South Korea recommendations

[RK228]

We’ve booked to go GLA-PVG and HND-GLA next summer using a 241 voucher. Between our time in Shanghai and Tokyo though, we want to visit South Korea.

Current plans see us flying into Busan (PVG-PUS) on 7 July and out of Seoul (GMP-HND) on 14 July (the GMP-HND is an Avios booking though, so there’s some ongoing consideration of changing to a cash flight or ferry from Busan to Japan instead).

My wife and I have been to Seoul before and we’ve heard some mixed reports about SK weather in July, so we were planning on primarily being in Busan area, as we figured there’d still be things to do if weather wasn’t great, but could still have potential beach/pool options if it is.

Any recommendations of places to go, where to stay, or things to do with this in mind? It’ll be my wife, 6yo son, and I.

[Peggerz]

Hi @RK228.
I have family in SK so last October flew EDI-DOH-ICN on our first visit. We didn’t make it to Busan, but my daughter loves it there and has visited there a few times to get out of Seoul since she moved to SK.
A highlight for us was a stay in a traditional Korean Hanok house (with some Westernised adaptations) in Jeonju for a few days. It’s a relatively short train journey from the capital. Very peaceful. The weather in mid summer can be very hot and very wet, we were advised the best time to go way April/May and September/October. If you go to Busan, stick a few words up on here of your experiences.

[Optimus Prime]

We went to South Korea in late June/beginning of July. Seoul was bloody hot in July, thank God they have A/C everywhere. Busan was okay in June, some rain but not too much. We visited Gamchon Village, Haeundae Beach and its night market, Haedong Yonggung Temple, Amnam Park (take the cable car to get there), the Fish Market, etc

If you have time I also recommend a day trip to Gyeongju.

[meta]

Japan will be hot too, similar to Seoul perhaps even more especially in the second half of July.

[RK228]

Peggerz wrote:

A highlight for us was a stay in a traditional Korean Hanok house (with some Westernised adaptations) in Jeonju for a few days.

Good thought. We’ve not actually stayed in traditional Korean accommodation as yet, so might keep a look out for this.

Optimus Prime wrote:

We went to South Korea in late June/beginning of July. Seoul was bloody hot in July, thank God they have A/C everywhere. Busan was okay in June, some rain but not too much. We visited Gamchon Village, Haeundae Beach and its night market, Haedong Yonggung Temple, Amnam Park (take the cable car to get there), the Fish Market, etc

If you have time I also recommend a day trip to Gyeongju.

Yeah, we’re expecting heat and humidity. Thanks for the recommendations for Busan. A few of those I wasn’t already aware of, so those are helpful. How did you get around (e.g., to Amnam Park or Gyeongju)? Did you use public transport or hire a car?

meta wrote:

Japan will be hot too, similar to Seoul perhaps even more especially in the second half of July.

Yeah, we’ve been to Japan several times now, including a couple of times in July, so know what we’re in for. In this case, we’re primarily in Tokyo just to use our 241 voucher, as no option to fly back from South Korea, and will only be there a couple of days.

[Michael C]

Be careful if you get the train to Busan!!

[RK228]

Michael C wrote:

Be careful if you get the train to Busan!!

Yeah, we’re going to fly to Busan, so hopefully that route will be clear of zombies!

[Optimus Prime]

RK228 wrote:

Yeah, we’re expecting heat and humidity. Thanks for the recommendations for Busan. A few of those I wasn’t already aware of, so those are helpful. How did you get around (e.g., to Amnam Park or Gyeongju)? Did you use public transport or hire a car?

For Amnam Park, we took a taxi to Songdo Bay Station and there you can take the cable car.

For Gyeongju, we booked a guided tour on Klook.

We hired a car just in Jeju island. In Seoul and Busan we used public transport and taxis.

[RK228]

Optimus Prime wrote:

For Amnam Park, we took a taxi to Songdo Bay Station and there you can take the cable car.

For Gyeongju, we booked a guided tour on Klook.

We hired a car just in Jeju island. In Seoul and Busan we used public transport and taxis.

Great, thanks for info. I hope taxis are easy enough to hail, as I think we’re looking to make extensive use of them in the Busan area.

How was the weather in Jeju? We were originally looking to do 2-3 weeks in South Korea, including Jeju, but most things we were reading seemed to recommend avoiding summer, so we thought we would look to go to Jeju another time.

[Optimus Prime]

Just download the Kakao Taxi app and you won’t have any issues. If you can’t find the destination address try to search it in English in Google Maps and then copy the address in Hangul. Follow same approach when using Naver or Kakao Maps for walking and public transport directions.

Regarding Jeju – we had rain every day, if we ever go back it’ll be on another season. Still loved it though.

[RK228]

Optimus Prime wrote:

Just download the Kakao Taxi app and you won’t have any issues. If you can’t find the destination address try to search it in English in Google Maps and then copy the address in Hangul. Follow same approach when using Naver or Kakao Maps for walking and public transport directions.

Regarding Jeju – we had rain every day, if we ever go back it’ll be on another season. Still loved it though.

Perfect, that’s really helpful advice. Many thanks for sharing. We’ll need to get to Jeju on another visit.

[SBIre]

I’m not sure how your 6 year old would enjoy it, but I found the tour to the DMZ absolutely fascinating. With a little research and luck on the timing (it’s not available every day) you can get one of the better reviewed smaller tours – visit the tunnel, the observatory etc. it’s a great and simple day trip