SirJman

Definitely not enough time. Seoul is at least an hour transit each way. Which with immigration/security leaves you with ~2 hours on the ground in the city. Skip the tour and just go to Seoul, but you'll still be short on time to see all that much. The museum will take up at least an hour. Don't forget the time it takes to ride the metro from Seoul Station down to SamGakJi Station to the museum.

It will be cold. Also, the area around the War Museum (SamGakJi Station) is the Army Ghetto, and is not the nicest area of Seoul to walk around, there are some small side-streets with food, but there's not really much to see. Get back on the train a couple stops and go somewhere else to walk around if you still have time.

MillionMiles

Thanks SirJman! Was only scouting the War Museum area via GoogleEarth, so didn't really get a sense of life around that area. But to clarify, is that 'definitely not enough time' or can be done? You later suggested that I should skip to 2hrs transit tour and go straight to Seoul.

SirJman

If you don't skip the tour, you literally could not make it.

MillionMiles

Ok, just to clarify. I was thinking of either the tour, which I have booked but can be cancelled, or take a ride into Seoul. Sounds like there'll be adequate amount of time to visit Seoul (quickly) for the 5+ hours I have on the ground. Maybe the weather will be a deciding factor when closer to the date.

SirJman

Yep, with 5 hours, you'll have enough time for a trip into Seoul. Say 2 hours for transit. ~30 minutes for metro rides (you can shave this down if you are familiar with Seoul Station). ~1.5 hours to get from the metro to the museum and walk around and get back to the metro. That leaves you with a bit of time to go explore somewhere else. Myeong-dong is only a couple stops away from Samgakji and would be a good place to explore if you aren't familiar with Korea. Start at Myeong-dong station and end at City Hall to get back on the metro 1 stop to Seoul Station.

FYI - The museum is closed on Mondays, but you can still visit the planes outside, just can't go indoors.

MillionMiles

Great! Sounds like a good plan and just what I wanted. Should be much better than a controlled tour if the weather suits. Thank you!

mikesaidyes

If you only have a SHORT time, while the War Museum may be what you want to see, the most effective use of time would be Jongno alleys/Insadong/Gyeongbokgung Palace. It's all very close to each other and close to Seoul Station.

MillionMiles

Ummm... Back to the drawing board. Let me Google a bit on the alley. Will be the first time in the country.

I think one think I should do is to find a place to eat a quick Korean lunch. Doesn't have to be fancy, but would like it to be genuine and representative. Has to be quick though. Any suggestions?

mikesaidyes

That can be had in Jongno. Jongno is a major downtown area, so there are alleys FULL of local Korean restaurants and a variety of dishes.

The easiest place to go would be a kimbap shop. They have EVERYTHING that's traditional Korean lunch. If you find one near Insadong, there should be some English. Otherwise, you might have a hard time. Some have pictures, so you can play charades, but most don't.

I'm happy to write down some Korean for you, though. You can just show the writing to the workers haha. I know of two great places in Jongno (there are many others), but there's no English anything.

MillionMiles

Thanks! I'll explore and see what end up putting in my mouth. It's part of the fun isn't it? Not having been to Korea does not mean I have no knowledge of Korea and its cuisine and culture, so I should be fine... I think.

MSPeconomist

When I add these numbers, I conclude that someone will miss a flight.

MillionMiles

Oh dear! Gonna wish me luck or have a giggle in front of your LCD screen?

MSPeconomist

Of course I wish you luck, but the plan seems to be the following:

2 hours: Transit ICN-Seoul and vv

1/2 hour: subway travel

1 1/2 hours: subway station to museum, see museum, and walk back to subway

X hour: do something else

This totals to 4 + X hours already out of 5.5 hours total scheduled time on the ground. You need to get through airport upon arrival, go through immigration and customs, find transportation, get ticket, and possibly wait. At the other end, assuming that you already ahve your boarding pass, you need to clear passport control and security, walk to gate, and be on board a half hour before departure.

To me this just doesn't compute. Also, there's absolutely no extra time for disruptions, getting lost/disoriented, long lines, etc.

MillionMiles

But isn't that what the Flyertalker's travel ethos is? Yes, it will be a little crazy. I may just allocate 1/2hr in Seoul so as to say that I have been. Will see what happens.

brumbrum

Also a question: anyone local, who knows if the maglev is already in operation? Can�t find any info and last "scheduled" roll-out was at September�14. Thank you