Small Group Tour to Demiliterized Zone & Suspension Bridge

Posted By : Andrei_M
Very honest and friendly guide. They picked us from the hotel at 6:15am with a comfortable car. We returned 4pm. The DMZ is interesting, and you are able to see North Korea
Rating :
Posted On : 2024-07-06 00:35:54

Posted By : Lorraine_K
Excellent tour. Really interesting, with amazing views. Our guide Vincent was excellent, gave us lots of historical information, but also free time to look around. Well organised tour to a place full of history and sadness. Suspension bridge was also very worthwhile.
Rating :
Posted On : 2024-07-05 19:47:34

Posted By : Geraldine_T
Joined Vincent’s tour on 5th July to the DMZ. Vincent is a knowledgeable and personable guide who was able to bring history to life. His meticulous planning (in terms of coordinating the pick up timings, his strategy to start early to avoid the long queues and traffic jam) is testament to the fact that he’s a stellar guide. Would recommend him hands down.
Rating :
Posted On : 2024-07-05 09:46:39

Posted By : keith_c
Amazing day trip to the DMZ. It was totally surreal to look into North Korea from the observation deck.
Love the small format tour. Big kudos to our guide Joo Ee. She is excellent and took great care of our group.
I highly recommend this tour for anyone wanting to visit the DMZ
Rating :
Posted On : 2024-07-04 05:01:39

Posted By : Larissa_F
Vincent was a great tour bus driver and guide. He was very engaging and we learned a lot from him. Highly recommend him.
Rating :
Posted On : 2024-07-03 08:54:01

Posted By : Sybil_C
A trip to the DMZ is a must when visiting South Korea. It was upsetting and sad but also necessary in order to begin to understand the Korean people. But it was at the same time a place of hope - for a future unification. Our tour guide was excellent! Deeply knowledgeable and conveyed, not only facts, but also emotions. He gave us an experience we will never forget. We strongly recommend this tour and especially Vincent, our tour leader.
Rating :
Posted On : 2024-07-03 04:21:21

Posted By : MirellaCanada
My recent visit to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) was an unforgettable experience, blending historical insight with an emotional journey through one of the most poignant areas in modern history. The tour provided a comprehensive overview of the Korean War's legacy and the ongoing tension between North and South Korea.

Third Infiltration Tunnel gave me a firsthand look at the lengths to which North Korea went to infiltrate the South. The tunnel's history and the sheer scale of the effort were astonishing and sobering. In addition, the Dora Observatory From this vantage point, I had a clear view of North Korea. The stark contrast between the two Koreas was powerful, emphasizing the deep divide.

The Suspension Bridge Tour is a fantastic adventure for nature lovers and thrill-seekers alike. It combines the excitement of walking a suspension bridge with a guided hike's tranquillity, making it a well-rounded outdoor experience. It is highly recommended!
Rating :
Posted On : 2024-07-02 10:08:03

Posted By : Jerilyn_B
I really enjoyed this tour much more than I expected. Vincent was a great guide and offered lots of interesting information about the DMZ. I highly recommend booking this tour.
Rating :
Posted On : 2024-07-02 07:20:53

Posted By : JorunJung_J
This is a must-do on your to do list when visiting Korea! The pick up time is very early in the morning and it was great to be picked up outside. It was a great experience to walk on the suspension bridge and to go through the tunnel dug by North Koreans, something I didn't get to experience on my previous trip to the border. Our tour- guide Joo Ee was a very knowledgeable, sweet and bubbly tour-guide😍
I strongly recommend this DMZ trip!🤩
Rating :
Posted On : 2024-07-01 21:46:36

Posted By : yvonnesL7908LW
A month before leaving the US, we booked a tour of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) with Viator Small Group Tour (Demilitarized Zone & Suspension Bridge at $69 PP).
Vincent, our driver (and tour guide) picked us up in a Mini Van (12 passengers) precisely at 6 AM. He had previously E-mailed and also called us at the hotel to verify pick-up time and reminded us we MUST bring our Passports on the tour. Passports are CRITICAL to get us on the military base which is in the DMZ. Vince does on average six of these tours a week.
While driving through the city on our way to pick up other travelers, we noticed:
• The city is very clean and organized.
• NO street people here.
• Very little traffic at 6 AM
• High Rise accommodation all run around 15 to 25 floors, with some of the office building up over 30 floors.
• Gas is running at $1.22 Won per liter (equal to around $5 US per gallon). Gas is one of the most expensive Commodities compared to everything else.
• $10,000 Won = $7.33 US or $1,000 Won = .75 cents US
• Everything over here seems to be quite inexpensive compared to the US.
• Credit Cards are widely accepted.
• All the roads around Seoul are in excellent shape.
It was a 35-mile ride to the DMZ. The driver picked up our entry tickets and we visited a few locations before the DMZ, the organized military bus, took us around.
The DMZ is a 10 Klometers (6.2 mile) wide strip of no man’s land, between the two countries.
The South Korean side is a Military base, with Miles of barbed wire fencing facing the bulk of the DMZ. South Korean workers employed at the base must leave by a certain time (curfew) every night. The base has South Korean / US / United Nations soldiers billeted there.

Took a quick look at the remains of the Freedom Bridge. This bridge was used at the end of the war for both sides to exchange prisoners. This whole area is now the peace park, and beyond the various memorials, it has turned into a South Korean family amusement park with carnival-like rides.
Next (waiting for our time slot for going INTO the DMZ for our tour) Vincen drove us about 30 miles into the mountains (Korea is about 70% mountains) to The Suspension Bridge.
What Tom did not realize was this bridge is just a nature tourist attraction (nothing to do with the DNZ, but then again one heck of a great hike up to a very picturesque waterfall. Warning as the hike is long and strenuous (we put on 10,000 steps up and down a steep incline and sure felt that last night in bed). Besides all the fawn and fauna we did come across some abandoned defensive bunkers along the way, that were built in modern times after the war.
They tell us the area beneath the bridge is where one of the major battles occurred back in the 1950s.

We next visited the #3 Tunnel

Originally The South dug a straight shot angled tunnel down to where the North's Tunnel #3 stopped (was discovered). This walkway is the current less expensive steep walking tourist path down.
We took a straight shot rail train car vehicle tunnel (dug and installed in 2002 down 219 ft below the surface to where the North tunnel stopped when discovered. Pictures are not allowed in the tunnel. The tunnel passage is dark, long, and narrow, and it is a steep incline down and back out if you take the Souths tourist walking path down.

After getting off our train car, it was very cold & wet as we walked through the actual tunnel to the North. We stopped at the concrete barrier the south has installed just a few feet away from North Korea. YOU MUST wear the provided hard hats, as you hit your hats top many times in the walk (those N Koreans were not very tall).
Out of the tunnel, the tour bus took us to the Dora Observatory. For those that have been to the Observatory years ago, that building has been abandon and is now replaced with a very nice new building (observatory) built in 2018.
It was a little hazy over the North (they burn a lot of coal up north)
Air temp 72 F and clear skies to the South.

After this all-day tour it was back in the van where after the return 40-minute ride, they dropped us off at our hotel. Others went on to the Hongdae, Myeongdong, Gwangjang food market (five blocks from our hotel).
Rating :
Posted On : 2024-06-29 16:24:29