How Foreigners Can Book the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival (January 9-31, 2027) and Pyeongchang Trout Festival and Get There from Seoul Without a Car

The 2027 Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival is scheduled to run from Saturday, January 9 to Sunday, January 31, 2027, for 23 days. The front page of the festival's official site and the Korea Tourism Organization's VisitKorea festival page list the same dates. However, the detail pages for fees, booking and the foreigner fishing area carry the note 'This is the content of the 2026 festival; the 2027 festival content update is in preparation.' So the only value in this article confirmed for the 2027 edition is the festival period (only part of the wording on who qualifies for discounts has been changed to 2027), and the fees, operating hours and capacity are all based on the 2026 edition (winter 2025-26), while the bus timetables and bus fares are based on the October 2026 intercity bus booking system.

The Pyeongchang Trout Festival hasn't announced its 2027 dates yet. Its official site still shows the 2026 edition (winter 2025-26), which ran from January 9 to February 9, 2026.

There are a few places where the barriers get higher for foreigners. Hwacheon's reserved fishing area was sold only on NOL Interpark, a Korean booking site, and in the 2026 edition the tickets for the first two weekends had already sold out three days before opening (January 7). The foreigner discount requires proof that you're a 'holder of a foreign passport', and the information on the foreigner fishing area differs between the Korean, English and Traditional Chinese versions of the site. The Pyeongchang Trout Festival's official site says in English on its front page that foreigners should call, and online booking is open only for tent fishing, for everyone. Below is everything from choosing which festival to go to, to buying tickets and getting there from Seoul by bus or train.

Go to Hwacheon by Bus and to Pyeongchang by KTX

Both festivals have you fish through a hole drilled in a frozen river in Gangwon-do. It's quicker to choose between them by how you get there and how you buy tickets than by the fish. Hwacheon has no train station, so you go from Seoul by intercity bus, while the Pyeongchang Trout Festival site is a taxi ride from Jinbu (Odaesan) Station on the KTX Gangneung Line.

When calling an 033 number in this article from abroad, drop the leading 0 and dial starting with +82-33. Representative numbers starting with 1688 or 1544 may not connect from abroad.

Hwacheon is announced to end on January 31, 2027. The Pyeongchang Trout Festival's 2026 edition ran until 2 p.m. on February 9, but its 2027 dates aren't known yet. If you'd rather take one KTX ride and then a taxi, look at Pyeongchang first; if you want the one with a foreigner fishing area and foreign-language information, look at Hwacheon first.

If the Ice Freezes Late, the Opening Gets Pushed Back, So Book Flights and Rooms You Can Change

Ice fishing festivals open only once the ice reaches a safe thickness. Even after dates are announced, both festivals have real cases of the opening being postponed because of the weather.

The Pyeongchang Trout Festival's 2026 edition was originally planned for January 1 to February 2, 2026. After a run of days above 0°C, the ice on Odaecheon Stream fell short of the festival's safety standard for ice fishing (20 cm), so the Pyeongchang Trout Festival Committee announced a postponement on December 22, 2025 and moved the dates to January 9 to February 9. The announcement came ten days before the original opening day. A committee official said, 'We've had schedule disruptions of a day or two, but this is the first time the opening itself has been postponed.'

The Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival's 2020 edition was pushed back twice because of mild weather and winter rain. The original opening on January 4, 2020 was first pushed to January 11, then postponed again on the 11th itself, and the festival finally ran from January 27 to February 16, 2020. The 2021 edition was 'effectively canceled' because of COVID-19 (Hwacheon County said on December 15, 2020 that 'it has effectively become difficult to hold the festival').

Even during the first postponement in 2020, the foreigner fishing area, for foreign tourists who had bought travel packages in advance and participants in the foreign independent traveler program, opened on the original opening day, January 4. That said, the postponements and cancellations we confirmed for Hwacheon this time are in two years, 2020 (weather) and 2021 (COVID-19), and this doesn't mean it gets pushed back every year. Just take it as: it has been postponed before when the ice froze late.

