Bikepacking from seoul to Busan & jeju island
We had some vacation time blocked off for the end of October through early November that we were planning to use on a trip to New Zealand. However, COVID had different plans for us. Due to borders being closed in most of the countries we considered traveling to, we ended up staying right here in South Korea and having the time of our lives biking cross-country and around Jeju Island again (click here to read about our first bike packing adventure on Jeju Island)! We are very thankful that we had the opportunity to accomplish such a trip (“Tour de Korea” as we have coined it) and I think we both agree that this adventure made it into our top 3 favorite trips during our time abroad! We are sharing our itinerary and resources in hopes that more people will get out and see what this awesome country has to offer!
Trip Goals
- One last local Korea trip before we move back to the United States (since we can’t travel internationally due to Covid-19 travel restrictions).
- Push our fitness by completing the 394 mile trip from Seoul to Busan plus the 150 mile Jeju Island loop (again) plus hike Mt. Halla.
- Perfect the art of travel via bike! Slow down, go with the flow, and be flexible.
South Korea has invested significant resources into creating a trail system, called the 4 Rivers Bike Path, around the entire country to attract international tourism. The bike path is generally very well-maintained and separated from vehicle traffic. South Korea also has maintained a series of passport stamp booths (see our video below) to track your progress and if you get all the stamps on various trails you get awards in your “passport” and medals. There are 27 stamp booths between the starting line at Incheon and the finish line in Busan, and an additional 10 stamp booths around Jeju island.
Our total trip was ~540 miles total (~400 from Seoul to Busan then ~150 around Jeju island) over 19 days. We factored for 3 completely off days and hoped to average 33.8 miles per day. We felt fully prepared for the trip after completing 3 consecutive days of 30+ mile training rides.
Preparation
Resources & Inspiration
- What to do in Korea has lots of information on the Seoul to Busan bike path, specifies where to get passports, and includes a great Google map of all of the stamp booths along the way.
- Imagine Your Korea has lots of info on the ferries to and from Jeju island
- A few inspirational videos of the 4 Rivers bike path: MPC Productions, Darrel Douglas, & GoGarr
- A few other blogs that we referenced for further information: Folding Tales, Bicycle Thailand, & Seoul Cycle
Packing List
Navigation
- Primary: GPS guidance through Naver Maps (2 phones in case one dies).
- Secondary: Backup low battery Navigation through Maps.Me App
- Tertiary: Print out maps of each leg
Lodging
- We left the camping gear behind on this trip and opted to stay in hotels in order to keep our gear lighter and increase our daily mileage.
- There are plenty of motels along the 4 Rivers Bike Path so we planned to maintain as flexible of an itinerary as possible and book hotels 1-2 days in advance at the most. Using the Naver app, Booking.com, and Hotels.com we were able to find hotels for under 50,000 Won ($45USD) to stay each night. Flexible lodging allowed us to flex our plans around weather, fatigue, unforeseen setbacks, etc.
- Be advised that once you get outside of major cities that you have to find motels through Naver and the hotel staff members usually speak very little English. In smaller towns, we had the best luck showing up in an area with multiple hotel options and booking in person. On Naver, search for “hotel” “motel” and “lodging” to see all possible options.
- *Note: we also recommend booking in advance for weekend nights or nights that you will be arriving later than 6 pm.
Budget (For 19 Day Trip)
Itinerary
PART 1 – Incheon to Busan (393 Miles)
23 October
We departed Osan at 1730 from Songtan bus terminal to Nambu bus terminal then took the metro to Hongik University. *Note that it’s technically against the rules to bring bikes on the subway during the weekdays, but we did on a Friday night and had no issues. The first and last cars on the subway are where they prefer passengers with bikes.
We stayed at Baro Ato Economy Hotel and spent the night exploring the Hongik University area.
24 October (Day 1)
We hopped on metro from Hongik University to Cheongna International City Station subway stop and begin our bike trip at Ara Lock waterfront park! You can get your stamp passports and a paper map of the entire Korean bike system inside of the passenger terminal for 4500won. We highly recommend getting the passports and maps!
We also heard that there is a 4 Rivers Bike Path app but didn’t use it – we relied on Maps.Me more for navigation. Search “certification” on Maps.Me and all the checkpoints will come up.
We got on the trail at 1130 and biked 46 miles to Hanam, arriving around 1730. We ended up staying in Hotel Baum. Be advised that Hanam doesn’t have a ton of hotel options, many of which are love motels, but we were comfortable during our stay.
Total Mileage: 46 miles
25 October (Day 2)
We departed Hanam around 0930 for our 40 mile ride to Yeoju. We arrived in Yeoju around 1600 and stayed in Yeoju Namhangang J Motel for 55,000won (~$50USD).
