click pictures below to see brief information and an itinerary.

Here are very short videos from our Suncheon trip!

How to Get to Suncheon

There are several ways you can get to Suncheon. We chose KTX because we didn’t have much time. If you want to use another transportation please check the following information.

form of transportation estimated time price/distance By bus (from Gangnam/Central City Bus Terminal)) 3 hours 50 minutes Premium – 28,600 won Economy – 19,300 won (from Gangbyeon /Dong-Seoul Bus Terminal) 4 hours 20 minutes 21,300 won By KTX (from Yongsan Station) 2 hours 30 minutes 44,000 won By train 4 hours 30 minutes 25,400 won ~ 37,800 won By car 4 hours 320 Km

By bus

If you depart from Seoul, you can choose one of two bus terminals: Central City Bus Terminal (Gangnam) at Express Bus Terminal (subway) station or Dong-Seoul bus terminal at Gangbyeon subway station.

Central City bus terminal : There are two bus terminals in Gangnam, which are heading different ways; one is for Honam(traveling in the southwest direction of Korea), the other is for Gyeongbu (traveling in the southeast direction of Korea). To go to Suncheon, you should get on the bus bound for Honam, which is Central City bus terminal and is located next to Shinsegae department store. It will take you to Suncheon Jonghap Bus Terminal which is located about 24 minutes away from Suncheon Station on foot. Dong-Seoul bus terminal : this terminal is located right next to Gangbyeon Station. It will also take you to Suncheon Jonghap Bus Terminal.

By KTX

To go to Suncheon by KTX from Seoul, you should get on the KTX at Yongsan Station. The KTX is the fastest and the most comfortable way to get to Suncheon, but it is more expensive than other ways. It will get you to Suncheon Station.

To go to Suncheon by KTX from Seoul, you should get on the KTX at Yongsan Station. The KTX is the fastest and the most comfortable way to get to Suncheon, but it is more expensive than other ways. It will get you to Suncheon Station. (P.S.)(You cannot get a train/KTX on the same platform as the subway one. So you have to totally get out of the subway. If you get there by subway just follow the signs that direct you to Yongsan station.

By train

You can go to Yeongdeungpo Station or Yongsan Station to go to Suncheon. You will get off at Suncheon Station. (Like KTX, you have to find a train platform to get on a train. See the information above)

You can go to Yeongdeungpo Station or Yongsan Station to go to Suncheon. You will get off at Suncheon Station. (Like KTX, you have to find a train platform to get on a train. See the information above) By car

Gyeongbu Expressway – Nonsan–Cheonan Expressway – Honam Expressway – Iksan–Pohang Expressway – Suncheon–Jeonju Expressway – Namhae Expressway – West Suncheon IC.

Tip!

If you get to Suncheon before check-in time, you can use a locker to keep your belongings and drop by downtown or places near Suncheon station. The locker is located on the second floor of Suncheon station. It costs around 1,000~ 3,000 won. Once you pay for a locker, you will get a receipt and you need to keep it to get your stuff back. The receipt has the password on it.

You can get more information in English at the tourist information desk. When you look to the right out of Suncheon station, you can find a red small building. English tour guides will help to plan where you should visit and you can get all of the brochures in English as well. It is hard to get brochures in English at tourist attractions, so you should get every brochure there in advance. You can call at 061-746-1388 for more information.

If you are lazy to find the ways to every tourist attraction and find difficulties with language (even though the bus is operated by Korean, it is an affordable price to go many places), you are recommended to use the City Tour bus. The bus has an eco tour and a city tour. Depending on the place you plan to go and the way you travel, you can choose a course. For the eco tour, it is operated by a fixed course once a day : the bus leaves at 9:30 am from Suncheon station and arrives at 5:30 pm at the same place. 15,700 won including Seonamsa temple (Wed, Fri, Sun ) or 16,500 won including Songgwangsa temple(Tue,Thu,Sat). For the city tour, the bus will take you to main attractions with only 5,000 won and you can skip some bus stops in the course if you want. However, there is a timetable for each bus stop. (The bus stops 10 times at each bus stop). If you are considering visit Suncheon Bay Garden, Suncheonman Bay, and Suncheon Open Film Location in a day, the city tour is For more information, 061-746-1388 or https://www.facebook.com/scyouthstation/

On Mondays, NO City Tour bus is operated. The course can be changed by local circumstances. Entrance fee for the attractions is not included in the bus fare.

