Busan to Yeosu Expo

From what I've found, there's no direct air from Busan Gimhae airport (Korean Air, Asiana, Air Asia, etc.)


To fly, one must connect to Yeosu from Seoul.  The airport is on the other side of the bay from the Expo.  Takes a short taxi ride to get to the Expo.

There is rail and bus service.

There is the regular 'slow' train that takes about 4.5 hours.  On this train, one must transfer to Yeosu at Suncheon, a nearby town. Pay for the KTX from Suncheon to Yeosu. It's cheaper, too. There are no English instructions when the train needs to change tracks so just be brave and ask.

For high-speed KTX, there is no direct line.  from Busan. However, if you want to travel in style and are feeling adventurous, anyone can take the KTX to Daejon and then transfer down on the newly opened Yeosu line.

I did find that most bus terminals will run service to Yeosu Bus Terminal.  As per usual, most bus station websites aren't set up for online reservations.  One must simply arrive at the station and hope that their are tickets or go directly to the terminal in advance to buy.

Nopo-dong Central Bus Terminal (No online time table, reserve at station):

http://www.bxt.co.kr/

Nopo-dong West Bus Terminal:

http://www.dbterminal.co.kr/main.php

**Note that there are two different terminals for Nopo-dong at the same location.  Can't remember if they are attached, however.

 

Here's a sample schedule departing from Seobu Bus Terminal (Sasang Stn.) (3.5 hours and count on traffic jams there and back.)

http://www.busantr.com/sub04/01.htm?wr_id=18

 

I have no info on ferry service which might be available.

 

If anyone has additional information or has read anything misleading here then feel free to post.

 

Re: Busan to Yeosu Expo

Well I went and came back this week by train.  We boarded in Sasang, but it also seems to be possible from Bujeon and Gupo.   You will need to transfer in Suncheon but that is included when purchasing the ticket.  This second train terminates right at the one of the gates. 

Re: Busan to Yeosu Expo

Can anyone give more details about taking the train? Specific trains, travel time, cost, different seats, hours of operation. I know where the airport monorail is in Sasang, but Bujeon train station is much closer.

Re: Busan to Yeosu Expo

Read that it was quite a nightmare over the major holiday 3-day weekend.

 

Turlbo:  Did you go straight west or have to go up to Daejon and transfer?

I didn't know there was a direct line for the regular 'slow' train.

How long did it take you?

 

I'll update my original post accordingly.

Re: Busan to Yeosu Expo

Well now let me see if I can get this all covered here.  Bujeon Station of course is just one stop away from Somyeon on the subway.  Now if anyone is thinking about a train from Sasang, well that overhead one only takes you out through Gimhae.  The train or railroad station is up the parking lot from where the so called 'light rail' terminates.  Looking on directories in any of the stations there should provide more clarity if needed.

Now we departed from Sasang last Thursday at precisely 6:52am, which I believe is a daily, and there may be another one in the evening, and arrived in Yeosu at 11:27am.  The cost for a one way ticket was 15,300.  Also this involved a transfer in Suncheon, without going all the way to Daejeon which would certainly be out of the way.  On the return I boarded in Yeosu on Friday and left sharply at 16:00 arriving in Sasang at 21:09, the cost of the ticket was 16,000 krw.  Also there is some discount available for Yeosu Expo ticket holders, but you need to have the ticket in your hand and there is something about the purchase having to be made three days in advance of getting the rail ticket.  (Going there it was about ten minutes transferring between the two trains, coming back it was longer, maybe 40 minutes.)

Also just incase anyone wants to know the train back and forth was not crowded, only about half full.  Also it did have clean restrooms.

Re: Busan to Yeosu Expo

Also, you do receive a 30% discount (43,000>31,000) on park entry if you book with Korail 3 days in advance (Can't remember the exact time limit, however.) The park can be seen in 1 day. The 'Big O' show ends around 9:30pm so plan accordingly.

Re: Busan to Yeosu Expo

Well now 'seeing the park in one day' really depends on how much of it you want to see.  Like even with a second day there were still some parts which I had to leave out, perhaps this is do to me having to get on the return train at 1600.  Also since there are several pavillions (about eight) with extra long lines reservations were being taken to lessen how long your wait would be, also this way you can plan on doing other things until your appointed time.  The way I understood it however is that you could only reserve up to two of these per day.  Then there is also an island to which boat tours are being offered.  

Re: Busan to Yeosu Expo

Just some travel tips from personal experience:

Getting to Yeosu isn't easy for solo travelers, especially for foreigners.

Leaving the park after the fireworks and light show become total chaos.

There is very little English at the park to help if you have a problem.  When you go to an info booth, you'll be directed to speak to an English representative by phone.

However, if you book online I believe that the reservation system for the major attractions is in effect - Aquarium, Robot Land, Korea Pavilion, Sky Tower, etc.

