South Korea in July 2013 - planning my trip

Hope some one can give me some tips for planning my trip to South Korea in July 2013.

I will stay in the country for 23 days.

I will start in Seoul. Thinking of staying there for a week. And make some day trips from there and off course I will do the high lights of the city.
-what day trips can be made from Seoul

Thinking of visiting the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), Suwon (Fort Hwaseong), Chuncheon. So far I could see the can be done from Seuol ?

Also want to go to Pusan (Busan) and make some day trips frome there. And when its possible to Jeju. What is the best way to travel to Jeju.

Tips and experiences about traveling through South Korea are very welcome.

You can buy a real pass but this is only fot 10 days. Does any one has experience with this pass ?
http://www.korail.com/​kr_pass.jsp

Many thanks for you help and advises and tips


I'm not searching for advise how to take photos during my stay
Please do not us this topic for posting photos !!

Korea is extremely small and extremely easy to get around. Don't worry about rail passes. The KTX can get you from Seoul to Busan in a few hours for like $40.

Visit Gyeongju to see the old ancient capital and especially Bulguksa temple. Visit Haeinsa temple too which is away up in the mountains.

Go to Boseong and photograph the wonderful green tea fields.

Busan is great... Haeundae Beach area has a real good vibe around it. Jagalchi fish market is worth a visit too.

Korea is a wonderful country, a true mix of old and new!

Make sure to visit Sungnyemun Gate (South Gate) while in Seoul. It was burned down a few years ago, but they are working on restoring it and it might be done. While there visit Namdaemun Market, it's a street w/ 50-60 camera shops and you will have a hay day finding great deals on used eqpt.

The DMZ is a great visit, with a couple nice memorials. If I remember correctly it was close to a 2hr drive from Seoul. I believe it's called Pujan Peace Park.

I've spent a lot of time in Suwon (home of Samsung) and haven't gotten out much there other than work. Driving to and from the hotel in Suwon I didn't see much that interested me, but I'm sure there are some areas worth capturing, I just haven't had time to investigate it.

I spent significant amount of time in and around Cheonan (for work) but did get out and found a Navel museum/park near as well as an old Buddhist temple.

Things to do in Seoul:
Deoksugung Palace
Sungnyemun Gate
Namsan Botanical Gardens
Changdeokgung Palace

Other places:
Bonggoksa Temple (Chungcheongnam-do)
Gwangdeoksa Temple (Chungcheongnam-do)

Many thanks for your tips !! appreciate it !

I'm thinking of buying a Korail rail pass. Any one experience with it ?

I used the rail to get from Seoul to the city I stayed in further south. By car it was 2-3 hours due to traffic. By high speed rail it was 30 min w/ 2 stops along the way and was $14 each way. I spent every weekend in Seoul since it was so cheap to travel. My taxi from the hotel to the train station was more expensive than the HS train ticket. I never used the local trains though, only the HS train.

BTW, the Sungnyemun Gate is also knows as the Namdaemun South Gate...it's at the end of the Namdaemun market.

Many thanks for all your advices.

I will start in Seoul for 5 days.
Definitely doing a daytrip to the DMZ.

then I have 8 days that I still have to plan before I go to Busan for a few days and the I was thinking to pick the ferry to Japan Fukuoka.

From Fukuoka I will use the JR train to Nagasaki. There will I stay for a 4 days. And then travel back to Busan. And I wil finally end in Seoul for the airport.

One small problem I have with this site www.kobee.co.kr/
I cant read Korean and Google translate cant translate the whole site. Can someone help me out with the translation ?

And what to do in the 8 days left. What are nice locations. Thinking of 1 or 2 locations for hotels to do day trips from.

We will not renting a car. We want to travel with public transport

Superdaantje wrote in post #15539420
Many thanks for all your advices.

I will start in Seoul for 5 days.
Definitely doing a daytrip to the DMZ.

then I have 8 days that I still have to plan before I go to Busan for a few days and the I was thinking to pick the ferry to Japan Fukuoka.

From Fukuoka I will use the JR train to Nagasaki. There will I stay for a 4 days. And then travel back to Busan. And I wil finally end in Seoul for the airport.

One small problem I have with this site www.kobee.co.kr/
I cant read Korean and Google translate cant translate the whole site. Can someone help me out with the translation ?

And what to do in the 8 days left. What are nice locations. Thinking of 1 or 2 locations for hotels to do day trips from.

We will not renting a car. We want to travel with public transport

I am currently living in Korea and I can tell you there is a lot of things to see for such a small country. If you are into hiking or national parks, Korea has some gorgeous parks. My favorite park is about a 3 1/2 hours bus ride from Seoul. It is called Seoraksan National Park and it is just beautiful.

As someone else has already mentioned, definitely check out Gyeongju. Bulguksa temple is great. While you are there you need to check out Anapji Pond. It is best to visit at night when they illuminate the whole place.

There is also a city on the western coast called Mokpo which is really nice for catching ferries out to little islands off the coast. It really shows you a whole different side of Korea.

If you want a truly unique and amazing experience you should try a temple stay. You stay in a temple over night and do everything with the Buddhist monks (which includes waking up at 3AM and doing 108 full bows). One of my favorite experiences so far.

If you love food and want to see the best traditional Hanok village, head down to Jeonju. It is only a 2.5 bus ride from Seoul. You can also take KTX there. Hanok houses are the traditional Korean houses and Jeonju has famous village filled with them. There are dozens of restaurants, cafes, and little homemade souvenir shops. Jeonju has also recently been added to UNESCO's City of Gastronomy list for its amazing food (Bibimbap was created here).

I also recommend what everyone has said about Busan so far.

We are not in to hiking. We love nature so we also want to do one of the park.

Many thanks for your advise. So far we have al lot to do in and around Seoul and Busan. Made some notes of the advise you all gave me. So I can plan my time in Seoul and Busan.

For now I'm still searching for a great location to book a hotel between Seoul and Busan. What is a good location the make some great excursions of ?

And can help someone help me out with booking the ferry to Japan from Busan ?
I tried to translate the site with Google translate. But the site uses a lot of images with text that can not be translated

I'm traveling to South Korea the end of June for 23 days. I have booked hotels in the following city's
* Seoul
* Seoraksan
* Gyeongju
* Busan
* Seoul

Has any one tips for traveling with public transport. Trains ?
Maybe some nice locations to visit or some nice day trips from these locations ?
All ready had many good tips (many thanks for those)

Tips what gear to bring is not necessary. I all ready know what gear to bring