Suncheon Open Film Set 드라마 세트장

Operating hours 9:00 am – 6:00 pm (Last admission at 17:00) Entrance fee 3,000 won for an adult Parking lot fee 250 – 1500 won Locker is available for free Address 전라남도 순천시 비례골길 24 OR 24 Biryegol-gil, Suncheon, Jeollanam-do

Suncheon Open Film Set is still being used for movies and TV drama. The sets include a 60’s Suncheon downtown set, 70’s Seoul Bongcheon shantytown set,and 80’s suburban downtown of Seoul set.

To go to Suncheon Open Film Location, you should take bus 77, 99-1 or 670. Since the 670 bus interval is about an hour, we recommend you to take bus 77 or 99-1. The interval of these buses is about 15-20 minutes.

We went to the Suncheon Film Set from Suncheon Station. If you are on the same route as us, you can refer to the route on the map above. The blue arrow on the map is a police station. The bus stop is right in front of it and it is where you should take bus 77 to go to the Open Film Set. (PS. 역전 파출소 means police station, and 순천역 means Suncheon station)

You have to get off at the red arrow above. The bus stop is Wangji Hyundai Apt. (왕지현대아파트 or 드라마 세트장). When you go back downtown, you can find a bus stop right across the road where you got off.

Tip!

From the bus station you get off at, you can see the sign that shows the way to go to Suncheon Drama Film Set on the street. You can simply follow the arrows to get there. You can wear old-fashioned school uniforms and become the characters in the K-movies and the K-TV dramas. It costs only 2,000 won for 50 minutes. It will be a good way to create fun memories.

If you are planning to go to some of these: Suncheon Bay Garden, Suncheonman Bay, Suncheon Open Film set, Nagan Fortress, Ppurigipeunnamu Museum, and

Suncheon National Recreation Frest, a 6 attractions-in-one ticket is available at one of those ticket offices for only 12,000 won (30% off of all added price). The ticket can be used for 2 days only.

Where to Stay: Baguni Hostel

We booked Baguni Hostel because it was newly built and had neat and comfortable accommodations at an affordable price when compared to other hostels or guesthouses. It is located 8 minutes away from Suncheon station on foot. They will give you 5 coins per person. You can use it for buying water, snack, breakfast or borrowing a bicycle. Toast, salads, and eggs are served as breakfast from 8 am to 10 am. Check-in time is 4 pm and check-out is 11 am.

After visiting Open Film Set, we still had time before check-in at Baguni Hostel. So, we first went to Baguni Hostel and left our stuff there and prepared to head for Suncheonman Bay.

Suncheonman Bay Wetland Reserve (Suncheon Bay Eco Park) 순천만 습지

Suncheonman Bay is one of the 5 wetlands in the world and it is part of the Ramsar Convention, which is that the world promises to use the wetlands’ resources wisely. There are lots of reeds on the huge wetland with many kinds of migratory birds and creatures. At sunset, you can see the best beauty of the Suncheonman Bay.

Operating Hours 08:00-Before sunset

(Observatory at nighttime is opened until 22:00)Ticketing hour

Jan & Nov-Dec 8:00 am – 5:00 pm

Feb 8:00 am – 6:00 pm

Mar & Oct 8:00 am – 6:00 pm

Apr & Sep 8:00 am – 6:30 pm

May-Aug 8:00 am – 7:00 pm Entrance fee 8,000 won for an adult (Admission ticket to Suncheon Bay Wetland includes Suncheon Bay Garden) Parking lot fee 500 – 5,000 won It takes about 2 hours to look around. Address 전라남도 순천시 순천만길 513-25 OR 513-25 Suncheonman-gil, Suncheon, Jeollanam-do

To go to Suncheonman Bay, you can take buses 66 or 67. We get on the bus 66 at 아랫장 bus stop (Aratjang) where the night market is.

Tip!

It is highly recommended to climb up to Yongsan observatory (which is located at the end of the reed field) to see the wide view of Suncheonman bay and large S-shaped waterway.

The best season to visit Suncheonman Bay is early November. There will be a reeds festival and a great view of Fall in Korea. The view at sunset is also highly recommended. In the park, there is a bicycle road to get to the reeds field. The bicycle rental place is inside, right before the reed field start.

It might be hard for you to find a bus stop to get back because the bus stop has two sides, you can be confused which way is bound for downtown. You have to wait for a bus on the side opposite of facing Suncheonman Bay.

Things You Can Do at Night

There are not many things you can do at night in Suncheon, to be honest. We recommend you to go to night market because it is close to Suncheon station and you can try many foods but actually we couldn’t go there because it was one of the weekdays; night market is opened only on Friday night and Saturday night. We also tried to go to Jukdobong park to see the night view of the city but the host of hostel didn’t recommend us to go there because the way to get there is dark and quite dangerous for women.

