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Hotels, Love Motels, & Roughing It - Sleeping Accommodations in Korea
- Hotels / Motels / Love Motels -The rule of thumb is that the further you are from Seoul (or any other major city) the less likely you are to stay in a proper hotel. Then again, you're bike touring; do you really want or need a four star place to crash? Thankfully, lots of small towns (basically anything ending with "~군", "~읍", "~면" or "~리") have love motels or motels at about 40000 to 50000 a night. There are other places to stay such as saunas and hostels, but motels seem to be the most bike-friendly. There are other options out there, though. Note: *~시 or ~군 sized towns are often a better bet for accommodation choices.
Most motels will allow you to bring your bike inside the room. If not, they usually let you chain it up inside somewhere in the building like a stairwell. Amenities usually include a warm shower, cable TV, electric outlets, an oscillating fan and clean water. Other than that, don't expect much other than some quietness away from the trail and maybe some A/C. Expect to pay about 10 bucks more on weekends and on holidays but otherwise, expect to pay 50 a night. Bunk up with friends to save money.
If you only want a place to shower up, stretch out, and grab a quick nap, look for the "대실" price at love motels. It's usually half price (20 bucks or so), but you can only stay for four hours max. Not a bad option if you still have a lot of ground to cover but need to recover first.
(above: the average love motel found along the trail near 남양주)
(above: an older motel found along the trail near 수안보)
(above: an average motel found along the trail near 대구)
(above: an awesome traditional bed & breakfast for bicycle riders in 상주.
Amazing location, super friendly owners, delicious food, and a quit night's sleep.)
- Camping / Roughing It / 쉼터 / 정자
Before I get into proper camping, let me throw this one out there: there are rest areas (쉽터) and pavilions (정자) all along the trails. They are free and public. They're great to hop off the bike, stretch, hydrate, meet up with your group, or even sleep for an hour or so. Nothing better than closing your eyes while feeling a cool summer breeze under one of these beautiful gazebos before heading back out on the bike.
(above: pavilion / gazebo rest area right along the bike trail)
(above: a quick rest stop with a nice view.
Not pictured: a free public air pump for all tube types)
(above: a quiet rest area for riders)
(above: an early morning rest stop on the trail near a private family farm)
(above: not much protection from the sun but better than nothing)
(above: a gorgeous rest stop near a Buddhist temple)
If you're really on a budget or simply prefer the romantic idea of sleeping under the stars, rest assured that there are designated camping sites available. Yeoju (여주) comes to mind. Here's the official website for bike camping sites. (Here's the slimmed-down English version).
(above: free camping in Yeoju)
(above: free showers and clean water in Yeoju)
Make sure to bring a sleeping bag, tent, and clothes along. Gmarket actually has decent prices for panniers and travel bags.
