2018 Olympics: Anyone going?

[a12553]

Some information about transport
From Seoul to Gangneung - about 2,5-3 hours by car/bus. Hope there will be a train also.
From PyeongChang to Gangneung - about 0,5 hours.
From Yangyang to Gangneung - about 40 minutes by car, long way by bus now.
From Donghae to Gangneung - about 45 minutes by bus.

For people who will live in Seoul. There is a very good transportation system there. A lot of maps, navigation, good subway and good buses. If you will no rent a car, choose some place near to the metrostation.

And about accomodation
Hotels in Gangneung: https://goo.gl/QMvvxA
In PyeongChang: https://goo.gl/f8Isce
In Yangyang: https://goo.gl/Fi6OX7
In Seoul: https://goo.gl/W6I72k

If it's comfort is important for you, I think, it's better to book hotel in Gangneung or Pyeongchang. If price is more important, book a hotel in Seoul. Sure, it's not so easy to sleep in bus for three hours on your way to Gangneung, but it's much-much more cheaper.

If now you don't know will you go or not, choose hotels with free cancellation. Your goal is to book it, because there are not so many rooms and beds already.

Also you can try to find something here. It's not so easy as on booking, but sometimes it has more rooms: https://goo.gl/2YmN3U

Someone could try to find free accomodation on Couchsurfing.com, but be careful, see previous opinions.

And as it was said by @DreamSkates , airbnb is good! The same system is https://goo.gl/To8W9n

Good luck and maybe see you

 

[greenapple]

According to the organizers, there will be a high speed train running from Incheon airport to Gangneung which will take about 133 minutes. The bus ride many had to take this week took 3 ½ hours. Friends in Gangneung say that accommodation is already at a premium for the Games.

 

[livetoskate]

2 to 3 hours to get there after being on planes for a day... unfortunately I'll have to pass. Sounds physically dreadful. Poor athletes have to endure all that traveling. I look forward to going to the grand prix final in Vancouver instead.

 

[kalamalka]

Another sign of the lack of accommodation - we met a Canadian family there for the world junior curling event, currently in progress in Gangneung, and their hotels as well are a 45 minute bus ride away.

 

[sjs5572]

Some information about transport
From Seoul to Gangneung - about 2,5-3 hours by car/bus. Hope there will be a train also.
From PyeongChang to Gangneung - about 0,5 hours.
From Yangyang to Gangneung - about 40 minutes by car, long way by bus now.
From Donghae to Gangneung - about 45 minutes by bus.

For people who will live in Seoul. There is a very good transportation system there. A lot of maps, navigation, good subway and good buses. If you will no rent a car, choose some place near to the metrostation.

And about accomodation
Hotels in Gangneung: https://goo.gl/QMvvxA
In PyeongChang: https://goo.gl/f8Isce
In Yangyang: https://goo.gl/Fi6OX7
In Seoul: https://goo.gl/W6I72k

If it's comfort is important for you, I think, it's better to book hotel in Gangneung or Pyeongchang. If price is more important, book a hotel in Seoul. Sure, it's not so easy to sleep in bus for three hours on your way to Gangneung, but it's much-much more cheaper.

If now you don't know will you go or not, choose hotels with free cancellation. Your goal is to book it, because there are not so many rooms and beds already.

Also you can try to find something here. It's not so easy as on booking, but sometimes it has more rooms: https://goo.gl/2YmN3U

Someone could try to find free accomodation on Couchsurfing.com, but be careful, see previous opinions.

And as it was said by @DreamSkates , airbnb is good! The same system is https://goo.gl/To8W9n

Good luck and maybe see you

Thanks for great info. I booked the YongPyong Dragon Hotel on Orbitz using a 15 percent off coupon code. What is your opinion on getting from this hotel to the skating venue?

Some information about transport
From Seoul to Gangneung - about 2,5-3 hours by car/bus. Hope there will be a train also.
From PyeongChang to Gangneung - about 0,5 hours.
From Yangyang to Gangneung - about 40 minutes by car, long way by bus now.
From Donghae to Gangneung - about 45 minutes by bus.

For people who will live in Seoul. There is a very good transportation system there. A lot of maps, navigation, good subway and good buses. If you will no rent a car, choose some place near to the metrostation.

