To maximise time, we do suggest that you book your flights out of Seoul on the same day that you arrive. This minimises time loss from travelling from Incheon Airport to Seoul and back again to the Gimpo Airport.
As a guide, book flights at least four hours AFTER your arrival time. (Tip: check out the best fares via Skyscanner.) Depending on your time of arrival, the immigration process would take at least 30 minutes (or even 1 hour due to the influx of tourism to South Korea post-covid). You may take slightly longer if you have to collect your check-in luggage. Thereafter, travelling from Incheon to Gimpo would take about 50 minutes (including walking, purchasing tickets, getting lost, etc). For domestic travels, unlike international travels, you only need to check into the domestic travel area 40 minutes before the flight, and board about 20 minutes before the flight. That would give you about an hour or so for any other delays.
Before Covid-19, we did just that and booked our flight to Jeju from Gimpo Airport, 3 hours after arriving in Incheon Airport. But I've since edited this blogpost to reflect the long queues at the immigration.
Do note that some people may not be too comfortable with this and you could possibly add more hours to your connecting flight. We overheard a couple booking a flight 6 hours after arriving and were wondering what they can possibly do at the airport. (Gimpo Airport is really small too, so there wasn't that much shops in the transit area. We even had trouble finding food as there were no restaurants after we passed through the security checks and had to resort to food from 7-11.)
There are basically three ways to get from Incheon International Airport to Gimpo Domestic Airport:
AREX Airport Railroad
Do note that there are two types of AREX trains - express trains and the all-stop trains. While you take the express train from Incheon to Seoul, to get to Gimpo, you will need to take the ALL-STOP TRAIN. This is extremely important. Taking the wrong train would be disastrous as the express train does not stop at Gimpo Airport. The ride is about 35 minutes and costs 3,650 won.
Can you use the T-money card for AREX? Unfortunately you can't use it for travelling from Incheon to Seoul and vice-versa but if you're taking the ALL-STOP train to Gimpo, tap away. You can either buy it directly from the train station, in any convenience stores (like CU, 7-Eleven, GS25) or online before you arrive.
Inter-airport Bus Services
If you're afraid to make mistakes with the train, you can opt to take the inter-airport bus. Head to the 1st floor arrival area and take bus 6105, 6008, 6101, 6001 or the KAL Limousine. It costs 7,500 won.
Taxi / Airport Transfers
Taxi is another option to get to Gimpo. Head to the taxi stand and hail a cab to Gimpo International Airport. Alternatively, you can also pre-book your airport transfers online. Prices start at 57 USD for a party of 2. If you have too much luggage, this may be a good way to travel from Incheon Airport to Gimpo Airport.
We hope this post is useful for your next trip to South Korea!
This post is part of our South Korea Travel Series, read also our other blog posts on:
Seoul:
Jeju:
Busan:
Daegu:
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