Annyeong haseyo! We are back from our amazing trip exploring South Korea. We had a lot of doubts coming to Korea as we are not K-pop fans, nor do we watch Korean dramas. In general, we do not know that much about Korea.
Originally, we wanted to travel to Cambodia and Thailand. However, the end of September is their monsoon season. Hence, we decided to switch gears and pick another destination with good weather. Japan and Korea being in their autumn season were the top contenders. However, flights to Japan from Perth were super expensive! So we saved ourselves $3,000 and chose: Korea (read till the end and find out how much we paid for our airfares)
So here are the things we did during our two weeks Korea trip:
Day 1-3: SEOUL
Upon arrival, it took us literally 15 minutes from getting off the plane to leaving the airport. Incheon International Airport is one the most efficient airport we have EVER visited. We arrived in Seoul during the first day of Chuseok Holidays.
In Seoul, we chose to base ourselves in Myeong-dong for the 3 nights at The Metro Hotel. Myeong-dong has a LOT to offer from endless shopping, many famous restaurants (Kyoja, Wangbijip) and plenty of yummy street food! We absolutely loved the grilled octopus skewers and the Bungeoppang (red bean taiyaki). Myeong-dong is also close to HikR ground (famous place for taking photos with Kpop studio props).
Local cafes in Seoul doesn’t open until late morning. However, the markets open from 9AM! We came hungry to Gwangjang market for our hearty breakfast of Kalguksu (hand made knife-cut noodle) and Mandu dumplings. There were simply too many variety of food to choose from and we also had the best red bean hotteok pancake here.
We also checked out Seoul’s famous shopping malls. Lotte world mall and Lotte tower for the Seoul Sky observatory (123 floors high!). Starfield Coex Mall in Gangnam is also a must stop to admire the famous Starfield library. We then checked out Bongeunsa temple right opposite Coex Mall. As we visited on the second day of Chuseok, the temple was packed with worshippers and monks doing the processions.
Tired of malls, we checked out Dongmyo flea market. Mainly selling vintage electronics and pre-loved fashion in fantastic condition. Some shops even sell clothes by the kilo!
Seoul is renowned for its cafe scene. And Ikseon-dong is the best place to find them all tightly packed in super narrow alleys. We checked out Nakwon station cafe for cake and drinks. For a cute souvenir we got the boys’ Korean style portrait caricature drawn by a local artist. We also explored Insadong area and Jogyesa temple both of which are within walking distance.
In the evening, we saw the Banpo bridge fountain show. The light show itself was just mediocre. The boys were more excited with the “flooding” as the tide rose during the show.
Read in more detail how we spent our time in Seoul blog post here.
Booking.comDay 4 – 5: SOKCHO
We stayed in Sokcho for 2 nights. Sokcho’s main attraction is Seoraksan national park. Sokcho is 2.5 hours away by bus from Seoul. On our arrival, we took a taxi to Abai village (this village was formed by refugees of the Korean War from North Korea) to eat the famous ojingeo Sundae (stuffed squid) and we explored the central Jungang market for more local delicacies!
Still during Chuseok public holiday, Seoraksan national park was PACKED! We explored the grounds and the temple before making our way up on a cable car to see Gwongeumseong Fortress.
Afterwards, we visited a cafe with the best views before heading back to Sokcho for the super famous ChungChosoo Seafood restaurant for the abalone soup and Mulhoe (cold spicy raw fish soup). Sounds confusing but it tasted amazing!
Day 6 –7: JEONJU
5 hours drive from Sokcho, we finally arrived in Jeonju. Jeonju was named a Unesco City of Gastronomy in 2012 and is the birthplace of bibimbap. It is also famous for hundreds of well-preserved Hanok villages. We chose to stay 2 nights at a local Hanok guesthouse, an experience we will never forget. Our host was extremely helpful but spoke limited English. Thanks to Papago translation app, we communicated well.
1.5 hours drive from Jeonju, we visited Naejangsan national park. It’s a famous spot in autumn once the leaves turn dark orange/reddish. We were still at the start of autumn on our visit hence the place was deserted but it’s still a beautiful place with all the greeneries. We took the cable car to the top to appreciate the mountain views. Then we visited the nearby city of Gochang for their autumn pink muhly festival.
After watching the Netflix show “A nation of broth”, we couldn’t miss going to a small eatery at the Nambu market. We went to Hyundaeok restaurant for its famous breakfast fish – kongnamul gukbap (bean sprouts soup with rice). We also added boiled squids, and it was DIVINE!
Day 8 – 10: BUSAN
Our next stop was Korea’s second largest city: Busan. 3 hours bus ride from Jeonju, Busan is very picturesque with beaches and mountains surroundings. One of the best ways to enjoy views of Busan is by going up to Lotte department store in Gwangbok to its free 13th floor observation deck.
Afterwards we checked out Korea’s biggest fish market: Jagalchi – not realising it was their first day of Jagalchi annual seafood festival. Super crowded and not feeling up for the raw seafood dishes we opted for dinner at Bupyeong Kkangtong market’s Miryangjip (also featured on the same Netflix show). We had its famous gukbap (pork rice soup).
