Korea Winter Festivals 2027: Hwacheon Ice Fishing Jan 9–31 for ₩5,000 Net, Pyeongchang Trout, Taebaek Snow, Cheorwon Ice Trekking — Costs From Seoul
Hwacheon ice festival runs Jan 9–31, 2027: foreigners fish for ₩10,000 and get ₩5,000 back. Pyeongchang, Taebaek, Cheorwon: 2026 fees, fares and budgets.
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- Hwacheon 2027Jan 9–31 · confirmed
- Foreigner fishing₩10,000, ₩5,000 back
- G-shuttle 2026₩5,000 return
Contents
Korea's cheapest winter day out is fishing for trout through the ice at the 화천 산천어축제 (Hwacheon Sancheoneo Chukje), which runs January 9–31, 2027 (confirmed). In the 2026 season a foreign visitor paid ₩10,000 to fish (general rate ₩15,000) and got ₩5,000 back as a voucher, so the fishing itself cost ₩5,000. Three smaller Gangwon Province festivals follow in January and February — Pyeongchang Trout, Taebaeksan Snow and the Cheorwon ice trek — but their 2027 dates are not out yet. No festival has published 2027 prices; every fee below is the 2026 rate, as of September 2026.
Hwacheon 2027: what a day or a night costs
- Transport (round trip)
- Tickets & entry
- Lodging (per person)
- Food & drink
Show as table
| Scenario | Transport (round trip) | Tickets & entry | Lodging (per person) | Food & drink | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Budget | ₩16,000 | ₩5,000 | ₩0 | ₩20,000 | ₩41,000 |
| Comfort | ₩31,400 | ₩17,000 | ₩50,000 | ₩45,000 | ₩143,400 |
| Per person, from Seoul | Budget (day trip) | Comfort (1 night) |
|---|---|---|
| Transport (return) | ₩16,000 | ₩31,400 |
| Entry, net of vouchers | ₩5,000 | ₩17,000 |
| Lodging (half a double room) | ₩0 | ₩50,000 |
| Food and drink (estimate) | ₩20,000 | ₩45,000 |
| Total | ₩41,000 | ₩143,400 |
Assumptions: one person from Seoul at 2026 prices and the foreigner fishing rate; the day trip goes by Gyeongchun Line subway to Chuncheon plus a bus (about ₩2,700 + ₩5,300 each way), the overnight by direct bus from 동서울터미널 (Dong Seoul Terminal, about ₩15,700 each way), two people share a room, and food is our estimate, not a quoted price.
What drives the number is not the ticket — it is transport and the room. The Comfort entry of ₩17,000 is ice fishing (₩10,000), bare-hand catching (₩15,000) and an hour of sledding (₩5,000), minus ₩13,000 in vouchers. The room is half of a ₩100,000 pension, based on a September 2026 listing (pensions in Hwacheon showed about ₩90,000–130,000 a night, motels about ₩60,000); festival weekends will be higher, so book the moment you pick a date.
The 2026 price list (2027 not yet published)
| Program | General | Foreigner / discounted | Back as voucher |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ice fishing (on-site or pre-booked) | ₩15,000 | ₩10,000 (passport) | ₩5,000 농특산물 교환권 (nongteuksanmul gyohwangwon) |
| Bare-hand catching (age 14+) | ₩15,000 | about ₩10,000 | ₩5,000 |
| Sledding, 1 hour | ₩5,000 | — | ₩3,000 화천사랑상품권 (Hwacheon Sarang Sangpumgwon) |
| Grilling your catch | ₩3,000 per fish | — | — |
| Preschool children | Free with a paying adult | — | — |
The voucher detail matters: for fishing and bare-hand catching the ₩5,000 comes back as a farm-product voucher that you spend at the festival's produce market, not as cash or the county gift certificate. Spend it on local snacks or dried goods rather than letting it expire; reportedly the stalls give change in cash once you use at least 80% of it. The bare-hand price is the one to check on the day: two 2026 sources list ₩15,000, while an older wiki entry says ₩3,000. Grilling is where small costs add up — three fish is ₩9,000 — and you can reportedly take up to three fish home instead.
