Nami Island is a tourist destination where nature, culture, and art are in harmony, and there are walking paths such as Metasequoia Road, Ginkgo Tree Road, Beot Road, and Reed Forest Road. You can enjoy quality time with your dog all year round in the beautiful nature, and ‘Two Gather Park’, a pet playground in Nami Island, is the best place to meet various pet friends and run around freely. It has bicycles that you can enjoy with your dog, a restaurant, a cafe, and Jeonggwanru, an accommodation facility.
How to get there
By public transportation, Gapyeong Station (Gyeongchun Line) is about 1.5km away from Nami Island Pier, so it can be easily accessed in less than an hour from the metropolitan area by the metropolitan subway or the ITX-Cheongchun train, a semi-high-speed train. In Seoul, there is a bus route departing from Dongseok Terminal. There is. It is a 5-minute taxi ride from Gapyeong Station or Gapyeong Terminal to the entrance of Nami Island, and city buses also run.
Transportation facilities within Nami Island include the Nanum Train, which runs from the dock to the center of Nami Island, and the Nami Island Story Tour Bus, which runs around the outskirts of Nami Island without stopping.
When there are a lot of tourists, you can walk from Gapyeong Station to Nami Island. It takes about 20 minutes on foot. Nearby restaurants offer free parking when dining, or valet parking for 4,000 won.
Because it is an island, it is impossible to travel by land, and you have to take a boat to get there, but the boat operates from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. It operates frequently (every 10 to 20 minutes) from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., when there are many people, and every 30 minutes during the rest of the time. Another way is to use a zip wire to enter. Vessel operating hours may change depending on the situation (extended operation during spring flower season,vacation season, or autumn foliage season).
In 2010, a new means of transportation and enjoyment called the zip wire was created. It is an incredible means of transportation that travels from an 80-meter-high tower to Nami Island in just one minute. This zip wire has directions to Nami Island and Jaraseom Island, and there is no direction from the island back to the dock. The price is 49,900 won. Nami Island’s current round-trip entrance fee is 16,000 won for general admission, a preferential rate of 13,000 won for middle school to high school students, people over 70 years old, and people of national merit, and a special preferential rate of 10,000 won for elementary school students and younger, and group discounts are also available.
Things to see
They are using the concept of a special tourist destination that represents the concept of a nation built on Nami Island called the Naminara Republic. As of 2016, Nami Island receives a total of 3.3 million tourists, including 1.3 million foreign tourists, annually.
There is a constant flow of Korean Wave fans from Japan and foreign tourists from other parts of Asia who have been greatly influenced by Korean dramas, including the main setting of Winter Sonata, which was a hit in major Asian countries. The area of Nami Island is approximately 460,000 square meters, which is roughly similar to the size of the campus of a large university.
As many Muslim tourists visited, an Islamic prayer room was set up in 2011 with the help of Iranian poet Pune Nedai, and since 2014, a certified halal food restaurant has been operated. Tourist information leaflets on the island are being produced in 10 languages: Korean, English, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Malay-Indonesian, Vietnamese, Burmese, Russian, and Spanish.
It is like any other theme park, with a variety of things to enjoy, including walking trails, restaurants, a performance hall, various wild animals (peacocks, squirrels, rabbits, etc.), gardens, rides, and souvenir shops. In particular, many people enjoy taking pictures with various backgrounds.
In addition to Nami Island’s trademark metasequoia road, the dense forest is well maintained, making it a great place for a picnic. It is known as the origin of the Metasequoia Road, but its scale is not large.
There is a boutique hotel called Hotel Jeonggwanru on the island, but it is very popular so you have to make a reservation three months in advance. The rooms in the main building, Jeonggwanjae, are decorated by artists such as painters, craftsmen, and writers, and are characterized by the fact that no two rooms are the same. You can choose from a 2-person room to a 4-person room, a bed type or an ondol type, and you can reserve a room with the design of your choice.
In addition, it consists of the main building, Jeonggwanjae, with 44 rooms, including family rooms and cabin-like outbuildings, and 13 annex buildings lined up on the western riverside. The annex consists of a condo villa where families or groups can stay, and a two-tu villa where two people can spend quality time. The annex guesthouse consists of studio-type rooms. Hotel guests can use the shuttle bus between the dock and the hotel. There is an outdoor swimming pool, Water Garden, next to the hotel. Anyone can use it for a fee, and hotel guests can use it at a discounted rate. Additionally, a poolside barbecue is held on days with nice weather from spring to fall.
There is a train track along the island’s main route, and you can ride the Nanum Train for 3,000 won.
By using the Nami Island Story Tour Bus, you can comfortably see the beautiful scenery outside of Nami Island.
There is a picture book playground in the center of the island, and the building is large. The picture book playground on the first floor has many books, so it’s not a waste to spend a day at the library. There is a small slide in the library that children love. On the second floor is Hey Schools Club Nami Island, a Finnish early childhood education program. There is a restaurant and cafe on the first floor.
There is a mole house next to the library, but since most of it is built around pipes, it is difficult to use unless you are a child. Next to it is a bike center and a short sky bike. The bicycle rental shop has 1, 2, and 4-person bicycles, as well as electric bicycles. In addition, there is also a European-style forest experience facility, Adventure Forest.
The current vice president, Kang Woo-hyun, graduated from Hongik University’s College of Fine Arts and is creating various cultural and art events and installation art in Nami Island. Although it looks a bit messy, it seems to have been quite successful, as visitors are happy to see the flashlights popping up all the time. Since Winter Sonata is the beginning of the island’s revival, the snowmen and metasequoia road related to Winter Sonata are the main trademarks. In addition, we are recycling soju bottles that are scattered around the island by pressing them flat and processing them to make bridges.
On the outskirts of the island, there is a wooden walking path that runs along the riverside. It’s good to take a walk in the morning.
An ostrich trapped in a fence is called a ‘gangta’ and has the nickname ‘gang ostrich.’ Originally, they used to graze on the island, but they made a fuss by stealing tourists’ lunch boxes and were locked in cages. Instead, they graze peacocks, rabbits, squirrels, and squirrels.
Fee summary
Official site link: https://www.namisum.com/38
Admission fee: 16,000 won
Zip wire: KRW 49,900 (including boat)
Parking fee: 6,000 won for 12 hours
Story Tour Bus: 8,000 won
Sharing train: 3,000 won
Sky Bike: 3,000 won
Duck boat / rowing boat (30 minutes): KRW 15,000 for 2 people / KRW 20,000 for 3 people