Getting Out of Boseong: By Bus
So even though it has been six months, I am still slowly finding my way around Boseong and figuring out ways to get around to different cities. For anyone that lives or has lived in Boseong, South Korea, then you might know how difficult it is to find travel schedules for the area. Since the town is so small and rural, there is no elaborate transportation system (what the heck is a subway?). There is only one bus station and one train station and neither are fancy and exciting to look at. But they get the job done travel wise, so that’s all that really matters.
I have never taken the train here in Korea (the train here in Boseong is extremely slow and it’s quicker to take the bus anyway) so this post will be focused on getting around on the bus. Schedules are usually posted at the actual bus stops and they are all in Korean. It’s quite hard finding information online because that too will be in Korean and if by chance the website is in English, all the stops and destinations tend to not be listed for some reason. So after jumping back and forth between three different websites that have English available, and comparing them to the times listed at my local bus station, I present to you: Getting Out Of Boseong (By Bus)!
From Boseong to Gwangju
If you happen to be living in South Jeolla, the major city of this province is Gwangju which is Korea’s sixth largest city. From Boseong to Gwangju, the travel time is about an hour if traveling direct. With more stops, plan on adding an extra half hour to the travel time. I want to warn anyone taking the bus from Boseong for the first time. Even if you by a ‘direct’ ticket, there will still be about two other stops: Sotae Station and Hakdong. These are smaller stations and the bus just stops on the side of the street, let’s people on or off, then you’re on your way. I don’t know why this is still considered ‘direct’ but just keep this in mind. The other option listed as ‘straight’ has two extra stops. From Boseong it makes the following stops: Boknae, Hwasun, Sotae, Hakdong, then arrives at Gwangju.
I made the mistake of taking one of the ‘straight’ buses into the city and ended up being late for an appointment. I thought ‘straight’ was another way of saying ‘direct’ but it isn’t. Pricing for bus tickets to Gwangju range from 7,100 won to 8,500 won. To make sure you are getting on the correct bus, look for the little white paper sign that will be on the bottom left side of the front windshield. It will say where the bus going (in Korean). If there is no paper sign, then there should be an electrical sign at the top of the windshield that has it’s destinations scroll across. But of course, you could always just ask the bus driver.
From Gwangju to Boseong
To get back to Boseong, there are a multitude of buses that leave the city and head back to Boseong with the very last bus leaving at 8:45pm. So if you want to party it up in the city until late at night or the wee hours of the morning, you’re gonna have to get a hotel or something. All buses back to Boseong have stops before the final destination and prices are the same as listed above.
From Boseong to Suncheon
Suncheon is another area that is close by that has a bit more than Boseong. Boseong doesn’t have a mall, a movie theater, an E-Mart or anything of that nature. So taking a day trip to another city/town is a must every now and then. Suncheon is one of those places. Suncheon happens to have shopping outlets and is pretty famous for filming locations for movies. Which movies? Idk. This post is about bus schedules, so here ya go!
Buses to Suncheon make three stops before arriving at Suncheon bus terminal: Yedang, Josung, and Beolgyo. The only bus that is a direct/nonstop bus is the 5:45pm bus. Tickets to Suncheon are a little cheaper than to Gwangju and range between 6,000 won and 7,000 won.
From Suncheon to Boseong (via Gwangju)
Now getting back to Boseong from Suncheon can be a bit complicated. There is a direct bus to Boseong from Suncheon but there are no times listed online. It it listed as an “on the fly operation” which means…I don’t really know. Your best bet is to transfer between the different stations. Although Gwangju is out of the way when trying to get to Boseong from Suncheon, it is the easiest and gives you most options of buses to take. Estimated travel time from Suncheon to Gwangju is 1 hour and 10 minutes.
Even though there are more bus times from Suncheon to Gwangju, please keep in mind that if you are trying to get back to Boseong, the last bus from Gwangju to Boseong leaves at 8:45pm. Prices for tickets are between 7,000 won and 9,100 won.
From Boseong to Yeosu
In my opinion, Yeosu is a city. I don’t consider it “the countryside” at all. It is a city with lots to do and many different things to see. It’s not as big and bustling as Gwangju but it is still big and lively. I was in Yeosu for a week for my orientation when I first came to Korea, and although some parts can seem pretty country, all you have to do is walk a few blocks and turn a couple corners and bam! Civilization. The same cannot be said about Boseong. Yeosu also actually has a city city with bright lights and high rise buildings and cable cars, and huge bridges that cross large expanses of water, and much more. Here’s how to get there.
