mikesaidyes

Nope, that's the major spots. and if you arrive at Noon, that gives you a good afternoon of seeing all the stuff that's close together. Also, the big park area where the tombs and flower fields are, they usually have concerts and festivals at night/throughout the year, so hope to spend some time there just watching things around you.

For Day One: Just ride a bike. They're cheap. Since you're a foreigner that doesn't speak Korean in a tourist town, prepare to pay a really high rate for an all day taxi. Also, all of the places on Day One are literally next to each other. So really a taxi wouldn't even be practical as you'd be going such short distances. The first two temples are side by side. If you ride a bike from downtown to the temples, you can loop around after to the national mseum. Them you can continue on to Anapji. Wolsong Fortress is across the park. The observatory and tombs are just a little ways away by walking in the same big park.


For Day Two, the grotto and bulkguksa are far out. So you can take a taxi from town (maybe 15-20) or just hop on 10 or 11 bus. Presumably, you'd take the bus across the street from the hotel going in the direction out of town (double check with the hotel). The bus will go for about 30-40 minutes and then voila. Bulguksa. What'd I'd recommend is taking the bus up to Seokguram right away. You can transfer for free on the bus if you use your T-Money card. Then, after you see Seokguram, you can walk down the mountain (an easy 20-30 minutes) and end up at Bulkguksa. There's an easily marked path. Then enjoy Bulguksa and take the 10 or 11 bus where it dropped you off. It's also where all the people will be waiting.

TravelinSperry

Great, thanks for the tips. This all sounds perfect.

btw, for Day 2 - how long do you think one would spend doing that? Would 3-4 hours cover it? Or?

canabiz

Just a reminder to carry a bit of cash with you when you travel in South Korea as I ran into some unexpected scenarios that I had to use cash lately.

- My wife's family reserved a rental car at Jeju Airport for our 3-day stay on the island. We picked up the car and the clerk recommended insurance because my wife and I will be driving with international driver's licence. Fair enough but they only take cash! I didn't want to raise a fuss as I didn't pay for the car rental itself so out went 45,000 Won.

- We did not have a chance to fill up the tank as we needed to find a station with LPG and we didn't see one on the way back to the airport. And you guess it, out went another 25,000 Won cash.

- We needed to board a bus from Gimpo Airport back to Chuncheon where we are staying. There were no more bus tickets available for purchase after we landed at Gimpo (sell-out). The employee manning the booth told us we could take a chance and talk to the driver for any available seats. That's what we did and thankfully we got seats but we had to pay the driver in cash!

For travelers new to South Korea who typically stick to well-known attractions, it is unlikely that you will run into these scenarios but it never hurts to have some cash with you, at any given time.

mikesaidyes

I would say if you're taking a taxi, allow an hour round trip for transit. Bus, an hour and a half. The Grotto you see really quickly, maybe 30 minutes max. Walk down the mountain, 30 more minutes. The temple is a lot bigger and is what you make of it, and then there's some nice park area around it. Also, at the bottom are a bunch of restaurants and shops. So let's say that's about an hour. Hour and a half if you eat lunch. So yeah, 3-4 hours would work.

TravelinSperry

Thanks again

btw, I heard there are a few sights on the water, SE of the temple. Are they worth seeing?

lovexylitol

(disclaimer: did not read whole thread yet, while I am ethnically Korean I will say what OP is trying to achieve is quite more than what I have done!)

Wanted to point out that the city famous for bibimbap is probably Jeonju (전주) not Jinju. Jinju is almost middle of nowhere (or mountains)!

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Edit: I will reiterate mikesaidyes's opinion on the Lantern festival, might be boring 2 nights to stay. For that region Jeonju (for the food) and Boseong (green tea plantations) might be a better option! Many cities in that area will not have much to do for more than 1 day.

susiesan

TravelinSperry & Askartus:
Those of you going to South Korea this year please report back after your trip. I am planning my trip for Sept. or Oct. 2017 and want to do an indecent trip around South Korea for 7 to 10 days. I'll be interested in your final plans and how everything worked out. I am using your planned itineraries as a guide for me as they look like a plan I would like.

Susie

TravelinSperry

I ended up doing this itinerary in Gyeongju (and arrived via KTX):

Day 1 (starting at 1pm):
Seokguram Grotto
Bulguksa Temple
Gwaereung Tomb

Day 2 (Starting at 9am):
Bunhwangsa Temple & Hwangnyongsa Temple
Daereungwon Tomb Complex
Cheomseongdae Observatory
Gyeongju National Museum
Wolseong Fortress
Anapji Pond & Gyeongju Donggung Palace

I stayed at the Hilton Gyeongju which was 1/2 way between the two places. I took a taxi from the hotel to the Grotto on day 1 (to save time). You can take two buses instead (#10/11 and then #12). The #10/11 stop right outside the Hilton but again, I thought it better to save time. The taxi was ~$15 USD.

