Enjoying a 13 hour layover at Incheon International Airport
Believe it or not, I willingly chose the flight that included a 13 hour layover in Seoul, South Korea. To you this might sound insane; heck, it did to me as well at first. But! After hearing about Incheon Airport’s Free Transit Tours, I was in for the layover because it meant adding another city and country to my list of places traveled.
Yes, that’s right. If you have an extended layover in Incheon Airport they let you leave the airport to see the beautiful city that is Seoul, South Korea. Not only do they let you leave the airport to explore, but they do the hard work for you FOR FREE. Incheon Airport offers Free Transit Tours with many different options.
You can schedule your tour ahead of time here. Otherwise, if you’re like us and didn’t know you could sign up ahead of time, there will be an information desk where you can sign up for remaining slots in person. Just look for the desk with the sign, “Transit Tour.”
As of January 2019, the following Transit Tours are offered:
With 13 hours to use up, we opted for multiple tours.
Our first tour: Paradise City Art-Tainment. 1+ Hours
The booklet lists this tour as 1 hour in length but your guide will actually allow you stay her as long as you wish are there are constant shuttles between here and the airport. We stayed for about 2 hours.
Paradise City is a self-sustaining resort that includes a 5 star hotel, a gigantic casino and an art gallery/ museum, multiple fine-dining restaurants, a spa, a club, and believe it or not, much more.
Our second tour: Worldcup Stadium & Hongdae Street. 4 Hours.
The bus ride from Incheon Airport to Worldcup Stadium is 50 Minutes. Choose to look out the private charter bus window or take a nap; we did both. Once you arrive at Worldcup Stadium you’ll receive a tour of the entire facility. If you’re lucky like we were, they’ll even let you get down on the field and touch the grass.
After your Worldcup Stadium Tour, hop back on the private charter bus and expect a 30 minute drive over to Hongdae Shopping Street. Once you arrive, you’ll have about 45-60 minutes to explore. With such a short amount of time we decided to eat as much as we could because Korean culture is all about the food. We were able to try out a few street food vendors as well as stop in a small restaurant for some Kimchi Fried Rice and Kimchi Jjigae (stew).
Prepare yourself for an hour long drive back to the airport. While this tour is 4 hours in length, keep in mind that over half the tour time is allotted for travel.
Tips & Tricks
- Ask where the Transit Tour information desk is or research it ahead of time using an online airport map. We had a really hard time tracking down the info desk which ate up a good 30 minutes of our layover.
- Don’t take your luggage with you on the tour. There will be a special location on the concourse level where the Transit Tour staff will hold onto your luggage for you. Obviously, take your valuables with you in a smaller purse/ backpack but leave your suitcases behind.
- If you choose a tour going to “Seoul” expect 2 hours total in transportation. It is a 60 minute drive each way between Incheon International Airport and the city of Seoul.
- Have your immigration and customs forms filled out and ready to go ahead of time as these are required for all transit tour participants. For the accommodations line you’ll enter “Transit Tour”
- Eat. I know this seems silly as a tip/ trick but honestly… Eat something outside of the airport and enjoy it. Korean food is soooo incredible and it’s a big part of Korean culture. Just try something; you won’t regret it.
Have you taken a South Korea Transit Tour?
Drop a comment below!
