My South Korea Itinerary

September 25, 2013 · by · in Travel, South Korea · 2 Comments

I found out my friend was getting married in February 2013 and decided that I had to go to Korea to attend her wedding in September 2013. And my planning started there. After months of planning I finally came up with an itinerary for my trip with my sister and my friend. Of course, my original itinerary was only used as a reference for the trip. We managed to see and do almost everything on it the original but things were moved around quite a bit. Below is our final itinerary (the things we actually did). I will post links as I post about this trip. Warning: this will be a very long post.

SOUTH KOREA 2013September 2, 2013 to September 16, 2013

13 Full Days in South Korea (2 additional days of traveling) = 15 Day trip to South Korea

Day -1: Leaving Home
  • We left San Diego early in the morning, had a quick layover in San Francisco and flew across the Pacific Ocean.
  • Meet groom at the gate (taking same flight to South Korea
Day 0: Arriving in South Korea
  • 6:35pm: After 13 hours and 45 minutes in the air, plus a 17 hour time difference; we arrived at the Inchon International Airport just outside of Seoul South Korea.
  • Before leaving the airport, there were a couple things to take care of. Check out my post of Seoul Basics with info on getting a cell phone, etc.
  • Drive to Ilsan
  • Dinner: Sundae Soup at LaFesta
Day 1: 1 Day in Seoul (Doing the Big Touristy Things)
SouthKorea2013_Day1

Top: Cheonjiyeon Stream, Iced drinks in a bag, Insadong
Bottom: Hanok Village, Gyeongbokgung Palace change of guards, Changdeokgung Palace

This was the one day, I tried to pack in as much as I could with the things that I felt we should see in Seoul. I planned the day to keep us in the central area of Seoul, and tried to make sure everything was walking distance from each other. (When my friends Dad saw my itinerary, he didn’t think we would make it to everything – he was wrong). And yes, it was a LOT of walking, and a long day. Luckily day 2 was was a slow day.

Day 2: Wedding Photoshoot in Daejeon
SouthKorea2013_Day2

Top: Friend and family watching the photo shoot, Ssamgyupsal for dinner, Videographer and Photographer setting up shot
Bottom: The photoshoot

Although this was a 13 day itinerary, we had to cut out several days for the reason we were in South Korea – The Wedding! which is not in Seoul but in Daejeon. The pictures came out amazing. She wore 3 different wedding dresses, 3 additional dresses, 3 traditional hanbok’s, and 1 casual couple outfit. We got to jump in take a couple shots with her as well. Wedding pictures are usually taken several months before the wedding so that they could be displayed at the wedding; which is very different from weddings here at home.

Day 3: A Day in Daejeon
SouthKorea2013_Day3

Top: Daecheongho Lake with our umbrella, Beopjusa Temple
Bottom: Family road trip, shopping time, Jjajangmyeon

I originally thought to take the KTX back to Seoul for a day because I really couldn’t find anything to do in Daejeon when I was doing my research. But of course our family friends decided for us and kept us in Daejeon until after the wedding. They rented a big van and took us out for the day. And it ended up being an amazing excursion to see things I would never have planned. Though it rained all day.

  • Beopjusa Temple in Songnisan National Park
  • Daecheongho Lake (대청호) to see the third largest artificial lake in Korea and the main water source for Daejeon. Views were amazing, too bad we had stay under our umbrellas.
  • Shopping
  • Dinner
Day 4: Wedding in Daejeon
SouthKorea2013_Day4

Top: wedding, all pretty for the wedding
Bottom: Lotte Department Store food court food, traditional Korean wedding ceremony

It’s the day of the wedding and the weather was just perfect (no more rain)! We stayed in a little apartment connected to the church where the wedding was being held; giving us plenty of time to get dressed up for the wedding. It was a simple ceremony all in Korean (of course), I managed to pick up random words and names but was definitely hard to stay focused. Immediately after, everyone gathered for tons of group pictures, followed by a small traditional Korean ceremony in another room. More about the wedding in a post later. We didn’t eat at the wedding, instead we went to Lotte Department Store after the wedding to eat at the food court, and then packed up for a drive back to Ilsan that night. 

