When we recently visited South Korea, a destination we were keen to visit was Nami Island which is a very popular day tour from Seoul located around the township of Gapyeong. After doing further research we discovered that there are a lot more things to do in the Gapyeong area. As a result we decided to book a private Nami Island tour to make the most of our day and not waste time having to wait for the local public transport options.
Having never been on a zipline, we were excited to discover that Klook is one of the few providers who offer an all inclusive Nami Island private tour which includes the awesome 3083 ft / 940m long Nami Island Zipline, as well as options to visit Petite France Seoul, the Gapyeong Rail Bike and The Garden of Morning Calm Korea.
Below is our detailed review of the Nami Island tour package – we had an amazing day out and are certain that you will too 😊!
Note that this article is sponsored by Klook, however we paid for our own day tour and our opinions are our own.
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How to Book Your Nami Island Day Tour Through Klook
Klook is a reputable seller of travel products and services including day tours, tickets, transfers and transport services. We have partnered closely with them (and have also booked many tours and tickets through them ourselves!) over the past five years, and can confirm that they offer a good range of options and are competitive on price.
After considering the different Nami Island tour options through Klook we selected our preferred Nami Island package and added it to our shopping cart. Most people check out the Nami Island options through Klook and their next step is to identify a a Nami Island package to suit their budget.
Click here to check out and book your Nami Island Private Tour through Klook
We then went through the process to finalise payment for our tour which was very easy, then received an email advising that our booking was pending waiting for confirmation. The next day we received our tour confirmation and we were good to go!
Of note is that if you also plan to visit the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) during your visit to Seoul ensure you plan and book the DMZ activity first as there are limited days of the week that you can visit. Klook also offers a large selection of DMZ tour options so ensure you check them out at this link.
Closer to our tour date we received communications from our driver with further information about our departure time from our hotel so we felt confident that everything was arranged. Ensure that you have Whatsapp installed on your phone as that is the easiest option to communicate with your driver.
Nami Island Day Tour Itinerary
Our driver was ready and waiting for us when we exited our hotel in Jongno in Seoul to meet him at the specified collection time of 7.30am. We were pleased to see that our vehicle was a clean and luxurious Kia Carnival (or Kia Sedona), perfect for our family of five to each have some personal space! We had recently purchased the same vehicle to use at home so when we saw it we knew to expect a good level of comfort and space.
Our guide informed us of our itinerary for the day as follows:
- Petite France
- Nami Island Zipline
- Nami Island
- Lunch (not included)
- Gapyeong Rail Bike
- The Garden of Morning Calm
We quickly got started and enjoyed having a chat with the driver along the way to learn more about Korea.
Petite France Korea
The drive to our first stop, Petite France, was interesting as we cruised along the highway during the 63km / 40 mi / 1.5 hour drive from Seoul. Petite France opens at 9am each morning, and we arrived just prior to opening. This was both good and not so good. By being early we avoided the normal crowds, however a lot of the attractions inside were still in the process of opening. Our driver arranged our entry and advised us what time to meet back with him.
We explored Petite France in Korea for around two hours – that was enough time to explore the village, go on a nature walk in the forest to the top of the hill, to have a morning tea snack and to watch a puppet show.
We enjoyed the experiences and were feeling pumped to head to our next destination to ride on the zipline to Nami Island!
Nami Island Zipline
The Nami Island zipwire was a real highlight of our day! After the 17km / 10.5 mi / 25 minute drive from Petite France to Nami Island our driver walked with us to the reception and arranged our entry. Along the way he asked if we were interested in him organising for us to have a BBQ Korean style lunch. We agreed, and he advised the time we needed to be back from Nami Island for lunch for us to stay on schedule.
After waiting anxiously in the reception we were ushered to the elevator to travel 80 meters / 262 feet up to the Nami Island zip wire departure point. A spectacular view awaited us as well as some nerves seeing how big a trip we had ahead of us! Our older two children are more adventurous than our youngest son, and he was feeling quite anxious about the experience.
After waiting and watching the group ahead of us get strapped in and departing, we felt more confident about the safety measures being observed, and excited about the experience ahead.
Tony and our oldest son were the first to go, then our daughter, and last was our youngest son and myself. Once we were strapped in we were on our way, zooming across the river far below at up to 35 km/hr / 22 mph!
