Sokch'o Travel Forum

Hello,

would it be difficult for non korean speakers to get from Seoul to Sokch'o to spend a couple of days at Seoraksan National Park? What would be the easiest way?

Then do we say in Sokcho' then take the bus daily to the park or? I've been reading up on the lonely planet but it doesnt tell me exactly how to get ther and i'm afriad tat not speaking korean may be a problem.

Thank you.

Easiest way to get there is by bus. Here is the schedule from the various bus terminals in Seoul:

http://english.tour2korea.com/01TripPlanner/Transportation/pop_search01.asp?classify_addr1=6142&classify_addr2=all&addr1=15741&addr2=14366

The trip takes between 3 and 5 hours depending on which bus you take. Instead of lonely planet, use this site instead to figure out your options; it is more useful and up to date:

www.tour2korea.com

olddude right! there are easy way by bus.
but lately,Heavy snowfall and very cold temperature is in Gangwon Province.
When are you going to start?
Cheers!

The best idea might be to get to the east coast (by bus or plane) and rent a car to get around... but this only applies to spring and summer. Autumn is too busy (crowded) and winter too dangerous (vehicles in Korea usually don't have any snow tires).
Driving around Seoraksan is really fun (lots of winding mountain streets) and the scenery is awesome.

There are buses from Sokcho to the Park entrance but it might be easier to take a taxi in your case. However, try to book the Seorak Hotel. It's a comparably inexpensive hotel right inside the Nat'l Park.

http://www.seorakhotel.com/

I once stayed at the Ritz Cal Hotel (somehow sounds familiar, huh?!) in Sokcho city (there are tons of accommodation possibilities in this area). It's cheaper than all the big hotels next to the park entrance but you definitely need to rent a car to get around.

http://www.ritzcal.com/

If you're not going during a national holiday or within autumn I don't think you need to make a reservation. As mentioned before, there are countless hotels, motels, pensions, etc. to choose from.

Cheers,
Robert

I've been to Sokcho about 5 times.

Go to the Seoul Express Bus Station and get a ticket to Sokcho.

The bus will then take you there.

It will stop at one of two bus stations in the city. One is by the beach and the other is in the middle of the city.

With the Seoul -> Sokcho bus it usually stops at the one by the beach. So over there you will see a hotel with an indian taj mahal looking top to it. If you get a room over there it was about 30,000 won.

Also if you're in offseason, I was able to stay in a hotel on the road towards the beach (a high rise with a glass elevator that looks out into the city, you'll recgonize it if you see it) I was able to stay there for 20,000 a night.

When it's off season and you stop at the express bus station by the beach you'll see some ladies trying to convince you to stay at that hotel (so they will get more people)

I liked it there, although the room I got had no heat, but it did have electric blankets.

**you can get a tourist map at the express bus station by the beach bus station***

As for the Park, follow olddude's link and look at what bus goes there.

I also reccomend you going to the lighthouse and tide pools at the corner of the city (check tour2korea for bus numbers)