So book your flights and accommodation on terms that let you change the dates, and right before you leave, check the notices again: for Hwacheon at narafestival.com (English version narafestival.com/ice_en, Traditional Chinese version narafestival.com/ice_tw), and for Pyeongchang at festival700.or.kr. In 2020 Hwacheon changed an already postponed opening date again, so rather than checking once and stopping there, it's safer to look one more time the day before you leave.

How to Choose Among Hwacheon's Three Fishing Areas

As of the 2026 edition, the Hwacheon festival site has three kinds of fishing areas. The way you buy tickets and the location differ, so you need to decide which fishing area you're going to first; that sets your arrival time and your bus time. The third one, the 'Foreigner & Fam Tourist Fishing Area' (a fam tour is a familiarization trip where travel agencies and media are invited to look around), is called the foreigner fishing area for short below. The English version of the site calls it 'Foreigners & Ice fishing area for FAM tourists', and the Traditional Chinese version lists it in the menu as 'MOU旅行社 & 個體遊客' and titles the page '外國人 & 家庭旅遊者 冰釣場所'.

Times differ by language version. The weekend registration start at the reserved fishing area is 07:00 in the Korean version, 08:00 in the English version and 08:30 in the Traditional Chinese version, and ticket sales at the foreigner fishing area start at 09:00 in the Korean and English versions but at 08:30 in the Traditional Chinese version. The table shows the Korean version's values, so check the notices on site as well.

The on-site registration fishing area is first come, first served, and the official guide says 'on weekends it often closes in the morning'. The same conditions apply to Koreans, but foreigners who aren't sure whether NOL Interpark payment will work tend to end up at the on-site fishing area. Even if you take the first bus from Dong Seoul Terminal (06:45 per the 2026 festival guide, about 2 hours 55 minutes), you still have to get from the Hwacheon terminal to the fishing area, so on a weekend day trip you could miss on-site registration. If you're going on a weekend, aim for the reserved fishing area first, and if you couldn't get a ticket, contact the foreigner fishing area in advance. Whether it also closes in the morning on weekdays isn't stated in the official guide.

Here's what can be confirmed officially about the foreigner fishing area. It's for overseas travel agencies, FITs (independent travelers) and foreigners in general; you can catch up to 3 sancheoneo per person; and there's a foreigner rest area, a Muslim prayer room and a grilling spot (where you grill the sancheoneo you caught). The fee isn't on the same page in the Korean version and appears as a table only in the English and Traditional Chinese versions.

There are also things none of the three language versions state. Before you go, ask the Hwacheon County Global Marketing Team (033-440-2328, from abroad +82-33-440-2328) about the following.

• Whether independent travelers can buy tickets on site, or have to book in advance through a travel agency
• How they check passports
• Whether you can take home the sancheoneo you catch (the official wording only says 'you can catch up to 3')
• Which free-entry rule for children applies (for this fishing area it differs by version, 'under 4 years old' in English and '4歲以下 (4 and under)' in Traditional Chinese, while the general experience fee rule is 'below elementary school age')

The location has also changed, from 'Fishing Area 3 in the upstream part of the festival site' in the 2020 edition to downstream of the suspension bridge in the 2026 edition, so check again on the site map when you get there.

At both the on-site and reserved fishing areas, you bring your own fishing gear. On site, only ice chisels (tools for breaking up the ice in your fishing hole) are provided. Here's a summary of the official 2026 guide.

• What to bring: fishing gear such as a gyeonji rod (a short rod for ice fishing) or a small reel rod (a small rod with a reel attached), bait (live bait is banned) and a chair. If you came empty-handed by bus, buy them at the festival site's 'snack bar & tackle shop'.
• What you can't bring: ice boxes, coolers, styrofoam, cardboard boxes and live wells (containers for keeping caught fish alive). Put your sancheoneo in the collection bag handed out at the operations booth.
• On-site fishing area rules: food, personal structures that block the view such as windbreaks and tents, and fire sources such as heaters are banned. The whole fishing area is non-smoking, and pets aren't allowed in.

