Gangneung: An Olympics Put It Two Hours From Seoul, and the Faster Train Leaves From Cheongnyangni
Koreans talk about Gangneung as an easy weekend. Sea in the morning, coffee in the afternoon, back in Seoul by evening if you want to be.
That has only been true since December 2017. Before then the east coast was a long drive over a mountain range or a slow train, and this was somewhere you committed a weekend to rather than somewhere you decided to go on a Friday. What changed was a railway line built for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, and it is the reason the city now behaves the way it does.
There are two details about getting here that most English itineraries miss. One of them is worth half an hour, and the other is worth knowing even though it is slower.
The line opened in December 2017, and it was built for an Olympics
The Gangneung KTX line opened on 22 December 2017, ahead of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
It was infrastructure with a deadline. The Games were held in Pyeongchang and here on the coast, the ice events were in the city itself, and the line existed to move spectators from Seoul to the venues and back on the same day. When the Olympics ended, the line stayed, and it quietly reorganised how the capital relates to the east coast.
The practical result is that Seoul to Gangneung now takes roughly one hour and fifty-four minutes. That number is the entire story. Under two hours is the threshold at which a Korean city stops being a trip and starts being an option, and this one crossed it in a single step in 2017.
Which is where the details come in.
Cheongnyangni beats Seoul Station, and the bus is not the downgrade you would assume
Trains on this line run from Seoul Station, and they call at Cheongnyangni on the way east.
Seoul Station to Gangneung is about 114 minutes. Cheongnyangni to Gangneung is about 86 minutes. That is close to half an hour of difference on the same train, for the simple reason that Cheongnyangni is already well to the east of the city and Seoul Station is not. So the question is not which station is the main one. It is where you slept. If you are staying anywhere in eastern Seoul, boarding at Cheongnyangni is straightforwardly better and costs you nothing.
The second thing is that the train is not the only good option, and this is the part almost nobody tells visitors.
I went by bus. Express coaches run from Seoul Express Bus Terminal to Gangneung Bus Terminal about 23 times a day, from 06:00 to 23:00, and the journey takes two hours and forty-seven minutes. I took the premium grade, and it is a genuinely different product from what the word coach suggests in most countries. Wide reclining seats, a lot of space between rows, a blanket, a curtain, and a screen in the seatback in front of you. I would not hesitate to do it again.
| KTX | Premium express bus | |
|---|---|---|
| Departs | Seoul Station, calling at Cheongnyangni | Seoul Express Bus Terminal |
| Journey | About 1 hr 54 min, or 1 hr 26 min from Cheongnyangni | 2 hr 47 min |
| Fare | Varies by service | 28,700 won premium, 24,600 won udeung |
| Services a day | Frequent | About 23, from 06:00 to 23:00 |
| Best for | Speed, and eastern Seoul | Comfort, and southern Seoul |
The honest comparison is that the bus costs you about fifty minutes and gives you a better seat. If you are staying near the Express Bus Terminal in Banpo, the door-to-door difference is smaller than the timetable suggests, and the premium coach is a nicer way to spend the time than a crowded train.
Booking a Korean train with a foreign card has its own set of failure points: Seoul to Busan KTX: Why Your Card Gets Rejected, and How to Actually Book It covers what works.
Once you arrive, the city is not arranged the way you might expect.
The station is not the centre, and the coast is a separate decision
Gangneung Station sits north of the old downtown, and the sea is east of both. Those are three different places, and nothing here is far, but nothing is adjacent either.
Roughly: the old downtown, with the traditional market and the eating streets, is a little over a kilometre south of the station. Gyeongpo, the big beach and the lagoon behind it, is further out to the north-east. Anmok, the beach known nationally for its cafes, is east. A short taxi ride connects any two of them for a few thousand won, and locals do exactly that rather than trying to walk it.
What Koreans actually come for splits along the same lines. The sea, obviously. Coffee, which this city has an unusual reputation for and which is concentrated on the coast rather than downtown. Raw fish and seafood in the port areas. And in the old centre, a market and a set of small restaurants that have nothing to do with the beach at all and that most visitors never reach.
Autumn and the shoulder months are when residents rate this coast highest, and the national timing question applies here too: Autumn in Korea: Don't Pick the Dates, Pick the Latitude.
FAQ
Is Gangneung a day trip from Seoul or an overnight?
Both work, and the train is why. Under two hours each way makes a day trip genuinely comfortable. An overnight is better if you want the sea at two different times of day, because the coast in early morning and the coast at sunset are the two things people actually come back for.
Should I board at Seoul Station or Cheongnyangni?
Whichever is closer to where you slept. Cheongnyangni saves about half an hour on the same journey, so if you are in eastern Seoul it is the obvious choice. Crossing the whole city to reach it would give the saving straight back.
Is the bus worth taking instead of the KTX?
It is a real option rather than a fallback. It takes two hours and forty-seven minutes against about one hour fifty-four by train, and the premium coach has wide reclining seats, a blanket and a seatback screen. If you are staying near the Express Bus Terminal, take it without hesitating.
Do I need a car in Gangneung?
No. The station, the downtown and the beaches are separated by short taxi rides rather than long ones, and taxis are inexpensive. A car helps if you intend to drive the coastal road to other towns, which is a different kind of trip.
Is it only worth going in summer?
No, and locals would say the opposite. The official swimming season is short, the beaches are crowded while it lasts, and the coast is at its best either side of it.
The short version
Gangneung became a two-hour city in December 2017, when the KTX line built for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics opened. Seoul Station to the coast is about 114 minutes; Cheongnyangni is about 86 minutes on the same line, so board wherever you slept rather than defaulting to the main station. The premium express bus takes two hours and forty-seven minutes for 28,700 won and is more comfortable than the train, which makes it the better choice from southern Seoul. Once here, the station, the old downtown and the beaches are three separate places connected by short taxi rides, and the coffee reputation lives on the coast rather than in the centre.
The beaches themselves run on a schedule that surprises people, and the good part starts after it ends.
Sources
Korean government policy briefing service, Seoul to Gangneung KTX route guide: opening date of 22 December 2017, stations served, and journey times from Seoul Station and Cheongnyangni. https://www.korea.kr/multi/visualNewsView.do?newsId=148845126
Gangneung Line KTX reference entry: construction ahead of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and the stations the line runs between. https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EA%B0%95%EB%A6%89%EC%84%A0\_KTX
Express bus timetable, Seoul Express Bus Terminal to Gangneung Bus Terminal: 23 services a day, first 06:00 and last 23:00, journey time 2 hours 47 minutes, and fares of 24,600 won udeung and 28,700 won premium.
First-hand account and photograph: premium express coach from Seoul Express Bus Terminal to Gangneung.