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Chuncheon · Where to stay

Where to stay in Chuncheon

춘천 숙소 지역

Chuncheon is a lake city at the end of the ITX-Cheongchun from Seoul, and the home of dakgalbi. You have two bases: downtown, between Myeongdong and Chuncheon Station, for the dakgalbi alley, the covered market and the Soyanggang Skywalk; or the Uiamho side, for the Samaksan lake cable car and LEGOLAND Korea Resort. Here is the quick answer for each trip, then everything behind it.

Uiamho Lake and the mountains around it, seen from the lake skywalk, Chuncheon
Uiamho Lake and the mountains around it, seen from the lake skywalk, Chuncheon. Photo: Sadopaul · CC BY 4.0. Photo credits

Quick pick

Quick pick by trip type
Your tripStay inWhy
First visitMyeongdong & Chuncheon StationMyeongdong Street, the dakgalbi alley and the 1960 Jungang Market, with Chuncheon Station's trains to Seoul.
Travelling without a carMyeongdong & Chuncheon StationThe ITX-Cheongchun and the Gyeongchun Line end at Chuncheon Station, and the free LEGOLAND shuttle leaves from Exit 1.
Dakgalbi and makguksuMyeongdong & Chuncheon StationVisitKorea calls Chuncheon the birthplace of dakgalbi, and Myeongdong Dakgalbi Street is a 150-metre alley of dakgalbi restaurants.
Rainy daysMyeongdong & Chuncheon StationJungang Market is a covered arcade for any weather, and Chuncheon National Museum closes only on Mondays, 1 January, Seollal and Chuseok.
Families and LEGOLANDUiamho Lake & SamaksanLEGOLAND Korea Resort, open since 5 May 2022 on Jungdo island by Uiamho Lake, with around 40 rides and attractions (VisitKorea).
Lake viewsUiamho Lake & SamaksanThe 3.61 km Samaksan Lake Cable Car, the longest in Korea in VisitKorea's words, and the glass-floored Uiamho Lake Skywalk.
Literary village and rail bikesUiamho Lake & SamaksanKim You Jeong Literary Village and Gangchon Rail Park lie south of the city, on VisitKorea's 16 km course with the lake cable car.
Soyang Lake and CheongpyeongsaMyeongdong & Chuncheon StationA half-day trip from Chuncheon Station: Soyang Dam, the boat to a thousand-year-old temple and the Makguksu Museum.
A day on Nami IslandMyeongdong & Chuncheon StationGapyeong Station, 1.5 km from Nami's ferry wharf, is about 18 minutes from Chuncheon Station by ITX-Cheongchun (LEGOLAND).

Why stay the night in Chuncheon

Chuncheon is a city of water. VisitKorea writes that it is surrounded by the Uiamho, Chuncheonho and Soyangho lakes and is widely known as the Lake City, and its 2024 guide calls it the City of Water. Soyangho was created when Soyang Dam was built in 1973. Gongjicheon Stream joins the Bukhangang River in the middle of the city, the Soyanggang Skywalk runs out on 156 metres of glass floor, and the Samaksan Lake Cable Car crosses Uiamho Lake to Samaksan Mountain.

It is also the home of two dishes. VisitKorea's 2025 food guide calls Chuncheon the birthplace and the epicentre of dakgalbi, and VisitKorea calls makguksu, buckwheat noodles, Chuncheon's local dish. The city has a museum for the noodles and a festival for both, and a 150-metre alley downtown that is lined with dakgalbi restaurants on both sides.

Give it a night. VisitKorea's 2024 guide to Chuncheon says half a day is not enough to see the city and recommends staying over. Two nights is the best shape for most trips: one downtown for the dakgalbi alley, the covered market and the river, and one on the Uiamho side for the cable car, the lake and LEGOLAND.

