Have a cycling tour at Yeouido Hangang Park

Yeouido Hangang Park is one of the best places to view Hangang. You can sit on a bench to see a sunset here. And you can also have a picnic with your friends on the lawn. Wherever you go, there will always be a young couple holding hands on a bench or on the lawn. But besides these leisure activities, you can choose to ride a bicycle around Hangang to chase a sunset. Yeouido Hangang Park has a special bicycle lane, which provides the best way for visitors to feel the charm of riding along with the Hangang River. It’s summer now, Seoul’s sunset has been delayed until 7 p.m. So if you want to see the sunset, I recommend you arriving at Hangang Park at 7 p.m. and riding a bicycle for two hours.

Preparation before riding

First, you need to go to the bike station which is located on the right side of the I SEOUL U landmark to rent a bicycle. There are various types of bicycles you can choose. The common bicycles cost 3000won an hour and 5000won two hours. You can also choose to ride a tandem bicycle which costs 5000 won an hour. Tandem bicycles make it easier to communicate with your partner about the interesting things you come across during the journey.

The bicycle has to be returned at 9 p.m. so you should pay attention to the time when riding. You don’t need to pay a deposit when renting a bicycle, but you need to show your ID card and give it to the manager. When you return the bicycle, they will also return your ID card. Besides that, you need to decide how many hours you want to rent, pay for it, and leave your contact number.

Cycling route

After successfully renting a bicycle, you can begin your riding journey on Hangang. I choose to ride in the direction of KBS. After choosing this direction, you can just ride along the bicycle lane all the time because there are not many forks. If you want to know who you are now, there are notice boards at the roadside. Moreover, there are hints on the bicycle lane indicating where you are going. So don’t worry about losing direction.

When you are riding, you will see the sun is gradually falling, at that time, you will feel the warm wind coming out of the Hangang. There is no more comfortable leisure way when you choose to play your favourite music on your phone at that time. In the process of riding, the sky in front of you is dyed golden by the sunset. You will have been riding for about 40 minutes when you arrive at the 성산대교. At that time, you are ready to turn around and return to Yeouido Hangang Park. 

Recommended location

There are two places I recommend to take photos during the riding journey. 

First, when the notice board shows 보행로, a bridge will appear ahead. When you arrive here, the sun is still falling and the sky will be covered with gold. At this point, you can park your bike to the side and take some photos. It is the best chance to take the most beautiful sunset photos. 

Second, when the notice board shows 성산대교, you just arrived at the second location I recommend. At this time, the sun has gone down, dusk has painted the sky pink and purple. It’s the best time to experience nighttime. 

Tips

1. First, on the way of riding, you will meet cyclists with professional equipment. They ride very fast, so you’d better keep to the side of the road and ensure safety in riding. 
2. Second, there are pedestrians running on the bicycle lane, so it is recommended that you ride slowly. 
3. Thirdly, when you are riding you will begin to perspire heavily. But the temperature is very low at night in Hangang, so when you stop riding, you need to cool down very gradually. I recommend you to take a coat with you. 

Delicious food and restaurants

There will be GS25 convenience stores, BHC chicken restaurants, barbecue restaurants and self-service ramen shops on the roadside. If you are hungry, you can just stop riding then choose your favourite shop to enjoy delicious food and replenish yourself. 

After the end of the ride, you don’t have to worry if you are hungry. There are many small vendors selling delicious food, such as ice cream, chicken brochettes, fried rice cake, topokki, tanghulu and fruit juice near Yeouido ferry subway station. These shops remain open until late every evening.