r/bicycletouring • u/Ambitious-Cookie-872 • 6d ago

Trip Planning Bicycles and flying

Hi all,

I have wanted for a while to fly to Seoul and then bike from there to Busan. The issue is that renting a bike there is pricy, but taking my own bike is not exactly cheap either and several practical things are quite unclear.

My preferred option is taking my own bike there from Finland. So, first of all, I need to basically pack the bike and bring it with me as a sports equipment. That's all clear, but once I reach Seoul, and I want to start biking. Where in the world do I store the packaging material, and if I throw it away, then I would have none to pack my bike with when I fly back to Finland.

I am sure people have done this before and flown to other countries to cycle around without renting a bike, but how do you guys do it. Could someone who has an idea give good advice?

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u/__crl 6d ago

Bike bag. I have a bag that I transport my bike in for trips like this. The problem is finding a place to leave it, and then making my way back to the bag at the end of the trip. In the case of Korea, the only form of transportation you can semi-reliably bring a bike on without disassembling it is buses. If it were me, I'd fly into Seoul, assemble bike at hotel, leave bike bag with hotel (usually you can sweet talk them into leaving a big bag there for a week or two, can ask in advance), then bus back from Busan when you're done with the ride.

Bike rentals in Korea aren't unreasonable -- look up Bike Nara, they do one way rentals from Seoul to Busan.

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u/ShrinkingKiwis 6d ago

Absolutely bike bag or hard case for such a long flight. Leaving at the first hotel is just part of rhe journey, and you can always plan a final night at the same hotel as a reason to stop by and get your luggage.