You have the Hangang Bus (한강버스, Hangang Beoseu) schedule open in English, and it says the first boat leaves Jamsil at 10:00 and keeps going all the way to Magok. Neither part works right now. The English schedule image is the March 2026 version, and the boats run as two separate lines that meet at Yeouido. Plan from the Korean timetable dated August 15, 2026, and treat the river as two rides, not one.
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Read the Korean timetable, not the English one
On the official Hangang Bus schedule page, the language switch changes the timetable image itself. In English mode you get a table marked "Effective period: March 1, 2026," with a 10:00 first boat from Jamsil and no Seoul Forest stop. Switch the site to Kor and the image reads 적용기간 26.8.15.~별도 공지시까지 (in effect from August 15, 2026 until further notice). That is the one to use, checked October 30, 2026.
The current numbers: the first boat leaves Jamsil at 11:00 and the first from Magok leaves at 11:20. The last boats arrive at Jamsil at 21:30 and at Magok at 21:39. The column headers have small English labels, but the Korean ones are what you'll see on pier screens: 여의도행 (Yeouido-haeng, to Yeouido), 잠실행 (Jamsil-haeng), 마곡행 (Magok-haeng) and 도착 (dochak, arrived). Every time in the table is a departure from that pier.
The blank cells matter more than the times. A note under the table says no boat runs directly between Oksu and Apgujeong, because each boat on the east line stops at one or the other, alternating. So if Oksu is your pier, Jamsil-bound boats leave only at 13:13, 15:15, 16:35, 17:43 and 19:40. From Apgujeong it's 14:07, 16:12, 17:02, 18:37 and 20:37. Five boats a day each way is the real service at those two piers, not the hourly rhythm the rest of the table suggests.
The Yeouido change, worked out
The west line runs Magok, Mangwon, Yeouido. The east line runs Yeouido, Apgujeong or Oksu, Seoul Forest, Ttukseom, Jamsil. To go from Jamsil to Mangwon you ride one boat to Yeouido and catch a different one. The timetable prints departures, not arrivals at Yeouido, but its own running times fill the gap: an eastbound boat takes 35 minutes from Yeouido to Oksu and 32 minutes to Apgujeong, so count on about the same coming back.
Here's what that does to a midday plan. The 11:00, 12:00 and 13:00 boats from Jamsil reach Yeouido around half past the next hour, about 15 minutes after the Magok-bound boat has left at :12. The next one goes at :12 the following hour, so you wait roughly 45 minutes. The 14:00 from Jamsil is worse: it lands around 15:27 and the next Magok-bound boat isn't until 16:52. Jamsil to Mangwon by boat takes about two and a half hours at midday.
Going the other way lines up better in the late afternoon. Leave Mangwon at 15:22 or 15:52 and you reach Yeouido around 15:44 or 16:14, with the 16:00 and 16:30 Jamsil-bound boats leaving about 16 minutes later. The evening also has two tight westbound links, the 18:50 and 19:20 from Jamsil, with an estimated eight minutes to spare at Yeouido. Don't count on an eight-minute margin for the last boat home.
My take: pick one half of the river. The east half is the long ride. Every Yeouido-to-Jamsil boat takes 85 minutes, from the 12:38 to the last one at 20:05, and that's your sightseeing leg. The west half, Magok to Yeouido, takes about 45 minutes and suits a short add-on. Ride one, then take the subway back.
Paying, reaching the pier, and days it won't run
Fares are 3,000 won for adults, 1,800 won for ages 13 to 18 and 1,100 won for ages 6 to 12. Kids under 6 ride free. You tag a T-money card or a transit-enabled bank card at the boarding gate, the same as a bus. Cash isn't accepted anywhere. The ticket machine (발권기, balgwongi) sells a paper single-ride ticket (1회권, ilhoegwon), but it takes cards only, and the ticket works only at the pier where you bought it, on that day. That means a paper ticket from Jamsil won't get you onto the Magok-bound boat at Yeouido. A T-money card is simpler for a two-leg trip.
One correction for anyone carrying a short-term Climate Card (기후동행카드, Gihu Donghaeng Kadeu). Seoul's Climate Card fare table marks the 1-, 2-, 3-, 5- and 7-day passes as excluding Hangang Bus. Only the 30-day versions that include it (67,000 won for adults) cover the boat. Use a stored-value T-money card instead.
There's no booking for individual riders. Seats are first come, first served, on boats that hold 155 or 199 people. Except at Magok and Oksu, the waiting area is inside the gate, so use the restroom and grab a drink before you tag in. Yeouido pier has a CU convenience store on the first floor and a Starbucks on the third.
Piers sit in riverside parks, and some are a real walk from the subway. The official route map gives these distances: Ttukseom is 190 m from Jayang Station (Line 7), Yeouido is 230 m from Yeouinaru Station (Line 5), and Oksu is 320 m from Oksu Station. Magok is 720 m from Yangcheon Hyanggyo Station (Line 9) and Jamsil is 770 m from Jamsilsaenae Station (Line 2). Apgujeong (1.3 km from Apgujeong Station) and Mangwon (1.7 km from Mangwon Station) are the awkward ones. For those two, take a local bus to the stops the map lists, 320 m from each pier, or allow 20 minutes or more on foot.
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Weather can stop all of this. On Sunday, October 18, 2026, wind and rain shut down every line and every pier, and service came back the next day. Piers can also close to the public when heavy rain raises the river. On the day, check the operator's notice board and search 한강버스 in Naver Map or Kakao Map, which show live boat positions.
Seoul Forest is the other date to watch. Seoul opened that stop on June 8, 2026 for the garden expo and scheduled it through the end of October. If you're riding on or after Sunday, November 1, wait until the notice board confirms it before planning around Seoul Forest. Ttukseom, one stop east, is the safer pick, since it's right by Jayang Station.
A limit on all this: the Yeouido connection times above are estimates from the table's running times. A boat running ten minutes late can turn a short wait into an hour. Before you head out, switch the schedule page to Kor, choose one half of the river, and write down the last boat from your end pier back toward the subway.
Sources checked October 30, 2026
- Hangang Bus, operating hours (Korean and English timetable images), fare guide, terminal overview and FAQ: hgbus.co.kr
- Hangang Bus notices: October 18 suspension, October 19 resumption (2026)
- Seoul Future Hangang Headquarters, Seoul Forest pier notice (June 8 to end of October 2026) and August 15 night-service notice: hangang.seoul.go.kr
- Seoul Metropolitan Government, Climate Card types and prices: news.seoul.go.kr/traffic
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