And about accomodation
Hotels in Gangneung: https://goo.gl/QMvvxA
In PyeongChang: https://goo.gl/f8Isce
In Yangyang: https://goo.gl/Fi6OX7
In Seoul: https://goo.gl/W6I72k

If it's comfort is important for you, I think, it's better to book hotel in Gangneung or Pyeongchang. If price is more important, book a hotel in Seoul. Sure, it's not so easy to sleep in bus for three hours on your way to Gangneung, but it's much-much more cheaper.

If now you don't know will you go or not, choose hotels with free cancellation. Your goal is to book it, because there are not so many rooms and beds already.

Also you can try to find something here. It's not so easy as on booking, but sometimes it has more rooms: https://goo.gl/2YmN3U

Someone could try to find free accomodation on Couchsurfing.com, but be careful, see previous opinions.

And as it was said by @DreamSkates , airbnb is good! The same system is https://goo.gl/To8W9n

Good luck and maybe see you

 

[seabm7]

Thanks for great info. I booked the YongPyong Dragon Hotel on Orbitz using a 15 percent off coupon code. What is your opinion on getting from this hotel to the skating venue?

PyeongChang is actually a county, not a city. It has several ski resorts: One of them is YongPyong, where the Olympic athletes will stay, and another is Alpensia, the Olympic venue for ski. GangNeung, the place for Olympic ice rinks, is a seaside city next to PyeongChang.

Currently, transportation from YongPyong to GangNeung: You have to go down from the ski resorts to HoengGye, a transportation hub in PyeongChang. There is an intercity bus terminal. There are frequent bus services from HoengGye to Seoul or to GangNeung.

I visited that area a couple of times to participate in conferences. From Seoul, I went to HoengGye by bus, then went up to the resorts by taxi. Both the bus and taxi fares were reasonable.

With the Olympics, many aspects of this will be changed.

1) There will be a new express train line from Seoul, which stops at PyeongChang on the way to GangNeung. However, the train stations will not be near the ski resorts. I'm not sure if this is the way to go to GangNeung from YongPyong.

2) Since the athletes will stay at YongPyong (they are constructing new condos), my guess is the organizers will be careful with transportation around that area anyway.

3) The Opening and Closing ceremonies will be held at HoengGye. The road at HoengGye is narrow, so huge traffic jams are expected during those times.

4) If the road condition is OK, you may try to go to GangNeung by taxi or by a rental car. It will be more expensive, but less time consuming.

5) During the ski season, YongPyong runs a limited shuttle bus to GangNeung, according to their website.

ps: The YongPyong ski resort is not the same as Yongpyeong-myeon, another small town in PyeongChang, so please be careful. The town is not near the resort. Sometimes, to distinguish these two places, the ski resort is posted as 용평 (횡계), which translates as YongPyong by HoengGye.

 

[sjs5572]

PyeongChang is actually a county, not a city. It has several ski resorts: One of them is YongPyong, where the Olympic athletes will stay, and the other is Alpensia, the Olympic venue for ski. GangNeung, the place for Olympic ice rinks, is a seaside city next to PyeongChang.

Currently, transportation from YongPyong to GangNeung: You have to go down from the ski resorts to HoengGye, the transportation hub of PyeongChang. There is an intercity bus terminal. There are frequent bus services from HoengGye to Seoul or to GangNeung.

I visited that area a couple of times to participate in conferences. From Seoul, I went to HoengGye by bus, then went up to the resorts by taxi. Both the bus and taxi fares were reasonable.

With the Olympics, many aspects of this will be changed.

1) There will be a new express train line from Seoul, which stops at PyeongChang on the way to GangNeung.

2) Since the athletes will stay at YongPyong (they are constructing new condos), my guess is the organizers will be careful with transportation around that area.

3) The Opening and Closing ceremonies will be held at HoengGye. There will be huge roadblocks during that time.

4) If the road condition is OK, you may try to go to GangNeung by taxi or by a rental car. It will be more expensive, but less time consuming.

5) During the ski season, YongPyeong runs a limited shuttle bus to GangNeung, according to their website.

Excellent info....thanks. I will not be there during the opening or closing ceremonies: planning to arrive on February 15 and depart on February 24th. I did some research and rented a car through Avis for the nine days @ a rate of $262 US total. I understand that I will need to apply for an International Driving Permit to rent a car as an American driver. Now I only need two more pieces to the puzzle....plane tickets and of course event tickets! ( I missed the most recent figure skating availability on Cosport). Looking forward to my first trip to the Far East!