You'll be sitting on the ice for hours without a windbreak or a heater, so prepare your clothes with what to wear in a Korean winter and buying it locally.

Where You Can Get Stuck Buying Hwacheon Reserved Fishing Tickets on NOL Interpark

In the 2026 edition, reserved ice fishing was sold only on NOL Interpark (online, 24 hours). The official English version points to the same route, lists the foreigner fee as 'Foreign passport holder' 10,000 KRW, and gives the ticket call center number 1544-1555. The booking rules are as follows.

• Both members and non-members can book. Non-members set a password for checking and canceling their booking.
• One ID can book up to 10 people including yourself. For more than 10 people, split the booking between 2 or more people.
• You can't change the booked date.
• Preschool children don't need a ticket. If they come with a guardian, they get in free after an on-site check.
• Tickets aren't mailed out; you receive them at the reserved fishing area ticket office on the day of use after an identity check.
• The page says 'booking mistakes, such as applying discount benefits incorrectly, are the booker's own responsibility.' In other words, problems caused by choosing the discount fee incorrectly are on the booker.

Cancellation fees, based on the 2026 product page, are as follows.

If you book a date whose cancellation deadline has already passed, you can't cancel or get a refund from the moment you book. For product and cancellation inquiries, call 1544-1555 (09:00-18:00).

Where foreigners get stuck is payment and verification. NOL Interpark is a Korean-language domestic booking site, so even if non-member booking works, you may get stuck at the payment or verification step. We couldn't confirm whether non-member booking requires Korean mobile phone verification, or whether cards issued abroad can be used for payment. We also couldn't confirm whether the reserved fishing product appears on the English site NOL World (world.nol.com). A search in September 2026 turns up only a Sancheoneo Festival day tour departing from Seoul (currently not available for purchase).

Also be aware that tickets go fast. In the 2026 edition, as of January 7, 2026, before opening, all tickets for the first weekend (January 10 and 11) and the second weekend (January 17 and 18) had sold out. Even if you couldn't book, the on-site fishing area takes people without reservations on a first come, first served basis (on weekends it often closes in the morning). As of September 2026, the date 2027 booking opens hasn't been announced, and the booking start dates of past editions don't remain as official notices, so we couldn't confirm them. Check the official site's notices often from early December and try on the day booking opens; if payment fails, ask 1544-1555, and if it still doesn't work, switch your plan to the on-site fishing area or the foreigner fishing area.

Bring Your Passport to Get the Foreigner Discount Fee

In the 2026 edition, the ice fishing experience fee was 15,000 KRW for general visitors (middle school students and older) and 10,000 KRW for discount-eligible visitors, and children below elementary school age got in free when accompanied by a guardian. Both general and discount tickets come with a 5,000 KRW local produce voucher handed back to you (a voucher you exchange for Hwacheon farm and specialty products). Discount-eligible visitors are elementary school students, multi-child families (2 or more minor children), people aged 65 or older, people with disabilities, war veterans, persons of national merit, foreigners (holders of a foreign passport) and military service members; proof is required, and discounts can't be combined.

It is not 'free for elementary school students and younger'. Free entry covers only children below elementary school age (preschool), and elementary school students pay the discount fee. If two foreign parents with foreign passports go with one elementary school student and one preschool child, it comes to 30,000 KRW at 2026 fees.

The discount assumes you can show proof. The NOL price list says 'supporting documents are checked when you collect tickets on site (if not brought, you pay the difference)'. If you book at the foreigner discount and leave your passport at your accommodation, you'll have to pay the 5,000 KRW difference from the general fee on site. We couldn't confirm whether foreigners living in Korea can get the discount with only an Alien Registration Card. The official wording is 'foreign passport holder', which reads as passport-based, so bring your original passport.

The 2027 fees aren't confirmed yet. However, a news report (2026-10-02) said that after a festival improvement meeting on October 1, 2026, Hwacheon County is considering raising the adult experience fee from 15,000 KRW to around 25,000 KRW and increasing the local produce vouchers and Hwacheon Love gift certificates handed back from 5,000 KRW to 15,000 KRW. How the discount fee and the foreigner fee will change hasn't been announced yet. The discount-eligible list on the official experience fee page has already been changed to 'Elementary school students: enrolled as of January 2027', but the same page also carries 'Details are being prepared' and 'content of the 2026 festival'. Check whether the fees have changed after the official site is updated with 2027 content.

