10-Day South Korea Itinerary

Planning a 10 day South Korea trip and wondering where to start? I just recently spent 10 days in South Korea for the first time and visited Seoul, Busan, and Jeju. In this massive South Korean itinerary post I will share with you everything we did, ate, and places we stayed at.

South Korea is a super fun country to visit. Located on the southern part of the Korean peninsula, South Korea is the mecca for K-pop fans or those who are looking for fashions and affordable (but high quality) beauty treatments.

After years of hoping and dreaming, my friend and I finally had our dream come true when we spent 10 days in South Korea. Our itinerary involves a lot of photo taking, sightseeing, beauty treatments, shopping and eating.

The great thing about South Korea is that there’s enough to do for everyone. Even if you are not into fashion or beauty, there are a ton of historical sites and museums that you can visit and places to eat at.

What we did during our 10 days in South Korea

Here is an overview of our packed itinerary:

• Day 1 & 2: Arrival in Seoul and exploring Seoul
• Day 3 – 5: Exploring Jeju island
• Day 6 & 7: Exploring Busan and taking the KTX Train back to Seoul
• Day 8 & 9: Seoul and a day trip to Anseong Farmland
• Day 10: Flying out to New York City

Quick things to know before traveling to South Korea

• We mostly used Agoda to make hotel reservations, as it was cheaper than Expedia and Booking.com for most of the accommodations. I would recommend checking prices on all 3 sites to get the cheapest price.

• Tours in South Korea are the cheapest with Klook; if you want to book KTX train tickets, read my post on the best websites to use (and avoid).

• You don’t need to speak Korean to get around South Korea, but you do need to download either Google Translate or better, Papago, to translate. Papago is what our Uber drivers all use, as they can speak Korean to the app and the app will speak English to us.

• Google Maps doesn’t give you reliable directions, so you will need Naver Map or Kakao Map to navigate. You can search for a place on Google Maps, then copy and paste the Korean name (from Google maps) to Naver Map to get directions.

• Public transportation works well in Seoul and parts of Busan. You will need to get a Cashbee card or T money card and load cash onto those cards to use public transportation.

• Esims work great for South Korea, or you can get a physical sim (or eSim) from LG U+ when you land at Incheon International Airport in Seoul. If you are from the US and have T mobile, their global roaming works great! I never had any issues until I ran out of my 5G high speed data (good thing I had 2 phones, and one of them had a Korean sim card).

• Credit cards are widely accepted in South Korea, but you should withdraw some cash from ATMs in order to top up your T money card, pay tolls (if you rent a car in Seoul), and pay for street foods.

• You don’t need to tip at restaurants, it is not expected in South Korea.

• South Korea is very kid-friendly, so if you are debating whether to bring kids or not, you should!

• Be sure to stop by the convenience store. Their iced coffee + strawberry milk is my personal favorite (I also love their rice balls).

• Beauty treatment reservations should be made in advance; many places accept reservation requests from Instagram or Kakao Talk. Some places will ask for a deposit to secure your reservation.

Now, without further ado, see everything we did during our 10 days in South Korea.

Day 1 in South Korea: Arrival and Exploring Seoul

We took an overnight flight to Seoul from New York City (on purpose) and landed around 5am in the morning. This is so we don’t “waste” precious day time flying.

We stayed at the Royal Hotel in Myeong-dong, a super lively and touristy area in central Seoul. There is a direct airport limousine bus between Incheon Airport and Myeong-dong and it took about an hour. If you are staying somewhere else in Seoul, you can take the Airport Railroad Express (AREX) train to Seoul Station (~45 minutes), then transfer to the subway to your final destination.

After dropping off our luggage and getting ready at the hotel, we were set out to explore the capital city of South Korea!

Breakfast, Hanbok Rentals and Bukchon Hanok Village

There were a few “bucket list” items we knew we definitely wanted to do, and renting a traditional Korean dress and visiting palaces in Seoul was one of them. But first, we needed to get something to eat after a 15 hour flight!

We originally wanted to go to Cafe Onion, a super viral hanok cafe near the palaces. But the line was way too long so we opted to get coffee and a sandwich from a random cafe nearby.

There are a ton of hanbok rental shops in Seoul, especially near the palaces and Bukchon Village. We picked a place right across the street from Cafe Onion called hanokhanbok; it had really good reviews and rentals started around $10 USD for 2 hours. Getting dressed in the beautiful traditional dresses and having our hairs braided was super fun.

After we got our traditional dresses it was about a 10-15 minute walk to Bukchon Village, famed for its traditional Korean houses.

