Korea: Seoul, Busan and Jeju Island for Food Lovers

1. Day 1: Arrive in Seoul

   Incheon International Airport to your hotel in central Seoul

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Seoul
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Incheon International Airport (ICN), on an island west of the city, and a driver meets you in the arrivals hall for the drive of about an hour and a quarter into central Seoul. Our hotel is in the old centre, within walking distance of Changdeokgung and the Jongno lanes, so the first evening needs no taxis. If you land early, rest, or take a first walk along the Cheonggyecheon stream, a restored waterway that runs below street level through the middle of downtown. In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing on the week: how the food days work, what to bring for the Jeju walk, how the train and flight days run and what you can leave to us. Then we sit down together to a welcome dinner of Korean barbecue, grilled at the table with banchan, the small side dishes that come with every Korean meal, and your guide explains how to wrap, dip and order.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Incheon International Airport (ICN)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner of Korean barbecue

   Free time: Free until the early-evening briefing

   Activity: Plan to land by about 3 pm to reach the briefing; the exact time is confirmed with your final itinerary.

2. Day 2: Changdeokgung, Gwangjang Market and a kimchi class

   Changdeokgung to Gwangjang Market on foot, then a kimchi class

   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Seoul
   Day 2 details

   We are at Changdeokgung when it opens at 9 am, before the school groups. Built in the early 1400s and listed by UNESCO in 1997, it is the palace that follows the hills rather than flattening them; your guide walks you through the gates to Injeongjeon, the throne hall, and the royal quarters behind it. From there it is a walk of about 20 minutes east to Gwangjang Market, one of Seoul's oldest covered markets, and this is lunch. We stop at the griddles for bindaetteok, mung-bean pancakes fried crisp in front of you, then mayak gimbap, small rice rolls with a mustard dip, hand-cut kalguksu noodles and, for the curious, yukhoe, Korean beef tartare. Your guide orders, explains and keeps the portions small so you can try more. After a break at the hotel, the afternoon is a hands-on kimchi class: salting napa cabbage, mixing the chilli paste and tasting your own batch with a bowl of rice. The evening is free.

   Included

   • Changdeokgung at opening with your guide, including Injeongjeon throne hall
   • Gwangjang Market food walk as lunch: bindaetteok, mayak gimbap, kalguksu and more
   • Hands-on kimchi class with tasting

   Optional experiences

   • The Secret Garden (Huwon) of Changdeokgung on its own timed tour, booked on the day if places remain

   Free time: Evening free

   Activity: About 3 to 4 hours on foot, mostly on flat ground.

   

3. Day 3: KTX to Jeonju for bibimbap, then down to Busan

   Seoul to Jeonju by KTX, then by road to Busan

   • Drive about 3.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Busan
   Day 3 details

   A morning KTX high-speed train takes us south from Yongsan Station to Jeonju in under two hours, while you watch the rice fields of the southwest go by. Our van and driver meet the train, take the luggage and stay with us from here to Busan, so nobody carries a case through a station. Jeonju is a UNESCO City of Gastronomy and the home of bibimbap, and its old centre is the Hanok Village, several hundred tile-roofed houses in a grid of lanes. We walk through it to Gyeonggijeon, the shrine built in 1410 for the portrait of the founder of the Joseon dynasty, and look into the stalls of Nambu Market. Lunch is Jeonju bibimbap, served in a hot stone or brass bowl with the city's bean-sprout soup on the side. Early in the afternoon we drive about three and a quarter hours to Busan, with a rest stop on the way, arriving around 6:30 pm. The evening is free.

   Included

   • KTX high-speed train from Seoul (Yongsan) to Jeonju
   • Jeonju Hanok Village and Gyeonggijeon shrine with your guide
   • Nambu Market
   • Lunch of Jeonju bibimbap
   • Drive from Jeonju to Busan in our own vehicle

   Free time: Evening free in Busan

   Activity: The longest travel day: under two hours on the train and about three and a quarter hours by road, broken by a rest stop.