Total Mileage: 86 miles
26 October (Day 3)
Today we took the morning slower and got on the road around 11. The 42 mile ride from Yeoju to Chungju ended up taking us about 5 hours then another 1 hour (10 miles round trip) to go to the Chungju dam and back to our hotel. 52 miles total on the day. Not a whole lot of convenience stores on this section of the trail, so pack plenty of water and snacks! We ate at a restaurant called The View near the Chunju dam, which had a beautiful balcony overlooking the river. We ended up staying at Raemi Anneu hotel in Chungju. The room was only 35,000won for the night including free laundry, but was surrounded by some other sketchy hotels. Room was simple and clean but not fancy at all. You get what you pay for.
Total Mileage: 138 miles
27 October (Day 4)
We got a late start around 1130. We rode the 55 mile leg from Chungju to Mungyeong in about 5.5 hours. This leg was the most challenging yet with some major climbs (2500’ gained over 2 climbs seen in the graphs below), but also the most beautiful scenery yet. We ended up staying at BnB Motel in Mungyeong.
Total Mileage: 193 miles
28 October (Day 5)
We got on the road from Mungyeong around 1000 and rode 56 miles to Gumi. This route was much flatter than yesterday, but the scenery wasn’t as exciting. We got into Gumi around 1600 after about 5.5 hours of riding and stayed in the BnB Motel for 40,000won/night.
Total Mileage: 249 miles
29 October (Day 6)
After completing 5 consecutive 40+ mile days we were feeling pretty fatigued and decided take today as a lighter recovery day. We got a later start and took lots of breaks along the 40 mile ride from Gumi to Daegu Dalseong. The ride took us about 5 hours total with several extensive stops. We had some great Korean BBQ Bulgogi in vicinity of Dasa Restaurant. Thankfully the river flowed downhill from here and we had the wind at our backs – smooth sailing! We ended up staying at Hotel Hongsi (HongC) for 60,000won (Deluxe room – big spenders but they have a 50,000 standard room option) and had a great experience!
Total Mileage: 289 miles
30 October (Day 7)
Push it up day: 62 miles from Daegu Dalseong to Hanam. We recommend stopping in Namji for more lodging options and definitely book a little early if staying over on Friday or Saturday night as lodging can fill up quickly. The ride was beautiful today, with lots of small hills and a couple larger hills. Several times, the path was a little less obvious and we thought we were lost but were actually on the right path. We could almost taste Busan at this point in the trip!
Total Mileage: 351 miles
31 October (Day 8)
Final 42 mile push from Namji to Busan. This section was basically flat and downhill so we were able to maintain a pretty fast pace for the last leg. Since we were preparing to head to Jeju on the ferry, we stayed at the Brown Dot Hotel Busan Station Branch near the ferry terminal.
Total Mileage: 393 miles
1 November (Day 9)
Hard earned rest day in Busan. We celebrated with some Shake Shack!
other cool BUSAN things we would recommend:
- Sinchang Toast for breakfast sandwiches and smoothies- Owner speaks great English and knows how to make a tasty breakfast sandwich!
- Explore Igidae Cliff Waterside Park– We didn’t want to do anything too strenuous on our day off, but it was very relaxing to hike some of the oceanside trails.
- We rode the Songdo Cable Car, then explored the Songdo beach area afterwards- lots of cool beachside restaurants and cafes in this area too!
2 November (Day 10)
We explored the Gangcheon Cultural Village during the day. The history behind the village is very interesting as it was a refugee camp during and after the Korean War. The area has recently been revitalized with lots of art.
Afterward Gangcheon we headed to the Busan Passenger Terminal around 1730 to board our ferry. The ferry leaves at 1900 and takes 12 hours to get to Jeju. We booked a private “hotel” style room with two twin beds for 198,000won (~$180USD). Recommend calling ahead to reserve your tickets, or booking online (be advised that third party websites jack up prices). Don’t leave behind your passports even though its a domestic ferry! Also consider bringing earplugs – the walls are thin and the boat was fairly loud.
PART 2 – Jeju Island (150 miles)
This is our third trip to Jeju, and our second bike trip. Reference our Jeju Bikepacking Itinerary for more details on our camping/biking/backpacking adventure. For this trip, we decided to keep our gear light and stay in hotels/motels rather than camping. As a reward for making it from Seoul to Busan, we kept our mileage much lower for this portion of the trip.
3 November (Day 11)
Our ferry pulled into Jeju City around 0600 and we began our ride around 0700 well rested from our overnight trip. After two full days of rest in Busan, we were feeling pretty fresh and began our 25 mile ride counter-clockwise, or starting our westbound from Jeju city to Geumneung beach area. Honestly, this ride was a breeze compared to some of the rides we did between Seoul and Busan! We stayed at Blue Hawaii Hotel for $48 total.
We enjoyed watching the sunset and wind surfers over a beer and glass of wine at Para Todos.
Total Mileage: 418 miles
4 November (Day 12)
Rode 23 miles from Hallim Beach to Song-Aksan Park area. Today’s views and food were some of the best yet! We highly recommend staying at Sea Front Byeoljang for $50/night. The view from our hotel, the location, and the service were amazing for the price!
