunity. I have been looking at a lot of different tour companies... some offer a tour that starts at 11:00 am - 6:00ish which would allow us a bit of time before after to look around Seoul.

 

Anyway, my question is what is our best route for making it to/from Seoul... I see there is an express train from the Incheon Airport... is it easy to take a taxi there and then take the train in?? I cannot find a lot of information regarding the location of where things are at.

 

Appreciate any advise! Thanks!

[someotherguy]

This isn't what you're asking, but there are numerous companies that do tours to the DMZ with pickups from any of the big hotels. They are usually organized as half day tours to the "Third Tunnel" or "Panmunjom", which are combined to make a full day tour. You might be able to hook up with one of those (if you only do one tour, make it the one to Panmunjom). You need your passport, and must be smartly dressed to go on these tours and there are rules on behavior--no pointing at the North Korean guards etc. You'll be under armed escort--it's pretty sobering.

 

Sorry I cannot answer the port question: I've only been there on land.

 

The Korean Tourism Office has a vast amount of information, so you might find something there. http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/index.kto

[spuds]

Thanks so much for your reply!

 

I am looking at possible tours from Seoul and I just e-mailed a tour company to see if they can do some type of excursion that would pick us up at the ship, do the DMZ tour, a bit of Seoul and then back to ship (or vice-versa)... as I understand the sites are in a triangle (Incheon, DMZ, and Seoul) and I do not want to waste a lot of time travelling. I appreciate your insight on the Panmunjom tour... it is definitely something we will consider!

[trabeler]

If you did want to get from the port to downtown Seoul, you could also consider taking the Subway/Train (Line 1) from Incheon. It will be a long ride... maybe 60-70 minutes to the center of Seoul (Seoul Station). Taking a taxi to the airport and picking up the express train to Gimpo airport and then the subway to downtown is another option, but the airport is farther away from Seoul than the port so you'd be backtracking. The express train is faster than the subway but I don't think it would greatly compensate for the backtracking by taxi to the airport.

 

Sorry I can't offer more specific transportation advise since I've never come into the port by ship.

 

If you could find a tour company that could pick you up at the ship early, do the DMZ tour, and then give you free time in Seoul that might be best. You could either take the train back to Incheon (subway), or go to the airport via the express train (via Gimpo airport) or you can also take express buses from downtown hotels directly to the airport (they leave every 30 minutes or so).