   

4. Day 4: Haedong Yonggungsa, Gamcheon and Busan by the station

   Busan to Haedong Yonggungsa, then Gamcheon Culture Village and Busan Station

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Busan
   Day 4 details

   We leave after an early breakfast to reach Haedong Yonggungsa by about 8:30 am, before the tour coaches. Unlike most Korean temples, which sit in the mountains, this one stands on rocks above the sea on Busan's east coast; the path goes down past stone lanterns and a row of zodiac statues to the halls, with the waves breaking below. Back towards the city we stop for a sit-down lunch of milmyeon, Busan's cold wheat noodles, created by refugees during the Korean War, or a hot dish in the cooler months. In the afternoon we walk the lanes of Gamcheon Culture Village, a hillside of terraced houses painted in bright colours, with murals and small galleries along the stairways and a view down to the harbour. You have a couple of hours free at the hotel, then in the evening your guide walks you across the square in front of Busan Station to the lanes beyond for dwaeji gukbap, the pork and rice soup Busan claims as its own.

   Included

   • Haedong Yonggungsa in the early morning with your guide
   • Sit-down lunch of milmyeon or a hot Busan dish
   • Gamcheon Culture Village
   • Dinner of dwaeji gukbap near Busan Station

   Easier option: Gamcheon is all stairs; stay in the van for the upper lanes and meet the group at the viewpoint by the main road.

   Free time: Late afternoon free

   Activity: Steps at the temple and steep stairways in Gamcheon; about 3 hours on foot in all.

   

5. Day 5: Jagalchi in the morning, then fly to Jeju

   Jagalchi Market, then Gimhae Airport to Jeju by air and on to Seogwipo

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast and dinner
   • Stay in Seogwipo
   Day 5 details

   Busan's fish market is best early, so after breakfast we walk from the hotel to Jagalchi by about 8 am, while the stalls along the harbour are busiest. Your guide takes you through the tanks of flatfish, octopus, sea squirts and king crab, explains how locals buy and have their fish cut upstairs, and buys a few things to taste. We book a flight that leaves late morning or around midday so the 8 am start fits. Mid-morning our van drives about 45 minutes to Gimhae International Airport (PUS) for the flight of about an hour to Jeju, an island of volcanic rock off the south coast, listed by UNESCO in 2007 for its volcano and lava tubes. A second van meets us at Jeju International Airport for the hour's drive over the shoulder of Hallasan to Seogwipo on the south coast, our base for three nights. After check-in and a rest, we walk to the Seogwipo Maeil Olle Market for a tasting dinner: tangerines, grilled fish, hotteok pancakes and whatever is in season.

   Included

   • Jagalchi Market in the morning with your guide, with tastings
   • Flight from Busan (Gimhae, PUS) to Jeju (CJU) with a checked bag
   • Transfer from Jeju International Airport to Seogwipo
   • Tasting dinner at Seogwipo Maeil Olle Market

   Free time: Late afternoon free in Seogwipo

   Activity: Flight times are set when the group's flight is booked; the market visit is moved earlier if the flight is.

6. Day 6: Seongsan Ilchulbong and the haenyeo

   Seogwipo to Seongsan Ilchulbong and Hado, then back to Seogwipo

   • Drive about 2.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Seogwipo
   Day 6 details

   We leave Seogwipo early and drive about an hour east to be at Seongsan Ilchulbong, Sunrise Peak, at opening time, which changes with the season; we confirm it for your dates. The crater is a tuff cone that rose from the sea about 5,000 years ago; stairs climb about 180 m to the rim, around 25 minutes up, and the bowl of the crater opens below you with the sea on three sides. If it opens before sunrise on your dates, we climb for the sunrise itself. Breakfast is after the climb, near the foot of the peak. A short drive north takes us to the Jeju Haenyeo Museum at Hado, which tells the story of the island's women divers, who gather shellfish and seaweed on a single breath; their culture was listed by UNESCO in 2016. Lunch is seafood the haenyeo bring in: abalone porridge and a seafood stew. In the early afternoon we watch a haenyeo demonstration on the shore below Seongsan, then drive back to Seogwipo by about 4 pm. The evening is free.