Total Mileage: 441 miles
5 November (Day 13)
We woke up early for an amazing sunrise then caught brunch at Tropical Hideaway before hitting the road.
We biked 21 miles from Song-Aksan Park area to Jeongbang Waterfall area. We stayed at Good Day Pension within walking distance to Oedelgae.
We caught sunset on the bluffs overlooking Odelgae rock then ate dinner at 88 Burger.
Total Mileage: 462 miles
6 November (Day 14)
We tarted out the day at Jeongbang Waterfall then rode 36 miles to Seongsan Park area. We got a little rained on during this portion of the trip, but we tried to time our biking around the spotty showers. We stayed in Stay Kuemho AirBnB for $45, where we also experienced excellent service!
Total Mileage: 498 miles
7 November (Day 15)
We woke up early to catch sunrise on Seongsan “Sunrise” Peak, although we were not the only ones with that idea! After we had our fill of sunshine, we trekked down to brunch at Fusion Brunch Cafe (Also called Kkotdam Sweet Red Bean on Naver).
After breakfast, we hopped on the bikes for a 26 mile ride from Seongsan to Hamdeok Beach area. Hamdeok Beach is one of our favorite places in all of Korea and it has the most clear blue water that rivals beaches in Hawaii. We stayed in Seoubong Beach Hotel for $62/night. We enjoyed watching the paragliders on the east side of Hamdeok beach!
Total Mileage: 524 miles
8 November (Day 16)
Another early morning. We woke up and caught an early bus/taxi to Gwaneumsa Temple & Trailhead to hike Mt. Halla. We got on the trail around 0750, summited around 1030, and were back at the Seongpanak Trailhead by 1330 (*note: the trail has a turnaround time of 1200 during this time of year). If we could do it again, we would hike both up and down the Gwaneumsa trail as it was more established and less rocky. We got lucky that the sky was clear the day we decided to hike, because often Halla summit is obscured by clouds. Click here for some additional details we found on another blog!
Totals for the hike: 12.2 total miles, 4688’ elevation gain, 5 hours and 12 mins total, 25’24”/mile average.
We stayed in Seoubong Beach Hotel for a second night after the hike. Definitely recommend the restaurant Roost Place as they have very affordable and good food, a nice atmosphere overlooking the beach, 500won beers (50cent), and an included ice cream bar! We ended up going there twice during our time in Hamdeok.
9 November (Day 17)
R&R Day at Hamdeok Beach area. We spent several hours at Cafe Banana Hamdeok Branch where they had very good banana drinks and a few flavors of binsu. Binsu was a new experience for us – a sweet shaved frozen milk dish.
Later on, we rode 13 miles from Hamdeok Beach to the Jeju Ferry Terminal area in Jeju City to buy ferry tickets. Bike trip complete at 537 miles total!
We hit Donmun Market, Jungang underground market, and Black Pork Street in the eventing, then stayed in Hotel Whistle Lark for $65/night.
10 November (Day 18)
Total Mileage: 539 miles
We arrived at the domestic ferry terminal to Mokpo 1 hour before ferry departure to get our tickets. Be advised that tickets are about 2.5X more expensive online than buying in person at the terminal. We paid 33,000won ($30USD) for 2 ferry tickets and 2 bikes on the fast 4-hour ferry. Our ferry departed at 1340 from Jeju and arrived in Mokpo at 1800. We were sad to say goodbye to Jeju 🙁
Once in Mokpo, we hopped on the train from Mokpo Station to Jije, then transferred to the subway from Jije to Songtan Station. It felt great to sleep in our own bed again after several weeks of hard work and adventure!
Tips and Recommendations
- The fall is a great season to ride the 4 Rivers Bike Trail and Jeju Island since there is generally less rain to battle, decent air quality, and cooler temperatures. We only saw light rain one day, and highs were in the 50s and 60s our entire trip!
- Bring Passports for the ferry and things will go much smoother than our first Jeju bikepacking attempt…
- High quality padded bike shorts and Body Glide make a HUGE difference for your butt on those long rides.
- Pack light: Instead of bringing heavy clothes, bring clothes that can be layered to make you comfortable in your worst case weather situation. Hotels they provide many of the amenities you need (towels, soap/shampoo, and most places have some type of laundry service).
Conclusion/Lessons Learned
Overall, this was the trip of a lifetime and we are so thankful we had the opportunity to take on a challenge like this as a couple. Our love for the Korean locals was affirmed even more on this trip with many taking an interest in our travels and giving us directions, recommendations, and sharing snacks. We love Korea even more after this trip! It’s been a great challenge to take on as a couple, and we will definitely do it again if the opportunity arises! If you’re looking to get out of your comfort zone and experience some of the greatest things Korea has to offer, this trip is for you!
As always, please feel free to share this post and connect with us We would love to hear your feedback if this post interested you. Thanks for reading and happy trails!