The most popular spot in Bukchon Village is undoubtedly the photo spot on one of the street, the spot is called “Bukchon Yukgyeong (Photo Spot) 북촌육경”. We actually came back another morning just to take a photo here without people.

Don’t worry if this street is too crowded, the side streets are not as crowded and offer plenty of photo opportunities. There are also cafes and restaurants in the village to relax, so you can easily spend 2-3 hours (or as little as 30 minutes) at Bukchon Village.

Gyeongbokgung Palace

Seoul has 5 royal palaces and Gyeongbokgung Palace is the largest and the most beautiful palace in Seoul. You can visit all the palaces for free when you wear the traditional Korean dresses. From Bukchon Village, we used the side gate to enter and didn’t have to wait. If you go through the main gate there is usually a long line.

There are numerous gates, pavilions, courtyards and buildings in Gyeongbokgung Palace and many people take a tour to understand what they are looking at. Many people also come to this palace to see the changing of guard, which takes place at 10am and 2pm everyday except Tuesdays.

Afternoon in Hongdae: Lunch, Nails/ Color Analysis, Shopping

Hongdae is a very popular neighborhood in Seoul, especially among younger people. There are a few universities in the proximity of Hongdae, that’s why you will find college aged students all over the area.

We first stopped by 삼평식당 홍대본점, a Korean BBQ spot. Since it was noon they had a $10 lunch platter with meat, rice and a lot of sides (and a soup side). It was probably the best $10 I’ve ever spent on a meal and we couldn’t even finish!

I came to Hongdae to get my nails done at 5×5, a popular nail shop that offers unique and artistic monthly nail designs and are foreigner friendly. While I got my nails done, my friend went to Vic’s Lab to get her color analysis done. The place recommended her different make ups (and shades) that are suitable for her skin tone.

Shopping in Hongdae was great also. The main street “Hongdae shopping street” has so many stores that sell souvenirs, hair accessories, phone cases, and cheap but fashionable clothes. There are also brand name stores such as New Balance, Gentle Monster, Blue Elephant as well as cute photo booth stores.

Dinner in Myeong-dong

After being out all day, we came back to Myeong-dong in the late afternoon for an early dinner and some street food.

Myeongdong has no shortage of food and one of the most popular places to eat there is Myeongdong Kyoja, a cheap Michelin Star restaurant.

There are only 4 items on the menu at this restaurant, and my friend and I got the dumplings and the chopped noodles and the food was pretty good and comforting.

Day 2 in South Korea: Exploring Seoul some more

On our second day in Seoul, we explored the beauty temple of Jogyesa Temple before grabbing brunch at the popular Mil Toast. We then returned to explore another popular palace, got lunch and stopped by Cheonggyecheon before heading to Namsan Tower for the evening.

Jogyesa Temple

Jogyesa Temple is a Buddhist temple in the heart of Seoul, located in the Jongno district (just south of the palaces). It is a popular temple among locals and many come to pray throughout the day.

The temple is open super early and there is a huge hall with a giant Buddha inside. You will need to take shoes off to go in and pray. Despite being there around 7am, there were a lot of locals praying and paying respect at the temple.

Brunch: Mil Toast

Located about a 15 minute walk from Jogyesa Temple is a very popular cafe called Mil Toast House. This cafe opens at 8am and if you get there after 8:40am, you will have to wait more than an hour (sometimes 2 hours) to get seated inside. We got there around 8:20am and ended up waiting for about 30 minutes.

Mil Toast is famed for its various toasts, as well as its steamed bread. For its signature steamed bread, you can pick up 2 flavors (such as plain, chestnut, sweet potato, corn, etc). There are other really pretty looking toasts and french toasts as well as a wide variety of drinks. We got the signature bread, a honey toast, a corn toast and a strawberry milk, they were really good!

Changgyeonggung Palace

Now you are full, it’s time to take a short 15 minute stroll to another palace in Seoul, the Changgyeonggung Palace.

Although not as grand as Gyeongbokgung Palace, Changgyeonggung Palace is still a nice palace to visit. Most people actually visit the secret garden inside this palace as the main destination but you will need a timed entry ticket to visit the secret garden.

Even if you don’t have the tickets to the secret garden, it is still nice to walk around and see the architecture. We couldn’t get the timed entry ticket so we just took a stroll. The buildings are different from the other palaces and there are plenty of photo opportunities. It is also a lot less crowded, making it a better experience to visit.

Lunch: Chicken Ginseng Soup

Korea is known for many local foods, one of which is a delicious and nourishing chicken ginseng soup. Since we were still a bit jet lagged, we wanted something lighter and comforting to the tummy.

