East Sea Coastal Long Day
A 321 km loop
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Why this ride
A rider’s loop: clean exit, memorable middle, calm return. Out of Incheon and back again: 321 km, roughly 6 h 40 in the saddle. The stops in between: near Incheon, Bucheon-si, Scenic stretch near Gwangjeok and near Yangju.
Roadbook
- Fuel stop near Incheon
fuel
On 15 September 1950 American and South Korean marines stormed ashore at Wolmido, a small island in Incheon harbour, in one of the boldest amphibious operations of modern war. The landing turned the tide of the Korean War, and a statue of General MacArthur, who planned it, still stands in Jayu Park above the old port. Incheon today is a huge, modern port city of nearly three million people, home to Korea's main international airport, but the old harbour district keeps traces of its past.
Next to Jayu Park is Chinatown, founded in the late nineteenth century when Incheon opened to foreign trade. It is the birthplace of jajangmyeon, the noodles in black bean sauce that became one of Korea's favourite comfort foods, and there is even a small museum dedicated to the dish. Nearby, the old Japanese colonial-era buildings have been restored as cafés and galleries.
For riders, one rule matters above all: motorcycles are banned from Korea's expressways. That means the ride to Seoraksan follows national roads, which are slower but often more interesting, with long stretches through valleys and over passes. Plan your route carefully, as traffic in and around Seoul can be dense.
For photos, Wolmido at sunset, with the harbour, the cranes and the Incheon Bridge stretching across the sea, is the classic shot. Songdo, the new city built on reclaimed land, offers a futuristic skyline of glass towers and parks.
Supplies are never a problem in a city this size. The ritual worth keeping is a bowl of jajangmyeon in Chinatown before you leave or when you roll back in, slurped noisily, black sauce on your chin, as the locals do.
- High point near Incheon
swim
High point near Incheon comes up 46 km in.
- Near Bucheon-si
finish
Seoul does not really end; it merges into one city after another, and Bucheon is one of them, a dense, busy satellite city of around eight hundred and fifty thousand people squeezed between the capital and the port of Incheon. Nearby Gwangmyeong and the southwestern districts of Seoul blend into it, and the whole area is a sea of apartment towers, shopping streets, factories and elevated roads. It is not a beautiful place to finish, but it is a practical one.
Bucheon has carved out an identity as a city of culture. It hosts the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival every summer, one of Asia's best-known genre film festivals, and it is home to the Korean Manhwa Museum, dedicated to Korean comics. Nearby, Gwangmyeong Cave is an old gold mine that has been turned into a strange and popular attraction, with light shows, a wine cellar and an aquarium deep underground, and it is a cool refuge on a hot summer day.
The ride back from Danyang is a long one. Danyang lies far to the south-east, on the Namhan river among limestone cliffs and mountains, and the passes and river roads there are among the best in the country. Coming back, it is worth knowing that motorcycles are banned from Korean expressways, so you must use the national roads and local roads, which means traffic lights, towns and slow progress as you approach the capital region. Plan for heavy traffic in the late afternoon, especially on Sundays when everyone returns from the countryside. Riders here are used to filtering, but it is not always legal, and police enforcement varies.
Practically, the area has everything. Fuel stations are easy to find, as are convenience stores, fried chicken shops, barbecue restaurants and noodle houses, and many places stay open late. If you are returning a rental bike or meeting someone, Gimpo Airport and the subway lines into central Seoul are close.
Treat this as a pit stop after the mountains. Find a restaurant with a parking spot for the bike, order a bowl of naengmyeon, cold buckwheat noodles in icy broth if it is summer, or a hot stew if it is winter, and let the noise and lights of the city wash over you.
- Scenic stretch near Gwangjeok
swim
Scenic stretch near Gwangjeok, about halfway.
- Photo stop near Yangju
swim
Yangju lies north of Seoul, beyond the granite ramparts of Bukhansan and Dobongsan, in a landscape of wooded hills, valleys and fast-growing towns. In the Joseon dynasty, this area was close to the capital and important to the royal court, and the ruins of Hoeamsa, a great Buddhist temple patronised by the early Joseon kings, lie at the foot of Cheonbosan. The site has been excavated, and a museum explains the temple's history.
