Naejangsan National Park Tour Review | Autumn in Korea
If you’re looking for a place to enjoy the beautiful autumn season in Korea then it might be worth checking out a package tour. I booked a tour of Naejangsan National Park through Trazy.com during the autumn foliage season and here’s an update on my experience.
Key Facts about the Tour
*Just a note that this was information about the 2022 tour, future tour information might differ.
The Korea/Autumn tour to Naejangsan National Park runs only runs during a certain period from Seoul or Busan. Between the 25th of October and to 15th of November. We went on the 10th of November which is quite a bit after the peak foliage season but we still managed to enjoy the tour. I would recommend going near the end of October to see the full foliage.
The tour costs around £43 per person which included:
- Transport To and From Seoul or Busan (specifies on a different page) takes roughly around 4h to get to and from.
- Entrance Fee to the park
- One way – Bus ticket from Naehangsan
- Tour Guide – English Speaking. We lucky got 2 tour guides and they were generally really nice
Getting to Naejangsan National Park
As part of the tour, they will give you the option to meet at some of the main stations. Since we chose the tour from Busan we were given the option to go from either the KXT Busan Train Station, Seomyeon Station or Haeundae Station.
We decided to choose to go from Busan station since our Airbnb was just a few minutes away from there and on the Trazy website the last pick-up would be from Busan at 7:00 am so we would get an extra hour of sleep. However, just the day before the tour guides got in touch with us and asked us to be there at 6:00 am, so do keep that in mind that the timings can change.
On the booking they will give you more information on where to specifically go, with pictures which is great. But the tour guide will message and try and find you at the chosen location so don’t worry too much if you’re lost.
It was a relative small tour, we were the only 2 people from Busan Station and then we picked up another 4 passengers at Haeundae Station. The bus was spacious for the 6 of us and TV where they played a Korea Movie which was nice to keep us entertained for the 4hours. They gave us quite a few stops to go to the toilet or have some snacks which was nice that we got time to explore some of the food stalls.
Lunch Stop on Arrival at Naejangsan National Park
At 11:00am We finally arrived at Naejangsan National Park! Before exploring the park we went for lunch, just a note that lunch is not provided but as a group, we all went into the same restaurant and paid for our meals separately. The tour guide recommended we choose out of the 2 variations of bibimbap which is what we got but we did want other things on the menu which they didn’t seem to have.
Overall, it was an okay meal that kept us warm and full for the tour but was not anything amazing.
Exploring Naejangsan National Park
On arrival, immediately we could see the autumn foliage and there were so many food stands and shops. The tour guides told us that there is an autumn festival here every year so a lot of people make their way here to see the park during autumn.
We continued walking along the path and got to a barrier This is where you need to pay for the park’s entry fee which the tour guides paid for us since this was part of the tour fee. Not long after that, we arrived at the main stop where we got the bus to another main park stop, which was all included in the tour package.
Once we got off the bus, this was where the tour guides gave us free time to explore the park. He gave us some recommendations on routes to take and where to go for the next 3 hours till we needed to get back onto the bus. He said we had enough time to see the Buddhist Temple and take the cable car to the top of the mountain and walk down a 2km walk down to see the other areas and the famous Uhwajeong Pavilion. So we did all of the above.
Illjumun Gate & Buddhist temple | Autumn in Korea
A few minute’s walk up a beautiful path which was lined with red/orange trees, perfect for taking photos, we were led up to the Illjumun Gate & Buddhist temple.
Naejangsan Cable Car
After that we made our way to the Naejangsan Cable Car, and we had to wait in line for about 40mins to get the ticket and to get the cable car. The cable car cost 9000won ~ £6 for a return and they really do pack you in.
The view of the cable car was amazing and shows you how far up you are actually going. We went nearer the end of the foliage season so it wasn’t as colourful as I have seen in photos. So I would definitely recommend going a earlier.
Once you arrive at the top of the cable car entrance, there are food areas and a path to another view point. The path doesn’t feel like a path and is very unstable with a lot of rocks and uneven areas so I would do keep that in mind and wear appropriate shoes.
We then returned down the cable car and the ride down was a lot less busy and managed to continue our walk down through the park. The walk was gorgeous, with the wind blowing down and the leaves falling, it felt like we were in a movie.
Uhwajeong Pavilion | Autumn in Korea
About 20mins of walking from the cable car and following the river, we arrived at the Uhwajeong Pavilion, a small pavilion which looks like it is floating in the middle of the lake. You can actually walk across to the Pavilion using stepping stones which were quite wide too, but there are alot of people there so do keep that in mind.
That is pretty much the end of the tour, after we continued walking down the path we arrived at our meeting point and got some drinks and snacks whilst waiting for the other tourists. Then began our journey back to Busan at 3:30pm, again with multiple rest stops and we arrive back to Busan Station at 19:30pm.
Overall, this was a really great tour. We had great tour guides who were really friendly and spoke really good English and we had plenty of time to explore the park by ourselves. The drive was very very long so do keep that in mind it was a bit exhausting. I did enjoy the carefree aspect of the tour, we didn’t have to worry about which bus/train to take and where to eat since everything was planned out for us.
Other places for views of Autumn in Korea | Autumn in Korea
If you’re looking for other places for a view of Autumn in South Korea. Checkout these National Parks:
- Seoraksan National Park
- Yongmusa Temple
- Naejangsan National Park
- Daesunsan Mountain
Trazy also have a tour for these places which you can check out here. But do check the reviews and details to check what they have on offer.
