DMZ Tours From Seoul: What You Can Book, and the Trail You Can’t

Last checked: November 2, 2026

For a first trip to Korea, I’d book a DMZ day tour from Seoul with an English guide, Tuesday to Sunday but not on a public holiday. Paju city’s own tour from Imjingak costs 9,200 or 12,200 won for adults, but you get there by train and book on a Korean-only site. The DMZ Peace Trail walks are for South Korean nationals only.

Can foreigners walk the DMZ Peace Trail?

No. The government’s April 2026 announcement says the Peace Trail theme routes can be used only by South Korean nationals because they run through security areas, with an identity check for every walker.

The 2026 season has 12 routes in the border areas of Incheon, Gyeonggi, and Gangwon. They’re open from April 17 to November 30, closed in July and August, and cost 10,000 won per person, booked online through the official site or the Durunubi walking app. If you’re traveling with a friend who is a South Korean national, they can book a route, but you can’t join them.

What you can book: Paju’s DMZ peace tour

Paju city runs its own tour by shuttle bus from Imjingak. On its timetable page, the A course takes about 3 hours: Imjingak, the Third Tunnel, Dora Observatory, Tongilchon village, and back to Imjingak.

Adults pay 9,200 won if you walk down into the tunnel, or 12,200 won with the tunnel’s monorail. The fee table also lists lower prices for children, students, and visitors 65 and older. Paju’s tourism page says foreigners aren’t eligible for facility fee reductions, though, so I’d plan on the adult price.

The adult ticket is a 5,000-won facility fee plus a 4,200-won shuttle bus fare, and the monorail adds 3,000 won.

Each departure is either a monorail run or a walking run, so pick the time that matches your ticket. If the monorail breaks down, your run switches to walking.

On weekdays, the 9:20, 10:30, and 11:30 a.m. runs and the 1 and 2 p.m. runs are for monorail tickets. The 9:40 and 10 a.m. runs and the 12:30, 1:30, and 2:40 p.m. runs are for walking tickets. Weekends have 14 runs between 9:20 a.m. and 2:40 p.m., listed on Paju’s timetable page.

Online booking covers 14 of the 44 seats on each run, or all 44 on some runs, and the rest are sold at the ticket office that day. From 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., the ticket office sells tickets and issues the ones booked online. The tour doesn’t run on Mondays, on weekday public holidays, or on the days of Seollal and Chuseok.

Paju’s booking site says its English service is still being prepared, so I’d book with a translation app open, or plan to buy at the office on the day.

Passport and photo rules on the tour

As a foreigner, you need your passport, an alien registration card, or a US forces ID. A copy, a screenshot, or a photo of your passport won’t be accepted, and neither will a passport whose permitted stay has expired.

Photos and video are banned on the whole tour course, and that includes drones. I’d keep the phone in a bag from boarding until the bus is back at Imjingak.

Getting to Imjingak on your own

Paju’s directions page sends you to Imjingang Station on the Gyeongui-Jungang Line, then about 20 minutes on foot. Village buses 058A and 058B also serve the Imjingang Station stop.

Gyeonggi’s older English guide, from 2016, has you change at Munsan for the train to Imjingang. On an undated timetable posted by the National Memorial of Korean War Abductees in Paju, the first train reaches Imjingang at 9:30 a.m. on weekdays and 9:45 a.m. on weekends.

With the 20-minute walk, that first train can’t make the 9:20 a.m. run. On a weekday, I’d aim for the 10:30 a.m. monorail run or the 12:30 p.m. walking run, which leave time to buy tickets at the office.

Should you book a tour company instead?

Several companies sell DMZ day tours from Seoul, and what you can book changes by date. One listing I read on November 1 met at Dongdaemun at 7:50 a.m., with later pickups at Namsan and Hongik Univ., and lasted about 10 hours.

It ran only on Tuesdays and Thursdays and covered transport, an English or Chinese guide, entry fees, and a gondola ride but not meals. By November 2, its booking box showed CLOSED, so I’d treat it as an example of what a package includes.

I’d check three things for your date before you pay for any listing. The stop list should have both the Third Tunnel and Dora Observatory, the pickup point should suit your hotel, and you’ll need your passport.

	Paju city tour	Seoul tour company (one listing as an example)
Starts	Imjingak, by shuttle bus	Dongdaemun, Namsan, or Hongik Univ.
Takes	About 3 hours from Imjingak	About 10 hours from Seoul
Runs	Tuesday to Sunday except weekday public holidays, 10 to 14 runs a day	Depends on the listing; the example ran Tuesdays and Thursdays
Getting there	Train to Imjingang Station, then about 20 minutes on foot	Included
Guide language	Not stated on Paju’s pages	Stated on each listing; the example offered English or Chinese
ID	Passport, alien registration card, or US forces ID	Passport

What about the JSA and Panmunjom?

Kyunghyang Shinmun, a Korean newspaper, reported in October 2026 that all Panmunjom tours stopped after a US soldier crossed into North Korea during a tour in July 2023. Since May 2025, the report says, the UN Command has run only special tours, open to VIPs and to others its Military Armistice Commission approves.

I couldn’t find an official 2026 notice that reopens regular JSA tours to visitors, and Paju’s own A course doesn’t go to Panmunjom. If a listing promises the JSA, I’d ask the company to confirm the JSA visit in writing before you pay.

FAQ

Is the DMZ tour open on Mondays?

Paju’s tour isn’t. It’s also closed on weekday public holidays and on the days of Seollal and Chuseok. One Seoul company’s listing switches to a different course on Mondays, so read what you’d see that day.

Can I take photos at the Third Tunnel?

No. Paju bans photos and video on the whole course, drones included.

Is the monorail worth the extra 3,000 won?

Yes, if a long walk down into the tunnel and back up is hard for you. Otherwise I’d take the walking ticket and keep the 3,000 won. Paju’s tourism page also says older visitors and people with some health conditions may not be allowed into the tunnel, so ask the ticket office if that applies to you.

The Peace Trail’s 2026 season ends on November 30, and I’ll update this guide when the 2027 rules are announced.

Hwaiting!

Yuna

Sources and last check

How I put this guide together: from the government’s 2026 Peace Trail announcement on the Korea.kr policy portal, Paju city’s DMZ peace tour site (fees, timetable, visitor information and directions pages), Paju’s tourism page, an older Gyeonggi English guide, the abductees’ memorial’s train timetable, tour company listings, and Korean news reports, checked on November 1 and 2, 2026. Which option suits whom is my suggestion. More on how I research every guide is on the About page.

Last checked: November 2, 2026. Please confirm the details before you go. This is an independent guide, not affiliated with Paju city or any tour company.

Sources:

• Korea.kr (Ministry of Culture): DMZ Peace Trail theme routes open from April 17 (April 2026, in Korean)
• Paju DMZ peace tour: Fees (in Korean)
• Paju DMZ peace tour: Course timetable (in Korean)
• Paju DMZ peace tour: Visitor information (in Korean)
• Paju DMZ peace tour: Directions (in Korean)
• Paju DMZ peace tour: Dora Observatory road closure notice (October 2026, in Korean)
• Paju tourism: DMZ peace tour (in Korean)
• Gyeonggi Province: Getting to Imjingak (2016)
• National Memorial of Korean War Abductees: Directions and train timetable (in Korean)
• Trazy: Paju DMZ 1 Day Tour from Seoul (sales listing)
• Kyunghyang Shinmun: Panmunjom tours (October 2026)
• The Korea Times: Government to reopen all border walking trails (April 2026)

Cover image: A viewing telescope on a DMZ tour. Photo: Alicja Podstolska on Unsplash