The evening view is part of the reason to stay. The Soyanggang Skywalk ends in an observatory that VisitKorea says is known for panoramic views, especially of the sunsets, and it stays open until 21:00 from March to October. Beside it, the 12-metre Soyang River Maiden statue, for the song Soyanggang Cheonyeo, is open 24 hours. On the lake, the Samaksan Lake Cable Car runs until 20:00 from June to November, and 21:00 on Saturdays.

The two bases compared

Our rule: stay downtown, between Myeongdong and Chuncheon Station, for a first visit, a trip without a car, dakgalbi and the river; stay on the Uiamho side for LEGOLAND, the lake cable car and the south of the city.

Myeongdong and Chuncheon Station is the all-round base. Myeongdong Street, named after Seoul's Myeong-dong, is the city's main thoroughfare in VisitKorea's words, and it leads into Myeongdong Dakgalbi Street and Jungang Market, the covered arcade established in 1960 that VisitKorea also lists as the Romantic Market. VisitKorea's 2019 Korean guide puts the Soyang River Maiden statue and the Soyanggang Skywalk about 1.2 km, or 20 minutes on foot, from Chuncheon Station. Gongjicheon Stream and its sculpture park sit by the main gate of Kangwon National University, and Chuncheon National Museum covers Gangwon's history from prehistoric times. The station itself is the end of the ITX-Cheongchun and the Gyeongchun Line and the start of the free LEGOLAND shuttle.

Uiamho Lake and Samaksan is the stay for the water. The Samaksan Lake Cable Car crosses Uiamho Lake from Samcheon-dong on a 3.61 km line, which VisitKorea calls the longest cable car in Korea; the Uiamho Lake Skywalk is set along the lakeside trail on a floor of transparent glass; and VisitKorea's 2024 Hallyu guide lists guided canoeing on the Bukhangang River at Songam-dong. LEGOLAND Korea Resort is on Jungdo island, which VisitKorea's 2026 guide places by Uiamho Lake. The trade-off is the evening: the dakgalbi alley and the market are downtown, and away from the LEGOLAND shuttle you will be using taxis.

Getting to Chuncheon

From Seoul, take the ITX-Cheongchun. VisitKorea describes it as a train with a maximum speed of 180 km/h that runs from Yongsan Station to Chuncheon, and LEGOLAND's FAQ names Cheongnyangni as the other Seoul boarding station. LEGOLAND's directions page gives about 1 hour 13 minutes from Yongsan to Chuncheon Station, and its FAQ about 1 hour 15 minutes. Korail calls the ITX-Cheongchun Korea's only double-decker train, with cars 4 and 5 on two levels.

The Gyeongchun Line is the slower, simpler option. VisitKorea calls Chuncheon the only city in Gangwon that can be reached by subway from Seoul, and its 2019 Korean guide gives about 1 hour 25 minutes from Sangbong to Chuncheon Station, with weekend trains every 35 minutes. Both lines end at Chuncheon Station.

By bus, VisitKorea's bus guide lists Chuncheon among the routes from Seoul Express Bus Terminal (Express Bus Terminal Station, Lines 3, 7 and 9) and from Dong Seoul Terminal (Gangbyeon Station, Line 2). LEGOLAND's FAQ gives about 1 hour 30 minutes from Seoul Express Bus Terminal to Chuncheon Express Bus Terminal; VisitKorea's 2019 Korean guide gave 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 40 minutes from Dong Seoul.

From Incheon Airport, VisitKorea's airport guide lists express buses to Gangwon State, and the AREX runs from the airport to Seoul Station. The rail route is the AREX to Seoul Station, a change across the city to Yongsan or Cheongnyangni, and the ITX-Cheongchun to Chuncheon Station.

By car, LEGOLAND places the park within a two-hour drive of the Greater Seoul area, on the Gyeongchun Expressway (Seoul–Yangyang Expressway), with exits at Chuncheon IC and Gangchon IC.

