The garden of Morning Calm is a privately owned garden, founded by Sang-Kyung Han, professor of Horticulture. It opened in 1996 and has since been open to display a huge variety of plants, trees, and flowers.

Korea was first called the land of Morning Calm by the Indian Poet Rabindranath Tagore when they tried to describe the beauty of Korean Nature, mystique, and the spirit of the Korean people gardening.  South Korea has since been called the land of morning calm, and the garden has its name thereafter.

The Garden of morning calm focuses on curves, spaces and asymmetric balance when they try to portray the Korean beauty.

Portraying all four seasons
When visiting the Garden of Morning Calm, you can expect to see completely diffecent sceneries depending on the season you find yourself in Korea. Korea has 4 very well marked seasons, with hot summers, colourful autumn leaves, snowy white winters and green springs.  

Even though my sister and I visited in the middle of summer you can absolutely visit the garden of the morning calm throughout the year. No matter the season, there is something to see at the Garden of the morning calms. Even when the garden is covered in snow, they arrange light festivals, decorating the garden with beautiful light decorations. Sounds pretty romantic if you ask me!

The different theme gardens

You can find about 28 different garden areas in the park. Every garden has a different style portraying different plants and flowers. Visiting the Garden of Morning Calm, you will find everything from a greenhouse and an alpine house, to the traditional Korean garden, Pond garden, wildflower garden and so much more. Check out the map of the Garden of Morning Calm underneath to get an overlook of all the different garden areas there. You can download the map here.

Official Map The Garden of Morning Calm Themed Gardens
Photo borrowed from The Garden of Morning Calms official webpage.
There are several pagodas in the park where we saw someone taking a nap. We also walked by an area with hammocks between the threes. It’s safe to say that you can spend an entire day here just wandering around, taking in the big variety of beauty or find a secluded spot to relax. It’s a perfect place to get away from the big city.

Hammock relax area Garden of Morning Calm Korea
How much does it cost to visit the Garden of Morning Calm
So the Garden of Morning Calm is a private Garden, and keeping all the areas healthy, blooming and green takes a lot of effort, therefore, you will have to pay an entrance fee to see the beauty in the garden.

The price for an adult is 9,500 Won(8 US$) and 7,000 Won (6 US$) for kids. Check for updated prices here.

How to get to the Garden of Morning Calm
To get to the Garden of Morning Calm to Seoul is as mentioned, easily done on a day trip. You can eighter go by private car or take public transportation.

I’ve already written quite a lot about this in my post about Nami Island, also located in the Gapyeong country. Read my guide on how to get to the Gapyeong area!

You can easily use the Seoul Metro Route planner to get the easiest and quickest way to Gapyeong station from where you are staying in Seoul.

Taking the ITX train to Gapyeong station is most likely going to be the quickest way for you to get to the province and therefore also to the Garden of Morning Calm, Nami Island, and the other tourist attractions in the area. Get to Yongsan Station from where you are in Seoul. The trail from Yongsan Station to Gapyeong Station takes about 1 hour and costs 5,900 Won. You can eighter buy your ticket at the Korail counter at the station, or online at Korails homepage.

The Gapyeong Shuttle Bus
When you arrive at Gapyeong Station, the best option is to take the Gapyeong shuttle bus. You buy the ticket from the driver our the seller waiting at the bus stop. The ticket is 6000 Won for a day and you can jump off and on as many times as you want to. This way, you will get to see various sights if you want to. The bus leaves from Gapyeong terminal right outside the Gapyeong station.

The quickest way to most sights is by taking the bus running Course A. The Garden of Morning calm is the last stop on the route. The first bus leaves Gapyeong terminal 9 am and the last bus leaves The garden of Morning at 6 pm. The bus stops by several other attractions on the route, like the already mentioned railway bikes, Nami Island.

https://www.viator.com/tours/Seoul/Day-Trip-to-Nami-Island-with-The-Garden-of-Morning-Calm/d973-48881P59

Is Garden of Morning Calm worth going to?
Garden of Morning Calm is worth a visit if you want to get out of Seoul and see what one of the other provinces has to offer. If you are not overly interested in flowers and plants, you can easily schedule a day trip where you visit both Nami Island and the Garden of Morning Calm on the same day. If you get up bright and early, you can even make a quick stop at the park “Petite France” in-between. Look into other attractions in the area, you can easily spend a night or two here while exploring the county.