Gangneung Day Trip from Seoul 2026: KTX Schedule, Fare, and Last Train Back

Bottom line: The KTX-Eum train gets you from Seoul Station or Cheongnyangni Station to Gangneung in about 2 hours. With roughly 14 departures a day, leaving early in the morning lets you see both Gyeongpodae and Anmok Beach and still catch an evening train back to Seoul — a full day trip doable entirely by train, no car needed.

If you didn't know: Lose track of the last train while you're still watching the sunset over the water, and you'll end up paying for a hotel room in Gangneung you never planned on — an extra 50,000-100,000 won. Rush too much in the other direction, though, and you won't even get the 30 minutes it takes to sit with a coffee along Anmok Beach's café row before heading back to the station.

Walk about 20 minutes from Gangneung Station along the sea breeze and you reach the pine grove at Gyeongpodae. Listen to the wind moving through the pines for a while and you'll find yourself on the walking path around Gyeongpo Lake almost without noticing. Hop a bus over to Anmok Beach and the smell of freshly brewed coffee drifts along the row of cafés that lines the sand, mixed with the sound of waves. Both spots are fully reachable by public transit, so a morning-out, evening-back day trip from Seoul works even without a rental car. Seats do sell out fast on weekends and holiday periods, though, so it's safer to book your KTX ticket a few days ahead.

Journey stage: During the trip · Verified 2026-10-19 · Source KORAIL