 

[seabm7]

Excellent info....thanks. I will not be there during the opening or closing ceremonies: planning to arrive on February 15 and depart on February 24th. I did some research and rented a car through Avis for the nine days @ a rate of $262 US total. I understand that I will need to apply for an International Driving Permit to rent a car as an American driver. Now I only need two more pieces to the puzzle....plane tickets and of course event tickets! ( I missed the most recent figure skating availability on Cosport). Looking forward to my first trip to the Far East!

OK. Just one tip: The YongPyong ski resort is not the same as Yongpyeong-myeon, another small town in PyeongChang, so please be careful.

 

[sjs5572]

Excellent info....thanks. I will not be there during the opening or closing ceremonies: planning to arrive on February 15 and depart on February 24th. I did some research and rented a car through Avis for the nine days @ a rate of $262 US total. I understand that I will need to apply for an International Driving Permit to rent a car as an American driver. Now I only need two more pieces to the puzzle....plane tickets and of course event tickets! ( I missed the most recent figure skating availability on Cosport). Looking forward to my first trip to the Far East!

One more qiestion....are the roads from Seoul to YongPyong and YongPyong to Gangneung usually drivable during the snowy winter months? Thanks.

 

[kalamalka]

There was very little sign of snow anywhere last week. We were in Gangneung, but even on the bus trip to / from Seoul, we could see some ski runs and my guess is the snow was mostly man-made, because there was no snow on the surrounding trees, and the valleys were clear. I don't know what is usual.

 

[sjs5572]

Good to know....thanks!

There was very little sign of snow anywhere last week. We were in Gangneung, but even on the bus trip to / from Seoul, we could see some ski runs and my guess is the snow was mostly man-made, because there was no snow on the surrounding trees, and the valleys were clear. I don't know what is usual.

 

[seabm7]

One more qiestion....are the roads from Seoul to YongPyong and YongPyong to Gangneung usually drivable during the snowy winter months? Thanks.

I asked my friend from that area. She says it's unpredictable. Though not frequent, there is always a possibility of big snow. So better be prepared.

She also says they do remove the snow and clear the roads, but it takes time.

Anyway, if the road is not ready, the athletes cannot move to the arena, either.

 

[SidelineSkater]

As CoSport availability is limited to pairs short only right now, does anyone know if it's possible to have someone in South Korea enter the lottery to purchase tickets for someone else outside the country? Are there any restrictions - as in the buyer must be the one to use the tickets?

For those looking at hotel options - if/when the high speed rail link is complete, it's supposed to be from Incheon to the Olympic area. Incheon is one of two airports near Seoul, and would likely have less expensive rates. I booked rooms at one of the airport hotels last week, and the rates have already gone up $50, but still a reasonable price.

 

[sjs5572]

Yongpyong Dragon Valley Hotel wants to cancel my confirmed and credit card guaranteed reservation for February 15 to 24, 2018.

I just received an email from the hotel manager via Orbitz saying that all rooms are being held for athletes and others at this time. What is particularly annoying is that two other good hotels were available when I made this reservation; now everything is sold out. I have escalated this issue to the management at Orbitz....let's see what happens.

 

[seabm7]

Yongpyong Dragon Valley Hotel wants to cancel my confirmed and credit card guaranteed reservation for February 15 to 24, 2018.

I just received an email from the hotel manager via Orbitz saying that all rooms are being held for athletes and others at this time. What is particularly annoying is that two other good hotels were available when I made this reservation; now everything is sold out. I have escalated this issue to the management at Orbitz....let's see what happens.

OMG. There was a speculation that all the hotels of Gangneung would be booked for athletes and others, so only pensions and BnB would be available for tourists. It looks like this possibility is becoming true, even for the ski resorts.

 

[Japanfan]

As CoSport availability is limited to pairs short only right now, does anyone know if it's possible to have someone in South Korea enter the lottery to purchase tickets for someone else outside the country? Are there any restrictions - as in the buyer must be the one to use the tickets?

I bought a ticket for the Vancouver Olympics from a Korea who attended the Olympics. Met up with her, exchanged the funds for the ticket, and all was fine.

There were not IDs associated with the tickets.

 

[Duchess]

OMG. There was a speculation that all the hotels of Gangneung would be booked for athletes and others, so only pensions and BnB would be available for tourists. It looks like this possibility is becoming true, even for the ski resorts.