How to Get from Seoul to Hwacheon Without a Car

Hwacheon has no train station, and the bus from Seoul isn't an express bus but an intercity bus from Dong Seoul Terminal. So if you look for Hwacheon on a KTX or express bus booking screen, it won't show up. There are two routes: take a direct intercity bus from Dong Seoul Terminal to Hwacheon, or take a train to Chuncheon and transfer to an intercity bus for Hwacheon.

The intercity bus fare between Dong Seoul and Hwacheon is 15,100 KRW for middle and high school students and 9,500 KRW for children, and from Hwacheon to Chuncheon it's 5,000 KRW for middle and high school students and 3,200 KRW for children (per the October 2026 intercity bus booking system). Intercity bus fares went up 9% on October 1, 2026, so the bus fares in the festival's official guide differ from the current fares. From Hwacheon Public Bus Terminal (38-5 Sangseung-ro, Hwacheon-eup, 033-442-2902), buses going straight to Dong Seoul run 8 times a day (07:40-19:30) per the October 2026 timetable in the intercity bus booking system, and according to Hwacheon County Office they stop at Chuncheon, Gangchon, Gapyeong, Cheongpyeong and Daeseong-ri on the way. Hwacheon County Office's guide lists 16 buses a day to Dong Seoul (06:40-21:00), but half of them appear to go only as far as Chuncheon. On the way back, buses from Hwacheon to Chuncheon run 16 times a day including the Dong Seoul buses (06:40-21:00, about 1 hour), per the October 2026 intercity bus booking system. The Dong Seoul-bound bus also goes through Chuncheon, so if you plan to switch to a train in Chuncheon, also ask at the terminal whether you can take the Dong Seoul bus and get off in Chuncheon. These timetables change when the bus company changes its schedule, so check again at the terminal before you leave. Dong Seoul Terminal is set to begin modernization work as early as late 2026, and during the work a temporary boarding area will be set up in the Technomart building right next door (Seoul Metropolitan Government announcement). We couldn't confirm when boarding will move there, so if you go in January, check again where the Hwacheon bus leaves from when you arrive at the terminal.

Trains to Chuncheon include the Chuncheon-bound subway (Gyeongchun Line) from Sangbong Station and the ITX-Cheongchun from Yongsan and Cheongnyangni. The festival's official guide lists the subway departure station as 'Sinsangbong', but look for Sangbong Station in map apps. Where you catch the bus to Hwacheon in Chuncheon depends on which station you get off at.

• If you get off at Namchuncheon Station, catch it at Chuncheon Intercity Bus Terminal near the station.
• If you get off at Chuncheon Station, catch it at the stop across from the station. The stop is marked '화천, 양구' (Hwacheon, Yanggu).

This step means finding the stop by Korean signs, so saving a photo of the characters '화천, 양구' in advance makes it easier. The official guide says 'during the festival there are many intercity bus passengers, so if you board at Chuncheon Station you may have difficulty getting a seat.' If you want to sit, first consider getting off at Namchuncheon Station and boarding at the terminal.

After you arrive in Hwacheon, there's a circular shuttle around town on festival weekends (Saturday and Sunday) (per the 2026 edition). From 09:00 to 18:00, 4 buses run every 20 minutes from Hwacheon Gymnasium via the intercity bus terminal and other stops back to Hwacheon Gymnasium, and you can get on and off freely at the stops. Times and intervals can change depending on traffic. The official guide doesn't say how many minutes it takes to walk from the terminal to the festival site. When you get off at the terminal, enter the festival site address 137 Sancheoneo-gil, Hwacheon-eup, Hwacheon-gun, Gangwon State (강원특별자치도 화천군 화천읍 산천어길 137) in a map app, or show this address at the terminal ticket office and ask for directions. There's no official shuttle from Seoul or Chuncheon on the official pages (as of September 2026).

