Day 1: How To Get To Seoul From Incheon Airport?




Beautiful sunset view!


Arrival at the airport

We took Singapore Airlines to Seoul in the afternoon and finally reached Incheon International Airport (ICN) after about 6 hrs 30 mins at around 10pm (Korea is GMT +9). After getting off the plane at the Concourse, we followed the big passenger crowd to take the internal shuttle train (like our skytrain in Changi) to the Passenger Terminal. The shuttle train arrives every 5 mins. Next, we passed by the "quarantine" area where our temperature was detected by devices as we passed through the passage. Then comes the immigration and finally the baggage claim area. After passing out of the Arrival Hall, we turned right and saw an information counter to grab some maps and brochures. Just behind the counter, we went down the lift and walk over to the airport express station which is at the Incheon Airport Transportation Center. We followed the signs and reached the Airport Express counter to buy our tickets. To get to our inn at Myeongdong we had to take the train to Seoul Station and take the subway to Myeongdong Station
(line 4) and walk 5 minutes from there. If your hotel is Skypark Hotel III or Sejong Hotel, take exit 10. If you are reaching there by the airport bus (number 6015), you will alight at the bus-stop just outside Sejong Hotel.

There are two types of airport trains: express and commuter. The stations are located differently from each other so we have to decide which one to take before buying the tickets. We took the commuter train as it made more sense to us. It costs only 3800 Won (SGD 4) and took 53 mins which was only 10 more minutes than the express train (non-stop) which costs 3 times more!!

How to get to Seoul city from the airport

There are a few options to get to Seoul city:

1) A'REX (airport express)
website & information

a) Express Train
- fastest way, 43 mins
- 13,000 Won (SGD 14)
- non-stop

b) Commuter Train
- 53 mins
- 3,700 Won (SGD 4). If you buy a single-journey card, you have to pay extra 100 Won (SGD 1.10)
- 8 stops (including Gimpo Airport with flights to Jeju Island)

2) Airport buses (or airport limousines) bus routes & bus guide
- convenient way as some buses stop outside major hotels
- travelling time is longer, more than 60 mins
- only available till 22:20 so if you arrived late like we did, this option is out.

2) Taxis (information)
- most expensive but most convenient
- black cabs are the most expensive
- will be good if you know the korean word of your accomodation and address as most drivers only speak korean