Visit the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival, one of the best festivals for ice fishing in Korea.
Hello, readers! Greetings from the Trazy crew! 🙂
Today, we want to share our travel review and tips for the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival, a famous ice fishing festival in Korea.
Every year in January, the festival takes place in Hwacheon, in the province of Gangwon-do, which is about a 3-hour drive from Seoul.
Offering visitors a chance to enjoy a unique ice fishing experience and various outdoor activities during winter, the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival was even selected as one of the 7 Winter Wonders of the World by CNN!
If you want to take a one-day trip to the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Festival without a hassle, we offer you an ice-fishing + shuttle bus package. This package includes the entrance fee, round-trip transportation. English/Chinese speaking guides as well as rentals. For more details, click here.
▷▷ 2023 Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival: Shuttle Bus Package ◁◁
For those who want to know what it’s like to be at this awesome winter festival in Korea, this post is for you!
About Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival
| When: January 7~29, 2023
| Where: Hwacheon County, Gangwon-do
| Things to do:
- Fishing: Ice fishing, lure fishing, bare-hand fishing, night fishing, etc.
- Snow/Ice experience: Snow sled, bobsleigh, ice slide, ice skating, etc.
- Food and shopping: Food court, grill center, farmers market, cafeteria, etc.
What to expect at Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival with Trazy’s shuttle bus package
1. Departing from Seoul: Start your day early! ☀️
According to the itinerary, we had to wake up very early to get prepared for the journey, but we spent almost 3 hours on the bus, just enough to take a nap. You don’t need to worry about going to the toilet because the bus will drop by the expressway rest stop on the way. 😉
The tour bus was clean and cozy, and we were able to enjoy the ride very pleasantly.
On the way to the festival, the tour guide gave us a brief explanation of the festival and the schedule of the trip, as well as a contact number, just in case of an emergency.
2. Arriving at Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival
After a 3 hour ride, we finally arrived at the festival, and it was already packed with people enjoying ice fishing.
3. Ice fishing: Enjoy this amazing winter activity! 🎣
There’s an ice fishing area for foreigners only, which was a lot less crowded and more relaxed.
The ice fishing area permits a certain number of participants at a time, so we had to wait 20~30 mins. While waiting to get in, the staff took us to a snow tubing zone.
Sit on this red tube, and just sled down the hill! YEAH!!
After enjoying the tube ride for several minutes, the staff took us back to the fishing area and handed out this ticket.
They also gave us a fishing rod and a special gift, a necklace with a cute fish pendant!
You will also receive this cute plastic bag where you put the fish (hope you catch one because it’s not as easy as it looks!).
Once you enter the fishing zone, there are plenty of fishing holes, so just choose any one of them! If you need any help, you can ask one of the English-speaking staff nearby. They are wearing an orange uniforms, so you will be able to spot them easily. 😉
Tips on how to fish:
1. Use this particular rod to fish
2. Put the float inside the water and unwind the fishing lines until it reaches the bottom. When you think the float is at the bottom, rewind the rod three or four times, and wait.
3. Keep pulling the rod consistently up and down (snap your wrist strongly and make a float make big movements).
4. When you feel the rod is heavy, wait for like 3 seconds and quickly pull the rod and the fishing line!
If you follow these steps well, you’ll be able to catch them! See what we’ve caught!!!
This was almost the biggest fish among all the fish that other people caught around us. While we were struggling with the fish, a staff member came and helped take out the fishing float (it’s very sharp, so don’t try to take it out with your own hands!)
4. Grilled-fish lunch: Enjoy Korea’s winter delicacy! 🐟
After two hours of enjoying ice fishing, it was time for lunch. Guess what the menu was. The fish we’ve caught!
There’s a booth with tables to sit at for the meal. After giving us the plastic bag of fish, the staff served us the grilled fish and chopsticks. Don’t worry if you’re not fond of the meal, you will also receive tasty ‘Kimchijeon (a Korean-style pancake)’ to go with it.
5. Free time: Try other snow and ice activities! 🛷
After lunch, free time was provided. During your free time, you may want to try other programs like ice skating or an ice sleigh.
Or try walking across the blue bridge where you can peer down the whole venue!
6. Departing for Seoul: Have a comfortable ride back to Seoul! 🚌
After enjoying some free time at the festival, we departed for Seoul in the afternoon. The 3-hour bus ride was perfect for a nap after a cold day at the ice fishing festival. Overall, it was a very well-organized trip and we had a great time!
Tips & Checklist for Hwacheon Sancheoneo Festival
There were lots of family, friends, couples, and even solo travelers enjoying this festival. So, both kids and adults can spend a fabulous time altogether at this festival. Also, there were many enjoyable activities and programs other than ice fishing such as snow sledding and ice sliding.
▷ Best for: Family, friends, couples, and solo travelers
The only downside of the trip was that it was too cold. So make sure you wear thick clothes and gloves to keep you warm.
▷ What to bring: Warm clothes, scarf, hat, gloves, and hot packs to keep you warm!
To sum up…
This festival is really worth visiting once in your lifetime, especially if you haven’t tried ice fishing yet, you definitely should! If you want to pre-book the tickets for this festival, click here.
▷▷ 2023 Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival: Shuttle Bus Package ◁◁
Also, there is the Elysian Gangchon Ski Resort which is only an hour drive’s away from the venue of the festival. If you’re interested in staying around Hwacheon for the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Festival, book your rooms with us!
▷▷ Elysian Gangchon Ski Resort Room Reservation ◁◁
Last but not least, don’t forget to visit Trazy.com, Korea’s #1 Travel Shop, for a whole lot more awesome deals on tour packages in South Korea!
Looks like a great day out, do you have any recommendations for accommodation nearby to the festival?
Hi, I’m planning for 2020 festival. Is there any special clothing we need to wear ( particularly shoes ) to the festival? or just normal sneakers with warm socks will do? Thanks
Hi Felicity!
Hope this answers your question. Here is the information from Korea Tourism Organization: http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/ATR/SI_ENG_2_11_1.jsp
You can also find interesting winter activities on Trazy here!: https://www.trazy.com/campaign/korea-ski-finder
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We are AWC in Seoul. We are interested in Hwacheon-sancheoneo-ice-festival as a group.
Would you please assist us with the group registration for this event?
Michelle
Hello, please send your inquiry to inquiry@trazy.com. Thank you!