   Included

   • Seongsan Ilchulbong at opening
   • Jeju Haenyeo Museum at Hado
   • Seafood lunch with abalone porridge
   • Haenyeo diving demonstration below Seongsan, weather permitting

   Easier option: Skip the climb: walk the flat path around the foot of the peak to the shore, and meet the group for breakfast.

   More active option: Walk the stretch of Olle Route 1 from the Gwangchigi beach side back towards the peak while the group has breakfast.

   Free time: Evening free in Seogwipo

   Activity: Seongsan is about 25 minutes of steady stairs each way. The haenyeo demonstration is cancelled in rough seas; if it is, we visit a haenyeo-run seafood shack instead. Seongsan Ilchulbong closes on the first Monday of each month, so departures avoid it on this day.

7. Day 7: The Olle Trail and a black pork farewell

   Seogwipo along a section of Olle Route 7, from Oedolgae to Beophwan

   • Drive about 45 min
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Seogwipo
   Day 7 details

   The Jeju Olle Trail is a chain of numbered walking routes around the coast of the island, marked with blue and orange ribbons. We walk a section of Route 7, one of the most walked, joining it at Oedolgae, a 20-metre basalt pillar standing in the sea, and heading west along the cliff tops, through pine woods and down to pebble coves, roughly 7 km and three hours at an easy pace. The van meets us at Beophwan, a small fishing port, for a sit-down lunch of grilled fish or a seafood hot pot. The afternoon is free: rest at the hotel, see Jeongbang Falls, a waterfall that drops straight onto the shore, or try a Jeju tangerine farm in season. In the evening we come together for the farewell dinner: Jeju black pork, a local breed, grilled thick-cut at the table and eaten with fermented anchovy sauce, the island's own way.

   Included

   • Guided walk on a section of Jeju Olle Route 7, Oedolgae to Beophwan
   • Sit-down lunch in Beophwan
   • Farewell dinner of Jeju black pork barbecue

   Easier option: Walk only the first 3 km from Oedolgae and ride the van to lunch.

   More active option: Carry on past Beophwan towards Gangjeong and Wolpyeong, the far end of Route 7, and rejoin the group for dinner.

   Free time: Afternoon free

   Activity: Roughly 7 km on coastal paths, wooden steps and some rocky stretches (the exact section distance is confirmed with your itinerary); walking shoes with grip.

8. Day 8: Leave from Jeju

   Seogwipo to Jeju International Airport

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Breakfast
   Day 8 details

   A last breakfast in Seogwipo, with time for a walk along the harbour or to the Saeseom footbridge if your flight is later in the day. Our van drives you about an hour back over the island to Jeju International Airport (CJU), where your guide checks you in and says goodbye. Jeju has a few international flights, but most long-haul flights home leave from Incheon, so the usual way is a domestic flight to Seoul's Gimpo Airport, about an hour and ten minutes, and then the train or a taxi across to Incheon. For that connection, book an onward long-haul flight from Incheon after about 5 pm and a Jeju to Gimpo flight leaving before noon. If you would rather stay longer on the island or add nights in Seoul, tell us when you book and we arrange the hotel and transfers. We set the group's departure time from the hotel to suit the earliest flight.

   Included

   • Drop-off at Jeju International Airport (CJU)

   Free time: Morning free if your flight allows

   Activity: Book a Jeju flight leaving after about 10:30 am, and an Incheon long-haul flight after about 5 pm.

Wildlife and weather: Spring brings cherry blossom in Seoul and Busan in late March and early April and yellow canola fields on Jeju; autumn is clear and dry with foliage from late October. Jeju is windy all year, and summer rain and typhoons can cancel haenyeo shows and flights, which is why the trip avoids July and August.

• Seoul2 nights
• Busan2 nights
• Seogwipo3 nights