With the summer heat at the peak, this is time to visit Incheon's Eulwang Beach, which is famous for its crescent moon-shaped white sands. The best way to get there is the bus tour program that the city of Incheon is operating. It offers three tours -- downtown, airport and Ganghwa Island, and the beach is included in the Incheon International Airport tour.

◆ Departure

The Incheon International Airport tour starts from Songdo, the city's new global town, as the tour bus leaves at Exit No. 4 at the University of Incheon subway station. After passing by the skyscrapers and luxury hotels of Songdo, visitors  take in views of the sea and Incheon Port as the bus crosses Incheon Bridge, opened in October last year. It connects Songdo with Yeongjong Island and is the longest in Korea with 18.38 km and the fifth longest cable-stayed bridge in the world.

◆ Eulwang Beach

Passing through a pine forest after Incheon Airport, visitors can spot the West Sea. Eulwang Beach is a well-known vacation destination for families thanks to shady forests at the both ends of the sandy beach and various peculiar rocks as well as the crescent moon-shaped white sands.

◆ Attractions 

"I come here often because it is not only close to where I live, but also has spectacular scenery and convenient facilities," says a 27-year-old vacationer from Incheon. And a 21-year-old woman, also from Incheon, says, "It's a perfect destination for a day trip because you can swim in the sea as well as have a variety of seafood."

Just 10 years ago, people needed to take a ferry to get to Eulwang Beach, but thanks to the Incheon Bridge, it became much more accessible. And by using the city tour, they don't even have to drive.

"Since the city tour program started, a lot of people have been visiting throughout year, not only during the high season," says a man who runs a restaurant selling grilled clams near the beach. "It seems that the number of tourists during the weekend jumped fivefold compared to before."

There are many other places of interest to see. Wangsan Beach and the Fairy's Rock, so named because of its shape, are some of the places the city tour takes in.

A tourist says, "When I came here two years ago, it cost me over W100,000 (US$1=W1,160) as I had to pay for the car rent, toll fees, and fuel. Today, all I had to pay was W6,000 for the bus ticket."

The tour bus operates hourly between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.