See these in the morning as the lines get long in the afternoon.  There may or may not be time to see each national pavilion depending on how quickly you do so but they are all situated in the same area.

Keep in mind that rooms are hard to find if you get stuck at night and miss a train, etc.

The discount tickets work if you book your rail tickets (I'm still thinking 3 days in advance).  I went with a group to get a group discount so this didn't affect me.

Do a day in Yeosu at your own risk coming from Busan as it does help to find a tour group to join that would book a room for you.

If taking a car, realize that parking would be at a minimum.  There are satellite lots with free shuttle buses but even those spaces might not be easily available.

Re: Busan to Yeosu Expo

I just did Expo. Drove from Busan. Very odd that you have to drive through an industral area the size of Manhattan to get there. Thsi complex is huge-and then you go and watch videos from countries about why the ocean is important. I found this quite funny. We went right to the site but there is no parking there. A cop told us to go find a back alley somewhere or park further away and take a shuttle bus.

The line-ups are huge. The one for the aquarium was almost 3 hours long. You used to be bale to book times to see it but I think this ended may 27th. The climate exhibit was a bust. Just one room that is cold and then a video. Most places just showed videos pretaining to why a clean ocean is important. Most for kids.

The pavilions were the only good part for me. Spain had a nice tapas restuarant in theirs-run by the Inter-burgo Hotel in Daegu. Still good. Many of them had food and drinks from their countries so that was cool. Some had line-ups but many did not. If it had a lineup it was because it showed a video. Skip those ones. Not worth it. The oceans are important-I get that already.

We stayed one night but our place was nowhere near the site as there aren't any rooms near by. All in all I am glad I went but if I knew now what I do I could easily skip this. All the major companies here in Korea has a exhibit but do you really need to see why GS Oil is good for Korea? Their video was so stupid I just stretched out for the 5 mintues.

Anyway, everything was in Korean and mostly you are surrounded by old Koreans and kids on school trips. I would say 99% of the people there were Koreans. You see some foreigners-when you go into a country's pavilion but that is about it. No one is silly enough to stand in line for hours to see fish swimming around in a big bowl. FYI, I was told the Busan aquarium is just as good. Good luck.

Re: Busan to Yeosu Expo

Thank god I didnt waste hundreds of dollars and any of my time on this farce.

 

Leave it for the brainwashed sheeple.

Re: Busan to Yeosu Expo

Here's the website in English:  http://eng.expo2012.kr/main.html

Buy the ticket when you get down to the park.  They'll sell you a ticket no matter how crowded it is. 

Most Koreans are going up 1 hour around Jirisan to stay in resorts there.  There's a small bus station in Gurye-gun which I left from to get to Busan.  Gurye-gun bus station also has service to and from the Expo.

If one is feeling adventurous, get a hotel room at Jirisan.  The cooler summer mountain air at night is quite nice.  Taxis would be avaible to take you to your hotel from the bus station.  Just have the name, phone, and address handy for the taxi driver.  The next morning, take a taxi one of the 3 peaks of Jirisan and do some hiking and see the park in afternoon for Day 2.

Suncheon is doable.  Just take the return train back from outside the EXPO 30 min.

There is accomodation info on the website.

I might go by car next time and park at the train station in Suncheon and just take the train down.

For personal cars, since you're already a guest, you might be able to park in the hotel's lot for the day and have the owner call a taxi.

 

 

 

Re: Busan to Yeosu Expo

Paul, I seem to feel the same way, just being hit with the same point going from one pavillion to the next.  Also this seemed to be worsen by the fact that it was just one video after another. 

Perhaps I mentioned this previously I am not sure, but it was very surprsing to me that there was almost no mention of Jacques Cousteau, even in those pavillions of France and Monaco!

Re: Busan to Yeosu Expo

So  what you are saying its not worth going there ? I was kinda of thinking of going

there but  I heard no motel or hotel room near there . I also heard it was expensive and the lines too long . THis  information was given to me by Koreans . Why are so

many people going there >?     

Re: Busan to Yeosu Expo

Robert, the lines are crazy long. And you cant stay near there. The idea of staying near Jirisan and busing in and so on I think will lead to great dissapointment as Expo is not that great. Many Koreans are going but that is about it. I read that attendance is not even close to what they were expecting. I wonder what the organizers were expecting as the location is terrible. When you are reading about advice advising getting rooms in Jirisan and then going that kind of says it all.

Not worth going in my books. I went because the schools are not out yet and it was a cloudy monday. I figured it would be quiet. The line up for the aquarium was still over 2 hours. Just wait to the kids are out of school-CRAZY! And the pavilions were pretty much for children I found. Over all I am glad I went because i picked a good day but no way I would go if it was summer vacation. Just not worth all the headaches and long lines that leads to watching videos.