Hi everyone, my wife and I are planning a ~10 day/10 night trip to South Korea in March 2018 and wanted to see if we can get some advice on our itinerary. I’ve read a bunch of other posts to craft this trip and have appreciated all of the feedback. As an FYI, we spent 1 day/2 nights in Seoul in 2016 as a long layover and had a great trip but don’t have any other experience with Korea.
Here’s our rough itinerary:
Day 1 - Travel day- Fly from Beijing-PEK to Busan-PUS, arriving Busan @ 8pm.
- Overnight: Busan 1/2
Day 2 - Busan- Full day in Busan
- Overnight: Busan 2/2
Day 3 - Gyeongju- Rent car in Busan, drive to Gyeongju
- Spend all day exploring Gyeongju (Bulguksa Temple, Seokguram, Gyeongju National Park, Golgulsa Temple Stay etc.)
- Overnight: Gyeongju 1/1
Day 4 - Gyeongju- More time in Gyeongju
- Slowly make way to Daegu (only purpose is to be close to train station)
- Overnight: Daegu 1/1
Day 5 - Travel/Seoul- Take the train from Dongdaegu Station, Daegu to Seoul (app 2 hrs journey time).
- Check-in to hotel, spend time exploring Myeong-dong neighborhood.
- Overnight: Seoul 1/6 (Myeong-dong)
Day 6 - Seoul/Day Trip to DMZ- Book the "DMZ/JSA & 3rd Tunnel Tour (Seoul)” with Koridoor Tours (we’ve read good things about them here in the forum).
- Overnight: Seoul 2/6 (Myeong-dong)
Day 7 - Seoul- Visit Insa-dong, Samcheong-dong, Namdaemun Market
- Overnight: Seoul 3/6 (Myeong-dong)
Day 8 - Seoul- Switch hotels from Myeong-dong to Gangnam (just for a little variety/change of pace?)
- Explore Gangnam neighborhood.
- Overnight: Seoul 4/6 (Gangnam)
Day 9 - Seoul- Visit Lotte World
- Spend more time in Gangnam
- Overnight: Seoul 5/6 (Gangnam)
Day 10 - Korean Folk Village- Day trip to Korean Folk Village?
- Overnight: Seoul 6/6 (Gangnam)
Day 11 - Travel day- Early flight from Seoul-GMP to Beijing-PEK then back to the US.
This is obviously a rough itinerary but any advice on the framework would be appreciated. Also any specifics on what to see/do in each city would be very welcome.
EDIT: I forgot to mention that my wife will be ~4 months pregnant during the trip if that has any bearing on the suggestions.
Thanks,
Jeffrey