I will have to spend some time in Seoul for my job, in late August, early September and my wife and my 2 kids will join me.

Now I would like to know if it is possible to make a day-trip to a beach from Seoul. I know that this is unclear, too broad, etc. The following specifications (hopefully) narrow down the scope:

  • Reachable by public transport (metro, bus, train) in maximum 2h30 from Seoul, knowing that we plan to stay in Sinchon, not too far from the homonymous station.

  • It should be possible to swim in the sea, i.e. sufficiently safe and clean water.

  • There should be some basic infrastructure nearby, such as toilets and possibly even showers.

  • Extra facilities or animations for kids would be appreciated, but are not required.


Generally, the most popular tourist destination for beaches are located on East and South coast of Korea. With some minor exceptions, I'd avoid West coast in general because most of their beaches look like this:

West Korea beach

I know one of your primary concerns is proximity of the destination via public transportation, but what you must know is that Korea has one of the finest public transportation system in the world. Given its system and the size of the country, you could almost reach anywhere in Korea within 3 hours.

My recommendations are Haeundae Beach in Busan] or Gyungpodae Beach in Gangneung. Both locations have clean, swimmable water with lots of infrastructures available.

It takes approximately two hours from Seoul to Busan via KTX + maybe an hour to take the bus in between to get to the station and to the beach, you could easily set yourself a foot on Haeundae within three hours.

To Gyongpodae Beach in Gangneung, you'd have to take a bus in Express Bus Terminal. It takes about 2 hours and 30 minutes by bus + 30 minutes to get to the beach.

Some of the answers here mentioned Eurwangni. If proximity is an absolute must to you... you COULD try Eurwangni I guess, but you'll probably be disappointed.

If situation allows, I really recommend you take a day or two to visit Busan or Gangneung. Aside from swimming, there are tons of other activities you can do.

  • A negative answer is a valid answer too! Thanks. No beach then. – Maître Peseur Jun 15 '15 at 7:48

You can probably look at Visit Korea site to determine what's within a reachable distance from where you will be staying in Sinchon

But on a quick look:

Along with several others in Jung-gu as well as several close by but not exactly reachable by public transportation.

  • Not personally but water quality given the proximity of a major airport makes it questionable. As far as temperatures: surf-forecast.com/breaks/Gyongpo-Beach/seatemp . For the Korean transportation reliability I would let someone else answer. – Karlson Jun 10 '15 at 20:18
  • @AndréPeseur Are you concerned about Google's information reliability or your use of it? – Karlson Jun 10 '15 at 20:51

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