South Korea: Seoul, Jeonju, Gyeongju and Busan

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 in the Yellow Sea about 55 km west of the city centre. A driver meets you in the arrivals hall for the drive in, about an hour and a quarter depending on traffic, to a central hotel within walking distance of the old palaces. Plan to land by about 3 pm to reach the evening meeting; the exact time is sent with your final itinerary. At 6 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing on the days ahead, hands out transit cards for the metro and explains how the train days work. Then we walk along Cheonggyecheon, a stream restored in 2005 that runs below street level through the middle of downtown, to a welcome dinner of Korean barbecue, grilled at the table with banchan, the small side dishes that come with every Korean meal.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Incheon International Airport (ICN)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide and a transit card
   • Evening walk along Cheonggyecheon stream
   • Welcome dinner of Korean barbecue

   Free time: Free until the 6 pm meeting

   Activity: If you land late, the driver still meets you and your guide catches up with you at breakfast.

2. Day 2: Changdeokgung, the Secret Garden and Gwangjang Market

   Changdeokgung to Bukchon, then Gwangjang Market

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Seoul
   Day 2 details

   We are at the gate of Changdeokgung when it opens at 9 am. Built in 1405 as a secondary palace of the Joseon kings and listed by UNESCO in 1997, it follows the slope of the hill rather than a straight axis, and at this hour you can stand almost alone in front of Injeongjeon, the throne hall. Next comes Huwon, the Secret Garden behind the palace, which can only be seen on a guided tour with timed tickets; we book an early one. Its paths lead past pavilions, ponds and old trees to the lotus pond of Buyongji. From the palace we walk up into Bukchon, a hillside of lived-in hanok houses, keeping our voices down for the residents. Lunch is at Gwangjang Market, sitting at the stall counters over bindaetteok, a crisp mung bean pancake, and small rolls of gimbap. The afternoon and evening are yours.

   Included

   • Changdeokgung at opening with your guide
   • Guided tour of Huwon, the Secret Garden
   • Walk through Bukchon's hanok lanes
   • Street-food lunch at Gwangjang Market

   Optional experiences

   • National Museum of Korea
   • N Seoul Tower on Namsan

   Easier option: Go back to the hotel after lunch, or take a short taxi ride rather than walking Bukchon's hill lanes.

   More active option: In the late afternoon, walk the Seoul city wall trail from Heunginjimun gate up to Naksan Park for the city at sunset; your guide shows you where to start.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free

   Activity: Changdeokgung is closed on Mondays, so departures are set so this day never falls on one. About 6 km on foot, with hill lanes in Bukchon.

3. Day 3: The DMZ, then Gyeongbokgung

   Seoul to Imjingak, the Third Tunnel and Dora Observatory, then back to Gyeongbokgung

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

   We leave at about 8 am for the Demilitarized Zone, the strip of land about 4 km wide that has divided the peninsula since the 1953 armistice. Sites here are visited on registered tours, so a licensed DMZ guide joins us and passports are checked on the way in. At Imjingak we see the Freedom Bridge and the ribbons tied to the fences by families divided by the war. Then we walk down the steep access slope into the Third Tunnel, dug from the North and found in 1978, and stand at Dora Observatory, where on a clear day you look across into North Korea. After a sit-down lunch near the border we drive back to Seoul, arriving by about 3 pm. Then, as the day-trippers thin, we walk through Gyeongbokgung, the main royal palace of the Joseon dynasty, from the throne hall to Gyeonghoeru, the banquet pavilion standing in its pond. The evening is free.

   Included

   • DMZ tour with a licensed DMZ guide: Imjingak and the Freedom Bridge, the Third Tunnel and Dora Observatory
   • Sit-down lunch near the border
   • Gyeongbokgung in the afternoon with your guide

   Optional experiences

   • The War Memorial of Korea

   Easier option: Skip the walk down into the Third Tunnel and wait at the visitor centre at the top; skip Gyeongbokgung and go back to the hotel.

   Free time: Evening free

   Activity: Bring your passport. DMZ tours do not run on Mondays and can be cancelled at short notice for military reasons; if that happens we visit the War Memorial of Korea instead. The tunnel slope is steep on the way back up, and no photos are allowed inside it. From November Gyeongbokgung closes at 5 pm with last entry at 4 pm, so on November departures the DMZ tour leaves earlier, or we see the palace at 9 am on day 4 and take a later train.

4. Day 4: KTX to Jeonju and a hanok night

   Seoul to Jeonju by KTX, then Jeonju Hanok Village

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Jeonju
   Day 4 details

   After breakfast our vehicle leaves for the south with the luggage, and we take the KTX high-speed train from Yongsan station to Jeonju, a ride of about an hour and three quarters, with just a day bag. Lunch is Jeonju's own bibimbap, rice topped with vegetables, beef and a raw egg yolk, served in a brass bowl. Jeonju was the home town of the Joseon royal family, and its Hanok Village packs hundreds of tile-roofed houses into a grid of lanes. Your guide walks you past Jeondong Cathedral, finished in 1914, and Pungnammun, the last surviving gate of the city walls, and then the afternoon is free to wander the craft shops or rent a hanbok. Before sunset we climb the short path to Omokdae for the view over the rooftops as the lanes light up. Tonight is a hanok guesthouse, and dinner is hanjeongsik, a full table of many small dishes.

