If you have only one week time in Korea, What would you like to do? (Day 1,2 and 3)

Hi guys,

When my boyfriend visited Korea for the first time, he bought several Korea travel books (well-known for world travel book series). Anyway, my point is he definitely found some information about top attractions and spots in Korea, but he found it really difficult to plan the route even though it mentioned top 10 or 20 things people should do.

So, this post is all about my opinion and can be very helpful when you are trying to plan a route (1 week duration)!

How I planned for 1 week is first two days in Seoul → one day in JeonJu → two days in Busan → one day in GyeongJu → one more day in Seoul

1.Seoul

Seoul is the capital city of Korea and you should spend at least 3 days in that city to enjoy lots of things in one of the biggest mega cities in the world! 

(1) Day 1 - Let`s say you will leave your accommodation about 9 - 10am

It`s better to start at Gyeongbokgong (Main royal palace) - purchase a 4 palaces combined ticket (10,000 won), because it`s cheaper than buying access to all of them separately. It takes about 2 hours to walk around and is really, really interesting as it used to be the centre of the Korean government for hundreds of years.

After that, you must be hungry (my boyfriend and I were after travelling around Gyeongbokgong)  so as a suggestion a good place to eat lunch is GuangHuamun Guangjang - check my other post - it has some good exhibitions about Lee Sunsin and King Sejong as well.  It's just straight down from Gyeongbokgong (you can check the other post of attractions and spots - it explains how to get to the restaurants),

If you can, there is a information centre just below the Guanghuamun Guangjang, it`s better to stop off at there and get a free map of Seoul and information!

Next, visit Deksugung (you can use the ticket you bought in the morning - 4 palaces combined ticket) which is located just 15 mins walk from GuangHuamun Guangjang so you don`t need to take any transportation (If you want you can take bus or metro) 

Tired? Must be.. 

Take a rest at Chenggyecheon. It's absolutely beautiful - it used to be an old dirty stream that ran through the centre that they gentrified several years ago - it's kind of become a hang out area for people and has a cool light show in the evenings during certain times of the year.  Chill out there for an hour to relax and eat (Korean) snacks. 

I wrote the name of the places on the map and attached below. It will help you understand better why I made this route for a half day.(If you want to see larger picture, click it) - you wouldn`t find Deksugung on the map, it`s just located below the Chengyecheon, so just go straight down from Guanghuamum Guangjang, you can reach there easily. 

If you walk down Chenggyecheon for about half an hour, then you will reach Dongdaemun shopping area (they open until really really late so you can walk around) where you can enjoy the delicious various food and shopping! Maybe the BBQ place (Palsaik Samgyobsal - it's really good - check my post about :) ) Afterward, if you are in Korea during the summer time, check the time then move to the Banpodaegyo (Bridge) Moonlight Rainbow Fountain - better to check my post, otherwise chill out and enjoy the Dongdaemun area.

(2) Day 2

It`s better to start your day from Insa-dong(Anguk station) which is a traditional area where you can buy good traditional souvenirs. To be honest, it can be quite expensive so shop around to make sure you get the best deals, or otherwise just check out the traditional arts and crafts. My boyfriend bought a set of metal chopsticks that was a very reasonable price (about 20,000 won) and very useful! As you know generally it is very difficult to buy metal chopsticks in Western countries. In addition, there are lots of restaurants in that area so it's quite convenient to eat lunch there!

Later, a good place to check out is the National Museum of Korea (Ichon station). It will take about 2 - 3 hours if you want to do it pretty quickly. 

Move to Myongdong which is one of the best shopping areas in Seoul where you can buy Korean cosmetics and clothing.  Even if you are not that interested in shopping, just walk around a little bit and try the street food or eat an early dinner! But you don`t need to stay here for long time because it's better then to move on to Namsan!

You can take a bus, but probably it would be better to just walk for 20mins to 30mins (you get to take a lot in on the walk)!  There you will reach the cable car station. I marked on the map how to get there! 

Try not to go that late, otherwise it will be packed with other tourists that you would not be able to get to the top! Try to be there about 8 o`clock (They close at 11pm). Don`t miss one of the best night views of Seoul from the N tower!

 (3) Day 3 - Visit Jeonju!

Why don`t you take a day trip to Jeonju! Such a lovely place - one of the richest traditional cultural sites in Korea, and the city is famous for bibimbap! Seriously, my boyfriend said that place had the best bibimbap he tasted in Korea.

So, how can you get there?

First thing you need to know before you leave is that you need to go to the Express bus terminal station. However this terminal is really big and there are two different terminals actually so you can get lost easily and it's quiet hard to find the ticket offices which sell the tickets to get to JeonJu. 

Find the Central City terminal, this way is the easiest way to find your way!

Buses towards Jeonju leave every 10 mins. Buy tickets (it costs 13,000 won - 18,700 won - get the 18,700 won one, it`s a lot more comfortable!) first and get some snacks before you get on the bus! It will take about 2 - 3 hrs to get there.

My recommendation is when you arrive, buy a ticket to Busan for tomorrow. (According to the timetable, it`s better to buy 9:00 am or the 11:05 am one )

Ok,afterward,what can you do?

There is the traditional hanok village which has some beautiful architecture and shows you what life was like until Korea underwent modernisation

Official website address - http://tour-eng.jeonju.go.kr/index.sko 

You can take a taxi or bus to get there. If you want to take a bus, take 79 in front of the bus terminal, or you can take a taxi (say ' Hanok ma el' - it costs about 13,000 won) 

If you want to visit your accommodation first, then visit the place and drop off your stuff.

(Check my post about JeonJu accommodation) 

It will take about half day to walk around Jeonju Hanok village. While you are in Jeonju, try Bibimbap and Ddockgalbi there! It is amazing and you would love it! (Check my post about Jeonju to see my recommendations about the best places to eat).

This is the first 3 days route post.  If you want to see more, keep reading days 4,5,6 and your last day!