Getting to Yeosu will take a long time because there are many stops before finally arriving in Yeosu. The estimated travel time is 170 minutes. if you don’t want to do the math, that’s 2 hours and 50 minutes. Since the trip is longer, the prices is a littler higher (between 10,000 and 11,000 won) and the bus makes seven stops before arriving in Yeosu. The stops are: Yedang, Josung, Beolgyo, Suncheon, Deokyang, Seokchang, Yeochun, and then finally Yeosu. To my knowledge and with what I could find in my research, there is no direct bus to Yeosu.
From Yeosu to Boseong
There are no direct buses from Yeosu to Boseong, All the buses make between five and seven stops before reaching Boseong and ticket prices are 10,300 won.
From Boseong to Busan
Unfortunately, I haven’t been to Busan yet but it is top on my list! I would like to go once the weather warms up. Traveling is great and all but when it’s cold, I become a hermit and don’t feel like doing anything besides stay in my apartment all day. So I can’t say much of anything about Busan but it’s a popular city here in Korea and you will find plenty of info about it on the internet. Just like with Yeosu, there are not many buses to Busan but there are enough to get you there at different times of day.
In my research, there are no direct buses to Busan. All buses make multiple stops, but at least you will not have to make any transfers. The stops before arriving in Busan are as follows: Yedang, Josung, Beolgyo, Suncheon, Gwanyang, Donggwangyang, and then Busan. Tickets can cost anywhere from 18,700 won to 28,000 won. estimated travel time is around 4 and half hours.
From Busan to Boseong
Now, there are three bus stations/terminals in Busan. In order to get back to Boseong or just the Jeollanamdo province in general, you have to leave from the Seobu Intercity Bus Terminal which is also known as Sasang Station (metro Line 2). This is the station with connections to the Jeolla-do area. Once again, there are no direct buses and all the stops before arriving in Boseong are the same as before, just in reverse. There are less buses that get you to Jeolla-do than there are that get you to Busan. So, day trips to Busan and back aren’t very practical. Prices are the same as listed above.
From Boseong to Seoul (Central City)
Being that Seoul is the capital and the largest city of South Korea, it’s pretty natural that people might want to visit. But Seoul and Boseong are practically on opposite ends of the country and traveling by bus can take anywhere from 4 and a half to 6 hours depending on if you have a direct bus or need to make transfers, so day trips to Seoul and back are just…not a thing. I also want to mention that on weekdays there is only one bus to Seoul and that is the Seoul Express that leaves early in the morning.
If you want to head to Seoul but do not want to take the early express bus, you will need to make your way to Gwangju then buy a bus ticket from there to Seoul. You can purchase tickets at the self-serve kiosks or you can approach the ticket counter and speak to an actual person. See prices listed below for the express bus.
On the weekends, there are two express buses from Boseong to Seoul. One at 8:20 am and the second one at 3:20pm. Once again, please see prices listed below.
Trying to get tickets to Seoul seem to be the most difficult as they are frequently sold out online and none ever seem to be available when buying onsite from the kiosk at the Boseong bus terminal. Because of this, I only have experience getting to Seoul/Incheon through bus transfer. But it’s easy! All you need is a direct ticket to Gwangju (7,100 won) and then buy a direct ticket to Seoul from there (25,000 to 38,000 won). It might cost a few more dollars than the express bus, but it’s an option.
In order to get back to Boseong from Seoul, just do the opposite. Leave from Seoul Central station to Gwangju (17,000 won to 32,000 won) or the Anyang Station to Gwangju (18,000 to 27,000 won). From Gwangju, take a direct bus back to Boseong.
The End!
So there you have it! These are some of the many ways one can make their way out of Boseong and explore other parts of Korea. I wanted to make this post because there isn’t much information about Boseong and if there is, it’s either from years ago or just written in Korean; plus, the sights are hard to navigate. I know this post was lengthy but I hope it was helpful. As long as I am in Boseong, I will try my best to keep this post updated.
Last updated: February 9, 2019
Sites used:
- Rome 2 Rio – https://www.rome2rio.com/
- Integrated Express Bus – https://www.kobus.co.kr/main.do
- Bustago (Association of Korea Bus Trasport Companies – https://www.bustago.or.kr/newweb/en/index.do