SOUTH KOREA
Old palaces, neon nights, mountains and coast.
Day trips and reviews the length of South Korea: Seoul's palaces and night markets, the DMZ up north, Gyeongju's royal tombs, Busan's beaches and the volcanic coast of Jeju.
Only in Korea
The border, the beat, and the hanbok.
Plenty of countries have palaces and markets. Only Korea has a sealed Cold War border an hour from the capital, the home studios of K-pop, and five-hundred-year-old palaces you walk through in traditional dress.
The border
Into the DMZ
The last sealed Cold War border on earth, and it sits an hour north of Seoul. Observation decks look straight across into North Korea, infiltration tunnels run beneath the line, and the buffer strip has been frozen since 1953. No other country lets you stand this close to it.
- 1 Best DMZ Tour Korea from Seoul (Red Suspension Bridge Optional)
- 2 DMZ Tour: 3rd Tunnel, Option(Suspension Bridge, Boat) from Seoul
- 3 DMZ tour south Korea from Seoul (NK experience hall, defector)
Made in Korea
On the K-Pop Trail
K-pop was not exported here, it was built here. Walk the label headquarters in Gangnam, the filming spots fans fly in to find, the studios where you learn the choreography, and the BTS landmarks that became pilgrimage stops. This is the home ground of the sound.
- 1 Full Day Tour In The Soop BTS Ver in PyeongChang Filming Location
- 2 Seoul: The Painters Live Art K-pop Dance Show Ticket
- 3 ARMY Must Visit BTS Tour in Seoul
Step into the Joseon era
Hanbok at the Palaces
Rent a hanbok, the flowing traditional dress, and the palaces open up around you. Wear it through the gates of Gyeongbokgung and you walk in free. Nowhere else pairs the costume, the throne halls and the changing of the royal guard the way Seoul does.
- 1 Seoul: City Hightlights, Palace Tour, and Optional Hanbok
- 2 Seoul: Hanbok Rental with Gyeongbokgung Palace Entry
- 3 Small Group Seoul Highlight Tour opt. Hanbok & Tea Ceremony
Start here
The day that anchors most Korea trips.
The single most popular experience in the country, and an easy first move whatever else you have planned.
The classics
South Korea's Most Popular Tours
Seoul's palaces, Busan, Gyeongju, Jeju and Nami Island. The experiences most first-timers build a Korea trip around.
When to come
Korea runs on four sharp seasons.
Each one is a different country. Blossoms in spring, beaches and festivals in summer, the maples in autumn, ski slopes an hour from Seoul in winter. Time the trip to what you came for.
By region
Pick your part of Korea.
Seoul for the palaces and the food. Busan for the beaches and seafood. Jeju for the volcano and the coast. Gyeongju for the old kingdom. Nami for the easy day out, the DMZ for the border.
By experience
Or pick how you want to spend the day.
Palaces and city walks, street food and cooking classes, markets and shopping, a temple stay, a bike along the river, a hike, a late night out, or snow in season.
The easy day out
Nami Island, an hour east.
Tree-lined avenues, the Garden of Morning Calm and the Gangchon rail bike. The day Seoul empties out into, and three trips we'd send a first-timer on.
Eat your way through Seoul
Seoul eats late.
Gwangjang's market stalls, pojangmacha tents under tarpaulin, Korean barbecue and fried chicken with cold beer. If we picked three food walks, these three.
The island down south
Jeju, off the south coast.
A volcano in the middle, lava tubes underneath, waterfalls down to the sea and a coast road the whole way round. Our three favourite ways onto the island.
The southern port
Busan, where Korea meets the sea.
Cliffside temples, the seafood at Jagalchi, the painted lanes of Gamcheon and a beach in the middle of the city. Three days out worth the train south.
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