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Africa
Middle East
Asia
America
Australasia
London
to China & Japan by
Trans-Siberian Railway
or silk route
London to India
overland
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without flying
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& overseas Railpasses
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On this page:
How to travel from Europe to South Korea by
Trans-Siberian Railway
How to travel by ferry from China to South
Korea - Beijing to Seoul via Tianjin or Qingdao
How to travel by ferry from Japan to South
Korea - The 'Beetle' ferry from Hakata to Seoul
How to travel by train within South
Korea - including KTX high-speed trains between Seoul &
Pusan (Busan)
On other pages: Train & ferry
travel to North Korea -
trains from Beijing & Moscow to Pyongyang |
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It's
possible to travel from London to South Korea overland using
the Trans-Siberian Railway, via either Vladivostok and Japan
then a ferry from Hakata to Pusan in Korea, or via Beijing,
train to Tianjin then a ferry from Tianjin to Incheon in
Korea. The journey will take a bout 14 days. See
the Trans-Siberian page for
details of the London - Japan or London - China journey,
then see the China-Korea or Japan-Korea sections below.
There are several ferry services
from China to South Korea, including one from Tianjin to
Incheon twice a week, and one from Qingdao.
Beijing - Seoul via Tianjin
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Air-conditioned trains link
Beijing and Tianjin every hour or so. The journey time
1 hour 15 minutes for the137km.
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Ships sail Tianjin to Incheon
twice a week, taking 25 hours - for sailing dates and times,
see
www.chinahotel.co.kr/ct/ferry3_english.html.
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Trains link Incheon and Seoul
frequently, 39km, journey time 58 minutes.
Beijing to Seoul via Qingdao
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An overnight train (number T25)
leaves Beijing at 22:10 and arrives Qingdao at 07:57. The
train has soft & hard class sleepers.
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The ship sails from Qingdao at
16:00 on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays, arriving Incheon at
10:00 next day. The one-way fare for the most basic berth is
about 110,000 won or 750 RMB. The operator is Weidong
Ferry - see
www.weidong.com for sailing dates and fares.
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Trains link Incheon and Seoul
frequently, 39km, journey time 58 minutes.
Seoul to Beijing via Qingdao
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Trains link Seoul & Incheon
frequently, 39km, journey time 58 minutes.
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The ship sails from Incheon at
17:00 on Tuesdays, Thursdays & Saturdays arriving Qingdao at
09:00 next day. The one-way fare for the most basic
berth is about 110,000 won or 750 RMB. The operator is
Weidong Ferry,
www.weidong.com for sailing dates and fares.
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An overnight train (number 2540)
leaves Qingdao at 21:12 arriving Beijing at 10:21.
There are several ferry services
between Japan and South Korea. The suggested options
are:
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Japan Kyushu Railway 'Beetle' service from Fukuoka
(Hakata) to Pusan. The 'Beetle' is a fast jetfoil, taking just 2 hours
55 minutes and
running 4-5 times a day. It's also one of the few ferry
companies with a website in English,
www.jrbeetle.co.jp. The fare is about 13,000 Yen
(£67) one way, from 24,000 Yen (£125) return.
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Kampu Ferry Service from Shimonoseki (international
port terminal) to Pusan. These are conventional
ferries with cabins, sailing overnight and departing daily
at 18:00 arriving 08:30 next morning. Fares around
9,000 Yen 2nd class (with tatami mat sleeping place), 12,000
Yen (£70) 1st class (with bed in a western-style or
Japanese-style cabin with shower & toilet), deluxe cabins
and suites also available. It's 10% cheaper to buy a
return ticket, but still reportedly cheaper to buy another
one-way ticket back when you get to Korea. Website
www.kampuferry.co.jp, but
Google language tools can help you translate it.
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Camellia Line Hakata to Pusan by conventional ferry,
www.koreaferry.co.kr (only in Korean). Sails
overnight (22:00-06:00) in one direction, by day
(12:30-18:00) in the other. One-way fares from 80,000
Won, or from 1000,000 Won with cabin berth.
