Although Petite France Village and Nami Island are known as two of the most popular travel destinations in Korea, it’s not easy to get around the places when you actually want to visit, especially for foreigners without a vehicle to move freely.
One of the best and the most convenient ways to reach these places is to take a package trip available out there, which offers a hassle free tour. We’ll show you around how we got to visit and enjoy the attractions! We guarantee you this will be the most thorough review of the day trip adventure.
(Visited & written by Yoonhee C.)
First, there are two options for departure: Seoul Train Station (Line 1) or Hongik University Station (Line 2).
It takes about 90 mins from Seoul to Petite France Village with the tour bus.
On the way to the main gate of the Petite France, We could see the map of the whole village.
You can get a map (Korean,English,Chinese and Taiwanese) here at the ticket booth. It’s better to get this map to look around the village more efficiently.
Like the name, Petite France, it is a small but exotic French themed village. You can see both the small Tower Eiffel and lots of French style houses (you can also book one of the houses on the website of the Petite France to stay over night). And there is a nice view of Lake Chengpyeong when you reach the right side of the village where the restaurant and cafe are located.
The main theme of Petite France comes from the famous French novel “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint Exupery. So you can see many things related to the little prince. There is also a Memorial Hall for him.
And If you like Korean drama then it must be very interesting to look around here. Lots of famous dramas were filmed here (Beethoven Virus, Secret Garden, and My Love from the Star). There are a lot of props that were used at the dramas and also you can see real autographs of the actors and actresses.
There is also photo zone that you can take pictures becoming Kim Su-hyun and Jeon Ji-hyun.
There are a lot of nice photo zones or spots where you can take memorable pictures even if you are not that interested in K-drama.
There are a variety of places to visit inside the village including their own exclusive theater for marionette, cafes, restaurant and outdoor places to have a cup of coffee, eat and take a rest. You can buy souvenirs related to the little prince like post cards, orgel at the gift shops.
And we headed to Nami Island which took about 20 minutes. When we arrived to Gapyeong Wharf, the tour guide gave us ticket to take the ferry.
Around the wharf, there so many Dakgalbi (Chicken Barbecue which is famous in Chuncheon) restaurants that you can try like below. On Nami Island, there are many restaurants and cafes but it’s a bit more pricey.
We took the ferry to Nami Island which takes about 5 minutes. But in other case you can also go to Nami-island by Zip-wire (It’s around $40).
When we got off the ferry, there was a supermarket near the gate where you can purchase snacks and drinks.
When we walked a little bit more from the gate, we reached the Unicef Child-friendly Park. People were preparing for singing performance. Around here there are so many places to sit so we took a rest listening to the live performance.
There are also many leisure activities like riding a bike or you can also take a small train where you can easily look around Nami Island. So we could see lots of families and couples who were enjoying the ride together. And pets are allowed on Nami Island so you can see and bring pets also.(But in the case of Petite France pets not allowed.)
Nami Island first became popular because of the famous Korean drama Winter Sonata (겨울연가, 2002). You can see the the bench where Bae Yong-Joon and Choi Ji-Woo played with snowman. 
And nearby the Winter Sonata scene spot, there is a field where you can meet the famous ostrich called Ggangta.
Nami Island is also known for the beautiful Metasequoia Road. You can just walk here releasing stress. Also there are many small and big museums so you can wander around wherever you want. There’s also a camping site and shower facility.
Overall, we think this is a good tour for people who want to run away from the busy city life for a day and take a rest peacefully in the suburb of Seoul.
The most convenient part was the fact that we did not have to think about the transportationto go Petite France and Nami Island and also about buying tickets! The tourist bus took us both to Petite France and Nami island and the tour guide gave us tickets for them. And you can also freely talk and enjoy this tour together with the other foreign visitors.