Getting around: the station, the shuttle and taxis

Chuncheon Station is the hub. Both rail lines from Seoul end there, and LEGOLAND's free shuttle leaves from Exit 1 to the park entrance every hour. On days the park opens 10:00–17:00, the shuttle runs from the station 09:30–16:30 and back 10:00–18:00; on 10:00–18:00 days, 09:30–17:30 and back 10:00–19:00. It does not run on days the park is closed. Drivers park at LEGOLAND's car park, where a free shuttle runs to the main entrance every 15 minutes. From Chuncheon Express Bus Terminal, LEGOLAND advises a bus on to Chuncheon Station.

Downtown, the walk from Chuncheon Station to the Soyang River Maiden statue and the Soyanggang Skywalk is about 1.2 km, or 20 minutes, by VisitKorea's 2019 Korean guide. For the rest, taxis are quick: VisitKorea's 2016 Korean guide gives about four minutes from Chuncheon Station to Gongjicheon Stream and about 13 minutes to the Uiamho Lake Skywalk.

Gangwon's Tourist Taxi for Foreigners covers Chuncheon, Gangneung and Sokcho. VisitKorea's 2024 guide says you book it through the Chuncheon Tourist Information Center (+82-33-250-3896) or en.gangwontaxi.com, for up to four passengers, with your passport. VisitKorea's 2024 Hallyu guide recommends it for Gubongsan Café Street, east of the centre, where it says public transport is difficult.

Dakgalbi and makguksu

VisitKorea's 2025 food guide tells the story. Dakgalbi was first called dakbulgogi, and it began in 1970, when a pork-rib restaurant in Chuncheon switched to chicken during a pork shortage. The first versions were grilled over charcoal; gas stoves later made the iron plate practical, and today the two styles, iron-plate cheolpan and charcoal sutbul, coexist.

The same guide names three dakgalbi areas: Myeongdong Dakgalbi Street, the Namchuncheon Station intersection and the commercial area near Soyang Dam. Myeongdong Dakgalbi Street is the one to stay beside, a 150-metre alley packed with dakgalbi restaurants on both sides that grew up in the 1970s and 1980s, VisitKorea says, and a filming location for Infinite Challenge. For charcoal-grilled dakgalbi, VisitKorea's 2024 guide points north to Sinbuk-eup.

Makguksu, buckwheat noodles, is Chuncheon's local dish in VisitKorea's words, and the Chuncheon Makguksu Museum is built around it, at 264 Sinbuk-ro in Sinbuk-eup. The exhibition hall is on the first floor and the hands-on noodle making on the second. The museum is open 10:00–17:00, with programmes 10:00–16:30, and closes on Mondays, Seollal and Chuseok.

Soyang Lake and Cheongpyeongsa: a half-day trip

North of the city, in Sinbuk-eup, Soyang Dam was built in October 1973, and its water forms Soyangho Lake. VisitKorea lists the dam as open 24 hours, and says boats from the lake run to Cheongpyeongsa Temple as well as around the lake. VisitKorea's travel course describes Cheongpyeongsa as a temple that can be reached by ship from a port near Soyanggang Dam.

Cheongpyeongsa was originally established as Baegamseonwon Temple in 973, VisitKorea says: a Buddhist temple with a thousand years of tradition on Obongsan Mountain in Buksan-myeon, open all year. A Goryeo scholar, Yi Ja-hyeon, built a garden here, and its Goryeo-era pond keeps its original form. By car, VisitKorea's accessible-travel page, updated in September 2026, puts the temple about 2 km from its car park, with stairs on site. VisitKorea's Korean guide counts Cheongpyeongsa Valley, in Buksan-myeon, with the temple among Chuncheon's signature destinations.

Run it from downtown. VisitKorea's 2016 Korean guide listed city buses from Chuncheon Station to the dam. Go in the morning, take the boat across, walk up to the temple, and come back by way of the Makguksu Museum, also in Sinbuk-eup, on any day but Monday; finish with charcoal dakgalbi in Sinbuk-eup before heading back to the station.

