Cycling

Planning to Cycle Across South Korea

A Beginner’s Guide to Cycle Touring Across South Korea

Written by Robbie & edited by George

After a long Hokkaido winter season, George and I were really looking forward to getting the bikes out of storage after packing up our snowboard gear. We wanted a challenge with a big-ish cycling trip and a few factors came across our minds.

Our main options for a long distance cycling tour that we could achieve were:

A) Close to where we live in Japan, possible either a big cycle tour of the main island of Honshu to our south or,

B) fly to a neighboring country where we could cycle from one point to another, like Vietnam, Taiwan or South Korea.

We landed on South Korea, as it had been a long term goal of George’s to cycling from Busan to Seoul after completing Japan. After doing some research we found that South Korea had invested heavily in their cycling infrastructure, connecting the southern beach city of Busan all the way up to the northern bustling metropolis that is Seoul.

In 2012, South Korea launched it trails as part of The Four Major Rivers Restoration Project (4대강 정비 사업). The Four Rivers Trail connects some major cities, towns and villages of South Korea and runs from Busan to Seoul (vice versa), after searching online for flights from Sapporo to Busan and then back from Seoul (Incheon Airport) to Sapporo, it seemed that we can perfectly time a big cycle across South Korea from south to north of the country.

After some planning, we were able to come up with a week and a half itinerary for a cycle tour that is most efficient (as I must juggle full-time work with my love of cycling).

Our South Korea Cycle Route

We had around 10 days total, landing in Busan late at night on the 10th, and flying out of Seoul in the early hours of the 20th, so we had to make the best of everyday. George had a route set out with a rough idea of day-to-day stops, though in the end a lot of that went out the window, mainly due to cheap accomodation locations and what we felt capable of acheiving.

Day 0 – Chitose Airport (Sapporo) to Busan flight, staying overnight in Busan
Day 1 – Busan free day (38 km cycling) – cycling around Busan’s attractions, the Gamcheon Culture Village, cycle to the beach for a leisurely stroll and swim.
Day 2 – Busan to Daegu City area (157 km cycling)
Day 3 – Daegu City to Gumi City (67 km)
Day 4 – Gumi City to Mungyeong City area (96 km)
Day 5 – Mungyeong City to Chungju area (82 km)
Day 6 – Chungju to Yeonju (51 km)
Day 7 – Yeonju to Seoul (109 km)
Day 8 – Seoul free day (No Cycling) – going to the War Memorial Museum, visit the Gyeongbokgung Palace, chill around the Han river for some street food.
Day 9 – Seoul to Incheon Airport (50 km)
Day 10 – Incheon Airport to Chitose Airport (Sapporo) flight.

Flying With Bikes

When traveling overseas with our bikes, we make sure to check that the baggage policy of the airline covers sports equipment, including bikes for no extra charge. While all airlines will accept boxed bikes, budget airlines will charge extra in most cases as this will be considered oversized luggage with extra handling. We got some old cardboard bike boxes from our workplace and made sure the dimensions are in line with the airline’s guidelines. Although we added extra weight to cover our gear, we still got surprised at the check-in by a ¥2000 fee per bike.

Some essentials when packing our bikes:

Bike Box – in our case, something we can dispose of after landing as we will be flying in/out of different locations. Alternatively, if you have a bike travel case or hard case, you will be able to send your hard case from Busan airport to Incheon Airport for a courier fee of around 30,000 won or (30 AUD)
Multi-tool or Allen key set
Pedal Wrench – specifically to use for your pedals and reassembling your bike
Bubble wrap – especially to protect your wheels and derailleur. George always takes off the back derailleur to protect the hanger for getting bend in transit.
Hand Pump – Tires must be deflated to fly, and a lot of the time you will be expected to open your box for inspection to make sure they’re flat. Due to this, we recommend bringing tape and only closing the box properly while checking luggage in.

How to pack a bike:

Clean your bike – make sure to remove visible dust and dirt especially as some countries customs and airlines are strict when it comes to bringing in dirt to prevent contamination.
Remove pedals – just makes more space width wise, remember one of the pedals is reversed threaded.
Take off the wheels – Depending on the size of the box you have, you can take off either one or both. Make sure that both tires are fully deflated.
Remove the handlebars – I chose not to as my front wheel is taken out anyway and my bike still fit within the box dimensions.
Remove the seat post – remove the seat post but it is good to leave a marker on your seat post, so you remember the height when you assemble it again.
Protect that derailleur – make sure to wrap bubble wrap around your derailleur or completely remove it if you wish.
Extra Protection – wrap your forks, seat post and around some empty spaces inside your box but make sure to be able to fit in your bike bags and other things you are planning to bring on your bike tour. A lot of the time we’ll use our clothes or bags instead of bubble wrap to save on space and weight.

Tips for flying with a bike:

Check airline policy – fees, dimensions, weight limits, extra charges sometimes for oversized items.
Make sure to weigh your bike box as expensive fees may incur.
Arrive early – oversized luggage always causes some sort of inconvenience sometimes so best to be early than sorry.
Travel insurance – something that covers bikes or adventure tourism.
Take photos of your bike and bike box before flying.
Bring a roll of tape – you may need to open up your bike box for inspection and will have to tape it back up, or make sure that your bike box is semi-open so that the airlines can quickly take a look and tape it up before checking it in.