The hills around Yangju are cut by valleys with clear streams, and in summer Koreans flock to them to escape the heat, sitting on rocks with their feet in the water, picnicking under the trees and, where it is allowed, swimming in the pools. The Jangheung area, north-west of the city, is a popular valley resort with restaurants, cafés and an art park. Swimming rules vary from place to place, and some streams are off-limits, so follow the signs and the locals.
The riding north of Seoul is a mix of busy arterial roads and quieter mountain routes. The roads through the hills, over passes and along the valleys, are winding and scenic, with views of granite peaks and forested slopes. Traffic can be heavy, especially on weekends and holidays, when Seoulites head out of the city. Surfaces are generally good.
Fuel and food are plentiful in Yangju and the surrounding towns. As a start and finish, Yangju is convenient, with easy access to Seoul and the mountains. A bowl of cold noodles, naengmyeon, is the perfect lunch on a hot summer day.
- Near Pubal, on the way back
swim
The Namhan river, the southern branch of the Han, curves through the farmland of Gyeonggi province east of Seoul, and this stop lies near it, between Yeoju, Icheon and Yangpyeong. It is a gentle, rural landscape of rice fields, low wooded hills and small towns, and the river runs wide and slow between sandbanks and reed beds.
Yeoju is the burial place of King Sejong the Great, the fifteenth-century ruler who created the Korean alphabet, hangeul, and his tomb, set among pines on a hillside, is one of the most visited royal sites in the country. Silleuksa, a Buddhist temple, sits right on the riverbank, with a brick pagoda overlooking the water, an unusual setting for a Korean temple, most of which are in the mountains.
Icheon, to the west, is famous for two things: its rice, which was once sent as tribute to the royal court, and its ceramics. The kilns of Icheon produce celadon, white porcelain and everyday pottery, and the town holds a big ceramics festival every spring. A lunch of Icheon rice, served in a stone pot with dozens of side dishes, is a feast.
For a swim, the Namhan river is broad and slow, and in summer some stretches are used for water sports, but currents can be strong, and swimming is not always permitted. Look for designated areas, or settle for a rest on the bank.
One rule shapes every ride in Korea: motorcycles are banned from the expressways, so all travel is on national and local roads. They are slower but often more interesting, winding through the hills and along the river. The Four Rivers cycle path follows the Namhan, and the riverside roads are pleasant and quiet. Fuel and convenience stores are found in every town.
- Food stop near Icheon-si
food
A break here at 275 km.
- Back to East Sea Coastal
finish
Incheon is South Korea's third-largest city, with some two and a half million people, a port and an airport that is the country's main gateway, and it sits on a coast with some of the biggest tides in the world, up to nine metres between high and low. At low water the sea retreats for kilometres, leaving a grey, gleaming plain of mud where people walk out to dig for clams.
The city has a layered past. It opened to foreign trade in 1883, and the district around the old port, with its steep streets of colonial-era buildings, became Korea's first Chinatown, where jajangmyeon, the black-bean noodle dish now eaten across the country, is said to have originated. In 1950, General MacArthur's landing at Incheon turned the course of the Korean War, and a memorial in Jayu Park recalls it. Today the area around Songdo is a showpiece of new towers and tidy parks, and the Incheon Bridge, over twenty kilometres long, sweeps across the bay toward the airport.
The ride from here goes east to the opposite coast, across the Taebaek mountains to the East Sea, a day of about three hours of driving each way if you go by the expressway. The best approach is to take the Yeongdong Expressway east, leave early to beat the traffic, and then follow the coastal road south or north with the ocean on your side. The coast road is open, with curves along the headlands, pine forests, white sand and clear water, and in summer it is crowded, while in spring and autumn it is calm.
Fuel is everywhere in Incheon, and on the expressways every rest area has a station, with good food, from noodle soups to fried chicken. Korea drives on the right, tolls are paid with a card, and speed cameras are common. The main hazards are heavy traffic around the capital region on weekends and fog in the mountains in the early morning. Go early.