Nami Island & Garden of Morning Calm: Day Trip with Tickets

4.62

(209 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

I didn’t expect to start my day in Seoul packed onto a minivan with strangers, but there we were—half asleep, clutching coffee, watching city blocks fade into countryside. Our guide, Minji, was already wide awake. She pointed out something about the Han River that I missed (too busy staring at the mist on the water), but she had this easy way of making everyone feel like we’d known her for ages. The drive to Nami Island isn’t short—maybe 90 minutes?—but it went fast somehow.

Stepping off the ferry onto Nami Island felt like walking into a movie set. I mean, literally—they filmed “Winter Sonata” here and you can kind of see why. The trees line up in these perfect rows, yellow ginkgo leaves crunching underfoot (it was autumn for us). Some people rented bikes; we just wandered slowly, stopping every five minutes because someone spotted a squirrel or wanted another photo. There’s a smell of roasted chestnuts from one of the little stalls—I bought some just to warm my hands. Minji told us how couples come here for dates, and honestly I get it.

After lunch (I grabbed kimbap from a tiny shop near the dock), we headed to The Garden of Morning Calm. I wasn’t sure what to expect—gardens usually aren’t my thing—but this place is different. It’s old, apparently Korea’s oldest private garden, and you can tell it’s been loved for years. There were families taking photos by ponds and these winding paths that made me lose track of time. In winter they do this light festival—Minji showed us some photos on her phone and now I wish I could see it myself. It got chilly as the sun dipped; you could hear laughter echoing between pine trees.

Looking back, it wasn’t just about seeing places—it was how quiet Nami Island felt after Seoul’s noise, or how Minji laughed when I tried to pronounce “Eobi Ice Valley” (don’t ask me to say it again). Sometimes travel is just about small moments like that. I still think about those golden trees when things get hectic at home.