Seoul's Gimpo Airport and the Botanic Park
Part of the full Seoul Layover: Gyeongbokgung and Namsan, ICN
From Seoul’s Gimpo International Airport (GMP), the dish-shaped greenhouse at Seoul Botanic Park is one stop away on the airport railway, the Heojun Museum of Korean medicine is a short metro ride further, and central Seoul is about 20 minutes by train.
The dish-shaped greenhouse at Seoul Botanic Park
Seoul Botanic Park sits in Magok, a newly built district east of Gimpo, and its entrance is a few minutes’ walk from Magongnaru station, one stop from the airport on the AREX airport railway. The greenhouse is the reason to go: a glass structure 100 metres across that dips in the middle like a dish instead of rising into a dome, so the roof is highest at the edges. Inside it is split into a tropical zone and a Mediterranean one, planted with species from twelve cities including Jakarta, São Paulo, Barcelona, Perth and Istanbul, and a raised walkway runs around the upper level so you can look down into the canopy.
Greenhouse tickets are 5,000 won, and it opens 9am to 6pm, closed on Mondays.
The park around it covers about 50 hectares and opened in May 2019. The gardens nearest the greenhouse are laid out with rock-edged ponds, pines and a traditional Korean pavilion, with the white curves of the greenhouse roof behind.
The Heojun Museum of Korean medicine in Gayang-dong
The Heojun Museum opened on 23 March 2005 in Gayang-dong, Gangseo, near Gayang station on Metro Line 9. It is dedicated to Heo Jun (1546 to 1615), court physician to King Seonjo, whose Donguibogam, a 25-volume compendium of Korean and Chinese medicine completed in 1610 and published in 1613, was added to UNESCO’s Memory of the World register in 2009. The collection runs to more than 900 objects connected with Korean medicine.
Admission is 1,000 won. It opens at 10am and closes at 6pm from March to October and 5pm from November to February, with the last ticket an hour before closing, and it shuts on Mondays as well as at New Year, Seollal and Chuseok.
Gimpo’s domestic and short-haul international halls
Gimpo was Seoul’s main international airport until 2001, when that role moved to Incheon, and it now runs two quite different operations side by side: a domestic terminal and an international one handling short hops to Tokyo Haneda, Osaka Kansai, Shanghai Hongqiao, Beijing Capital and Taipei Songshan. Plenty of domestic passengers fly with nothing more than a small bag, while passengers on the international side usually have a full suitcase with them, and that suitcase is what decides whether a greenhouse one stop away is a quick detour or a chore.
Beside the terminal, the observation deck on the sixth floor of the department store at the Lotte Mall looks straight over the airfield, close enough to watch aircraft taking off and landing, and it is the easiest thing here to fit in at the end.
The AREX all-stop train reaches Seoul Station in about 20 minutes, calling at Magongnaru, Digital Media City, Hongik University and Gongdeok on the way, and it runs every few minutes; the non-stop express trains between Incheon and Seoul Station do not stop here. From Seoul Station the market, the old south gate and the domed 1925 station building are all on foot, and with a longer gap the full Seoul itinerary through Gyeongbokgung and Bukchon starts a short metro ride further on. Metro Line 5 also runs direct from Gimpo Airport station to Gwanghwamun, near Gyeongbokgung Palace.
Frequently asked questions
What should I do during a layover near Gimpo International Airport (GMP) in Seoul?
Take the train one stop to Magongnaru for the greenhouse at Seoul Botanic Park, a 100-metre dish of glass holding plants from twelve tropical and Mediterranean cities, and add the Heojun Museum of Korean medicine at Gayang if there is time. Before the flight, the observation deck on the sixth floor of the mall beside the terminal looks straight out over the runway. Three to four hours covers all three without going into central Seoul. Neither the greenhouse nor the museum needs booking ahead, and both are closed on Mondays.
Which flights use Gimpo rather than Incheon?
Domestic flights, and a short list of international routes to nearby city airports: Tokyo Haneda, Osaka Kansai, Shanghai Hongqiao, Beijing Capital and Taipei Songshan, the last of which lands a few metro stops from central Taipei (see the Songshan Airport guide). Everything long-haul, and most other international flights, leave from Incheon International Airport instead, 48 kilometres west of the city. Check the ticket: the two airports are connected by the AREX airport railway, but switching between them is a separate journey, not a transfer.
Is there anything to do near Gimpo on a Monday?
Less than on other days. The greenhouse at Seoul Botanic Park and the Heojun Museum both close on Mondays, so on a Monday the practical choices are the observation deck at the mall beside the terminal, where you can watch aircraft take off and land, or a train into central Seoul, about 20 minutes to Seoul Station on the airport railway.
How long does the airport railway take from Gimpo to central Seoul?
About 20 minutes to Seoul Station on the AREX all-stop train, which runs every few minutes and calls at Magongnaru, Digital Media City, Hongik University and Gongdeok on the way. The non-stop express trains from Incheon do not stop at Gimpo. Metro Line 5 also runs from Gimpo Airport station straight into the old city centre at Gwanghwamun, and Line 9 runs south of the river toward Gangnam.