Hwadam Botanic Garden: Booking Without a Korean Number

Hwadam Botanic Garden requires advance booking during autumn, and adult admission costs 11,000 won before any monorail ticket. If you do not have a Korean phone number for NOL, a Seoul transport-and-admission package is one alternative. Book admission first: you can walk the garden without the monorail, but a monorail ticket alone will not get you through the gate.

I visited by car on Saturday, 24 October, and walked the garden in about two hours without the monorail. Getting the weekend slot took a cancellation ticket; getting from the parking area to the entrance took longer than I expected.

Hwadam Botanic Garden booking: which route fits your trip?

Choose your booking route before arranging the journey from Seoul. The Korean NOL route needs a Korean phone number; a transport package can cover both the trip and admission.

Popular Friday to Sunday slots sold out the moment they opened, while weekdays were easier. I aimed for a weekend, kept watching for cancellations, and ended up with a morning slot.

I read the official FAQ all the way through. In peak season you have 15 minutes after entering the product page to finish paying, and refreshing in the waiting room sends you to the back of the line, so don’t touch anything while you wait.

Cancelling up to the day before your visit gets you a full refund. Cancelling on the day or not showing up costs 30%. Cancellations keep appearing even when a slot is sold out, so keep checking.

Booking as a foreigner without a Korean phone number

NOL’s Korean site requires a Korean phone number to set up an account. If that blocks you, the Trazy package combines admission with return transport from Seoul and requires a foreign passport. Monorail tickets are not included.

An older English post (from 2023) says foreigners can buy a same-day ticket at the entrance if they bring a passport. The official autumn notice says reservations only, with walk-up tickets at the ticket-office kiosks when slots are left, so treat the passport route as a backup, not a plan.

If you’d rather not sort any of this out, Trazy sells a day trip from Seoul with round-trip transport and admission. Its page says it requires a foreign passport to buy the entrance ticket and that the monorail is not included.

Hours and prices this autumn

The official October and November notice says the garden opens on Mondays during peak season, and that closing time moves an hour earlier from November.

There are no mobile-carrier, group or disability discounts in October and November (official site). Winter hours haven’t been announced yet.

Getting there from Seoul without a car

I drove, so for the transit side I went through the English guides. They all describe the same routes. Ride the Shinbundang Line to Pangyo, change to the Gyeonggang Line, and get off at Gonjiam Station. From there take a taxi, or Gwangju bus 9, which the official page puts at about 30 minutes. I didn’t find an official shuttle from the station. Red buses 500-1 from Jamsil and 500-2 from Samseong also run to Gonjiam bus terminal in about an hour and a half, with a taxi for the last stretch.

Expect public transit from central Seoul to require around two to two and a half hours each way, and keep in mind that local taxis outside Gonjiam Station can be scarce during peak weekends, so having Kakao T or Uber active is strongly recommended. It helps to have a Korean map app set up and a T-money card loaded before you leave, since the Gyeonggang Line and the local bus both take it.

Parking, the lift and the entrance gate

If you’re driving, searching for “Hwadam Forest parking lot” worked better in my navigation app than the Gonjiam Resort lot. The address on the official site is 278-1 Docheokwit-ro, Docheok-myeon, Gwangju-si, Gyeonggi-do.

Even after you park in the tower, it’s still a fair walk to the entrance, and how far depends on where you parked.

From the lower parking tower there was a lift going up. The official page says it’s free, and that if the line is long you can take a 400 m side path instead, about 5 to 10 minutes on foot. Buses for people with strollers or wheelchairs were running too. I walked down and didn’t take the lift on the way out.

I spent a good while waiting in the lift line. My slot was 9:20 and I actually got in around 11:20. I did get in, though.

The official FAQ only says to arrive at your booked time and doesn’t promise entry if you’re late. I may have been lucky, so leave extra time for parking and the lift. If the queue for the lift stretches past 20 minutes, bypass the line entirely and take the marked 400-meter side path right next to it—it is an easy 8 to 10-minute uphill walk directly to the entrance gate.

What the colours looked like on 24 October

Green leaves with red and yellow mixed in. The mountain wasn’t red all over, but I liked the mix.

I also looked up a news report on the Korea Forest Service’s foliage forecast, which expected colours to peak nationwide at the end of October. Hwadam doesn’t publish its own forecast. If the forecast held, the reds would have deepened a few days after my visit.

It was fairly crowded. The narrow paths got a bit congested, but there was still room to look around slowly and take photos.

Sections of the garden, one by one

The mood of the forest keeps changing as you walk. The white birch forest, the pine garden among big rocks, and the bonsai garden with potted maples are the ones I remember most.

Partway round there’s a spot where camping chairs are set out so you can dip your feet in the stream. It’s a good place to rest.

Walking Hwadam Botanic Garden without the monorail

Walking slowly without the monorail, I got all the way round in about two hours. Most of the path is decking, so it’s easy going, with rest spots along the way. I saw a family pushing a stroller.

Skipping the monorail also meant I could stay as long as I liked at the places I wanted and take photos without watching the clock. If you don’t want to be rushed, I’d walk.

English guides lean the other way. The iVisitKorea guide calls the monorail the most efficient way to cover the key areas, which fits if you only have a few hours or are travelling with older relatives, since the park has a lot of slopes. The monorail runs a 1,213 m loop, and the official fares for adults are 5,000, 7,000 and 9,000 won depending on the section.

You can only buy the monorail after you’ve bought admission, through “monorail add-on” in your NOL booking details. If you miss your set time, even because of traffic or parking, there’s no refund or change. Given how long parking took me, a monorail ticket would have gone to waste.

Where to board a Seoul transport package

For the Trazy package, choose the pickup point nearest your accommodation. Hongik University Station uses Exit 9; the Myeongdong pickup is at Namsan Yejang Bus Parking Lot, about five minutes from Exit 1. The Dongdaemun pickup is at Hotel the Designers, opposite Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station Exit 5.

The return drop-off is Hongik University Station only. If you are staying in Myeongdong or Dongdaemun, that leaves a subway trip after the coach. The operator asks passengers to arrive at the pickup point at least 10–15 minutes before departure.

Before you go

Comfortable shoes come first. Between photos and looking around, you walk longer than you’d think.

It was sunny that day and I got warm from walking, so layers you can take off beat one heavy coat.

My biggest regret was snacks. I hadn’t brought any, and there’s nowhere to buy food along the route, so I wished I had. The etiquette page says drinks and light snacks may be carried in, while other food has to be eaten in the dining area to the left of the ticket office. The places to eat are all near the entrance, such as the cafe next to the ticket office and the traditional-style eatery by the pond just inside.

Alcohol, picnic mats, tripods, scooters and drones can’t come in, and neither can pets. Take your rubbish out with you.

If you want more places near Seoul, the travel section has other trips.