The Garden of Morning Calm is one of the must-see places in Korea during winter because of the light festival at night. I’ve experienced winter for four years here but I’ve never visited it until this month. It’s not so far (about 30 minutes away by car) from Nami Island, which is another famous destination. I’ve always planned to visit the Garden whenever I come to Nami to accompany my relatives or friends. However, since it’s outside Seoul and we usually ride public transportation to get to Nami, I worry that there’s not enough time to see the light festival and make it back to Seoul at night. I don’t like trying to catch up the last train or bus, and worse, paying for a cab to get home. So, if you are traveling in Korea and want to visit the Garden, I recommend joining a tour for convenience.
The Garden is about two hours away from Seoul by car. We arrived around 5 p.m. People were just arriving. Some of the lights were already on, but the sun has not yet set so we couldn’t see the “full light effect” yet. We roamed the area while waiting and took advantage of the photo zones which were not yet crowded.
When I take his picture vs. when he takes mine 😀
Finally, it was dark!
The moon looked perfect that night too.
Of course, it’s not enough to just look at the lights. I need to have more pictures with it! 🙂
We were so tired and hungry after walking a lot at the Garden. It’s time for dinner! When in this area, you should eat their famous grilled chicken!
I forgot the name of the restaurant. It’s 5 minutes away from the Garden, and it has a cafe on the second and third floor.
After about an hour of resting at the cafe, we headed back to Seoul.
I love visiting many places during trips, but a chill afternoon/night trip like this one is good too. I enjoyed it too much that I slept the entire ride back home. Now, I’m kind of having doubts if I can handle whole day trips with multiple destinations. 🙂
musings & adventures 