The festival draws a crowd: about 1.59 million visitors in 2026, including about 114,000 from abroad, down from a reported record of 1.86 million in 2025 (Asia Economy). It is one of the culture ministry's "global festivals", which is why it runs a separate foreigner-only ice-fishing area (09:00–18:00 in 2026). In 2026 the grounds opened 09:00–18:00 on weekdays and 08:30–18:00 at weekends, with night fishing 19:00–21:00.
Hwacheon vs Pyeongchang, Taebaek and Cheorwon
- Transport (round trip)
- Tickets & entry
- Lodging (per person)
- Food & drink
Show as table
| Festival | Transport (round trip) | Tickets & entry | Lodging (per person) | Food & drink | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pyeongchang Trout Festival | ₩37,200 | ₩22,000 | ₩0 | ₩20,000 | ₩79,200 |
| Taebaeksan Snow Festival | ₩30,400 | ₩0 | ₩0 | ₩20,000 | ₩50,400 |
| Cheorwon Hantan River Ice Trekking | ₩22,600 | ₩5,000 | ₩0 | ₩20,000 | ₩47,600 |
| Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival | ₩16,000 | ₩5,000 | ₩0 | ₩20,000 | ₩41,000 |
| Budget day trip | Hwacheon | Pyeongchang | Taebaek | Cheorwon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transport (return) | ₩16,000 | ₩37,200 | ₩30,400 | ₩22,600 |
| Entry, net | ₩5,000 | ₩22,000 | ₩0 | ₩5,000 |
| Lodging | ₩0 | ₩0 | ₩0 | ₩0 |
| Food (estimate) | ₩20,000 | ₩20,000 | ₩20,000 | ₩20,000 |
| Total | ₩41,000 | ₩79,200 | ₩50,400 | ₩47,600 |
Per person from Seoul by public transport, 2026 fees, food estimated. Pyeongchang excludes a fishing rod (you must bring or buy one) and the station-to-festival ride, both unpriced.
- Transport (round trip)
- Tickets & entry
- Lodging (per person)
- Food & drink
Show as table
| Festival | Transport (round trip) | Tickets & entry | Lodging (per person) | Food & drink | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pyeongchang Trout Festival | ₩47,500 | ₩40,000 | ₩49,500 | ₩45,000 | ₩182,000 |
| Cheorwon Hantan River Ice Trekking | ₩22,600 | ₩5,000 | ₩71,000 | ₩45,000 | ₩143,600 |
| Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival | ₩31,400 | ₩17,000 | ₩50,000 | ₩45,000 | ₩143,400 |
| Taebaeksan Snow Festival | ₩43,200 | ₩0 | ₩30,000 | ₩45,000 | ₩118,200 |
| One night | Hwacheon | Pyeongchang | Taebaek | Cheorwon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transport (return) | ₩31,400 | ₩47,500 | ₩43,200 | ₩22,600 |
| Entry, net | ₩17,000 | ₩40,000 | ₩0 | ₩5,000 |
| Lodging (half a double) | ₩50,000 | ₩49,500 | ₩30,000 | ₩71,000 |
| Food (estimate) | ₩45,000 | ₩45,000 | ₩45,000 | ₩45,000 |
| Total | ₩143,400 | ₩182,000 | ₩118,200 | ₩143,600 |
Room prices are September 2026 off-season listings (a Jinbu hotel at ₩99,000, a Taebaek motel at ₩60,000, a Cheorwon spa hotel at ₩142,000, each split two ways); January ski-season weekends in Pyeongchang in particular will cost more. In Cheorwon a motel (about ₩45,000–70,000) instead of the spa hotel cuts the one-night total by about ₩36,000–48,500.