This is my worse nightmare! Let us know how issue is resolved. I have a place confirmed via Airbnb; I pray I don't have any problems.

 

[seabm7]

This is my worse nightmare! Let us know how issue is resolved. I have a place confirmed via Airbnb; I pray I don't have any problems.

I made a phone call to Gangneung City ( + 82 033 640 5420 ). It's true that Olympic organizers reserved (or will reserve) large hotels in Gangneung. He thinks that Airbnb might be OK for tourists, but to be sure, one has to check with the hotels/hosts for confirmation. Apparently he does not have information for availability of individual hotels/hosts for tourists.

 

[sjs5572]

Cosport has just releases level B Pairs Free tickets! They cost about $475 each.

 

[sjs5572]

Still no resolution on my accommodations cancellation. I must say, having attended the Vancouver and Salt Lake Olympics, Pyeongchang has a very dire housing situation. Here we are, one year out, and no availability unless you're willing to commute from Seoul, bunk in a dormitory, or take a chance on Airbnb offerings with bad reviews or no reviews at all. Tourists who can afford to spend thousands on airfare and tickets will likely be deterred by this situation.

 

[TAHbKA]

Um... it was possible to buy the tickets on the spot in Sochi (I remember running and buying them for at least 10 different people, since I was already there anyway and there were no queues 2-3 days before the opening ceremony). Is it going to be the case in Korea?

 

[skatingguy]

Um... it was possible to buy the tickets on the spot in Sochi (I remember running and buying them for at least 10 different people, since I was already there anyway and there were no queues 2-3 days before the opening ceremony). Is it going to be the case in Korea?

Hard to say. I would think the Japanese would gobble up the tickets they can get their hands on being so close and with Hanyu the early favourite for gold. When it comes to other sports though, the Koreans are only really competitive in short track speed skating so it's possible that tickets may be largely available - if you can find a place to stay.

 

[SidelineSkater]

Cosport has just releases level B Pairs Free tickets! They cost about $475 each.

Not any more! I snagged up two tickets - thank you!!! I randomly check the site, and there they were! Now if we can just get Men's Free Skate, I'll be set!

 

[seabm7]

Hard to say. I would think the Japanese would gobble up the tickets they can get their hands on being so close and with Hanyu the early favourite for gold. When it comes to other sports though, the Koreans are only really competitive in short track speed skating so it's possible that tickets may be largely available - if you can find a place to stay.

In addition, we should not ignore Chinese. The eastern coastline of Korea is popular among Chinese tourists, since the color of sea is deep blue. February 2018 includes the lunar new year festival, a good time for an oversea travel for them. Not far from Gangneung, there is a small international airport at Yangyang, which mostly caters for Chinese tourists.

 

[seabm7]

Well, I made a phone call to PyeongChang county Today (+ 82 (033) 330 2771) and asked about the availability of resort hotels for tourists during the Olympic games. They say they haven't received an official notice from the Olympic organizers yet, but they also heard about cancellations of bookings many times.

 

[sjs5572]

Well, I made a phone call to PyeongChang county Today (+ 82 (033) 330 2771) and asked about the availability of resort hotels for tourists during the Olympic games. They say they haven't received official notice from the Olympic organizers yet, but they also heard about cancellations of bookings many times.

Well, Orbitz contacted the Yongpyong Dragon Valley Resort on my behalf. The reservations manager claims that they will have alternate arrangements booked for me by Monday. I will keep you guys posted!

 

[sjs5572]

This is my worse nightmare! Let us know how issue is resolved. I have a place confirmed via Airbnb; I pray I don't have any problems.

I have decided against doing AirBnb. I am very fearful of traveling 7,000 miles and 30 hours, only to find that the place is a dump, or worse, that the reservation was canceled.

 

[Duchess]

I have decided against doing AirBnb. I am very fearful of traveling 7,000 miles and 30 hours, only to find that the place is a dump, or worse, that the reservation was canceled.

Airbnb is new for me, but I know several people who swear by it and have never experienced any issues, so I'm taking a chance! So far the owner has been quite responsive to questions via email.

 

[Japanfan]

I look forward to going to the grand prix final in Vancouver instead.

What? When is there a GPF in Vancouver (assume you mean BC)?

We have Nationals here in 2018.

 

[skatingguy]

What? When is there a GPF in Vancouver (assume you mean BC)?

We have Nationals here in 2018.

And the GPF is between Dec. 5-9 2018.