The palace opens at nine. The border bus leaves at seven.
Which DMZ morning actually walks down the Third Tunnel, and which one only stops at the observatory. Why a rented hanbok gets you through the palace gate for nothing. Reviews of every tour you can book in South Korea.
SeoulFive palaces and the lanes between them
Out of the cityNami, Seoraksan, the folk village
BusanA beach, a fish market and GamcheonThe one everybody booksThe border morningfrom $27Two hours off the mainlandJeju Islandfrom $8The border, the palace, the old capital and the night market.
The four days a first Korean itinerary tends to hang off. What each one costs, how long it runs, and where it actually takes you.
01The border morningBest DMZ Tour Korea from Seoul (Red Suspension Bridge Optional)The Third Tunnel, the observatory looking north over Kaesong, and a talk from somebody who walked out of the North. Passports go on the bus.
02The palace dayGyeongbok Palace, Bukchon Village, and Gwangjang TourGyeongbokgung at opening for the guard change, the tiled lanes of Bukchon over its wall, then Gwangjang market for lunch eaten standing up.
03The old capitalGyeongju Guided Day Trip to Three Kingdoms CapitalGyeongju from Busan. Grass-covered royal tombs in the middle of town, a stone Buddha in a hillside grotto, and Anapji pond lit after dark.
04The eating nightSeoul Street Food Market TourGwangjang and the alleys behind it, at the hour the plastic stools come out and the mung bean pancakes hit the griddle.
Not every DMZ morning is the same DMZ morning.
They all leave Seoul before eight and they all have you back for lunch. What they include varies a great deal more than what they cost. This is what separates them.
The one to bookBest DMZ Tour Korea from Seoul (Red Suspension Bridge Optional)Read the review →Seoul first, then the fast train south and the plane to Jeju.
A capital with five palaces inside it, a port city with a beach and a fish market, a volcanic island off the south coast, the Silla capital, the airport city on the west sea and the hanok town that invented bibimbap. Six starting points, and the best day out in each.
Seoul: the palace before the crowds, the market after dark.
Everything in Seoul →
Gyeongbokgung fills up from ten, which makes the guard change at the gate worth the early alarm. After that the city is lanes. Bukchon over the palace wall, Insadong below it, and Gwangjang once the stalls light up.
Palace pass, or the free way in
Gyeongbokgung costs a few dollars, and nothing at all if you turn up in a rented hanbok. The combined pass adds Changdeokgung, whose Secret Garden is the one that has to be booked ahead.
Bukchon, walked quietly
The hanok lanes above the palace are still somebody’s front door, and the signs asking for quiet before ten are not decoration. A guide keeps you on the streets that welcome it.
Gwangjang, then the alleys behind it
Bindaetteok ground on a stone mill, mayak kimbap by the handful, and raw beef if you are brave. Then the drinking streets behind the market, where the food is the excuse.
South Korea’s most popular days out.
Every South Korean review →The days out with the most travellers behind them, from the border morning to the palace gate, the Busan coast and the market stalls after dark.
1
Best DMZ Tour Korea from Seoul (Red Suspension Bridge Optional)
Visit Korea’s DMZ from Seoul with the Third Tunnel, Dora Observatory, Freedom Bridge, and optional Red Suspension Bridge.
From · $29
Read the review →
2
DMZ Tour: 3rd Tunnel, Option(Suspension Bridge, Boat) from Seoul
from $35
3
Gyeongbok Palace, Bukchon Village, and Gwangjang Tour
from $32
4
Gyeongju Guided Day Trip to Three Kingdoms Capital
from $52
5
Full Day Tour In The Soop BTS Ver in PyeongChang Filming Location
from $138
6
Best Seoul City Tour (Gyeongbokgung Palace,Insadong,Namsan Tower)
from $58
7
Small-Group Royal Palace and Seoul City Tour (hotel pick-up)
from $56
8
Small Group Full Day Busan Tour (Max 6 Pax)
from $99
In Korea the meal lands all at once, and half of it is free.
