DMZ Docent Tour 2026: When Does It End? ₩20,000, Weekends Only, Gondola Included

At Imjingak in Paju, Gyeonggi Province — a park built to console Koreans separated from their hometowns by the Korean War, and the closest tourist site to the Demilitarized Zone — a guide in a yellow docent vest hands out gondola tickets on Saturday mornings to a line of 40 foreign tourists. This tour ends at the end of October 2026.

At a glance: the '2026 DMZ Docent Tour,' run by the Gyeonggi Tourism Organization, costs 20,000 won per person and includes processing for entry into the Civilian Control Line (the restricted border zone along the DMZ), a round-trip ride on the Peace Gondola, admission to the main sites, and narration by a professional docent. The tour runs only on weekends (Saturday and Sunday), twice a day, with each session capped at 40 people.

The gondola carries visitors across the Imjin River to Camp Greaves, a former U.S. military base inside the Civilian Control Line. Home to American troops for decades, the base has recently been converted into an exhibition and experience space, offering a close-up look at a zone civilians could not easily enter before. The tour's biggest draw is that it lets travelers get close to the division of the peninsula without needing a passport or visa.

The course covers the main sites around Imjingak Peace Nuri Park, including the Bunker Exhibition Hall (a Korean War-era bunker converted into a display space), the Bridge of Freedom (a severed railway bridge), and Jangdan Station, where an old steam locomotive sits on display. Because it covers ground inside the Civilian Control Line that individual visitors cannot enter on their own, it's more efficient than touring the DMZ independently.

With today being October 10, only two or three weekends remain this year for this tour. Because of the narrow window — two sessions a weekend, 40 people per session — spots are likely to fill up early, so travelers who want to join should check the Gyeonggi Tourism Organization's notices as soon as possible.