Pyeongchang Trout Festival — 평창송어축제 (Pyeongchang Song-eo Chukje)
Dates for 2027 are not announced; in 2026 it ran January 9 to February 9 (32 days) on the Odaecheon stream in Jinbu, 09:00–17:00, and it is usually early January to early February. The official 2026 price list: ice fishing ₩25,000 (elementary pupils ₩20,000), ice fishing plus a rides pass ₩43,000, tent fishing ₩39,000 (₩49,000 with rides, online booking only), indoor fishing ₩20,000 and bare-hand catching ₩20,000 (official price list). You get ₩3,000 back as a local voucher. Two catches for foreigners: there is no foreigner discount, and no rod rental outside the indoor pool — bring a rod or buy one at the festival shop. Cleaning a fish for sashimi or grilling reportedly costs about ₩4,000. It is much more Korean than Hwacheon: reportedly only about 3,000 of its roughly 250,000 visitors are foreign.
Taebaeksan Snow Festival — 태백산 눈축제 (Taebaeksan Nun Chukje)
2027 dates not announced; the 2026 edition ran January 31 to February 8 (nine days) at 당골광장 (Danggol Gwangjang) in Taebaeksan National Park, with snow sculptures lit 18:00–22:00. Entry and parking are free, and a free shuttle runs between Taebaek station and the festival; city bus 7 also runs from the terminal about 36 times a day. Paid extras such as the big sled run cost extra (prices unpublished). Your only real cost is the train: from Cheongnyangni, 무궁화호 (Mugunghwa-ho) is about ₩15,200 each way and ITX-마음 (ITX-Maeum) about ₩21,600 (2 h 54 min), with about five trains a day; one fare site lists both at ₩21,600, so check before you book.
Cheorwon Hantan River Ice Trekking — 한탄강 얼음트레킹 (Hantangang Eoreum Trekking)
2027 dates not announced; the 2026 festival ran January 17–25 and the last three editions each opened on a mid-January Saturday for nine days. You walk an 8 km route on the frozen river from Taebong Bridge past Seungil Bridge and Goseokjeong to Sundam Valley, 09:00–17:00, and floating walkways bridge any stretch that has not frozen. Entry is ₩10,000, with ₩5,000 back as 철원사랑상품권 (Cheorwon Sarang Sangpumgwon), the county gift certificate, which works in local restaurants — so lunch absorbs it. Ticket holders ride a free shuttle between the course points every 30 minutes. It drew about 100,000 visitors in 2026.
Getting there from Seoul
| Festival | 2026 G-shuttle (return) | Public transport, one way (about) | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hwacheon | ₩5,000 (Hongik Univ. 08:00, Euljiro 1-ga 08:30) | Dong Seoul bus ₩15,700, or 경춘선 (Gyeongchun Line) subway ₩2,700 + Chuncheon bus ₩5,300 | 2 h 35 min / about 2 h 30 min |
| Pyeongchang | ₩5,000 (Hongik Univ. 07:30, Seoul Station, Myeongdong, Dongdaemun) | KTX Seoul → Jinbu (Odaesan) from about ₩18,600 | 1 h 31 min + local ride |
| Taebaek | ₩5,000 (Hongik Univ. 08:00, Gangnam 09:00) | Cheongnyangni → Taebaek train ₩15,200–21,600 | 2 h 54 min – 3 h 42 min |
| Cheorwon | ₩5,000 (Hongik Univ. 08:00, Gangnam 09:00) | Dong Seoul → 동송터미널 (Dongsong Terminal) bus ₩11,300 | 1 h 45 min |
The G-shuttle is the single biggest saving in this article. In the 2026 season Gangwon Province's tourism foundation ran return coaches to all four festivals for ₩5,000 per person (G-shuttle), some combined with a ski resort for ₩10,000. Meals were not included, Pyeongchang runs needed at least four passengers, and every product sold out; one guide says seats are for foreign passport holders only and you show the original passport when boarding, which the product pages themselves do not state. Whether it runs in 2027 is not confirmed. If it returns at the same price, it cuts the budget day trip to:
| Budget day trip | By public transport | With a ₩5,000 G-shuttle | You save |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hwacheon | ₩41,000 | ₩30,000 | ₩11,000 |
| Pyeongchang | ₩79,200 | ₩47,000 | ₩32,200 |
| Taebaek | ₩50,400 | ₩25,000 | ₩25,400 |
| Cheorwon | ₩47,600 | ₩30,000 | ₩17,600 |
Taebaek becomes a ₩25,000 day in the mountains, and Pyeongchang, still the priciest because of its ₩25,000 ticket, gets much closer to the others. Watch gshuttle.org from December and book on the day sales open.