Instead, travel agencies sell same-day shuttle products from Seoul for foreigners. Taking one travel agency's 2025 edition product page as an example, it left in the morning from Hongik Univ. Station and Euljiro 1-ga Station, and bundled admission, one grilled sancheoneo, fishing rod rental, round-trip transportation and English-speaking staff for US$35.5. The same page had the line 'ice fishing may be replaced by water fishing depending on the weather', and it listed two different deadlines for a full refund side by side (up to 2 days before departure, and up to 17:00 three business days before departure). As of 2026-10-02, no 2027 product had been posted on this page yet. Another travel agency has already listed a foreigners-only shuttle product dated January 9 to 31, 2027, but the FAQ on that same page still shows the 2026 edition dates (January 10 to February 1, 2026). If you buy a travel agency product, read what's included and the refund conditions before you pay.

We couldn't confirm this time whether foreigners can book the Dong Seoul to Hwacheon intercity bus online. How to buy at the terminal when overseas cards are blocked for online booking is in the intercity bus terminal guide, and alternatives when weekend buses are sold out are in when express and intercity buses are sold out. For a day trip, check the time of the last bus back before you even look at the outbound ticket. The festival's official guide lists buses from Hwacheon to Dong Seoul until 21:00, but in the intercity bus booking system (October 2026 timetable) the last bus going straight to Dong Seoul leaves at 19:30, and the 21:00 bus only goes as far as Chuncheon. More buses may be added during the festival, so check again at the terminal before you leave.

If You Go in February, How to Get to the Taebaeksan Snow Festival and Daegwallyeong Snow Flower Festival

The Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival's announced closing date is January 31, 2027 (it may change depending on ice conditions). If you're heading to Gangwon-do in February, besides the Pyeongchang Trout Festival (the 2026 edition ran until February 9; covered separately below), there are two snow festivals. Neither has announced 2027 dates, and the values below are from the 2026 editions.

For the Taebaeksan Snow Festival, the official transport guide says to take a Mugunghwa train from Cheongnyangni Station in Seoul to Taebaek Station, then take city bus No. 7 and get off at the 'Danggol / Taebaeksan National Park' stop. The festival-period shuttle in the official guide runs from the parking lot area to Danggol Plaza (2026 edition), and the official guide lists no shuttle going directly from Taebaek Station. There's no KTX to Taebaek. According to unofficial timetable sites, Mugunghwa trains to Taebaek leave from Cheongnyangni Station, not Seoul Station, and take about 3 to 3.5 hours, so check again with a Korail search. The festival site is at the entrance to Taebaeksan National Park, so if you plan to climb the mountain, also see winter national park trail closures and crampons.

For the Daegwallyeong Snow Flower Festival, the official guide says to go from KTX Jinbu Station to Jinbu Terminal, then take a bus to Hoenggye Terminal, and walk 10 minutes from there. It doesn't say how to get from the station to Jinbu Terminal, so take a taxi in front of the station or ask at the station. If you come by bus from Seoul, it's a 10-minute walk from Hoenggye Intercity Bus Terminal. 2026 tickets were 10,000 KRW for adults (middle school students and older) and 8,000 KRW for children (elementary school students and younger). The official introduction says 'held every January', but the 2026 edition was held February 13 to 22, so check the dates in that year's notice for the edition. Inquiries: 033-335-3995.

The first leg to the Daegwallyeong Snow Flower Festival is also KTX Jinbu (Odaesan) Station, the same as for the Pyeongchang Trout Festival. How to get from Seoul to Jinbu Station is in the Pyeongchang section below.

Pyeongchang Trout Festival Only Takes Tent Fishing Bookings Online, So Ask by Phone

The Pyeongchang Trout Festival's official site has no separately built English version, and the EN button at the top of the site switches the screen with Google auto-translate. You can use it to read the price list and booking rules. And in two places on the front page it says in English 'If you are foreigner, please call us(+82-33-336-4000)'. We couldn't confirm whether calls are answered in English. If a call in Korean is hard for you, it's faster to ask your accommodation staff or a Korean-speaking acquaintance to ask for you.