Next morning we head to the seaside Haedong Yongusa temple followed by catching the famous Busan Sky capsule. We then strolled around Haeundae beach before taking a taxi back to our hotel to explore Gukje market and Gwangbokro culture & fashion street.
Gamcheon cultural village is a MUST visit at Busan (and get here by 9am)! This place is THE MOST visited place in Busan and gets super packed by group tours (especially cruise day trippers). We loved the small shops here (more unique than the ones in Seoul) and we found the best cafe with a view at Coffee it house.
Another great relaxing activity is taking a cable car from Songdo Bay station to see more great views of Busan. We loved the sea and mountain views from up here. Later we visited “Santorini of Busan” aka Hynyeoul Munhwa Maul village. Nowhere near as picturesque as Gamcheon but worth a visit for a cafe stop.
Read in more detail how we spent our time in Busan blog post here.
Booking.comDay 11: JINJU
Just 1.5 hours away from Busan is this small city where the annual lantern festival is held. The festival is the only reason we made an effort to stop here. We loved seeing thousands of lanterns lit up along the river and up on the fortress.
This is also where we had the most memorable experience being driven back to our hotel in a Police patrol car (as we were stranded at 11.30PM without any taxi nor public transport in sight). Thank you police Officer Park!
Day 12- 14: SEOUL
3.5 hours bus ride from Jinju, we are back to spend our final few days in Seoul. We went for more retail therapy at Dongdaemun area. From shoes, bags, jackets, socks, underwear, they have it all! The boys especially loved the toy alley at Dongdaemun market.
No visit to Seoul is complete without visiting Gyeongbokgung Palace in traditional hanboks. Not only you get free entry when wearing hanboks, you also get to take memorable photos here. We rented ours from Daehan Hanbok for 2 hours (it got too hot and itchy in the end).
Changdeokgung Palace just 15 minutes walk away. It is a smaller palace but just as pretty. We booked the secret garden tour. Even though the leaves were still green, it’s still a beautiful tranquil place to visit. Changing of the guard is also a great activity with young children. We watched the one at Deoksugung Palace.
For ladies, I recommend trying out the personal colour consult. I did mine with Meime beauty (Instagram) as she speaks perfect English. Not only she picked colours best suited for me to wear, she also assessed my skin tone to see what make up and hair colour best suited for me. Definitely an interesting experience!
Overall, we absolutely loved our 2 weeks in South Korea, from the weather, food, history, nature, shopping it ticks all the boxes. We found South Korea to be easy for family as it is safe, clean, stroller friendly and getting around via taxi is affordable. It exceeded all our expectations and this is one country we would love to revisit in the near future!
AIRFARES
We booked this trip with Singapore Airlines about five months in advance. We paid $4,935 for the 4 of us.
As mentioned at the top of this post, tickets to Japan for the same travel period would have cost us $3,000 extra. And believe it or not we considered going to Cambodia (Siem Reap) & Thailand (Phuket) with Air Asia, but that would’ve cost us $6,400 (before all the extra charges!).
Like we always say: save on family travel by letting your next destination reveal itself!
ACCOMMODATION
Besides the Hanok guesthouse in Jeonju, all our stays were in a hotel with 2 queen beds, Booked via Booking.com and Agoda. On average we paid just $160 per night which we consider to be a bargain!
Picking a hotel with 2 queen beds can be hard as most family rooms consist of a single and a queen bed – so make sure you read the room description carefully.
GETTING AROUND
Between cities, we did not use the KTX bullet train at all. The cities we visited were better connected by bus. We booked our intercity bus tickets the day before at the station. Korean bus websites are user friendly but only local Korean cards can be accepted for payment.
In each city itself, we relied heavily on taxis. We downloaded KakaoT (Kakao taxi) app which is much like Uber. We always paid the driver with our Australian bank credit card without any issues. Seoul subway system (similar to Singapore’s MRT) is also super convenient and cheap at around 1500 Won per single ride. Children under 6 is free.
FOOD & DRINKS
We LOVED the variety of food here and honestly we will come back to South Korea just for the food alone. It is THAT good! Back home in Perth, Korean food is just mainly: bulgogi, kimchi & bibimbap. In Korea each city offers its own specialty – check out our Korean food blog post here!
Ordering food was made easy to by using downloading Papago app. Simply take photo of the menu and the Korean hangul alphabets are magically translated (there is also the regular type and translate feature like in Google translate).
Initially we were concerned most Korean food will be too spicy for our 8 and 3 year old boys but there’s always many non-spicy options for them. The kind Ajummas (ladies) also would take out the gochujang spicy sauce for the kid’s orders. Food comes lightning fast (fantastic for hangry kids), however “dessert cafe” and coffee prices in trendy places can be pricey.
IS SOUTH KOREA SAFE?
ABSOLUTELY! We feel it’s the safest place we’ve been so far up in the same category as Singapore. We never had to worry about pick pockets and scammers even on busy subways.
For other places we have visited, checkout our website’s travel Destinations section. We buy our travel essentials online via Ebay