Inclusive train+ferry tickets between Japan & Korea:
Japan Railways offer inclusive train+ferry fares from Tokyo,
Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, Nagasaki and other stations in
mainland Japan to Pusan using either the Kampu Ferry from
Shimonoseki or the fast Beetle jetfoil from Hakata.
For information & prices,
see this page which traveller Louise Rouse has helpfully
translated from
this original Japanese page. For example, Tokyo to
Pusan costs around 29,260 Yen. Tickets are sold from 1
month before departure up to 2 days (ferry) or 7 days
(jetfoil) before departure, so don't try to buy a ticket on
the day of travel.
To reach Korea from Japan...
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Take a train across Japan to
Hakata-Fukuoka or Shimonoseki.
Hakata is the end of the high-speed 'shinkansen' line
from Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Hiroshima - see
www.hyperdia.com (English button upper left)
for train times and fares within Japan.
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Take the 'Beetle' from
Hakata to Pusan or the overnight ferry from Shimonoseki to
Pusan. To
check Beetle times and fares,
see
www.jrbeetle.co.jp.
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For train service between Pusan
and Seoul, see
http://ktx.korail.go.kr/eng/.
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All
major towns and cities in South Korea are linked by an
efficient railway - for train times and fares visit
www.korail.go.kr.
In
addition, Seoul and Pusan (also known as Busan) are linked
by a new high-speed train service known as KTX. The
KTX runs on a new high-speed line built using French TGV
technology. Trains run frequently, taking just 2 hours
50 minutes. The fare is 45,000 won (£21) one way 2nd
class, 63,000 won (£30) 1st class. For times, fares
and online booking of KTX trains, see
http://ktx.korail.go.kr/eng/.
Right: The new high-speed 'KTX' from Seoul to Pusan.
Below left: KTX 1st class...
Below right: KTX 2nd class
Photos courtesy of Shigeyuki Kaneko. |
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For train times & fares see
www.korail.go.kr or
http://ktx.korail.go.kr/eng/.
Sponsored links:
Thomas Cook Overseas Timetable
|
 Train,
bus and ferry times for every country in Africa, Asia,
America and Australasia are shown in the famous Thomas Cook
Overseas Timetable, published every two months. It's
essential for every serious overland traveller, and an
inspiration for armchair travellers..!
It costs around £13.50 from the bureau de change section of any branch of
Thomas Cook, or you can order online at
www.thomascooktimetables.com.
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Hotels
in Seoul, Pusan or elsewhere in South Korea...
A good guidebook like the Lonely Planet or
Rough Guides will point you at some good hotels in each town
or city when you get there, or you
can pre-book hotels using
www.hotelscombined.com, just use the search box
below. This is not a hotel booking website, but a free search tool
which checks all the main hotel booking sites for you (AsiaRooms,
Opodo, Expedia, Travelocity, LateRooms and many others) to
find the cheapest hotel rates on the net. Set up in
2005, it's an amazing system and probably the best place to
start for booking any hotel online in any country, worldwide.
Also check reviews on
Tripadvisor.com's South Korea page.
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Get an
online quote
from both Direct Line & Columbus Direct... |
Travel insurance is a boring subject, but it's a real necessity, so make sure you
budget for it. Make sure the cover is adequate -
for example, at least £1m or preferably £5m medical cover,
from a reliable insurer. Remember that an annual
multi-trip policy is often cheaper than several single-trip
policies even for just two or three trips
a year. Here are some suggested insurers.
Seat61 gets a small commission if you buy after clicking these
links.
If you're a UK resident, try
Direct Line whom I've used myself on many occasions, or
Columbus Direct.
If
you're resident in
Australia, New Zealand, Ireland or the EU, try
Columbus Direct Australia.
 
If you're resident in the USA or Canada, try
Travel Guard USA.
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