Transit/Layover Diaries

Overview

I) Quick Facts:

City/Airport - Incheon
Country - South Korea
Min.Transit Time > 2 hrs
Tour duration - 1 hr to 5 hrs
Cost of Tour - $10 transit visa fee for Indian passport holders, Entrance fee & Lunch additional cost.
Operating Schedule - 07.00 hrs to 18.00 hrs.
Tour Group - 7 to 40 people
Tour Languages - English,Japanese & Chinese
Type of Tours - Regular Tours, Medical Tours
Tour Timings - From 07.00 hrs to 15.00 hrs depart every hr.

Sample a slice of Korea !!

Transit tour at Incheon airport is a wonderful way to get a sample of Korea.The tour can be availed by nationalities of all countries barring Iraq, Iran, Syria, Afghanistan, Cuba, Ghana, Kosovo, Nigeria,Palestine,Macedonia & Sudan.The tours can be undertaken after immigration clearance.This tour can be availed by transit passengers of any airline with a minimum transit time of more than 2 hrs.

Tours vary between 1hr to 5 hrs & caters to regular & medical tourists. All the tours are accompanied by a Korean tourist guide who speaks in English,Japanese or Chinese as the case may be. English speaking tour groups range between 7 to 15 persons depending on the duration of the tour opted for.Passengers need to be at the transit tour desk 30 mins prior to the scheduled departure of the tour they have opted for to complete the immigration formalities.

I had opted for the Seoul City Tour which as per the itinerary which includes a visit to Gyeongbok Palace,Insadong street & Jogyesa Temple.The tour duration is 5 hrs with a frequency of only once a day.The tour started with an hours bus ride from the airport to the Palace at the centre of Seoul at 10.00 hrs .We were lucky as we din't have to pay any entrance fee as part of the Korean tourism promotion drive.The guide explained to us in detail the different aspects of the palace & we followed her with a bright orange umbrella like sheeps fearing getting lost/mixed up with other groups in between.This was followed by a visit to the Buddhist temple which had 3 big buddha statues & was incidentally my first ever visit to a monastery to pay our respects & offer our prayers.Then we went to Insadong street in downtown Seoul which is the commercial hub with its narrow lanes & shops for lunch which was pre arranged at a korean restaurant where Indian vegetarians like me will have limited options with the veg.food being less palatable.After lunch we had some time to do shopping & went back to the bus to return to the airport by 14.30 hrs.

Our tour guide was good in explaining the various aspects of Korea & ensuring we din't stray away unknowingly from the group which consisted of a few Americans,Indonesian,Canadians & I was the lone Indian.