대학신문방송국

What Are You Doing in Daejeon? How a About City Tour?

By Namgung Hye-jin Editor-in-Chief, Junior of Electrical Engineering

It is a fact that many cities around the world already operate tour buses that allow people to easily explore the city center. Did you know that Daejeon, where Hanbat National University is located, also operates a city tour bus? For those of you who don't know, this article will introduce the Daejeon City Tour Bus, which offers a great tour of Daejeon as well as sites near Daejeon.

 Daejeon City Tour was the first city tour in Korea, starting in 1998. Daejeon City Tour is a fun tour to understand and enjoy the city through hidden stories with interesting explanations about tourist attractions. Currently, there are 15 courses in total, and it is the largest number of courses in the country. The tour courses on the Daejeon City Tour include a ‘Theme Tour' from Monday to Sunday, ‘A Wide Area City Tour’ to travel around Daejeon and nearby cities, and a 'Circular Tour' which circulates the city and tourists can get on and off according to their will. So, you can enjoy a variety of city tours on different courses every day. The characteristics and operation time of each tour are detailed on the website, especially since the prices vary from tour to tour, so please refer to the website. You can easily access the homepage address by the QR code at the top of the article.

The ‘City Tour’ mainly focuses on Daejeon. You can book the tour by making advance reservations on the Daejeon City Tour website or by calling 042-252-7725. If there is a ticket left on the day, it is possible to get a ticket without a reservation. To get to the tour, take Exit 4 from Daejeon Subway Station and get on at the City Tour Bus Platform on the right. The ‘City Tour’ is held from March to December, with a unique theme for each day of the week, from Monday to Sunday. The theme of each course and the places to visit are listed in the table below.

As shown in the table, the courses run two times a day every Monday to Sunday, and Friday has a special night course. If you get a chance to try it. You’ll enjoy a special Friday night in Daejeon.

As the Daejeon City Tour operates according to unique themes each day of the week, people have the advantage of selecting a tour according to the type of trip desired. Also, if you take the city tour bus for a week, you will be able to take a different trip every day.

Tips: There is also a one-day city tour ticket that can be used for both morning and afternoon courses. If you use the one-day city tour ticket, you can enjoy the tours at a lower cost. Also, don't miss out on various events, such special themed trips held by season, or a 1,000 won discount when college students show their student ID during vacation.

While writing this article, I took a Friday night City Tour. Also, I did an interview with one of the tourists who enjoyed the city tour that day and a culture & tourism commentator.

Oh Mi-yeon, from Gwangju with her elementary school daughter

Q. How did you find out about the Daejeon City Tour?

A. My neighbor, who had taken the Daejeon City Tour in the past, recommended this to me.

Q. Which tour did you take? And why did you choose that tour?

A. I am taking part in the Friday night tour and the Saturday morning tour. I applied for the Friday Night Tour because this tour course visits the Daejeon Observatory, which is difficult to get to without a car. And, the reason why I chose the Saturday morning tour is I thought that visiting the Science Museum and various museums would be a good experience for my daughter.

Q. What is your overall feeling of the City Tour today?

A. First of all, the explanations by the culture & tourism commentator are easy for anyone to understand, and since I've been on a tour listening to interesting stories, I've not been bored. It was also nice to see the night view of Daejeon, especially the Observatory. At the Observatory's “Star Night Concert with Poetry and Music”, the experience of lying down and watching the stars was unique.

Q. What are the good things about the Daejeon City Tour Bus?

A. I think the biggest advantage is that you can enjoy high-quality sightseeing at an affordable price. It was good to travel by a large bus, so that you can enjoy sightseeing comfortably and save money on transportation.

Q. Who do you want to recommend this tour to?

A. I would recommend it to people who like to travel with their children.

Q. Is there anything you want people to know before they experience this?

A. If you usually get sick by bus, you'd better take car-sickness pills in advance. I wasn't sick, but another person on the bus was. Luckily, she brought pills and took them.

   Park Joo-haeng, a cultural & tourism commentator

Q. Who usually uses the city tour bus?

A. A lot of people in their 40-50s come. Many people from other areas visit rather than Daejeon residents. They usually come as couples in a group or in mountaineering clubs. The Daedeok Tour, which is held on Wednesday, is frequented by elementary school students.

Q. Please recommend a course!

A. For office workers and those who need a break, I recommend the 'Gyejok Mountain Tour' on Saturday afternoon or a 'Healing Tour' on Friday morning at the Injaesan Natural Recreation Forest. In particular, the Injaesan Natural Recreation Forest is one of the most popular courses because it has many things to see and people can talk with their party comfortably while walking slowly.

Q. What season has a lot to see?

A. I recommend spring and fall. There are many beautiful flowers in spring and fall has a lot of foliage, it's really fun to watch.

Q. Please tell me what you need to know or bring in advance.

A. Visitors to Daejeon can use the City Tour for free by bringing in a receipt that shows you have paid to stay in a hotel in Daejeon during the 'Daejeon Visit Year' (2019-2021). Please note that an accommodation reservation document is not accepted and it must be a receipt!

Q. Is there anything you need to be careful about when you participate?

A. Please keep your time promise. On the tour, we stop at many places for a short time. It is important to return to the bus on time as this is a group tour. In particular, if we wait for you because you are late at one stop, everyone in the group may not be able to participate in the next program or enter the concert at the next stop.

   The Daejeon City Tour is a program that people of all ages can enjoy. As I have experienced it myself, it is attractive that I can go to places that are hard to reach by public transportation at an affordable price. Moreover, as I enjoyed sightseeing with the explanations of the culture & tourism commentator, it was more interesting and I gained knowledge about Daejeon. If you want to do something extraordinary in Daejeon, but don't have a private car, how about the City Tour Bus?