Banchan arrives before you order and keeps arriving after. Book the market walk for the eating, the class for the technique, and one barbecue where somebody else does the turning.
What a day out in South Korea actually costs.
Every tour on the site, grouped by what you pay. The border morning, the thing most people fly in for, sits in the cheapest band of the three.
The border run, palace tickets, hanbok for the day, market walks and most of the city tours.
Full days out of Seoul. Nami and the Garden of Morning Calm, Seoraksan, Gyeongju from Busan, the Jeju circuits.
Private drivers, whole-island Jeju days and the small groups that cap at six people.
Three things that only happen in South Korea.
Palaces and mountains are everywhere in East Asia. A rented silk dress that opens the gate for free, a music industry you can walk around, and a lake island planted for a television drama are not.
The Hanbok Rule
Turn up at Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Deoksugung or Changgyeonggung wearing hanbok and you walk in free. The rental shops sit in a row outside the east gate, charge by the hour, and will pin your hair while you wait. Most people book the palace walk and the dress together, which saves the trip back to hand it in.
- 1Seoul Half-Day City Highlight, Palace Tour with Hanbok★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 764 reviews
- 2Hanbok Rental with Gyeongbokgung Palace Entry★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 611 reviews
- 3Small Group Seoul Highlight Tour opt. Hanbok & Tea Ceremony★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 318 reviews
K-Pop, In Person
The industry is a physical place. Agency buildings in Gangnam, practice studios with mirrored walls, and record shops in Hongdae where the album is still an object with a photocard inside it. Some of these put you in a dance class with a working choreographer, which is much harder than it looks and rather the point.
- 1The Painters Live Art K-pop Dance Show Ticket★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 708 reviews
- 2Kpop Dance Class Including Video Shooting & Editing★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 185 reviews
- 3BTS K-Pop Star Footsteps Journey ARMY Fan Day Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 115 reviews
Nami Island
A half moon of land in the river above Chuncheon, planted with metasequoia in long straight avenues, that a 2002 television series turned into a pilgrimage for half of Asia. It has declared itself a separate republic and sells you a visa at the jetty. Autumn is when the avenues do what the posters promise.
- 1Mt. Seorak+Nami Island+Garden of Morning Calm Day Trip from Seoul★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 959 reviews
- 2Nami Island and Garden of Morning Calm opt Railbike★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 907 reviews
- 3Nami Island, K-drama Garden & Rail Bike Day Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 724 reviews
Four South Korean bookings that will not wait.
Most of this country can be arranged the night before from a convenience store table. These four run on military permits, blossom, dated tickets and a ferry timetable that shortens in winter.
- 01Best DMZ Tour Korea from Seoul (Red Suspension Bridge Optional)The border wants your passport details in advance, and the facilities on the far side of the Imjin close on Mondays. Turning up on the day is not a thing here.
- 02Cherry Blossom Early Bird Tour with Hotel PickupSeoul opens in the first week of April and is bare inside a fortnight. There is no second window in the year.
- 03Everland Theme Park Admission Ticket with Transfer from SeoulEntry runs on dated tickets. The queue at the gate is for the people who did not buy one.
- 04Mt. Seorak+Nami Island+Garden of Morning Calm Day Trip from SeoulYou reach the island on the Gapyeong ferry, and the last crossing back moves earlier every month the weather cools.
Late June to late July, Korea rains sideways for a month.
The jangma is a rain front that parks over the peninsula and refuses to move. Days out become days in, and the country happens to be very good at that. Covered markets, cooking counters, air conditioned museums and a music industry that lives indoors.
Seoul does not really stop, which is what makes the evening tours good.
The palaces light up, the Han fills with picnic mats and delivered fried chicken, and the grill alleys behind Euljiro only get going around nine. The night here is a separate itinerary, not a leftover.
Every Seoul evening →
By place, capital to island
By kind of day, border to barbecue
Seoul, the border, Gyeongju, Busan, Jeju: the shape of a first Korean fortnight.
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