Daejeon, the 5th largest city in South Korea holds a population of about 1.5 million approximately. Its centralized location exposes more travel opportunities. Moreover, it also is at the crossroads of the national rail transport route which opens up various possibilities for the tourists. This city is helmed for being the hub for science and education which mostly centers around the town of Daedeok Science Town (also known as Daedeok Innopolis). The government of this place has also turned itself into a city of research and development with state of the art science sectors. Like other cities of Korea, Daejeon has also welcomed a new town slogan that says “it’s Daejeon”. This city is also frequented by tourists who visit this place for its hot springs and Daecheong dam.
Getting into the city from Seoul
Since it is a road and rail transportation hub, two major expressways and two major railway are joined here respectively. It almost takes around 50 minutes if you take a KTX train from Seoul to Daejeon. The airport which is nearest to Daejeon is Cheongju Aiport and is about 30 mins by road towards the north of Daejeon. As Daejeon lies on the primary line that connects Seoul and Busan, it is quite easily accessible by train. The two main train stations in Daejeon are Daejeon station and the Seo-Daejeon Station. Both of these are served by the Korean High-speed bullet train (KTX). And it takes about 50 mins from Seoul to Daejeon.
Normal trains take about twice that time but they have lower prices for obvious reasons. An unreserved seat from Seoul (Mugunghwa) will weigh at around 9000 won and will take you two hours to reach your destination while a similar train from Busan will set you back for 15,000 won. Another relevant option is to travel by the SRT whose speed is considerably faster than your usual KTX from Seoul to Daejeon. The department of this train is from Suseo station and the only catch it being located south of the city center. If one approaches from the KTC Gyeongbu, they may try and get off at the Shintanjon station, north of the city. The tickets for Korail services are available at the station counter or can be purchased through travel agencies. If you are planning your trip ahead, then reserve it at least a month before your date of reservation since it’s mostly saturated. But if you are lucky, you can register for the waiting list. The only drawback to online booking is that it has no English interface as of now.
Apart from trains, you can also get in here via bus where you can find three intercity terminals for buses and other relevant stops. These terminals are as follows: Dong-bu intercity bus terminal, Seo-bu terminal, Yuseong- gu.
There are two bus stops around the government complex that have some express buses departing from Dong-bu and Yuseong stop.