   Included

   • KTX from Seoul to Jeonju, with your luggage sent ahead by road
   • Jeonju bibimbap lunch
   • Walk through Jeonju Hanok Village: Jeondong Cathedral and Pungnammun gate
   • Omokdae viewpoint at sunset
   • Hanjeongsik dinner
   • Night in a hanok guesthouse

   Optional experiences

   • Hanbok rental for an afternoon

   Easier option: Skip the climb to Omokdae and watch the lights come on from the lanes below.

   Free time: Afternoon free in the Hanok Village

   Activity: Hanok rooms are heated through the floor. Each room has its own bathroom; beds are raised where the house has them, otherwise thick mattresses on the floor.

   

5. Day 5: Gyeonggijeon, Haeinsa and on to Gyeongju

   Jeonju to Haeinsa on Gayasan, then to Gyeongju

   • Drive about 4 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Gyeongju
   Day 5 details

   We walk through the quiet lanes of the Hanok Village to Gyeonggijeon for its 9 am opening. The shrine was built in 1410 to hold the portrait of Taejo, founder of the Joseon dynasty, and its courtyards are quiet before the day's visitors arrive. At about 9:45 we drive east across the mountains, about two hours, to Haeinsa on the slopes of Gayasan. Lunch is mountain-vegetable bibimbap in the temple village. Haeinsa keeps the Tripitaka Koreana, more than 80,000 wooden printing blocks of the Buddhist scriptures carved in the 13th century, in the Janggyeong Panjeon halls, built so that air moves through slatted windows to keep the wood dry. You look in through those slats; the halls themselves are closed. We walk the temple courtyards with your guide, then drive about two hours on to Gyeongju, with a stop on the way. It is the longest driving day, about four hours in all, broken in the middle by the temple and lunch. The evening is free.

   Included

   • Gyeonggijeon shrine at opening
   • Haeinsa and the Janggyeong Panjeon halls of the Tripitaka Koreana with your guide
   • Mountain-vegetable bibimbap lunch near Haeinsa

   Easier option: Haeinsa's main courtyards are up a gentle slope and some stone steps; you can wait at the café by the gate instead.

   Free time: Evening free in Gyeongju

   Activity: About four hours of driving in two halves, leaving Jeonju at about 9:45 with Haeinsa and lunch between, and reaching Gyeongju at about 4:30 pm. Shoes come off if you step into a temple hall.

   

6. Day 6: Bulguksa, Seokguram and Gyeongju by lamplight

   Gyeongju to Bulguksa and Seokguram, then Daereungwon, Cheomseongdae and Wolji Pond

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Gyeongju
   Day 6 details

   Gyeongju was the capital of the Silla kingdom for close to a thousand years, and today we see it from the hills to the lamps. We reach Bulguksa close to opening, before the school groups. Rebuilt in the 8th century and listed by UNESCO in 1995 with Seokguram, it rises on stone terraces reached by two double stairways, with the stone pagodas Dabotap and Seokgatap in its main courtyard. Higher on the mountain, Seokguram is a granite Buddha in a man-made grotto, seen through a glass screen. We drive up, and anyone who likes can walk the forest trail between the two instead. Lunch is ssambap, rice wrapped in fresh leaves, then the early afternoon is free. At about 4 pm we walk among the grass-covered tomb mounds of Daereungwon, step inside Cheonmachong, pass Cheomseongdae, the 7th-century observatory, and end at dusk at Wolji Pond, when Donggung's pavilions are lit on the water.

   Included

   • Bulguksa close to opening with your guide
   • Seokguram grotto
   • Ssambap lunch
   • Daereungwon tomb park and the Cheonmachong tomb
   • Cheomseongdae observatory
   • Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond at dusk

   Optional experiences

   • Gyeongju National Museum

   Easier option: Ride both ways between Bulguksa and Seokguram, and skip the evening walk for a taxi straight to Wolji Pond.

   More active option: Walk the forest trail from Bulguksa up to Seokguram, about 3 km and an hour's steady climb, and meet the group at the top.

   Free time: Early afternoon free; dinner free

   Activity: About 7 km on foot with the evening walk, plus stone steps at Bulguksa. No photos inside the Seokguram grotto.