Without the shuttle, the cheapest route to Hwacheon is the Gyeongchun Line subway from Sangbong or Cheongnyangni to Chuncheon on a transit card (about 95 minutes) and a bus from Chuncheon (about 50 minutes; extra buses are added during the festival). The transit card comparison covers which card to top up. For Pyeongchang, KTX fares were revised with the September 2026 KTX–SRT merger, so check the current Seoul–Jinbu fare in 코레일 플러스 (Korail Plus); the price we use is a resale-site figure, and the ride from Jinbu station to the festival is not priced anywhere official. If you arrive with a suitcase, luggage storage and delivery is cheaper than dragging it onto the ice.
Booking as a foreigner
- Walk up at Hwacheon. Ice-fishing tickets are sold on site as well as online (in 2026 on the Korean NOL/Interpark ticket page from early January). Show your passport at the booth for the ₩10,000 rate.
- English tour packages. Trazy, KKday, KoreaTravelEasy and Viator sell Hwacheon day trips from Hongdae or Myeongdong; typical prices were US$35–45 in 2025, and Viator's hotel-pickup version started around US$90. Trazy's 2027 package (on sale for January 9–31) includes the coach, a foreigner ice-fishing ticket, a rod, one grilled fish, sledding, the ice-sculpture plaza and the ₩5,000 voucher, with a full refund up to three days before; its price was not shown when we checked. Foreigner-only packages cannot be booked by Korean nationals.
- Pyeongchang. Only tent fishing is booked online, in Korean; the site tells foreigners to call +82-33-336-4000. Everything else is sold at the gate.
- Help in English. The Korea Travel Hotline, 1330, answers in English around the clock.
If January is warm: the ice risk
Ice festivals depend on 20–30 cm of ice. Hwacheon's ice averaged about 30 cm in 2026, but in 2020 the festival was postponed twice: from January 4 to January 11, then — after more than 70 mm of winter rain melted the ice — to January 27 (Seoul Shinmun). Tourists who had prebooked foreigner packages were allowed to fish on an upstream section during the first delay. In a bad year the first weekend is the one most at risk, so a mid-to-late-January date is safer.
Your money is the issue. The official 2026 seller, NOL, listed no weather refund clause — only its standard fees: ₩2,000 per ticket (up to 10%) until ten days before, 10% nine to seven days before, 20% six to three days before and 30% from two days before (NOL). Tour listings reportedly allow organizers to swap ice fishing for open-water fishing or send you to a different festival, and some pay no refund if a site closes after departure. Read the cancellation terms before paying, and if you can, buy the fishing ticket at the gate on the day. Cheorwon, which has the lowest record low of the four (−29.2°C), detours onto floating walkways rather than cancelling. The opposite risk exists too: in 2026 Hwacheon cut numbers and programs on days when the wind chill fell below −20°C.
