Chuseok is Korea's thanksgiving. Every year, locals rush to their hometown to take advantage of the 5-day vacation while foreigners either stay in their pad or pack their bags and travel somewhere they haven't been to.
This year, my husband and I planned to backpack to Petite France and Nami Island. We searched for the easiest route and hopped on the bus to the subway station. We boarded Korail Line 1, got off at Yongsan Station, and purchased Intercity Train Express (ITX) tickets to Cheongpyeon, following directions in the internet telling Cheongpyeon is the nearest station to Petite France. When we got on the ITX, we realized we should have bought tickets ahead of time beacause of the volume of passengers during holidays. We didn't get a seat, so we ended up sitting on the floor. I didn't really mind since the train is very clean and it looked new, anyway. We arrived at 3:50pm at Cheongypeon Station, just as indicated on the ticket. (Tip: Exit on the right if you wish to take a cab. Exit on the left if you wish to take the bus.) We waited for both, but 30 minutes passed and no bus nor cab came by to pick up the passengers. An Ahjumma on queue said they've been there for an hour, so instead of wasting precious time, we boarded the next train to Gapyeong Station which is only two stops away.Gapyeong Station seems busier compared to Cheongpyeon Station which looks too far from the city. We got a cab right away which took us to Petite France. The lady cab driver did a lot of overtakes and swerving and had us infront of the theme park in 30 minutes. Whew! We paid her 30,000 KRW for that, anyways. Cab meter read 23,000 KRW but my husband wanted to give the lady a tip. He said it's safer to take a cab than a bus if you're not familiar with the place. One purpose of this blog is to, of course, be of help to future travelers. So another tip... take the Gapyeong Shuttle Bus which stops at every tourist destination in Gapyeong. This is
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| Shuttle Bus Tickets |
It was already 4:30pm when we reached the park so we took pictures at the entrance right away and paid 16,000 KRW for our entrance pass.
Petite France became popular after the filming of Secret Garden and Beethoven Virus and photo shoot of Personal Taste (Gain's Taste) Dramas. As the name suggests, it looks like a small version of a French Village, overlooking the Cheongpyeong lake, where everyone can enjoy French culture in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi-Do.
The Orgel house near the entrance, houses a collection of musical boxes from Europe and the St. Exupery Memorial Hall, the only Memorial Hall of St. exupery in Korea which has a license from the St. Exupery Foundation, is filled with various works and characters from Le Petite Prince.
We were led by a narrow zigzag stairway down the fountain plaza surrounded by a gift shop, gallery and a restaurant. The upper floor of the building has accommodation facilities if you wish to stay in the park for the night.
Adults seemed to travel back in their fairy tale and storybook days with the huge storybook page and Le Petite Prince wall art. I am, of course, one of those who waited on queue to have a pic with the little prince. I have to try real hard, though, to fit to that little chair. Lots of wall art caught the eyes of the guests. The observatory even has wall paintings on every wall.
Try to check every building and let them surprise you. If you're into dolls, there's a house of French dolls with a miniature french village at the center. Antique lovers, on the other hand, may enjoy the antique gallery which is like a flea market where visitors can see and actually buy items that they want. If you're curious about French puppets, the Guignol Theather conducts puppet plays which stars, of course, the puppets from France and other parts of Europe.
Since I got my photo-op with the Little Prince, My husband didn't pass on the opportunity to pose like Hyun Bin. So, try to check that out too if you're a Secret Garden fan like us.
If you're lucky, you'll get to see a show in the amphitheater. Or, maybe, just sit for a while and relax if you got tired walking around, which I doubt since the park is so small that you'll get to see every corner of it in just 30 minutes.
Staying overnight in the village or the nearest Hotel just outside Petite France seemed boring for us so we went onto our next adventure. We looked for a ride to the nearest city so we could grab a humongous bowl of soup and get some rest.
We noticed everyone waiting for the bus has tickets. This is how we discovered the shuttle bus that goes around Gapyeong. The bus stops at Namiseom, so we already have an idea where to get off the following day for our Winter Sonata Tour. We noticed a lot of pension houses along the way but the bus doesn't stop there, so it may be better to stay somewhere near Namiseom. There are some hotels around the area but we doubt that there are still available rooms because of the holiday so, we opted to get off at Gapyeong Bus Terminal. I spotted a Motel across the terminal which is quite o.k. (or maybe we're just too bushed and starving). It's proximity to the bus terminal made us choose to stay there to avoid the hassle of walking too long to get a ride in the morning.
Getting something for dinner was surprisingly challenging at that
time. Only the convenience stores, hofs, coffee shops, Dunkin' Donuts and Pelicana Chicken were open. Even Lotteria was closed for Chuseok. The Haejangkuk shop along Gahwa Road was the only Korean restaurant that's open. We didn't have a choice but to have beef haejangkuk since it's the only one available in their menu that night. Their small serving of Haejangkuk with few slices of beef and some bean sprout is a little disappointing. The serving size and the lack of flavor didn't satisfy us. It doesn't really taste like haejangkuk at all. It's too far from the one we usually have in Pyeongtaek (The ahjussi at the shop is kind, though...and speaks a little English). So came Dunkin' Donuts and Pelicana Chicken to our rescue for midnight snack.
