The Han River Ferry is so popular and familiar but somehow locals don’t really experience it very often. But turned out to be a special course with no regrets so I leave my memory from the last April.
One of the top travel attractions in Seoul
One day evening, I headed to Yeouido after work to have dinner with my husband. We usually have dinner out on Tuesday just for little refreshing, and it was the day as it has been. After dinner, while walking Han River Park by Yeouido district, we reached Ferry Cruise at some point. Then he wrote a sort of boarding arrangement paper and bought tickets!
Since the weather was wonderful with a nice spring evening breeze, it was so good to take board the Ferry in Han River. I was excited thinking of this little surprising event! I appreciate a sort of romance in him who creates such a small but special thing as we hadn’t arranged the ferry boarding in Han River. Besides, Yeouido Han River is actually close to us, so we’ve been for a lot of walks. But none of us have ridden this before.
I love a beautiful night scene in Yeouido seen by Han River waterside park. Those two buildings with red straight lines became the signature of the finance district. (BTW, what’s wrong with my iPhone camera lens..? so blurred…?..at this moment..?)
Han River Ferry Terminal near Yeouinaru Station (Line 5)
There provides different Cruise services depending on the time. What we took was Starlight Cruise. The below is Cruise fare when it comes to on-site ticketing in order of Adult / Child (won). Children younger than 36 months old are free of charge.
- Story Cruise: Daytime (Feed seagulls on the cruise) 16,900 | 11,900
- Sunset Cruise : Evening (Banpo Rainbow Fountain show/Apr~Oct) 21,900 | 14,900
- Moonlight Music Cruise : (Nightscape with live music show) 29,900 | 20,900
- Starlight Cruise : (Nightscape with live music show) 25,900 | 17,900
*TIP: There are some online ticket services that foreigners can get discounts by reservation. Please drop by the website where I put the link ‘Trazy’ on top of this page.
This is the floating marina for the ferry. Because it is operated by a domestic company named ‘E-land’, the name of the ferry is ‘E-land Cruise’, and run the buffet-styled restaurant ‘Ashley’ in this marina under the same company. Here is the waiting space for boarding which has a convenience store, restaurant, and toilet, so on. After a few minutes, it’s time to take on!
Boarding with a lovely welcome sign
Now here we are on board! The staffs who checked tickets and prepared the boarding by connecting the ferry and terminal were professional in watching all passengers’ safe. Also, they were very friendly of course.
After on board, the first thing that welcomed us was the neon letters ‘아름답지 아니한강’ which means ‘Isn’t it beautiful? I loved the language play having adapted to this. This means, ‘한강’ of 아름답지 아니’한강’ represents the Korean letter for Han River, so it goes to saying like ‘Isn’t Han River’ beautiful’!
Time on the ferry about 1 hour passed quickly
Also, there is a buffet lounge and a small live music zone inside the ferry. 30 minutes after departure, one live music duo appeared and sang a romantic song for passengers. But we jumped to the dock after departing as enjoying the night view was more precious to us.
The boarding time is about 50~60 minutes and most people spent time on the deck or on both sides of the ferry. After the departure of 20 minutes, the National Assembly building appears in the distance. Then the ferry heads west for about 30 minutes beyond the vicinity of Hongdae/Hapjeong. To be honest, it’s a bit cold to face the winds in the middle of April, but the first time I’m on a ferry, I quickly forgot the cold. I had to..!
Beautiful night lights of Yeouido… or a testimonial of overtime workers?
Yes, it’s a beautiful nightscape of the business district. But on the other hand, we talked about does the pretty office lights represent the fact that people are overworking. Well, depends on the company.
For my previous company turn the light on until midnight regardless of whether employees remained or not. But his company tends to turn off the light on the section’s situation. Hmm… Didn’t mean to talk about work, but maybe it’s proof that I’m an office worker…
Arrival…and the cherry blossoms at Yeouido Han River
Then we reached again to Han River waterfront park and there were so many young people (including us haha) gathering for a night picnic. I had a feeling that the Pandemic was almost going over. Good sign? Many groups of people return the tent or table mats that they rented. Around 9:30 PM, people are moving out and most of the stalls in the park seem to close.
When reaching the Yeouinaru subway station, there are several big cherry blossom trees that greet visitors with a bunch of pink flowers. As it was early April, and just arriving the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. I couldn’t resist stopping by.
Besides, these cherry blossoms ended our evening beautifully!
- Address: 290 Yeouidong-ro, Yeoeuido-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul (서울특별시 영등포구 여의도동 여의동로 290)
- Other Terminal: Jamsil Han River Ferry Terminal near Jamsil Saenae Station (Line 2)
- Website: Trazy (Foreigner discount reservation available), Visitkorea
Recommended places to visit before or after boarding the ferry…:
Rooftop Bars in Yeouido Seoul | VVERTIGO & MARIPOSA
Yeouido is an island located between the mainstream of Han River, opposite Mount Namsan or Seoul station for a little West ahead. The place is traditionally reputable as the representative business district in Seoul particularly in financial. You might wonder if this district is worth visiting from my above words, but I am pretty sure that yes, it does. Because there has a beautiful bar in Seoul Yeouido…