7. Day 7: Yangdong Folk Village and down to Busan

   Gyeongju to Yangdong, then to Busan: Haeundae, Dongbaekseom and Gwangalli

   • Drive about 2.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Busan
   Day 7 details

   We start at Yangdong, a village of tile-roofed and thatched houses about 16 km north of Gyeongju, where the Son and Yi clans have lived since the 15th century. Listed by UNESCO in 2010 with Hahoe, it is a lived-in place, not a museum, and the morning is the quietest time to walk up the lanes to the clan houses on the hillside. After lunch in Gyeongju we drive about an hour and a quarter to Busan, Korea's second city and its biggest port, and settle into a hotel near Haeundae beach. In the late afternoon your guide walks you round Dongbaekseom, a small wooded headland at the end of the beach, on a path above the rocks. At dusk we drive about 15 minutes to Gwangalli, the next beach west, to see the Gwangan Bridge lit over the bay. The evening is free, among the seafood restaurants on the beach streets.

   Included

   • Yangdong Folk Village with your guide
   • Lunch in Gyeongju
   • Walk around Dongbaekseom and along Haeundae beach
   • Gwangalli beach and the Gwangan Bridge lit at dusk

   Optional experiences

   • A jjimjilbang, a Korean bathhouse and sauna
   • An evening cruise past the Gwangan Bridge

   Easier option: Yangdong's upper lanes are steep in places; stay in the lower village and meet the group at the bottom.

   Free time: Evening free

   Activity: Yangdong is a living village: keep to the open houses and paths, and ask before photographing residents.

   

8. Day 8: Haedong Yonggungsa, Gamcheon and Jagalchi

   Haeundae to Haedong Yonggungsa, then Gamcheon Culture Village, Jagalchi and Gukje markets

   • Drive about 2.5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Busan
   Day 8 details

   We are at Haedong Yonggungsa by about 8 am, before the tour coaches. First founded in the 14th century and rebuilt in the 20th, it is one of the few Korean temples built on the sea rather than in the mountains, and the steps down lead to halls on the rocks with the waves breaking below. From there we cross the city to Gamcheon Culture Village, a hillside of small houses built by refugees during the Korean War and painted in bright colours, and walk its lanes and stairways with your guide. A short hop down the hill, about 15 minutes, brings us to lunch at Jagalchi, Korea's best-known fish market: choose fish, octopus or shellfish from the tanks on the ground floor and have it cooked for you upstairs. Afterwards we walk through Gukje Market's covered lanes and stop for ssiat hotteok, a pancake filled with seeds and syrup. The rest of the afternoon is free, and in the evening we meet for a farewell dinner.

   Included

   • Haedong Yonggungsa early, before the coaches
   • Gamcheon Culture Village with your guide
   • Seafood lunch at Jagalchi fish market
   • Walk through Gukje Market and a ssiat hotteok
   • Farewell dinner

   Optional experiences

   • Busan Tower in Yongdusan Park

   Easier option: At Gamcheon, stay on the main lane along the top of the hill instead of the stairways down into the village; at Yonggungsa, the view from the top of the steps takes in the whole temple.

   Free time: Afternoon free

   Activity: About 108 steps down to Yonggungsa and back up, and steep stairways at Gamcheon. Jagalchi has a few closing days a month, so departures are set around them.

9. Day 9: KTX back to Seoul, or fly from Busan

   Busan to Seoul Station by KTX and the airport train to Incheon, or Busan to Gimhae International Airport

   • Drive about 42 min
   • Breakfast
   Day 9 details

   Your last day goes one of two ways, and you choose when you book. Most guests fly home from Incheon: after breakfast our vehicle takes you to Busan Station, and you ride the KTX with your guide for about two and a half hours up the length of the country to Seoul Station. There your guide sees you onto the AREX express train, which reaches Incheon International Airport in under an hour, and says goodbye. With a morning train you are at the airport around midday, so book an international flight leaving after about 3 pm. If you would rather fly out of Busan, a driver takes you instead to Gimhae International Airport (PUS), about 45 to 60 minutes from the hotel depending on traffic, at a time set by your flight. Either way, if you want to stay on in Seoul or Busan, ask us for extra hotel nights when you book.

   Included

   • KTX from Busan to Seoul Station with your guide, and the AREX express to Incheon International Airport (ICN)
   • Or a drop-off at Gimhae International Airport (PUS) for flights from Busan

   Activity: Flying from Incheon: book a flight after about 3 pm. Flying from Gimhae: any flight after about 10 am works.

Wildlife and weather: Spring brings cherry blossom in early April, often at its peak around Gyeongju's tombs and Seoul's palaces, and mild days through May. Autumn is clear and dry, with maple colour from mid October in the mountains at Haeinsa and Bulguksa to early November in Seoul. From November the palaces close an hour earlier, at 5 pm, so on November departures we adjust the day 3 timing (see day 3). Late June and July bring the monsoon rains and humid heat; winter in Seoul is cold and dry.

• Seoul3 nights
• Jeonju1 night
• Gyeongju2 nights
• Busan2 nights