I really enjoyed the experience as we headed towards Nami Island, finally coming ashore and our experience at an end. If you have the opportunity I would definitely recommend that you include the zipline in your Nami Island visit!
What to do in Nami Island
Nami Island sits in the middle of the Han River and was formed when the Cheongpyeong Dam was built in 1944. Nami Island is named after General Nami, who is believed to have died in this location during the reign of King Sejo (~1455 – 1468) in the Josean dynasty. His remains have never been found.
Nami Island is quite large, with an area of approximately 114 acres or 462,000 square meters. The island is covered with beautiful chestnut and poplar trees, and many art and recreation activities are available. We only had about 2 hours to explore the island which is not long, but reflects how much we were trying to fit into our day! As a result we walked in a large loop around the island and then back to the ferry port to return to our starting point.
I would have liked to have longer to explore Nami Island (at least 3-4 hours), and perhaps rent a bicycle so that we could have explored further. Below are some photos of some of the quirky things we saw during our walk!
We enjoyed the ferry ride across the river – it definitely gave us a different perspective of the zipline travelling above us!
We then enjoyed a lovely Korean BBQ lunch, where we cooked our own meat over hot embers. Our lunch was delicious and we also had time for a short walk around the area before meeting our driver to head to the Gapyeong Rail Bike, a short drive of 2km / 1.2 mi / 10 minutes.
Gapyeong Rail Bike
Our driver quickly arranged our tickets and showed us where to go at the Gapyeong Rail Park. You have the option of either a 2 seat or 4 seat rail bike. As a family of five we were split up between one of each size.
The experience of a Korean rail bike is unique in the world – you get to ride along a unused section of rail track by pedalling – all seats in each rail bike have pedals so everyone can help. I was relieved to discover that for uphill sections there is an electric booster system – once you have worked out how to start it you can then relax and stop pedalling up the hill – otherwise it would have been very hard work!
We really enjoyed pedalling along the river and seeing the countryside at a slower pace – there were lots of interesting things to see along the way. At the halfway point you unload and have the chance to take a break and buy food or souvenirs at the shop before reloading for the return trip back to the starting point.
I think the Gapyeong Rail Bike was a great option for families to have fun together, and would definitely recommend you include it in your visit to the Gapyeong area. The Gangchon Rail Bike is also located close by so would be another option to consider.
We then loaded up for the 22km / 14 mi / 37 minute drive to The Garden of Morning Calm, the final stop on our big day out.
Garden of Morning Calm Korea
We were fortunate to visit The Garden of Morning Calm in Autumn, just as the foliage was starting to change colour. We had around 1.5 hours to explore the garden before it closed at 5pm, and made the most of our visit.
We started by crossing the suspension bridge, and then headed toward Nymph Valley. We then explored the lovely chapel in the Moonlight Garden, before heading for the Korean Garden, with amazing views over the Sunken Garden along the way. After exploring the teahouse and Pond Garden we walked through the Sunken Garden and the Millenium Juniper before heading back to the entrance to meet our driver.
We really enjoyed our walk through the Garden of Morning Calm and could easily have stayed there for another couple of hours to further explore at leisure.
Our driver met us and we loaded up for the relaxing 89km / 1:45 hour drive to Seoul. Along the way we enjoyed great views of Seoul and the impressively tall Lotte Tower before arriving back at the GS Hotel in Jogno.
Wrap Up
Overall we had a great day out, and the convenience of the private tour option was great for our family. If we had used other transport options to visit we would probably only have been able to do 2-3 of the attractions rather than all five. Having our driver organise our tickets and attraction entry also made the process go very smoothly. We would definitely recommend this option to other visitors to Seoul to have an excellent day out!
Here’s what most people do next – they click on the below link to check out the Klook Nami Island package options to identify which one will best suit them, and then finalise their booking through Klook.
Click here to check out and book your Nami Island Private Tour through Klook
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- The Ultimate Guide to Nami Island Tours
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Join the South Korea Travel Planning Facebook Group
You are also welcome to join our South Korea Travel Planning Facebook Group – it is a great resource to enable you to ask questions about your upcoming trip to South Korea!
Disclaimer: This article contains affiliate links. If you book after clicking on one of these links then we may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
