Discover South Korea: A Comprehensive 12-Day Travel Guide
From the bustling streets of Seoul to the beautiful landscapes of Jeju Island—join us on a journey through South Korea's most iconic sights.
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This week, we're diving back into our favorite memories from South Korea to create the ultimate 12-day itinerary. Perfect for anyone who's got a soft spot for vibrant cities, Asian culture, and mouth-watering cuisine.
🇰🇷 Why South Korea?
We’ve explored South Korea twice and fell in love more and more with each visit.
Our first visit was in the summer of 2018, and since it was also our first big trip together, South Korea will always hold a special place in our hearts. The last time we went was in the spring of 2023. This time we explore some other areas of South Korea that we missed the first time. And luckily, the second time was just as good (if not better without the crazy summer heat of our first trip 🥵).
So this is our advice for someone who hasn’t visited South Korea before and wants to see as much as possible.
It’s our two trips combined into the ultimate itinerary.
❗️ Beware: continuing on from this point may result in spontaneous flight booking. Here' at Mapping Memories, we’ll only take partial responsibility. ❗️
Day 1-3: Seoul
Seoul is the ideal starting point for your Korean adventure.
It’s South Korea’s capital and the biggest city, which means it’s the easiest place to fly to when traveling internationally.
Click here to check flight ticket prices for a 12-day adventure to Seoul (Amsterdam is chosen as an example departure city).
In our case, we flew Premium Economy to Seoul in 2023. Curious what our experience was like? Read that article here.
Seoul is a relatively big, and diverse city. The city is divided into various districts, such as Itaewon, Gangnam and Hongdae. Each district has something unique to offer.
For instance, Gangnam is famous for its expensive shops (and a certain Korean artist taking over the world in 2012), while Hongdae is known as the ‘student district’ and Itaewon is where most expats live.
This means that you can spend your days wandering through the various districts. Public transport is very well organized in Seoul, and most places are easily accessible by metro.
Then, there are also impressive palaces in the city.
Gyeongbokgung Palace is a great example. This was the main royal palace during the Joseon dynasty and was built in 1395. As a visitor, you’re able to walk through the palace and take a small look at South Korea’s rich history.
When you want to get your steps in, we highly recommend hiking the city walls, which stretch around the city and span 18.6 km in total. Every few kilometres you’re met by city gates which used to let people in and out of the city. Now, they have a more symbolic role and are simply stunning to look at.
When night falls, some districts come to life with night markets in Myeongdong, impromptu flash mobs in Hongdea, or festive noraebangs (Korean karaoke) and PC rooms (gaming cafes).
Noreabangs and gaming cafes are a lot of fun and perfect for the two of us. Both times we’ve spread out and enjoyed our preferred activity (guess who went singing and who went gaming 😉).
Seoul is a city that never sleeps, and neither will you with so much to explore!
Day 4: DMZ
The Demilitarized Zone is one of the most impressive sights we’ve ever visited.
It’s the stretch of land between South and North Korea that divides the two countries. As a tourist, you’re able to come close to the border and learn more about the shared history between the two countries.
The visit to the DMZ can be done as a full or half-day trip from Seoul. You’ll need to take a tour, which you can find here.
We’ve previously dedicated a full blog post to our experience of visiting the DMZ since it made such an impact. You can read that blog post here.
The DMZ really is a must during your trip to South Korea.
Day 5-6: Jeonju
Jeonju is a smaller, more traditional village that is the perfect stop on your journey down South to Busan.
The ride from Seoul will take you approximately five hours. However, buses in South Korea are super comfortable and cheap, so it’s the perfect way to move yourself through the country. Pack some snacks and enjoy the ride to get there.
In Jeonju you can wander through the Hanok Village with traditional Korean houses and several museums. Here, you'll find yourself snapping pictures at every corner and, of course, eating the city’s famous bibimbap – it’s a culinary masterpiece!
🥗 Hannah’s veggie tip: bibimpap is the perfect vegetarian dish to order in South Korea. Simply ask them to leave out the meat. And for vegans, also ask to leave out the egg. You’ll be left with a hot bowl of rice, tasty veggies and delicious sweet-spicy sauce.
