Korea - 5 hour layover in ICN Seoul

I've read several posts on things to do with 12 hours in ICN. Are there things to do around ICN with just 5 hours?

Clear customs and walk back the area above the ticketing area, try the Korean restaurant selections there. After you eat, go through the security and do some duty free shopping. There is your 5 hours used up quick. Unless you have someone locally that can pickup you up to see incheon for 2 hours, you have no other choice.

You could take the airport train 2 stops to Unseo(~8 minutes and 1000W) and go to the LotteMart supermarket.

what about 8hrs instead of 5? does that make a difference?

If the layover is during the day, 8 hrs makes it more feasible to go to downtown Seoul.

Take bus/train to Seoul, walk around, eat, shop and come back to ICN airport.
There is also a free sleeping lounge at ICN and showers too(but i dont know if you have to pay for the showers).

I had a 6 hours layover in ICN yesterday so I did the free 1 hour temple tour offered by the ICN airport. 2,3,5 hours and DMZ tour is available for very reasonable price. I believe the prices are $5,10,25 and DMZ was $70 per person person.

I recently did a 12hr layover in Seoul, landside. :td:

That's what happens when you book inwards flight on KE and outwards flight on another airline.

I had reckoned that I could use the transit hotel for some sleep (landed at 5am) bt obviously with no onwards boarding pass, I had to wait for the TG checkin desk to open some 9hrs after I landed!

My fault, but still, bloody boring! :mad:

I recently did a 12hr layover in Seoul, landside. :td:

That's what happens when you book inwards flight on KE and outwards flight on another airline.

I had reckoned that I could use the transit hotel for some sleep (landed at 5am) bt obviously with no onwards boarding pass, I had to wait for the TG checkin desk to open some 9hrs after I landed!

My fault, but still, bloody boring! :mad:

Why didn't you take a tour? it's bloody cheap with sometimes free lunch.

Why didn't you take a tour? it's bloody cheap with sometimes free lunch.

Initially, it was my intention to get a bus to Lotte World, and I did research it whilst at the airport, but I didn't understand where to buy the tickets, so that, coupled with my sleepiness and vertigo (yes, I had travelled on planes so much that past week that I still felt my legs wobbling) I decided to try and rest landside at ICN and make use of a few cafes. :td: Wish I had done a tour now, even somewhere like DMZ or Gyeongbokgung Palace would have been nice...

Checkin is pretty quick at ICN, I think even getting there 1.5 hours early is usually enough. With 5 hours I'd say its almost impossible to explore seoul as it takes about 1 hour to get there, maybe a quick meal but probably better off exploring Incheon area. With 8 hours you could make it to Seoul and back, perhaps go to myeongdong area and do some shopping (there's also many good restaurants in that area)

5 Hours is way too short for something in Seoul as you will spend most of your time travelling between the airport and the city. Explore Incheon or as skchin suggested, there are a ton of things to do in the airport. Try some Korean food or even the Korean Baths (JimJilBang) in the airport if you want to relax in a cheap and relaxing environment. It's quite an experience. Plus you will get to scrub up nice and clean and feel like you are at a spa.

If you are stuck landside, there is a sauna ("Spa on Air") located in the basement of the airport. Daytime prices start at 15,000KRW (<$15). You can also rent private rooms if you dont want to share with others. You can leave your luggage in the sauna lobby, where is it watched and tagged for security. It saved me on a 10 hour lay over this summer.

I later found the transit lounge (inside security) also had free internet/computers and free showers. LOL

Recently the price of the AREX, Airport Express Train (From ICN to Seoul Station) dropped to 8,000 won. It used to be 13,300 won. So you can take this non stop train into the heart of Seoul in 43 mins. If I had a few hour layover, I would leave my baggage at the airport (there is a place to leave your bags for a fee on the departure level) and then head to Seoul station. From there, you can take the subway to Gwanghwamun or Gyeongbokgung (might need to do a transfer). Or go to Anguk station and walk through Insadong area. Nearby is also Jong-ro station, where the Cheonggyecheon stream is nearby.

I would probably avoid the bus and/or taxi during the evening rush hour traffic. A 1 hour taxi ride to Incheon airport (already expensive!) will easily turn into 2 hr ride.

Go see a movie at CGV (Cinema)!

Go see a movie at CGV (Cinema)!

Yeah I was thinking that might be an option. But usually after a long international flight, it might be hard to sit in a chair for another 2 hours.

For a short-ish layover of 2-3 hours, I can only get a bowl of noodles inside the terminals to kill time. I'd love to visit Korea for real though.