Baeknyeon Tojong Samgyetang (백년토종삼계탕) is only about is on the Michelin guide and is known for its chicken ginseng soup and it was better than anything I’ve had in the US. I am sure there are way better places for this in Seoul but I thought it’s pretty good for a touristy area.

Relax at Cheonggyecheon

As you make your way back south towards Myeong-dong by bus or subway, do a quick stop at Cheonggyecheon, a stream that’s been transformed into an area of relaxation in the middle of Seoul.

There are walkways, a waterfall and sometimes live music by the stream. On Fridays and Saturdays and during the months of April to June and September to October, there is an “outdoor library” with chairs and books by the stream where you can read a book or just grab a drink from a nearby convenience store and sit to relax.

Namsan (N Seoul) Tower

You simply cannot leave Seoul without visiting N Seoul Tower! If you watch Korean dramas then you know that a ton of popular K-dramas were filmed at N Seoul Tower (and its surrounding area), such as My Love From Another Star, True Beauty, Boys Over Flowers, etc.

You can either hike, take a taxi, or take a cable car to get to the base of Namsan Tower. Once you get off the cable car, you can explore the viewing platform area (which also has an area for love locks). Right below the tower, there are multiple floors of restaurants, cafes, photo booths and photo spots that you can explore.

If you want to go to Namsan Tower for sunset by cable car, be sure to get to the cable car station at least 2 hours prior. We waited 20 minutes to buy tickets and another hour in line before boarding the cable car and missed sunset. But the night view is still really pretty so even if you are not there for sunset, I would still highly recommend paying a visit.

Day 3 in South Korea: Jeju Island (North & West Side)

After two eventful days in Seoul, it’s time to spend the next 3 days on Jeju, the most southern island in South Korea. Don’t worry, you will come back to Seoul at the end of the trip. I generally like to break things up a little bit, so I can see if there are souvenirs (or shopping) I need to do before I leave South Korea without having to lug everything around with me.

Jeju is big, and 3 days is just enough to explore all parts of the island. We actually stayed at 3 different hotels on Jeju as we made a counterclockwise circle around the island. All of the hotels were less than $100 USD a day!

• Southern Jeju: we stayed at Casaloma Hotel near Seogwipo. The hotel has a rooftop pool with an ocean view

• Eastern Jeju: we stayed at Arts Spa & Pool Villa and had our own villa with a jacuzzi on the balcony. The property has a beautiful pool and feels very secluded. We also wanted sunrise access to Seongsan Ilchulbong, so this worked well for our itinerary.

• Jeju-si (north): we stayed at Hotel RegentMarine so we can easily go to the airport early in the morning. The room we got has an ocean view (but it was too dark when we got there).

Arrival in Jeju

We took a 7:30am flight from Seoul to Jeju. The flight was only about an hour and right after getting off the plane, we went to get our rental car. Our rental car cost about $50 USD a day for a compact sized Kia.

Read next: Complete guide to renting and driving a car in Jeju.

Western Jeju Photo spots, coffee shops and beach

Our first stop after getting the car was a quick photo stop on Dodu Rainbow Road, a road famed for colorful blocks against the ocean backdrop. There are a number of cafes and restaurants just across the street from the blocks, and there are even hiking trails that I saw some locals go on near the blocks.

As we continued to drive west, our second stop was the Aewol Cafe Street. As you may already know, South Korea has a heavy cafe culture, so there are a TON of cute cafes all over Jeju, especially on the west side.

Aewol Cafe Street is a stretch of path by the ocean, with cafes lining up facing the water. There are so many that it’s actually hard to pick one but we went to a place called Tribe, known for their super yummy (and cute) soufflé.

From Aewol Cafe street you can walk for about 20 minutes on the Handam Coastal Walk to reach Gwakji Beach. We didn’t but it’s an option if you want to take in the views on a nice day.

If you are into beaches (or just want to stop by for a look), then continue down towards Gwakji Beach, one of the most popular beaches on Jeju. Since we visited in the fall, there were no longer beach chairs and crazy crowds, but I heard in the summer there are a lot of water activities you can pay for (and umbrellas you need to rent).

Lunch at Comma Cafe

Continuing our drive down south, we came across another popular beach area, Hyeopjae Beach. At the beach area there is a popular cafe called Comma, known for its “tents” and hammocks facing the water. To be honest it is more of a cafe for photos but we simply couldn’t resist.

Besides drinks, you can also get a light bite to eat at the cafe.

Osulloc Tea Museum

Osulloc Tea Museum is a popular store and tea plantation on the west side of Jeju. Even though the name has “museum” in it, it’s actually more of a store and cafe.