By taking it to the Grotto you can wander around that area and then hike down the mountain to the Temple. The hike is 2.2km and took me about 45 minutes (all downhill). I'd imagine if you walk faster than me you could do it more quickly. But I took the stroll leisurely.

I then took a taxi from the Temple to the Tomb (had the taxi wait) and then took it back to the Hilton. It was ~$20USD to do this. The tomb is very quickly seen so having a taxi wait is fine. 5-10 minutes maximum at the Tomb.

The Temple was the highlight of Day 1 although the Buddha at the top of the Grotto is also very much worth seeing imo.

On Day 2 I took a bus into town. Took the #10/11 (It's 11 into town and 10 back or #700 if you prefer) and it takes ~15 minutes. The buses leave right across the street from the Hilton.

Get off at the Train Station in town (just after you see it there is a stop). Then start your walk. Unlike a prior poster said, you do not bike. That would be an absolute waste of time and money not to mention the stress of navigating traffic streets. Everything is super close and you just walk it. There is a tourist map so you follow the suggested walk. It's 10 minutes max from place to place.

If time is an issue for you - you can do Gyeongju in a day. Others said it is too far/rushed but they are incorrect. Many of the sights are seen so quickly (I mean how long can one stare at an old observatory building from the outside? or look at Tombs that are just giant mounds of grass?) Don't get me wrong they are all worth seeing I'm just saying that most of the sights are seen quickly. One could do the Day 1 in the AM and then Day 2 in the PM after lunch. Trains into/out of Gyeongju run early and late so you can do it. Personally I prefer the leisure way of seeing the area, but again if time is a premium it can be done (and really not even crazily rushed).

In Seoul I did the 1/2 day tour from Seoul to Panmunjom. I did not do the tour with the USO as it is a much longer tour and my research here on FT showed that it adds parts that make it long and boring. The Tour DMZ tour http://www.tourdmz.com/rb/?r=eng&c=241/327/329/335 I did removes these parts and has you back into Seoul by 13:30 (~3-4 hours earlier than the other tours). Regardless of which tour you decide on, I do recommend going to see the DMZ.

In Seoul I stayed at the Westin Chosun which is perfectly situated to see all the Palaces. I walked to some and took the train to others.

In Seoul there are some fun areas, Hongdae (a college/bar area which is fun at night). Samcheong-dong area (north of Anguk Station). Has a cool street with cafes and stores to walk at the north end of this area. It is also in between two palaces so it's a perfect stopping point. You will also get to see the old village (the way Koreans used to live).

I also took a 40 minute Ferry ride on the Han river which was nice. And went up into the N Seoul tower to see the views.

Have a great trip.

mikesaidyes

Glad to see you got to do everything. And yes, riding a bike around the park where all the tourist stuff is would be stressful. I meant away from the park and on the back streets where there aren't many people and you get nice sweeping views of the mountains and fields. If you go at the right time, it's definitely picture perfect with the canola flowers/foliage.

I prefer Gyeongju over the course of two days simply because, coming from Seoul, that's an expensive train ticket and simply just takes some time for a day trip. Aslo, usually I'm with friends and we barbecue and relax. But yes, you can rush yourself and see the places in a day and leave if you're staying in, say, Busan.

Glad you enjoyed your time here!

TravelinSperry

Ah yes, re bicycling that makes much more sense! I couldn't see why anyone would want to bike around the tourist stuff. The bike-ride you describe would've been quite a beautiful ride I'm sure.

And I did leave for Busan after Gyeongju (should've stated that). Although interestingly it takes just as long to get from Gyeongju by slow train to hotel as it does to get to Seoul via high speed KTX. In any event for those that have limited time my point was simply that they can see everything in a day. If you have more time you surely can spend 1 overnight in Gyeongju. Personally I would not recommend more than one overnight in the area (unless you have friends there).

I definitely enjoyed. Thanks for the all the tips pre-trip.

Askartus

We just did 6 days in Seoul with
- a full day tour with a private guide (This is Korea)
- N Tower and Namsan Circuit hike
- Night food tour with Ongo Food
- Everland Park
- Suwon
- Han River bike ride
- Nantra Cooking Show
- a lot of great food

Hotel is in Gangnam which was a good location (thanks to a hint here: The bus connection to ICN is very good and there are busses to Everland and Suwon from here as well).
Also, we found a lot of nice restaurants around the corner.

Today we take the ktx to Gwangju

For some pictures (if you donīt mind reading my blog in german - google translate might help a little bit):
www.travellingdevil.de

Greetings from Seoul,
Askartus