Online booking is tent fishing only. The official site says 'everything else is on-site ticketing only'. The other activities, such as ice fishing, are bought on site, whether you're a foreigner or not. The rules on the tent fishing booking page are as follows.

• A booking is confirmed only once your payment has been received, and you can book only up to 2 days before your day of use (the day you actually fish).
• Cancellations and changes made by 4 p.m. 2 days before your day of use get a full refund; after that, you can't cancel.
• For refunds, the customer pays the remittance fee. If the festival cancels because of venue circumstances or a natural disaster, you get a full refund.
• Tents and fishing chairs are provided; bring your own fishing gear or buy it at the festival site. You can take home up to 2 trout per person.
• On-site ticketing for tent fishing happens only when bookings aren't full. The tent fishing area and the general fishing area are separate zones, and you can't move between them.

The official FAQ says that if you paid by card, you cancel yourself on the booking page, and if you paid by bank deposit (paying into the festival's account at a bank) or account transfer, you cancel by phone (033-336-4000, from abroad +82-33-336-4000) during business hours (09:00-17:00). Refunds are sent back by remittance, and the customer pays the fee. If you don't have a Korean bank account, you can't pay by account transfer, and even if you pay by bank deposit, there's no convenient account to receive a refund. We couldn't confirm whether overseas cards work for card payment. Before booking, call first to ask whether overseas card payment works, and if it doesn't, plan for ice fishing bought on site instead of tent fishing.

The price list has no year on it; the values below are what was posted during the 2026 edition.

Unlike Hwacheon, Pyeongchang's price list has no foreigner discount. Only preschool children aged 7 and under get in free when accompanied by a guardian, and family members who aren't fishing also need a ticket to enter. You need your purchase receipt to get a refund on any admission ticket or fishing supplies, so don't throw it away. In the 2026 edition, the festival ran 09:00-17:00 and ticketing at the main ticket office closed at 16:00. Ice fishing has to be bought on site, so if your plan has you arriving late in the afternoon, first work out whether you'll get there before ticketing closes.

How to Get from Seoul to Pyeongchang via KTX Jinbu (Odaesan) Station and a Taxi

The Pyeongchang Trout Festival site is on Odaecheon Stream in Jinbu-myeon, Pyeongchang-gun. The station the official transport guide points to is Jinbu (Odaesan) Station on the KTX Gangneung Line. Depending on the notice, it's also written as 'Jinbu Station' or 'Odaesan Station'. There's also a Pyeongchang Station on the same Gangneung Line, but it's a different station from the one for the festival site, so don't get off at Pyeongchang Station just because of its name.

The KTX travel times in the official guide are about 1 hour 40 minutes from Seoul Station, about 1 hour 20 minutes from Cheongnyangni Station and about 1 hour 10 minutes from Sangbong Station. When booking, check that the train stops at Jinbu (Odaesan) Station before you choose it. From October 1, 2026, KTX and other rail tickets can be booked 2 months before departure instead of 1 month (announced by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Korea Railroad Corporation). For a train on January 9, you can book from November 9.

As of September 2026, we couldn't find an official shuttle guide from the station to the festival site. The official 'Travel/Shuttle' board has 0 posts, and the official transport guide gives only one taxi number, Jinbu Taxi Company 033-335-1050. Check this board once more before you leave. The Jinbu Station guides of Mona Yongpyong and Alpensia resorts list Jinbu Taxi at 033-335-0088, so if one doesn't answer, try the other number. The official guide doesn't say how many minutes a taxi from the station to the festival site takes or how much it costs, so check with the driver before you get in. Show the taxi driver or your map app 3562 Gyeonggang-ro, Jinbu-myeon, Pyeongchang-gun, Gangwon State (강원특별자치도 평창군 진부면 경강로 3562), which the official FAQ gives as the navigation address, together with the name 'Pyeongchang Trout Festival' (평창송어축제). The directions page also lists it as 1289-80 Hajinbu-ri. How to call a taxi without a Korean phone number is in how to call a taxi in Korea. Continuing from Jinbu Station to the Yongpyong and Alpensia ski resorts is covered separately in the ski resort shuttle booking guide.