Cold-weather kit and staying warm
| Place | January average high | Average low | Record low |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hwacheon area (Chuncheon weather station) | 1.9°C | −9.3°C | −25.6°C |
| Pyeongchang highlands (Daegwallyeong) | −1.8°C | −12.2°C | −28.9°C |
| Taebaek | 0.7°C | −9.6°C | — |
| Cheorwon | 0.7°C | −11.8°C | −29.2°C |
Long-term (1991–2020) averages. Fishing means sitting still on ice for an hour or more, which feels far colder than the number. Bring thermal base layers top and bottom, a down jacket, waterproof insulated boots with thick socks (the ice is wet around the holes), a hat, a neck warmer, thin gloves for handling the line under waterproof outer gloves, and a stack of 핫팩 (hatpaek) heat packs from any convenience store. None of the festivals publishes rental prices for cold-weather gear, so plan to bring your own; the what-to-pack-by-month guide has the full January list. Pack a small towel and a plastic bag for the fish, a phone battery pack (cold drains batteries fast) and cash for the grilling stalls. For crowds, Hwacheon's weekends are the busiest days of a 23-day run: arrive for the 08:30 weekend opening or go on a weekday, keep children away from the edges of the fishing holes, and call 119 in an emergency.
Where to eat and stay for Hwacheon (rated on Kakao Map and Google)
How we picked these: we pulled the rated places around the venue on Kakao Map (카카오맵 (Kakao Map), the map most Koreans use for reviews) and checked each one on Google Maps on 2026-09-23. The combined score weights each platform by how many ratings it has and pulls small samples toward 4.0, so a 5.0 from five people cannot beat a 4.4 from a thousand. Places rated well on only one platform (for example 4.8 on Kakao but 4.1 on Google) were left out. Naver Map no longer shows star averages, so it is not in the score — but the Naver link on each row opens the place there, which is where Korean visitors read the most recent reviews. Ratings move and places close; check the map before you go, and book dinner on fireworks nights and holidays.
Hwacheon is a small town, so review counts are small and the list is short; the festival grounds also have food tents where you can have your catch grilled. Many visitors sleep in 춘천 (Chuncheon), 40–50 minutes away, which has more rooms and trains back to Seoul.
| Place | What | Kakao Map | Combined | Maps | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. 시골쌈밥 (Sigol Ssambap) Hwacheon town, Pyeonghwa-ro | Lettuce-wrap rice sets | ★4.4 (153) | ★4.6 (29) | 4.32 | Kakao Naver |
| 2. 성원 (Seongwon) Hwacheon town centre | Korean home cooking | ★4.4 (57) | ★4.1 (12) | 4.17 | Kakao Naver |
| 3. 장터국밥 (Jangteo Gukbap) Hwacheon town centre | Rice soup — quick and warm | ★4.3 (146) | ★4.1 (28) | 4.17 | Kakao Naver |
| 4. 명가 (Myeongga) Hwacheon town | Raw fish (hoe) | ★4.1 (26) | ★4.6 (7) | 4.07 | Kakao Naver |
| 5. 백암산감자탕 (Baegamsan Gamjatang) Hwacheon town centre | Pork-bone stew | ★4.0 (77) | ★3.8 (18) | 3.97 | Kakao Naver |
| Place | What | Kakao Map | Combined | Maps | Book | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. 봄스테이 (Bom Stay) Chuncheon | Business hotel near Namchuncheon Station | ★4.2 (259) | ★4.6 (40) | 4.24 | Kakao Naver | Check rates |
| 2. 브라운도트호텔 남춘천점 (Brown Dot Hotel Namchuncheon) Chuncheon, by Namchuncheon Station | Budget chain hotel | ★4.5 (54) | ★4.3 (23) | 4.24 | Kakao Naver | Check rates |
| 3. KT&G 상상마당 춘천스테이 (KT&G Sangsang Madang Chuncheon Stay) Chuncheon, 40–50 min to Hwacheon | Design hotel by Uiam Lake — base in Chuncheon | ★4.2 (576) | ★4.3 (47) | 4.19 | Kakao Naver | Check rates |
| 4. 화천산천어펜션 (Hwacheon Sancheoneo Pension) Hwacheon-eup outskirts | Pension (self-catering rooms) | ★4.4 (36) | ★4.8 (5) | 4.18 | Kakao Naver | Check rates |
| 5. 아리 호텔 (Ari Hotel) Hwacheon town, walk to the festival | Small motel-hotel in town | ★4.2 (10) | ★4.6 (9) | 4.09 | Kakao Naver | Check rates |
Cost-cutting checklist
- Carry your passport to Hwacheon: ₩10,000 instead of ₩15,000.
