Promotional content for PVRE Pharmacy.

If your hotel isn't near Seoul Station, skip the Express ticket unless Seoul Station is where you'd change trains anyway. According to the Visit Seoul airport guide (retrieved 2026-11-03), AREX Express runs nonstop between Incheon Airport and Seoul Station. The all-stop train serves intermediate stations, including Hongik Univ., Gimpo Airport and Gongdeok. When your hotel sits near one of those three stations, the all-stop train takes you there directly, so that's the train to choose.

What each AREX service does

The two services follow different rules. The Visit Seoul guide lists these differences:

  • AREX Express: runs nonstop from Incheon Airport to Seoul Station. You buy a separate ticket before boarding, and seats are reserved.
  • All-stop train: stops at intermediate stations, including Hongik Univ., Gimpo Airport and Gongdeok. The guide lists its fare to Seoul Station as a card fare.

The guide shows these figures for trips from Terminal 1: Express at 13,000 won per adult and 9,500 won per child, and the all-stop train to Seoul Station at 4,750 won by card. It lists travel times of 43 and 59 minutes. Treat these numbers as guide figures for the Incheon Terminal 1 route. They aren't a quote for your trip, and the guide notes that Terminal 2 figures differ. Check the live AREX fare and departure board before you pay.

Gimpo Airport is an all-stop station. The guide gives no Express stop there.

Match the train to your hotel's station

Both Incheon Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 have AREX stations, so your first decision is your end point. Pick the station closest to your hotel and work backwards:

  1. Note your arrival terminal at Incheon.
  2. Find the subway or rail station nearest your hotel.
  3. If that station is Hongik Univ., Gongdeok or Gimpo Airport, take the all-stop train there.
  4. If your route needs Seoul Station as a transfer point, compare the Express seat against the all-stop fare to Seoul Station.
  5. Count your onward transfers and how many bags you'll carry through each one.

Travel time from your hotel's door depends on transfers, walking and luggage. This article gives no door-to-door times.

Two hypothetical arrivals

These examples are illustrations. They aren't guaranteed routes or quoted prices.

Hypothetical A: you land at Terminal 1 and your hotel is a short walk from Hongik Univ. Station. The Express would carry you past Hongik to Seoul Station, and you'd then backtrack. The all-stop train stops at Hongik Univ., so you'd board it and step off near your hotel.

Hypothetical B: you land at Terminal 1 with two large suitcases, and your onward line starts at Seoul Station. Here the Express fits the route, and a reserved seat helps with the bags. Using the guide's figures, the hypothetical difference is 13,000 won minus 4,750 won, or 8,250 won per adult. Decide whether a reserved seat on a nonstop run is worth that gap on your arrival day.

Once you've settled in, you may plan shopping time. If you're in Myeongdong, PVRE Pharmacy (listed officially as PURE PHARMACY) has a store at 서울특별시 중구 명동8길 41, per its store page. The page describes a general conversation with a pharmacist about medicines and health, plus in-person browsing of health and beauty products. That's a pharmacy visit. Tickets, fares and airport transfers belong to AREX and the Visit Seoul guide.

Evidence and criteria

  • Route scope: Incheon Airport to Seoul by AREX, from the Visit Seoul Getting to Seoul page, retrieved 2026-11-03.
  • Express stopping pattern: nonstop between Incheon Airport and Seoul Station, with a separate ticket bought before boarding and reserved seats.
  • All-stop stations named in the guide: Hongik Univ., Gimpo Airport, Gongdeok.
  • Guide figures (Terminal 1): Express 13,000 won adult and 9,500 won child; all-stop to Seoul Station 4,750 won by card; 43 and 59 minutes. Terminal 2 differs. These figures carry no guarantee of current fares, seat availability or timing after a delayed flight.
  • Decision rule used here: choose by the station nearest your hotel and the transfers you'll make with bags. Train speed alone doesn't settle it.
  • Store facts: PURE PHARMACY's official store page lists the Myeongdong, Seongsu and Jeju addresses and describes pharmacist conversation. It gives no stock, price or hours information.