We ended the day by planning tomorrows trip and reminiscing with our photos, so here they are...
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BUDGET (for two):
Subway ticket to Yongsan - 5,300 KRW
ITX ticket to Cheongpyeon - 6,800 KRW
Gapyeong Shuttle Bus - 10,000 KRW
Petite France Entrance Pass - 16,000 KRW
Haejangkuk (dinner for two) - 22,000 KRW
1 box Pelicana Chicken with - 16,000 KRW
1 bottle of soda
Donuts - 9,000 KRW
Motel fee - 33,000 KRW
TOTAL 118, 100 KRW
* Another mistake is that we didn't check the nearest bus terminal in our area. Taking the bus will save you the trouble of train transfers and you might also save around 30 minutes to 1 hour of travel time since these buses have lesser stops compared to the regular G Buses and travel through the express way.
There are buses bound for Chuncheon which stops at Gapyeong and Cheongpyeon bus terminals. Here's a list of bus terminals with bus routes going to Chuncheon (always double check as you get to the terminal):
Incheon Airport
Bucheon
Suwon
Ansan
Pyeongtaek
Anseong
Dong Seoul
Jamsil
Uijeongbu
The Orgel house near the entrance, houses a collection of musical boxes from Europe and the St. Exupery Memorial Hall, the only Memorial Hall of St. exupery in Korea which has a license from the St. Exupery Foundation, is filled with various works and characters from Le Petite Prince.
We were led by a narrow zigzag stairway down the fountain plaza surrounded by a gift shop, gallery and a restaurant. The upper floor of the building has accommodation facilities if you wish to stay in the park for the night.
Adults seemed to travel back in their fairy tale and storybook days with the huge storybook page and Le Petite Prince wall art. I am, of course, one of those who waited on queue to have a pic with the little prince. I have to try real hard, though, to fit to that little chair. Lots of wall art caught the eyes of the guests. The observatory even has wall paintings on every wall.
Try to check every building and let them surprise you. If you're into dolls, there's a house of French dolls with a miniature french village at the center. Antique lovers, on the other hand, may enjoy the antique gallery which is like a flea market where visitors can see and actually buy items that they want. If you're curious about French puppets, the Guignol Theather conducts puppet plays which stars, of course, the puppets from France and other parts of Europe.
Since I got my photo-op with the Little Prince, My husband didn't pass on the opportunity to pose like Hyun Bin. So, try to check that out too if you're a Secret Garden fan like us.
Staying overnight in the village or the nearest Hotel just outside Petite France seemed boring for us so we went onto our next adventure. We looked for a ride to the nearest city so we could grab a humongous bowl of soup and get some rest.
We noticed everyone waiting for the bus has tickets. This is how we discovered the shuttle bus that goes around Gapyeong. The bus stops at Namiseom, so we already have an idea where to get off the following day for our Winter Sonata Tour. We noticed a lot of pension houses along the way but the bus doesn't stop there, so it may be better to stay somewhere near Namiseom. There are some hotels around the area but we doubt that there are still available rooms because of the holiday so, we opted to get off at Gapyeong Bus Terminal. I spotted a Motel across the terminal which is quite o.k. (or maybe we're just too bushed and starving). It's proximity to the bus terminal made us choose to stay there to avoid the hassle of walking too long to get a ride in the morning.
Getting something for dinner was surprisingly challenging at that
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| Yeong Cheon Haejangkuk |
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| Fountain Plaza |
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| St. Exupery Memorial Hall |
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| Giant Storybook |
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| Wall art |
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| Guignol Theater |
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| Secret Garden filming location |
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| A glimpse of Cheongpyeon Lake |
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| Petite France Amphitheater |
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BUDGET (for two):
Subway ticket to Yongsan - 5,300 KRW
ITX ticket to Cheongpyeon - 6,800 KRW
Gapyeong Shuttle Bus - 10,000 KRW
Petite France Entrance Pass - 16,000 KRW
Haejangkuk (dinner for two) - 22,000 KRW
1 box Pelicana Chicken with - 16,000 KRW
1 bottle of soda
Donuts - 9,000 KRW
Motel fee - 33,000 KRW
TOTAL 118, 100 KRW
* Another mistake is that we didn't check the nearest bus terminal in our area. Taking the bus will save you the trouble of train transfers and you might also save around 30 minutes to 1 hour of travel time since these buses have lesser stops compared to the regular G Buses and travel through the express way.
There are buses bound for Chuncheon which stops at Gapyeong and Cheongpyeon bus terminals. Here's a list of bus terminals with bus routes going to Chuncheon (always double check as you get to the terminal):
Incheon Airport
Bucheon
Suwon
Ansan
Pyeongtaek
Anseong
Dong Seoul
Jamsil
Uijeongbu
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