- Spend every voucher — the Hwacheon farm-product voucher at the produce market, the Cheorwon gift certificate on lunch. They are real money only if you use them.
- Book the G-shuttle the day it opens if it returns for 2027; at ₩5,000 return it beats every other option by ₩11,000–32,200.
- Pick Taebaek for a free day: no entry fee, free parking and a free shuttle from the station.
- Bring a rod to Pyeongchang or buy it once; there is no rental.
- Grill one fish, take the rest home (reportedly up to three) instead of paying ₩3,000 each.
- Stay in Chuncheon, not Hwacheon, if rooms near the festival spike; hotels there listed from about US$27–57 in September 2026. A 찜질방 (jjimjilbang) is the cheapest bed of all.
- Avoid prepaying far ahead for ice festivals, where weather refunds are not guaranteed.
- Eat at the festival stalls or local restaurants; the eating-out price guide shows what a ₩12,000 lunch looks like.
This is the last part of the series. The whole year is in the Korea festival calendar 2026–2027; for the weeks before, see Seoul Winter Festa and the Lantern Festival and Christmas and New Year's Eve in Korea, and for other trips out of Seoul, the regional cities guide.
Frequently asked questions
When is the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival 2027?
January 9 to 31, 2027 (Saturday to Sunday, 23 days), along the Hwacheon stream in Gangwon Province. The dates are confirmed in the Korea Tourism Organization's festival database and English tour operators are already selling it. It has opened on the second Saturday of January in recent years; in 2026 it ran January 10 to February 1.
Is there a foreigner discount at Hwacheon?
Yes. In the 2026 season foreign visitors paid ₩10,000 for ice fishing instead of the general ₩15,000, and everyone got ₩5,000 back as a farm-product voucher usable at the festival's produce market, so the net cost was ₩5,000. Show your passport at the ticket booth. There is also a separate foreigner-only fishing area. The 2027 prices had not been published as of September 2026.
What is the cheapest way to get from Seoul to the Gangwon ice festivals?
In the 2026 season Gangwon Province's G-shuttle charged ₩5,000 return from Hongik University or central Seoul to all four festivals, but every departure sold out and the 2027 service is not confirmed. Without it, Hwacheon costs about ₩16,000 return by Gyeongchun Line subway plus bus via Chuncheon, Cheorwon about ₩22,600 by intercity bus, Taebaek about ₩30,400 by Mugunghwa train and Pyeongchang about ₩37,200 by KTX.
What happens if the ice is too thin?
The festival is postponed. In 2020 Hwacheon was delayed twice, from January 4 to January 11 and then to January 27, after warm rain melted the ice. The official ticket seller lists no weather refund clause, only the normal cancellation fees (₩2,000 per ticket up to 10 days before, then 10–30%), and some tours swap ice fishing for open-water fishing or another festival.
How cold is it and what should I wear?
January lows average about −9°C in Hwacheon and Taebaek and about −12°C in Cheorwon and the Pyeongchang highlands, with records between −25°C and −29°C. Sitting still over an ice hole is colder than walking, so wear thermal layers, insulated waterproof boots, a hat, a neck warmer and two pairs of gloves. Rental prices for cold-weather gear are not published, so bring your own from Seoul.
Sources
- Korea Tourism Organization festival database — Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival 2027
- NOL Ticket — Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival 2026 tickets and cancellation terms
- Pyeongchang Trout Festival — official price list (2026)
- Taebaeksan Snow Festival — official site and transport page
- Korea Tourism Organization festival database — Cheorwon Hantan River Ice Trekking 2026
- G-shuttle (Gangwon Province) — SNOW G-SHUTTLE 2026 product list
- Asia Economy — Hwacheon festival closes with 1.59 million visitors, February 1, 2026
- FT Sports — Hwacheon 2026 programs, hours and prices
- Seoul Shinmun — Hwacheon opening postponed again to January 27, January 11, 2020
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