South of the city: Kim You Jeong and Gangchon

VisitKorea's Chuncheon course runs about 16 km and takes in Jade Garden, Gangchon Rail Park, Kim You Jeong Literary Village and the Samaksan Lake Cable Car. Gangchon Rail Park is a rail-bike ride along the river, and Jade Garden is, in VisitKorea's words, a harmony of Korean hills and a European-theme garden.

The Literary Village of Kim You Jeong stands on the site of the writer's birth home, at 1430-14 Gimyujeong-ro in Sindong-myeon. It is open 09:30–18:00 in summer and 09:30–17:30 in winter, and closes on Mondays, 1 January, Seollal and Chuseok. Nearby Gangchon, in Namsan-myeon, stretches along the Bukhangang River and the Gangchoncheon Stream, with Gugok Falls, Deungseon Falls and Samaksan close by, VisitKorea says; Gangchon Station was moved when the double-track Gyeongchun Line opened in 2010.

Treat it as a day out from either base; the lake cable car on the course is the Uiamho side's own sight, so a night by the lake pairs well with it.

Festivals: what ran in 2026

Two festivals shape Chuncheon's calendar, and both have run for 2026. Book early if your dates fall in either week.

Every Chuncheon area guide

Questions visitors ask

Where should I stay in Chuncheon for a first visit?

Downtown, between Myeongdong and Chuncheon Station. Myeongdong Street leads into the 150-metre dakgalbi alley and the covered Jungang Market, the Soyang River Maiden statue, beside the Soyanggang Skywalk, is about 20 minutes' walk from the station by VisitKorea's 2019 Korean guide, and Chuncheon Station has the ITX-Cheongchun and the Gyeongchun Line to Seoul and the free LEGOLAND shuttle from Exit 1.

How do I get from Seoul to Chuncheon?

By ITX-Cheongchun from Yongsan or Cheongnyangni to Chuncheon Station: LEGOLAND's pages give about 1 hour 13 to 15 minutes from Yongsan. The Gyeongchun Line takes about 1 hour 25 minutes from Sangbong by VisitKorea's 2019 figure, and express buses from Seoul Express Bus Terminal take about 1 hour 30 minutes to Chuncheon Express Bus Terminal, LEGOLAND says.

Is Nami Island in Chuncheon, and how do I get there?

Yes. Its address is 1 Namiseom-gil, Namsan-myeon, Chuncheon, and its official site says the island officially belongs to Chuncheon. You reach it by ferry from Gapyeong Wharf, 1.5 km from Gapyeong Station, a 20-minute walk or 5 minutes by taxi. The crossing takes about 5 minutes, the official ferry schedule says. Gapyeong Station is about 18 minutes from Chuncheon Station by ITX-Cheongchun, LEGOLAND says. VisitKorea calls Nami the largest private garden in Korea.

Where should I stay for LEGOLAND Korea Resort?

On the Uiamho side if the lake and the cable car are part of the plan, or downtown by Chuncheon Station if you are travelling by train: LEGOLAND's free shuttle leaves Exit 1 every hour from 09:30. The park officially opened on 5 May 2022 on Jungdo island, which VisitKorea's 2026 guide places by Uiamho Lake.

Is Chuncheon worth an overnight stay?

Yes. VisitKorea's 2024 guide says half a day is not enough to see Chuncheon and recommends staying over. One night covers the dakgalbi alley, the market and the Soyanggang Skywalk at sunset; a second adds the Samaksan Lake Cable Car, LEGOLAND, or the half-day trip to Soyang Dam and Cheongpyeongsa.

When are Chuncheon's festivals?

The Chuncheon Mime Festival is held every year during the last week of May, VisitKorea says; in 2026 it ran from 24 to 31 May. The Chuncheon Makguksu & Dakgalbi Festival ran from 14 to 18 October in 2026, on the streamside between Hyojagyo and Gongjigyo bridges. The 2027 dates had not been published at the end of October 2026.

Sources & review

Editorial review: · Korea Standard Time