Seoul to Seoraksan by Bus (2026): Tickets, Times, Last Bus

Last checked: October 17, 2026 · Sources: Kobus (kobus.co.kr), T-money intercity bus (txbus.t-money.co.kr), Dong Seoul Terminal and the Sokcho bus information system (bis.sokcho.go.kr) — pages linked below.

Affiliate note: This post contains a Creatrip affiliate link. If you book through it, we earn a commission at no extra cost to you. The official ways to do things always come first. How we handle links.

There’s no direct bus from Seoul to the Seoraksan park entrance. You take an express or intercity bus from Seoul to Sokcho, about 2 hours 10 minutes to 2 hours 30 minutes, then Sokcho city bus 7 or 7-1 to the last stop, Seoraksan Sogongwon (설악산소공원). The most frequent line is Seoul Express Bus Terminal to Sokcho: 45 buses on a regular weekday, from 06:00 to 23:30, 24,300 won on a deluxe bus. The last bus back to Seoul leaves Sokcho at 23:00, and the last city bus leaves Sogongwon at 20:35. You can book in English on Kobus or T-money, but on autumn weekends the morning buses out and the afternoon buses back sell out days ahead.

What we saw on the booking sites (Oct 17 check)

Mon, Oct 19: 15 of 45 buses from Seoul Express Bus Terminal to Sokcho were already sold out — every departure from 08:20 to 13:00, plus 07:30. Dong Seoul express: 3 of its 6 morning buses gone.

Wed, Oct 21: even midweek, 2 morning buses from Seoul Express Bus Terminal (08:00 and 09:45) were sold out and several others were down to 1–2 seats.

Sat, Oct 24: 19 of 45 buses from Seoul Express Bus Terminal were sold out — every departure from 06:00 to 13:00. All 6 Dong Seoul express buses from 07:00 to 11:10 were gone too.

Sun, Oct 25, coming back: 21 of 45 buses from Sokcho to Seoul Express Bus Terminal were sold out, every departure from 12:30 to 20:40 except the two cheap standard buses (13:20 and 18:20). The 21:00–23:00 buses still had seats. On T-money’s intercity line from Sokcho to Dong Seoul, only 2 of 40 buses were sold out.

Early November: Kobus showed only 20 buses from Seoul Express Bus Terminal and none yet back from Sokcho for dates from Nov 1, so the November schedule wasn’t fully on sale. T-money’s November intercity buses were on sale with plenty of seats.

Fares on these routes changed on Oct 1, 2026 (Dong Seoul Terminal notice). The fares below are what the booking sites showed on Oct 17.

Which Seoul terminal has buses to Sokcho?

Two Seoul terminals run buses to Sokcho, and they arrive at two different terminals in Sokcho. That matters for the city bus.

From	Bus type	Book on	Arrives at	Buses a day (weekday)	Time
Seoul Express Bus Terminal (listed as 서울경부 “Seoul Gyeongbu” on Kobus)	Express	Kobus	Sokcho Express Bus Terminal (고속버스터미널)	45	~2 h 20 min (188.1 km)
Dong Seoul Bus Terminal (동서울)	Express	Kobus	Sokcho Express Bus Terminal	15	~2 h 30 min (180.1 km)
Dong Seoul Bus Terminal	Intercity	T-money (txbus)	Sokcho Intercity Bus Terminal (시외버스터미널)	35	2 h 10 min (deluxe/premium) to 3 h 35 min (regular)

Our take: if you can get to either terminal, use Seoul Express Bus Terminal. It has the most buses, runs latest at night, and lands at the Sokcho Express Bus Terminal, where both city bus 7 and 7-1 stop. Dong Seoul is the better pick if you’re staying in eastern Seoul. It has 50 departures a day between its express and intercity lines, and in our check its intercity buses still had seats on a Sunday afternoon when the express buses were gone.

At Dong Seoul, the terminal’s platform guide lists Sokcho on platforms 3, 4 and 26-A, and on platform 6 for buses via Hangyeryeong pass. Check the platform printed on your ticket.

Seoul to Sokcho: first bus, last bus, fares

These are the regular weekday timetables (Wednesday, Oct 21). On Oct 17, Saturday Oct 24 showed the same 45 express buses from Seoul Express Bus Terminal. T-money’s intercity line showed a few more buses on Mon Oct 19, Sat Oct 24 and Sun Oct 25 (36 to 40 instead of 34 or 35).