From my experience, ICN is one of the best airports to clear immigration & customs, heck even your bags will be waiting for you (without priority tags) in less than 20 minutes from deplaning. Even from concourse A ^ where you need to take the shuttle train.

I always enjoy arriving to ICN

How does this work? I assume you have to walk through like your heading for a transit but after dropping off your bags find some way to get back to customs? Anyone use these before?

You can store your belongings for free for 24 hours at the storage lockers located on the third floor near Gate 25 (East) and Gate 29 (West). Remember these free storage lockers are located inside the airport area for transit passengers. Once you get to Immigration, you will not have access to these lockers and must use the paid service (very pricey) outside of Customs. Be sure to take your passport, boarding pass, wallet/purse, and any valuables with you.

How does this work? I assume you have to walk through like your heading for a transit but after dropping off your bags find some way to get back to customs? Anyone use these before?
My kids and I just spent a 9 hour layover at ICN. To store your bags, go to the Information Booth (?) near gate 29 (I think there's one at 25 too), and ask for a locker. Don't explain that you are leaving the airport, they just get confused. They'll give you a key and you'll have to leave your driver's license. Then head to immigration and customs. Coming back is fairly easy since you won't have bags. When you get out of customs, there is another information booth where we inquired about tours. We did a 5 hour tour of Seoul with OMI tours and had a blast!

My kids and I just spent a 9 hour layover at ICN. To store your bags, go to the Information Booth (?) near gate 29 (I think there's one at 25 too), and ask for a locker. .......... We did a 5 hour tour of Seoul with OMI tours and had a blast!


Just the info we needed! We've got an 7-hour layover at ICN on the way home from KIX-Osaka, so this info sets us up to see Seoul! Thanks for the super-current info!

(Why an 7-hour layover? This is at the end of our 5-week Delta RTW trip, and the trans-pacific leg was so tough to find......we will probably actually be looking forward to getting back to Oklahoma, so did not want to miss the Korean Air flight ICN-LAX. The usual connection would be 90 minutes in ICN using the last flight from KIX-ICN, and that just seemed too short and worrisome......so next earlier flight KIX-ICN gets us to ICN at 2:30pm for the 9:35pm KIX-LAX leg)

If I had three hours, I'd take A'rex (one of the airport trains) to a nearby stop and delight in local fare. That food is too good to pass up on waiting at the airport.

One of the stops was called Unseo- it's Seoul's lesser version of Narita city, I guess, with a bunch of hotels and restaurants; if you're pinching pennies as I had been a couple of years ago, you can find a Korean sauna (찜질방- jjimjilbang) to sleep at for <US$10.

I have 4hrs 50mins at ICN in a few weeks on a Sunday, connecting from OZ F to TG C. Does OZ offer arrival services for F passengers?

I guess I'll be heading to Unseo, any tips on what to visit there? Can credit cards be used anywhere or should I change to some KRW? Anything else I need to think of? Any help is much appreciated.

Not too sure what arrival services OZ offers for F. I do know that your bags would be the first ones to arrive in baggage claim, but it looks like you are connecting so that may not be needed. Sounds like you will make it out of the airport for a few hours before returning. Unseo is a short hop on the airport train. Last time I went there, I didn't see much to do, other than walk around and eat some korean food. Credit cards are accepted almost everywhere. I don't foresee any issues using Visa or MC. But it is always good to have some cash handy just in case. Also, TG is located in the Concourse Terminal so give yourself an extra 10-15 mins to get from the main terminal to the Concourse Terminal.

Not too sure what arrival services OZ offers for F. I do know that your bags would be the first ones to arrive in baggage claim, but it looks like you are connecting so that may not be needed. Sounds like you will make it out of the airport for a few hours before returning. Unseo is a short hop on the airport train. Last time I went there, I didn't see much to do, other than walk around and eat some korean food. Credit cards are accepted almost everywhere. I don't foresee any issues using Visa or MC. But it is always good to have some cash handy just in case. Also, TG is located in the Concourse Terminal so give yourself an extra 10-15 mins to get from the main terminal to the Concourse Terminal.

Thank you nme7, much appreciated. How often does the train to Unseo go? And everything should be open on a Sunday too?

Maybe once every 5 or 10 minutes. Just make sure you get on the Airport Commuter Train on the left side of the area. If you go to the right side, it is the Airport Express Train, that will be a 43 minute non-stop trip to Seoul Train Station downtown. But you will be able to tell also by the price. The Commuter is probably under 1500 krw (around 1 Euro?) and the Express is 8800 krw. I believe most things will be open on Sunday. Some places may not open until later in the morning. Then the bars and such do not open until the afternoon or early evening.