Nami Island

Petite France

Chuncheon Dakgalbi street, Soyang Lake and more….

Have you been to these places? Or do you want to visit them? They are all popular travel spots near Seoul. Many Koreans and foreigners visit these sites to see the filming locations from famous Korean dramas and movies. If you plan to visit these places in the near future, don’t forget to book your ITX tickets there. You can go to these places by subway, but you will save much more time if you take the ITX train.

The ITX train is a high-speed train similar to the KTX, Korea Train eXpress. ITX runs over 180 km/h from Yongsan to Chuncheon.

ITX has some new features compared to KTX. ITX is a bi-level or double-decker rail car. This train is quite similar to ones in European countries these days. But it’s the first time to operate a bilevel train in Korea. Many Koreans book the second floor of this train to experience a new train car since its first operation on Feb 28, 2012.  

The official name is ITX Cheongchun. Koreans think that this name is brilliant because of the meaning of the name. The word Cheongchun was created from the destination station, Chuncheon and departure station, Cheongnyangni. It means the youth.

When you arrive in Yongsan or Cheongnyangni, you can find the exit for ITX ticket holders. Please follow the ITX signs and you will be able to find the ITX train.

Normally ITX has 6 or 7 train cars, please make sure that you get on your reserved car and find the seat on your ticket. When you take the ITX train, you will see these seats. The seat is similar to what you see on the KTX. Soon, you will notice that the seat on the ITX has more space than the KTX if you have taken the KTX before.

One good thing about taking the ITX is that you can bring your bicycle with you! If you like bicycle riding, bring your bike with you and enjoy riding it in Gapyeong or other cities. 

If you book a second floor seat, you will need to climb these steps to the second floor.
The ITX has second floor seats in cars 4 and 5 only. Please check your car number.
Watch your step when you go upstairs, especially when you are with children. 

If you go up, you will see the second floor seats. The seats are same as ones on the first floor. 

To book your ITX train tickets, use Korail smart phone application or visit Korail website at http://korail.com 

How to book your ITX train ticket on Korail website.

1. Visit Korail website and click ‘Book Online’

2. Choose departure and destination stations. You can choose Yongsan or Cheongnyangni for departure station. Don’t forget to choose ‘ITX-Cheongchun’ in train section.

* Destination stations by your final destination:
Cheongpyeong- Petite France,The Garden of Morning Calm
Gapyeong -  Nami Island, Jara Island
Chuncheon – Chuncheon Dakgalbi Street, central area of Chuncheon city, Soyang Lake

3. Check the Departure and Arrival time and click ‘Select’ button. Click Fare button if you want to check the fare for your trip.

Staff writer,
Hyeon Lim

If you like mountain climbing, Korean mountains will be wonderful challenges. Most mountains are not too high, easy to climb, and there are many cultural & historical places in the mountains such as Buddhist temples, sites of Three Kingdom period. As Korea has four distinct seasons, each season has very different attractions to see.

Seollal and Chuseok are the two biggest holidays in Korea. Koreans celebrate Seollal which is Lunar New Year? Day than New Year? Day (January 1st). Most Koreans go to their hometowns to see their family in Seollal and Chuseok. This is why a bunch of cars are stuck in traffic on every highway just like a parking lot especially during those holidays. Here are major holidays in Korea. When you plan to visit Korea, check the holidays first!

Transportations available in Korea are airplane, train, bus (long distance express bus, intercity bus, city bus), ferry boat, subway, taxi, and car rental. Because of many people on the go, booking tickets in advance is highly recommended for weekend travel, especially train tickets. It will also be wise to not plan to travel too far during Seollal(Lunar New Year Day) and Chuseok(Thanksgiving Day), for most Koreans will be on the roads or the railway going to visit their hometowns.