Most people visit Osclloc Tea Museum to buy their green tea and also to get their green tea desserts. There are multiple sets of drinks with desserts and we got set A, which comes with a matcha cake, matcha ice cream and a matcha drink. I have to say this dessert set is probably the best one I got during our 10 days in South Korea!

You can also walk around their tea field or check out the Innisfree showroom, where you can make your own candle!

Sunset at Oedolgae & Black Pork BBQ Dinner

As you make your way to the south of Jeju to spend the evening, be sure to stop by Oedolgae before the sun goes down.

Oedolgae is famed for its view of the rock in the water and people say the rock resembles the back of a woman. There are multiple “trails” that can lead you around the area to explore and have a nice view of the water.

After a quick visit, drive back to Seogwipo-si, the city where you will be spending the night. One of the foods Jeju is known for is black pork, so it is a must that you get black pork BBQ for dinner. There are several restaurants in Seogwipo-si, and we just picked one that’s close to our hotel with a good rating. The place we went to is Black Pork BBQ (Black Pork BBQ 흑돼지 bbq).

Day 4 in South Korea: Jeju Island (South side)

After an eventful day in Jeju, your second day here will be to explore the south side of Jeju, before making your way east for the night. As mentioned earlier, we stayed at Arts Spa & Pool Village on the east side of the island and the place was HUGE.

Chasing Waterfalls (Seogwipo Jeongbang Fall & Cheonjiyeon Waterfalls)

There is no shortage of waterfalls on Jeju, especially on the south side of the island. After grabbing breakfast at your hotel (or at a local convenience store like we did), head out to explore a couple of the most popular falls on Jeju.

The first fall we visited was Seogwipo Jeongbang Waterfall, a unique waterfall that leads into the ocean. There is a small fee to pay to enter, and you will be descending down a set of wooden stairs until you reach the bottom.

The waterfall can be seen up close since it’s on the beach, but you will have to climb through some slippery rocks to get up close. When we visited it had just rained, so the rocks were very slippery.

The second waterfall you should visit is Cheonjiyeon Waterfalls, the most popular waterfall on Jeju due to its proximity to Seogwipo-Si. Most tour buses stop at this waterfall, so it can get crowded.

The waterfall area is big and you can walk through the statues and a forested path before actually reaching the fall. To be honest the waterfall itself is not very big but there is a large body of water right in front of it.

If you have time, you can visit a couple of other waterfalls in Jeju, such as Cheonjeyeon Falls, which has 3 tiers of waterfalls and Eongtto Falls, which can only be seen on a rainy day. We personally didn’t since two waterfalls was enough for us.

Lunch: Seogwipo Olle Market or 올레삼다정

The reason I put Cheonjiyeon Waterfall as the second fall is because of its proximity to the city, aka lunch! Like many South Korean cities, Seogwipo-Si also has a large food market that many locals and tourists visit.

The market has stalls that sell all sorts of food, from grilled meat to pancakes to drinks. We actually didn’t eat there as we wanted a sit down place but it is a good option for those who want street food.

Instead we had lunch at 올레삼다정, a specialty cutlass fish restaurant. This is the most pricey place we ate at in Korea and we spent $50 (USD) on their grilled + stewed fish set, which also came with assorted seafood. This is probably my favorite restaurant on Jeju so I would highly recommend it! The flavor was so good and it’s not something I can find anywhere in the US.

Afternoon: Hueree Nature Life Park (or Camelia Arboretum)

One thing that attracted us to Jeju is nature, namely its seasonal flower fields. It doesn’t matter what time of the year you visit, there are always different flowers in bloom and you can find them all over the island.

Since we visited in October, it is the blooming season for cosmos and pink Muhly grass. I had never seen the pink grass in the US so it was high on our must-see list for Jeju. But if you are visiting during the camellia season, then you should visit a camellia arboretum instead.

We visited Hueree Natural Life Park, a family friendly park with a ton of nature and animals. You will see the famous black pigs of Jeju there, as well as different floras and other plants. It is the perfect place to bring kids too if you are visiting South Korea with children.

Dinner: Abalone Specialty restaurant

Another specialty food on Jeju island is abalone, so you will find a number of restaurants that specialize in Abalone.

Since we were staying on the east side of the island during our second day in Jeju, we found an abalone restaurant called Myeongjin Jeonbok Abalone and they only have 4 things on its menu:

• Abalone Sashimi
• Abalone stone pot rice
• Abalone Porridge
• Grilled Abalone

We tried the porridge and the stone pot rice, both were really good. This is also a very local spot as there were only Koreans (with big families) there; we were the only tourists at the restaurant.

