14 Hour Layover In Seoul, Korea

[jimmym40]

Is it possible to go outside the airport without getting visa and/or stamps? Is there anyplace/ anything to kill about 10 hours? What would you do?

[craigt3365]

We use to do this route years ago, but due to other issues, don't any more. The layover for us was usually on the way back from the US. We would get a day room and sleep for 5-6 hours and take a shower.

One time, for a small charge, they got us onto an earlier flight. One I didn't choose due to a much higher price.

Don't know about the transit visa, but I think downtown Seoul is a bit far from the airport?

[dddave]

Inchon airport is very decent, easily in the world "Top-10". There are several tour company kiosks in the arrivals hall offering reasonably priced day tours of Seoul. I took one last year and it was well worth it. You can also take a train from the airport to the city. There are free maps of Seoul available at the airport that describe the various areas of the city. I found the DONGDAEMUN and MYEONGDONG neighborhoods to be really interesting with many hundreds of small shops selling all sorts of stuff and restaurants all over offering a huge variety of foods. There is an underground shopping mall with many shops selling high quality used camera equipment and old vinyl records. There are tours that will leave you off near that area and then pick you up at a pre-arranged time.

The airport itself has some very good restaurants, They also have fascinating exhibitions of local handcrafts where they will actually teach you how to make paper items. Live classical Korean music programs are also presented at these shops in the departure area so be sure to check the schedule.

I fly a lot and I consider Inchon to be one of the best airports anywhere, along with Singapore to have a long layover.

[impulse]

Ditto what dddave said.

I'd catch one of the airport buses to MyeongDong (I'm not spelling that right), hang out in the markets there and catch the bus back. It's about $10 and an hour each way. Or, express train to Gimpo Airport then puts you into the Seoul subway system, which is a delight- on par with the MRT and BTS but far more coverage. Train's cheaper, but takes longer with 2-3 transfers into downtown. Taxi can cost $50-100(+) to the city depending on which taxi you get. There's a very clear hierarchy of pricing, but tourists usually end up in the "luxury" taxis and pay a lot. It's perfectly legal, but can be expensive if you don't know which taxi is which. In fact, I have never been cheated in Seoul by taxi's, vendors or anyone for that matter.

I recommend the Korean War Museum, but that's just me. Also enjoyable is a tram ride and elevator climb to the Seoul TV tower with a spectacular view on clear days. Get a map of Seoul at the airport and plan your trip and you can get a lot of Seoul into a day. Mass transit there is superb and they also have (sanely driven) tour buses that will take you all over town for $10 a day.

If you're from most western countries, there is no visa, just a quick entrance and exit stamp into your passport at immigration.

Or, stay at the airport, get a room by the hour and enjoy one of the best airports in the world for long layovers.

Caveat: Prices I've given are a couple of years old.

[Thighlander]

at the end of 2010, I flew Asiana, and had a 9 hour layover. I just went to the customer service desk near the baggage claim and the van came and picked me up and took me to a great hotel, and a free lunch. I booked with www.usaasiatravel.com. I had my choice of the room or the all day tour.....Paid 1070.00 inc. usd from Phoenix to BKK, on a three month ticket. One of the nicest hotel rooms I've ever seen. That big soaker tub was just what the doctor ordered.

[ralphlsasser]

Inchon Airport is very nice, but watch out for the green lungers the koreans spit all over the floor and in the ash trays. I slipped on one and almost went through a glass show case. Women and men spit on the floor. When one clears their throat and gags up a big one, get out of the way and watch where you step.

[phuketrichard]

I am flying Korean from Phuket-sf and plan on spending the night as the flight gets in at 9:30 and departs at 4:30.

Seoul is a nice place to spend the night and we usually stay around Itaewon area. Plenty of shopping and places to eat. They usually only add like $10 which is the price of the departure tax

MYEONGDONG is a great area to hang for a few hours. Seoul has changed quite a bit form the mid 80's when I was doing business there and no one spoke english

[zzaa09]

at the end of 2010, I flew Asiana, and had a 9 hour layover. I just went to the customer service desk near the baggage claim and the van came and picked me up and took me to a great hotel, and a free lunch. I booked with www.usaasiatravel.com. I had my choice of the room or the all day tour.....Paid 1070.00 inc. usd from Phoenix to BKK, on a three month ticket. One of the nicest hotel rooms I've ever seen. That big soaker tub was just what the doctor ordered.

There was a time back when, that the respective airline that you were flying with would arrange vouchers towards some sort of lay-over stay at Seoul hotel/restaurant - depending on the lay-over [8 to 24 hours].

I don't believe these add-on freebies are available any more. Out of the loop, I haven't been through Inchon in ages. I won't fly through Inchon because of the guaranteed long lay-over. Any major Asian hub is easier to transit through.

[PattayaParent]

It depend on what times your stop over is OP.

10 hours from say midnight to 10am and you're best getting to sleep.

But if it's daytime hours there's time to get into the city and look about a bit, and if it's evening there's bars to hang out in and maybe a bit of nightlife.

[Pseudolus]

"Is it possible to go outside the airport without getting visa and/or stamps?"

So enter South Korea illegally then? Were you planning to walk through immigration and say "Just popping down town for a bit, be back in a few hours so no need for all that stamping of passports business of having to show you a boarding card when I try to get back into departures again. Best check it out with your airline. If it is the same carrier, I guess you will only have one boarding pass, and thus be very difficult to get back into departures with only the stub. If you are changing carriers, then you would have a second boarding pass for the new plane. You need to check though.

In relation for what to do? Go to The Hill. Happy days.

[PattayaParent]

^The Hill is only of any use if he's there in the evening / night.

[jimmym40]

"Is it possible to go outside the airport without getting visa and/or stamps?"

So enter South Korea illegally then? Were you planning to walk through immigration and say "Just popping down town for a bit, be back in a few hours so no need for all that stamping of passports business of having to show you a boarding card when I try to get back into departures again. Best check it out with your airline. If it is the same carrier, I guess you will only have one boarding pass, and thus be very difficult to get back into departures with only the stub. If you are changing carriers, then you would have a second boarding pass for the new plane. You need to check though.

In relation for what to do? Go to The Hill. Happy days.

Absolutely not wanting to do anything illegal. I just wondering if they had a procedure (like a transit slip) that you may leave the airport and return within 12 hours.

AND, what/where is "The Hill"?

[PattayaParent]

Hooker Hill (to give it it's full name) is in Itaewon.

The first of the bars start opening around 6pm.