  • Wedding: Greet the bride in her waiting room -> Ceremony -> Traditional Korean Ceremony (anytime during that time, you can go to the dining room to eat)
  • Lotte Department Store food court
  • Drive back to Ilsan (stopped at a rest stop on the way)
Day 5: Day 1 in Jeju Island
SouthKorea2013_Day5

Top: Flying to Jeju, at the end of Manjanggul, kimbap for the road, our rental car
Bottom: the beginning of Manjanggul, driving on Jeju Island

After getting in late the night before, we packed up our small suitcases for a 2 night 3 day trip to Jeju. We got dropped up at Kimpo international airport for our flight. Rented our car (you should make sure you make reservations for that), and got on the road. Yay! For my first time driving in a foreign country. We stopped by Mangjung-gul Lava Tube before arriving at our hotel. Oh, and we headed out to town (to a super market) that night.

Day 6: Day 2 in Jeju Island
SouthKorea2013_Day6

Top: before sunrise at Seongsan Ilchulbong, At the Seongsan Ilchulbong peak, trying to capture the sunrise on camera, breakfast at Areumdaum Resort, 1 of the 7 new wonders
Bottom: jumping in front of a big map of Jeju Island, walking towards the light house at Seopjikoji, Ssamgyupsal dinner, sunset

Our only full day on Jeju Island, and it was packed starting with the sunrise (at 4 am) and spending a majority of the day in the southern part of the island in and around Seogwipo. We booked a guest house on the west coast of Jeju thinking we would make it all the way around the island. I’d say you should stay in Seogwipo, because that is where almost everything is located unless you have more time.

Day 7: Day 3 in Jeju Island
SouthKorea2013_Day7

Top: statues at Cheonjiyeon Falls, Cheonjiyeon Falls, Driving through tree tunnels towards Jeju City
Bottom: Saeseom bridge, O’Sulloc Tea Museum, Chicken in Jeju City

Last day in Jeju, we headed the O’Sulloc Tea Museum since it was located on west side of the island. It was a nice way to start the day with some good tea (and plenty of gifts). We then drove back to Seogwipo for more site seeing (basically things we decided to skip the day before). This actually worked out perfectly because the drive back to Jeju City (located in the north) was beautiful and different from the views we had been seeing of Jeju Island for the past couple of days. Before returning our car, we parked our car and walked around Jeju City and grabbed dinner. Back in Seoul, we were lucky that our friend picked us up and dropped us off at our guesthouse because it was raining (our original plan was to catch the last subway and walk).

Day 8:
SouthKorea2013_Day8

Top: my Haul from Ehwa night market, lunch near La Fiesta
Bottom: Yeolbong Jjimdalk, Kopitiam

After officially checking in at out guesthouse, we commuted back to Ilsan to change out our luggages (we left our big luggages in Ilsan and had our carry on luggages with us most of the time). This commute took away a couple hours in the day for us – kind of a bummer but after a couple long days in Jeju we took it slow. We met up with our friend in Ilsan and dragged her back to Seoul with us to go shopping at the Ehwa Women’s University Night Market and randomly found Kpop idol singer Se7en’s chicken restaurant.

Day 9: Myeongdong and N Seoul Tower
SouthKorea2013_Day9

Top: Lunch, Dinner, love locks at N Seoul Tower, the bathroom at the top of N Seoul Tower with a view
Bottom: Myeongdong, love lock trees and love benches at N Seoul Tower

After the little shopping we did the night before, we were ready to hit Myeongdong – the famous shopping district mainly for cosmetics. We were so overwhelmed that we just wandered and didn’t really buy anything. From there, we walked to the cable cars station what will take us to the base of N Seoul Tower. We walked up some (not s0) fun hills to get there. From my research, I found that there are shuttle buses that will take you to the station – now I know why they have that shuttle. We spent a lot of time at N Seoul Tower wandering around, taking pictures, etc. Lucky for us, we had family friends. They picked us up and took us to Seven Springs Buffet (Urban Picnic?) for dinner. It was interesting international buffet.