Seoul Express Bus Terminal ↔ Sokcho (Kobus)

Direction	First	Last	Buses
Seoul → Sokcho	06:00	23:30	45
Sokcho → Seoul	06:00	23:00	45

Class (Kobus name)	Seats	Adult	Teen	Child	Buses a day
Express, standard (고속)	45	18,700 won	13,100 won	9,400 won	3
Deluxe (우등)	28	24,300 won	17,000 won	12,200 won	30
Premium (프리미엄)	21	31,500 won	22,100 won	15,800 won	9
Late-night deluxe (심야우등, from 22:00)	28	29,100 won	20,400 won	14,600 won	3

The three cheap standard buses leave Seoul at 08:20, 13:20 and 18:20 (and Sokcho at the same times). They sell out last, so they’re a good fallback on busy days.

Dong Seoul ↔ Sokcho, express (Kobus)

Direction	First	Last	Buses	Deluxe	Premium
Dong Seoul → Sokcho	07:00	20:30	15	22,800 won	29,600 won
Sokcho → Dong Seoul	06:45	20:30	15	22,800 won	29,600 won

Dong Seoul ↔ Sokcho, intercity (T-money)

Direction	First	Last	Buses
Dong Seoul → Sokcho Intercity Terminal	06:05	21:00	35
Sokcho Intercity Terminal → Dong Seoul	06:00	21:00	34

Class	Adult	Time on the timetable
Regular (일반)	21,600 won	3 h 00 min – 3 h 35 min
Regular, faster buses (16:59 from Dong Seoul; 12:30 and 17:00 from Sokcho)	17,300 won	2 h 10 min
Deluxe (우등)	22,500 won	2 h 10 min – 2 h 15 min
Premium (프리미엄)	29,200 won	2 h 10 min

Most intercity buses are run by Geumgang Express (금강고속), a few by Donghae Sangsa (동해상사). Most regular buses take 3 h 00 min to 3 h 35 min, so check the time on the booking screen before you pick the cheapest one.

How do you book the bus as a foreigner?

Both booking sites have an English version, and both companies have a mobile app. Our express bus booking guide for foreigners walks through the screens; here’s the short version for this route.

Pick the site that matches your terminal. Seoul Express Bus Terminal and the Dong Seoul express buses are on Kobus (switch to English in the language menu at the top). Dong Seoul intercity buses are on T-money intercity bus (English) or txbus.t-money.co.kr (Korean).
Search the route. On Kobus choose 서울경부 or 동서울 → 속초. On T-money choose 동서울 → 속초.
Choose a bus and seat, then pay by card. Kobus stops web sales 1 hour before departure (its app sells later). T-money sells same-day seats until 10 minutes before departure.
Get the ticket. On Kobus you can choose a mobile ticket; a print-at-home ticket is offered from Seoul Gyeongbu but not from Dong Seoul. Otherwise, collect a paper ticket at the departure terminal’s ticket window before departure, and bring the card you paid with. Kobus says that if you lose that card and don’t know its number, you can’t change or cancel the booking.

Will my foreign card work?

Neither Kobus nor T-money says whether foreign-issued cards are accepted. T-money’s guide only says that some check cards and corporate credit cards may be restricted. It’s not officially confirmed — try booking a few days early, so you still have options if the card is declined:

Ticket window at the departure terminal. On a busy weekend this only works if seats are left.
Pay on the bus (express buses). Kobus says you can board without a booking and pay with a transport card (or a credit card with a transport function), the same way as a city bus, if the bus has a free seat.

What if I need to cancel?

On both Kobus and T-money, cancelling 2 or more days before departure is free. After that the fee rises the closer you get, and it’s higher from Friday to Sunday and on holidays. Kobus lets you change the time, number of tickets or class once for free up to 1 hour before departure, but not the date. The full fee tables are in the express bus booking guide linked above.

From Sokcho terminal to Seoraksan: bus 7 or 7-1

City buses 7 and 7-1 both end at Seoraksan Sogongwon (설악산소공원, 1055 Seoraksan-ro), the main entrance for Ulsanbawi, Biseondae, the Daecheongbong trail and the Seoraksan cable car. The difference is where they pick you up:

Route	Sokcho Intercity Bus Terminal	Sokcho Express Bus Terminal	Stops from Express Terminal to Sogongwon
7-1	Yes	Yes	22
7	No	Yes	22

VisitKorea says to take 7 or 7-1 from the Intercity Bus Terminal, but on the Sokcho bus system’s route map route 7 does not stop there. It passes the Express Bus Terminal only. From the Intercity terminal, take 7-1. From the Express terminal, take whichever comes first.

Fare (within Sokcho, adult): 1,530 won by transport card, 1,700 won cash.

The Sokcho bus system doesn’t publish a ride time from either terminal. Its timetable has each bus leaving Sogongwon 50 minutes after it leaves its depot, which is further out than the terminals, so the ride is shorter than that.

