Family-friendly outdoor café by Imjingak in Paju: On the Rail

We went to Imjingak over the weekend, and it felt like a shame to visit only Imjingak, so we stopped by On the Rail (온더레일), a café nearby! It has an outdoor area too, so it is great for visiting with kids like we did ☺️

A relaxing place to take a break near Imjingak

With the surrounding scenery and nature blending in, the café felt calm and relaxed—a lovely place to stop for a break during a drive! There was plenty of parking too, which was nice because it meant one less thing to worry about when visiting a café, haha!

When we stepped inside, the first thing that caught my eye was the wide-open windows. The wall-to-wall windows gave us a full view of the scenery outside, so even sitting indoors never felt stuffy; the whole space felt much larger and more open 💨

Best of all, the weather was so lovely that day. Soft sunlight streamed in, and together with the view outside, the atmosphere was really wonderful 🌿 I thought it would be nice to sit by the window and spend some unhurried time looking out, even without going outdoors. We spent our time outside because we had the kids with us, but on a nice day, it would also be so nice to have a leisurely cup of coffee indoors while enjoying the natural mood coming through those big windows :)

Choose your bread a little early

On the Rail is already known as a great bakery café. We went a little late on a weekend afternoon, so lots of the bread had already sold out, which was a shame 🥲 Even so, there were still plenty of breads that looked delicious. If there is a particular bread you want, try to get there a little earlier.

After choosing our bread, we ordered drinks at the counter too! As you would expect from a café with train views, there was even a note of the train timetable by the counter 🛤️

There was a microwave and oven on one side for warming up bread, plus a self-service bar with straws, tissues, syrup, and more, so you can conveniently use whatever you need!

Waiting for trains outside with the kids

If you have kids, it is a little hard to go to a café and just sit still drinking something, right? (No, very hard...) Once we came outside, our kids got excited, looked around, and spent their time moving this way and that. Being surrounded by nature, they started looking for bugs... hahaha. Thanks to that, my husband and I could watch over them, have a drink, and enjoy a little bit of downtime too.

And here is the special thing about On the Rail!!! We could actually watch trains passing by 🚆 Our kids already love trains whenever they see them, so they were thrilled and watched the passing train for ages. With a little attraction like this too, it is just so great to visit with kids, right?!!! If your children love trains, you absolutely have to visit. They will really love it!! Haha

Custard cream bread and two ades

The three things we ordered that day were custard cream bread, green grape ade, and lemon ade.

The custard cream bread was what the kids were most interested in! It was filled with soft custard cream, so it was nice to share with them. It must have suited everyone's taste because they ate it so well, hehe.

Lemon ade is always charmingly refreshing, right? 🍋 The lemon ade was tangy and fresh, while the green grape ade combined the sweet taste of green grapes with fizzy refreshment, making it easy to drink on a hot day 🍇 The lemon ade was tart and fresh, while the green grape ade felt sweet and cool, so we could enjoy their different charms. We had one of those small but happy moments, spending time outdoors with the kids over delicious bread and cool drinks, hehe.

On the Rail has a comfortable indoor space as well as an outdoor area, so I think you can choose according to the weather and the situation! Above all, the kids loved the outdoor space so much that we had quite a relaxing time that day too. If you are looking for an outdoor café in Paju, be sure to add On the Rail to an Imjingak outing, just like our family did!