Language and Communication in South Korea

It is good to learn some basic Korean phrases or words to get by and it is just nice to be able to say a simple “hello” and “thank you”, I think that it is always important to try an assimilate to the locality even if it is just a little but, shows that you are trying your best as a visitor to their home. Here are some helpful Korean words and phrases for your cycling adventure:

Hello : annyeong-haseyo
Thank you : gamsahamnida
Yes / No : ne / ani-yo
Excuse me / Sorry : joe-song-hamnida
Goodbye : annyeonghi-gyeseyo
Water please : mul-juseyo
Restroom : hwa-jang-shil

Aside from this, it also helps to use Google Translate to convey what you want to some locals, we used these heaps when sharing stories with local restaurants and accommodation providers.

Some other tips when cycling in Korea:

Use Komoot for making cycling routes.
Google Maps does not work in South Korea so make sure to use Naver app instead for precise public transportation and directions.
The bike paths have plenty of public restrooms and water stations. Tap water is safe to drink and South Korea is one of the highest and safest ranking countries when it comes to drinkable tap water.
Make sure to buy some extra snacks as some parts of the bike paths do not have any local stores, especially around the lower half of the trail towards Busan.
The Four Rivers bike path is on a designated bike trail and only in some areas connecting to different cities would you have to share the road with a car.
Bike paths are mostly fields by the river, so it is quite mellow, make use of the rest areas (Korean bungalows to take a rest and recharge)
Lots of Korean businesses are closed on Mondays, sometimes making it hard to find food

Accommodation Options in South Korea

We usually prefer to do a lot of camping when on a cycle tour, but as this trip was fairly short, and after researching and realizing that most campsites would be a bit expensive anyway, we decided to simply stay at cheaper hotels located in or around cities on our route.

We found the easiest way to book accommodations was to use Booking.com or Agoda. We always booked a day at a time as our distance choices were heavily dependent on the weather. energy level and plans.

Hotels cost us roughly 40-70AUD as a couple, and would typically include an ensuite. Occasionally we had some unexpected extra features, such as a gaming computer, massage chair or breakfast delivered to our door in the morning. We brought our bikes into every hotel room except for one, and the staff didn’t seem to mind as long as we were capable to picking up the bikes vertically by ourselves.

Here is a list of the hotels we booked, which were largely business style:

May 10 – 12: Busan – Zam 101 – 40 AUD per night for 2 adults and included a small buffet breakfast of self cooked eggs, bread, cereals, fried rice, kimchi and cup noodles.
May 12: Daegu area – Motel Hongsi – 55 AUD for 2 adults and included free coffee and water bottles.
May 13: Gumi city – Hotel Yo – 60 AUD for 2 adults and surprisingly included 2x takeaway breakfasts delivered in the morning and we paid extra for this room as it included a bathtub and a massage chair.
May 14: Mungyeong Sopoong – 50AUD for 2 adults, was a bit far from anything but had a bathtub and like other hotels, was able to bring the bikes inside our room.
May 15: Lodge 339 – 45 AUD for 2 adults and quite far from anything, bikes were not allowed inside the room and this is more of an apartment/Airbnb stay. I would recommend looking for a different hotel around this area if you can.
May 16: Yeoju Reverse Hotel – 50 AUD for 2 adults and had some free coffee and ramen included, was easy access to a lot of stores as we are getting closer to Seoul.
May 17 – 19: Seoul – Golden Seoul Hotel – 80 AUD per night for 2 adults, ended up paying more for a nice hotel in Seoul as it was our time to relax and check out some tourist spots around Seoul.
May 19: Incheon Airport – Hotel Hu Incheon Airport – 45 AUD per night for 2 adults, we stayed here but realized that our flight the next morning is from the other terminal, so always make sure to double check where you are departing from.

Food options in South Korea

South Korea has plenty of convenience stores where you can get some easy meals and snacks for your bike trip but as we considered this a small vacation after the busy winter season, we also wanted to make sure that we try out some good value Korean restaurants.

Be wary that Korean food is generally on the spicier side as they love gojuchang and kimchi. When you are eating at restaurants, it is expected that both people will order a meal and a drink, most meals would include a variety of pickled vegetables and kimchi.

We usually ate at mom-and-pop shops in the countryside, definitely a language barrier but we always encountered lovely people who simply told us they knew what to make for us or bring out the local specialty. Meals are relatively cheap, around 10 AUD per meal per person and this left you very full, usually they consist of rice or noodles with protein, meat and 3-4 types of vegetables plus a soup.

Here are some of my recommendations for Korean food:

Bibimbap – usually served in a hot stone bowl, rice with a mix of seasonal vegetables, egg, meat and gojuchang sauce.
Gimbap – probably one of the best bike snacks, pretty much a long sushi roll with tuna, egg and pickled carrots and veggies. Easy to travel with and like the onigiri equivalent of Korea.
Tteokbokki – spicy rice cakes in a gojuchang sauce, normally can be found around street markets, fast and delicious snack.
Jajangmyeon – wheat noodles with black bean sauce, cucumber and pork. Similar to Dandanmen (stir fried noodles with minced pork in China or Taiwan)
Pajeon – savory Korean pancakes, usually with seafood and scallions and served with a soy, sesame and vinegar sauce.

George Goes Bikepacking