City bus times at Seoraksan Sogongwon

Two companies run each route. The Sokcho bus system lists the time each bus leaves Sogongwon, the end of the line, heading back toward the terminals:

Route (operator)	Leaves Sogongwon
7 (Gangwon Yeogaek)	07:37, 08:45, 09:36, 10:44, 11:40, 13:00, 13:54, 15:02, 15:53, 17:01, 17:52, 19:00
7 (Donghae Sangsa)	10:10, 12:20, 14:28, 16:27, 18:26
7-1 (Gangwon Yeogaek)	07:20, (08:28 Sat, Sun and holidays only), 09:19, 10:27, 11:20, 12:40, 13:37, 14:45, 15:36, 16:44, 17:35, 18:43, 20:35
7-1 (Donghae Sangsa)	08:11, 09:53, 12:00, 14:11, 16:10, 18:09, 20:00

That’s 36 buses on weekdays and 37 on weekends, about one every 15–40 minutes in the daytime. The last bus from Sogongwon is the 7-1 at 20:35. The last one on route 7 is at 19:00. These are the timetables on the Sokcho bus system (dated 2025, still the current ones on Oct 17, 2026). Check the live arrivals at bis.sokcho.go.kr on the day.

Can you do Seoraksan as a day trip from Seoul?

Yes, for shorter hikes like Biseondae or Ulsanbawi, if you take an early bus. Here’s a plan that fits the timetables:

Step	Time
Seoul Express Bus Terminal → Sokcho (first bus)	06:00 departure, ~08:20 arrival (Kobus estimate)
City bus 7 or 7-1 to Sogongwon	Next bus; on weekdays buses leave Sogongwon at 08:45, 09:19, 09:36 and 09:53
Hike	Until late afternoon
Last city buses from Sogongwon	19:00 (route 7), 20:00 and 20:35 (route 7-1)
Last buses to Seoul	20:30 (Dong Seoul express), 21:00 (Dong Seoul intercity), 23:00 (Seoul Express Bus Terminal)

Our take: book the return before the outbound on autumn weekends. Seats back to Seoul on a Sunday afternoon go first, and in our check the 21:00–23:00 buses still had seats when nearly everything from 12:30 onward was gone. For when the leaves are at their best, see Korea fall foliage 2026. For the full Daecheongbong ridge you need a night in a shelter. See Seoraksan shelter booking for foreigners.

If the bus or the trail doesn’t go to plan

“Every bus I want is sold out.”

Check the three standard buses (08:20, 13:20, 18:20 from Seoul Express Bus Terminal) and the late-night buses after 22:00. Then try the other terminal: Dong Seoul has 50 departures a day on two booking sites, and T-money shows its own seat counts. Cancellations come back on sale, so search again the day before.

“I’m at the Intercity terminal and the bus 7 didn’t stop.”

It doesn’t stop there. Route 7 only stops at the Express Bus Terminal. Wait for 7-1.

“How do I get back to the Intercity terminal for my intercity bus?”

On the return run, the 7-1 stop list doesn’t include a stop called “Intercity Bus Terminal”. The closest listed stop is Cultural & Arts Center (문화회관), the stop just before the terminal on the outbound run. We haven’t confirmed the walk, so leave extra time. Or book your return on an express bus from the Express Bus Terminal, where both routes stop in both directions.

“My card was declined on Kobus or T-money.”

Buy at the terminal window, or board an express bus and pay on board if seats are free. On a sold-out weekend there’s no way around it, so book early enough to try another card.

“Can I hike all the way to the top in November?”

Upper Seoraksan trails close for wildfire prevention in spring and late autumn. VisitKorea lists November 15 – December 15, with Sogongwon to Biseondae left open. Check this year’s dates on the KNPS notice board before you book; our shelter guide linked above tracks them.

“I missed the last bus from Sogongwon.”

After the 20:35 7-1 there’s no bus 7 or 7-1 from Sogongwon back to the terminals. The Sokcho bus system also lists a late 7-1 run (7-1 막차, 20:30 from the Donghae Sangsa depot) that turns at the Seoraksan park office stop (설악산관리사무소) below Sogongwon and ends at Daepo (대포), not at the terminals. It gives no time for that bus at the park, so don’t plan on it. You’ll need a taxi to the terminals, or a room in Seorak-dong.

Help

Kobus (express buses): 1644-9030
T-money intercity buses: 1644-3070
Dong Seoul Bus Terminal: 1688-5979
Sokcho City transportation division (city buses): 033-639-2368
Live Sokcho bus arrivals and timetables (English available): bis.sokcho.go.kr

Hiking Seoraksan before Nov 30, 2026? Foreign visitors can book the free K-Trekking Challenge on Creatrip. Show the booking QR code and your passport (or a photocopy) at the park’s pickup point to get a free plushie, and borrow hiking boots, poles, a backpack or knee braces for the day while stock lasts. One pickup per person per park: K-Trekking Challenge: Seoraksan on Creatrip (affiliate link).

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