A one-day stay in Jeonju should be enough, so make sure to make the most of the time you’re there!
Our recommendations for hotels
Day 7-8: Busan
Busan is known for its beaches and fish markets.
Which also means we didn’t enjoy it as much as other people probably do. Since Mike doesn’t like the beach and Hannah isn’t the biggest fan of fish. 😂
That is why we took the cable car to Geumgang Park where you can do some hiking and enjoy the beautiful city views.
It’s not that we’re not recommending visiting Busan, but it just didn’t hit the spot for both of us. However, if you’re into beaches and/or fish markets, Busan will definitely be your cup of tea (or better yet: bowl of kimchi 🤓)!
Day 9-11: Jeju Island
Once you’re in Busan, you can easily take a ferry or plane over to Jeju island, which was the biggest highlight of our most recent trip in 2023.
Mike’s aviation fact: did you know that Seoul - Jeju is one of the busiest flight routes in the world? It has an average of 226 flight movements per day and 88.000 per year! 🤯
Jeju offers lush landscapes, volcanic craters, and a rich cultural history.
When you’re on the ‘Hawaii of Korea’, you can hike the Olle trail, soak in the views from Seongsan Ilchulbong, and unwind by the blue seas.
When thinking of hiking the Olle trail, make sure to get an early start. We realized our mistake when we wanted to start our hike after a slow morning around 11 AM and we couldn’t start any big hikes anymore.
Most hikes take multiple hours, and since the areas close relatively early in the day (because of the setting sun), hikers are recommended to start early in the morning. We’ll simply have to make our way back to this tropical island at some point to enjoy this nature activity 🤷
Besides that there are other things to admire on Jeju, such as stunning waterfalls, vulcanic rock formations in the water, a bhudist temple in a cave, and the sea women of Jeju called Haenyeo. These women have been diving for seafood and creatures in the island waters for a thousand years!
You can discover more about the history of Jeju and its iconic Haenyeo in this great fiction book by Lisa See: The Island of Sea Women.
Our biggest tip is to rent a car on Jeju Island since the island is quite big and there’s not a lot of public transport. Prices for car rentals weren’t high, and we ended up securing a reasonably sized car for €50/day.
We were here at the start of April, which meant we could enjoy perfectly pink cherry blossoms and the incredibly sweet oranges that the island is famous for.
Don’t miss out on this beauty of a place!
Day 12: Return to Seoul
Circle back to Seoul for any last-minute shopping or sightseeing. This is your chance to revisit any spots you may have missed or just soak up the dynamic atmosphere a bit more before you end your Korean adventure.
If You Have More Time
If your schedule allows, consider staying longer on Jeju Island or visiting a tea plantation in Boseong.
We went here during our first trip, and it was very cool to see the endless rows of tea trees. The only sad part is that it was incredibly hot and humid with hardly any shade to hide from the sun (which must’ve been great for the tea of course). But it resulted in two very hot & bothered tourists strolling through the fields. Luckily they serve tea-flavored ice cream to help us cool off 😉
Other great spots to visit in South Korea are: Gyeongju’s historical sites, Daegu's urban vibe, or the fortified walls of Suwon to your itinerary.
We’ll have to try those out ourselves the next time we go!
So what do you think?
Does this sound like your idea of a 12-day adventure through South Korea?
One piece of free advice from us though: don’t visit South Korea in peak summer (which is what we did in 2018), since temperatures can easily reach around 35 degrees. If you want to see the best side of South Korea, consider visiting in spring, which also happens to be cherry blossom season (mid-March - mid-April).
Would you visit South Korea with this itinerary? Which city would you be most excited about? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Safe travels and happy adventures – we can’t wait to hear all about your Korean adventures! 😊🌏
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Busan has WAY MORE to offer than just beaches and fish markets.
Literally no. 1 on my bucket list 🥹 I believe I've read somewhere that you can't use Google Maps in South Korea, is this still true? If so, did you miss it during your trip and are there any alternatives?