Day 10: Rain! Change of plans
SouthKorea2013_Day10

Top: the YG building, Mango Six, Korean bbq for lunch
Bottom: 1 day shopping haul, group selca

We originally planned to head to the Hangang (Han River) Park to go bike riding. But because of the heavy rain, we decided that bike riding might not be ideal. A friend that is currently teaching English in Korea (3 hour bus ride away from from Seoul) made his way to town to hang out with us for the weekend. We braved the rain and walked to the famous (for k-pop fans) YG Entertainment building. We didn’t see anyone famous, but it was nice to say that we’ve been there and took a couple pictures. We then got lost trying to find a specific Korean bbq restaurant to meet up with our family friends for lunch. After another amazing meal with samgyupsal (it’s kind of my favorite), we decided to go back to Myeongdong for round 2 – we had an extra pair of hands to help us carry stuff. Thank you Sebas!

Day 11: Shopping
SouthKorea2013_Day11

Top: Dongdaemun gate, Hanggang Park, Hello Kitty Cafe drinks, Dongdaemun
Bottom: Garosugil, Udon in Hongdae area, Loco Curry in Garosugil

By now, if felt as if we didn’t really do anything. Yes, it’s day 11 but there was so much on our list of things to do. After meeting up with Sebas, we headed to Gangnam – specifically Garosugil. Grabbed Lunch, and did a little bit of window shopping, made our way to check out the famous Hangang (Han River) and said our farewells to Sebas. From there, we headed to Dongdaemun for more shopping. This was interesting, because we got lost (our portable wifi device wasn’t working and we couldn’t pull directions). But when we did find out way through, we just did a lot of walking and it almost felt as though we were seeing the same things over and over again. Tired, but determined to stay out we headed to Hongdae to at least check out the night life and the Hello Kitty Cafe.

Day 12: Yeouido Park and Noryangjin
SouthKorea2013_Day12

Top: Myeongdong Church, Noryangjin 
Bottom: tents set up at Yeouido Hangang Park, posting along the Hangang

Time flies! This is our last full day in South Korea, and this was our final chance to see what we came to see, eat what we wanted to eat, and buy what we wanted buy. After the disappointed Hangang Park in Gangnam, we headed Yeouido Hangang Park – this one was much prettier and busier. Then to Noryangjin Fish Market for some fresh seafood! Done with the site seeing, done with the food, we headed back to Myeongdong for round 3. We packed up as much as we could into our little carry on suitcases, then hauled everything along with us for our final commute to Ilsan. We were so tired after that commute, we just ordered food in for dinner.

Day 13: Time to go home
SouthKorea2013_Day13

Top: La Fiesta in Ilsan, our luggage barely making it in the car
Bottom: a traditional wedding show in the airport, final rest stop before arriving at the airport

An even longer day. Our flight was at 5:50pm which meant that we pretty much had a full day left in South Korea. We walked to the local super market and picked up some candy as some extra gifts, and just got restless as we packed up our suitcases (and made sure that they were not overweight). We were going to go check out the Ilsan Lake Park, but decided not to – we were done with all of the walking. We made a quick stop on our way to the airport for a final view of South Korea and then did a little bit of duty free shopping before boarding. We had a 7 hour layover in San Francisco although tired, we met up with a friend for lunch (yes, it’s the same day), dessert, and site seeing before the final leg of our trip.

This was not a 24 hour day it was actually a 51 hour day! Thanks to the time differences. (18 hours and 50 minutes + 19 hours and 35 minutes + 2 hours and 35 minutes = 51 hours)

  • Ilsan: Last minute shopping and packing
  • 5:50 pm: Incheon International Airport
  • 12:40pm-7:55pm: 7 hour layover in San Francisco
  • 9:25pm arrive in San Diego
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2 comments

  1. Indah Susanti · · Reply→

    Oh I love the way you posted travel itineraries of your travel in details! That’s brilliant and help other travelers to get idea how long to spend and to do in a day. I posted itineraries of my previous trips as well but not as details as yours. I will certainly take a look at your post when visiting South Korea! 🙂

    1. greenaftertherain · · Reply→

      Thank you Indah. I’m glad my itineraries will come in handy. I’ll definitely check out your itineraries for more inspiration.

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