Night Market 순천 야시장

If you want to try many kinds of foods at one place and feel hungry in the middle of the night, you should go to the Night Market. There is every kind of foods like hamburger, skewers, cube steaks, cheese fries, hamburgers and so on. (Refer to the map above to see the location)

Every Friday and Saturday at Aratjang Summer 6:00 pm – 11:00 pm

Winter 5:00 pm – 10:00 pm Cash is needed Address 전라남도 순천시 장평로 60 OR 1264 Pungdeok-dong, Suncheon, Jeollanam-do

Riding Bicycle Will Be a Good Way to Enjoy Your Trip

We found out that the garden is pretty close to Baguni hostel and decided to ride bicycles along Suncheon-dong cheon Stream to get to the garden. There are public bicycles you can borrow, but if you are a foreigner, you will find it difficult to borrow public bicycle since language service is not available, and you are also required to type your information like phone number and resident registration number into the bicycle rental machine. So, it is recommended that you borrow a bicycle at your hostel where you are staying before the day you go to Suncheon Bay Garden.

How to get to Suncheon Bay Garden by bicycle

Suncheon Bay Garden 순천만 국가정원

Suncheon Bay Garden houses numerous species of flowers and trees. A lot of different species are planted to shape the garden and it is a sight to see. There are diverse styles of gardens based on the world. The garden is pretty big so you have to manage your time well. For instance, we spent almost 2 hours there to look around and take some pictures but we still couldn’t see all of the gardens and needed to rush out of there to keep our itineraries.

Opening hours (*Special Opening for free: 6:00 am – 7:30 am) – we recommend this time! Jan-Feb/Nov-Dec 9:00am – 5:00 pm Mar-Apr/Sep-Oct 9:00am – 6:00pm May-Aug 8:00 am – 8:00pm Ticket should be bought an hour before closing time. Entrance fee 8,000 won for adult, including the ticket for eco park. 3,000 won for only gardens Tour bus 3,000 won Address 600, Ocheon-dong, Suncheon-si, Jeollanam-do

We went to Suncheon Bay Garden by riding a bicycle at 6:30am. We first arrived at the East gate of the garden after we rode a bicycle along the Suncheon-dong cheon Stream. It took us 15 minutes to get there. Since we arrived at 6:45 am, we could enter for free of charge. We chose to ride a bicycle because we could feel fresh air as we rode along the stream, and see the beautiful scenery of Suncheon at dawn. If you want to take a bus to get Suncheon Bay Garden you have to take bus 66, 101 or 100. We recommend bus 66. Early morning time is highly recommended because there are very few people and you can take pictures without barriers.

* You can get this brochure at the information center at Suncheon Station.

Tip!

We recommend that you go to East Gate first where you can see a lot of different gardens of each country. In the garden, you are not allowed to ride a bicycle so you have to leave it at the entrance of the garden where you can get it locked. If you want to go to west gate from east side of the garden, you should go across the bridge called 꿈의 다리(Dream Bridge) which is located near Chinese Garden. You can get on the tour bus at either at Chinese Garden or 꿈틀정원(Wriggling Garden). It starts at 8:30 am which takes you to each garden with fixed courses (Map says that you need to get on the Tour bus at French garden, but the information was changed). It will take you around 20 minutes to look around, and cost you 3000 won. If you want to go to Suncheonman Bay after looking around Suncheon Bay Garden, you can get on SkyCube to get there and save time. It costs 8,000 won. You have to walk about 20 minutes to get to Suncheonman Bay from where you get off.

Nagan Fortress 낙안읍성

The village was established in the Chosun Dynasty and still has the same look as it had in that time. A few residents are still living in the village to maintain our traditional way of life.

Operating hour

Dec – Jan 9:00 – 17:00

Feb – Apr and Nov 9:00 – 18:00

May – Oct 8:30 – 18:30Entrance fee 4,000 for adults Tour guide in English can be offered by reservation. 061-749-8849/5810 Address

전라남도 순천시 낙안면 충민길 30 OR

30 Chungmin-gil, Nagan-myeon, Suncheon, Jeollanam-do

You should take a bus number 61, 63 or 68. Each bus interval is really long so we recommend you to check timetable of each bus. You can get a timetable from information center at Suncheon Station in advance.

Tip!

There are many programs that you can experience Korea in old times but all of those are NOT opened on Monday. You can rent a bicycle and ride it outside of the fortress. You can get into the fortress with a bicycle on weekdays but not weekends because of lots of visitors. There are many kinds of bicycles and the fee ranges from 2,000 to 10,000 won for an hour. You can also sleep in the Korean thatched house (cottage). The view from the top of the wall of the fortress will lead you to the Chosun era.

