Transportation in South Korea
Getting there:
South Korea is well connected by the several airline companies and some of the major international carriers. Incheon, the international airport is just 60kms away from the capital. There are eight international airports and seven domestic ones in South Korea. One will find flights to and from China and Japan from Jeju and Busan airports. Those who are planning for a trip from Japan can avail the Tokyo flights as they are known to offer the best deals.
Russians can easily avail the TransMongolian railways at Ulan Ude which will take them to Beijing. Beijing is well connected to Shanghai and from there you can take boats to Incheon. Ferry services are also there from Zarubino, Russia to Sokcho, Korea.
One cannot enter South Korea by land.
Getting around:
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The bus services are awesome in South Korea. They are really fast mode of transport, safe and always on time. The skilled drivers can make their way through the heavy city traffic. Unfortunately, the buses in South Korea are known to violate traffic rules quite often and it is difficult to get a seat during the rush hour. You can avail two types of bus services, intercity and express. The former have unreserved seats and halt at scheduled stops whereas the latter have reserved seats with no stop in between. The drivers do not speak English fluently and neither the stops are named in English.
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Taxi services are also of two types, deluxe and regular. You will get drivers speaking English in deluxe taxis and they are definitely more comfortable than the regular ones. If you have opted for a regular taxi, ask someone to write the destination in Korean for you to show it to the driver.
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Subways are regarded to be the most convenient and fastest mode of transportation in South Korea. They offer stops in bus terminals, major rail stations and popular zones. The journey is pretty safe. The stop names are written both in English and Korean although the announcements are done in Korean only.
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Korea is known for its extensive rail network. The local trains are always on time, safe and pretty affordable. There is no smoking compartment and the station signs and names are written both in English and Korean for the convenience of the commuters. The KTX or bullet train runs at the speed of 300 kms /hr across the length of the country. These are environment friendly trains and are thus bit expensive but with them, you can reach anywhere in South Korea within 3 hours.