The official guide also lists buses. They run from Dong Seoul Terminal from 06:40 to 20:20 every 30 minutes to 1 hour, and from Seoul Nambu Terminal from 07:40 to 17:40 every 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours. Going by the October 2026 timetable in the intercity bus booking system, Dong Seoul → Jinbu is an intercity bus running 8 times a day (06:40-20:20, about 2 hours 10 minutes), so it runs less often than the official guide's 'every 30 minutes to 1 hour'. It also lists Jinbu Bus Terminal 033-335-6963 and the Pyeongchang County Tourist Information Center 033-330-2771 for transport inquiries.

On this route, the place where foreigners most easily get stuck on payment is booking the KTX. Why overseas cards get declined on Korail's official channels, and what to do instead, is in how foreigners can book KTX tickets. LACHA is a transportation and payment app for foreigners that you can sign up for without identity verification and use with overseas payment methods such as Alipay and WeChat Pay, so you can book KTX in the app too. The KTX from Seoul Station to Jinbu (Odaesan) Station shows up in an in-app search with the booking button available, and in the app's arrival station list it appears as 'Jinbu', without 'Odaesan'. From the station to the festival site, continue by a taxi in front of the station or by calling Jinbu Taxi Company. Intercity buses to Hwacheon, the Gyeongchun Line subway and ITX-Cheongchun can't be booked on LACHA.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1. How much is ice fishing at the 2027 Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival? A. As of October 2026, it hasn't been announced yet. There was a news report (2026-10-02) that Hwacheon County is considering raising the adult experience fee to around 25,000 KRW and increasing the amount handed back to 15,000 KRW. The official page says 'This is the content of the 2026 festival; the 2027 festival content update is in preparation.' In the 2026 edition, it was 15,000 KRW for general visitors (middle school students and older), 10,000 KRW for discount-eligible visitors (including foreigners holding a foreign passport), and free for children below elementary school age with a guardian, and both general and discount tickets came with a 5,000 KRW local produce voucher handed back. Check again after the official site switches to 2027 content.

Q2. Can I get the foreigner discount with just an Alien Registration Card? A. We couldn't confirm this. The official wording for the discount is 'foreigners (holders of a foreign passport)', which reads as passport-based. For NOL bookings, proof is checked when you collect your tickets on site, and if you can't show it, you pay the difference. Foreigners living in Korea should also bring their original passport to be safe.

Q3. If the Hwacheon reserved fishing area is sold out, does that mean I can't go to the festival? A. You can still go. Per the 2026 edition, the on-site registration fishing area (up to 8,000 people at once) takes people without reservations on a first come, first served basis, but the official guide says it often closes in the morning on weekends. For the foreigner fishing area (Foreigner & Fam Tourist Fishing Area, up to 1,300 people at once), the official pages don't say how to buy tickets, so ask the Hwacheon County Global Marketing Team (033-440-2328, from abroad +82-33-440-2328) first.

Q4. Is the Pyeongchang Trout Festival held in the second week of January every year? A. There's no fixed rule like that. As of September 2026, the 2027 dates haven't been announced. The 2026 edition was originally set to open on January 1 but was pushed back to January 9 to February 9 because the ice thickness fell short of the festival's safety standard (20 cm). Check the dates in the notices on the official site (festival700.or.kr).

Q5. I don't have a fishing rod. Can I rent one on site? A. It depends on the festival. At Hwacheon, the official list of things to bring is fishing gear such as a gyeonji rod (a short rod for ice fishing) or a small reel rod, bait (live bait is banned) and a chair, and only ice chisels are provided on site. If you don't have them, buy them at the festival site's 'snack bar & tackle shop'. At Pyeongchang, for both ice fishing and tent fishing you have to bring a rod or buy one at a shop at the festival site, and only indoor fishing lends rods for free. 'Fishing rod rental included' on travel agency day tours is a condition of that product.