Day 5 in South Korea: Jeju Island (East Side)

After another full day of exploring the southern part of Jeju, on your last day in Jeju you will be exploring the east side (and the center of the island) before spending the night near the airport to fly out the next morning.

Seongsan Ilchulbong (Sunrise Peak)

Seongsan Ilchulbong, otherwise known as Sunrise Peak, is one of the most famous nature preserves on the east side of the island.

Many people come to Seongsan Ilchulbong for hiking (paid trail) but you don’t need to hike to enjoy the view. There is a free trail with stairs going down the cliffs, which is what we did. If you do want to hike, you can go uphill to the top on the paid trail (if you go early enough, there’s nobody at the ticking booth).

Seopjikoji

After Seongsan Ilchulbong, drive a few minutes to another popular nature preserve, Seopjikoji. It is famed for its red volcanic ashes, unique rock formations and the coastal walk.

We spent about 2 hours at Seopjikoji just strolling along, taking photos near the Glass House at the grand swing and hiking up and down the white lighthouse. We also saw horse riding, a candy themed house (not actually functional) and other viewpoints in the area.

Aqua Planet

Aqua Planet in Jeju is the largest public aquarium in South Korea and one of the most popular attractions on Jeju island. It is a few minutes from Seopjikoji, so it makes sense to visit them together, especially on a rainy day that we had.

I had been to many aquariums in the US before but I was very impressed by the sea animals they had at the aquarium. There were so many of them that I had not seen before, such as the giant octopus, spider crabs and walrus.

Lunch: London Bagel Museum & Layered Cafe

Both London Bagel Museum and Layered Cafe are popular cafes in South Korea. When we were in Seoul, we saw huge lines in front of these cafes so we never got a chance to try. But on Jeju, the lines weren’t as insane and you can actually add yourself to the waitlist on Catchtable before you even arrive.

Since the two cafes are right next to each other, if you are waiting for the London Bagel Museum, you can just hop over to Layered Cafe for a snack (their salt bread is VERY good).

For the London Bagel Museum, you can either pick your own bagel or buy the premade sandwich. We got the potato bagel with cheese as well as the one with butter and ham slices. I loved the interior decor, giving off a very British vibe (hence the name). To be honest, I wasn’t really a fan of the “bagels” since I get New York bagels all the time, but all the tourists from China and Japan seem to love it.

Sangumburi Crater

Sangumburi Crater is a park surrounding a large parasitic volcano crater. There is a small entrance fee to enter. Once inside, you will see a large trail that goes through several Silver grass fields before coming to the observation deck of the flat crater itself.

While there are over 360 parasitic volcanoes on Jeju Island, what’s special about Sangumburi Crater is that it was formed by an explosion without the ejection of lava or volcanic ash. It is apparently a very rare type of crater. You can spend about 1.5 to 2 hours at Sangumburi Crater.

After a full day of adventure, we drove to Jeju-si and checked into our last hotel at Hotel RegentMarine. There is an on-site restaurant that sells fried chicken from a famous chain. There are also other restaurants around if you don’t want fried chicken.

Day 6 in South Korea: Busan

After a fun and packed 3 days in Jeju, it is time to move onto Busan, the famous port city in southeast South Korea. You will be spending the next day and half exploring this beautiful seaside city.

There are several areas of Busan to explore and the city is really spread out, so you won’t be able to really pack the itinerary just given how long it takes to travel around Busan.

We stayed at the Stanford Hotel Busan, right across the street from BIFF square and Jagalchi Market and it was less than $100 USD a night. We decided to stay there instead of the popular Haeundae Beach because of its proximity to some of the attractions, and most importantly, the KTX station. If you stay at Haeundae Beach, it takes an hour to travel to the KTX station and other attractions like Gamcheon Village.

Arrival in Busan

We took an 8am flight from Jeju to Busan and landed around 9. The flight time was less than an hour but the airport is rather far from “city center”. We decided to take Uber (aka taxis in Korea) from the airport to our hotel because public transportation would take an hour. Our taxi only cost $13 USD which isn’t bad.

Since it was too early for our hotel check in, we left our luggage with the hotel, got ready in the lobby bathroom and started our adventure in Busan.

Huinnyeoul Culture Village

Huinnyeoul Culture Village is a really cute seaside village only about 20 minutes from BIFF Square. There is a direct bus from BIFF square area that takes you there. The village is built on a cliff, so there are a lot of stairs going up and down.

The village is not super big and you can expect to spend 2-3 hours there if you plan to stop by coffee shops or restaurants. There are several popular viewpoints/ photo spots in the village, and the rest is to leisurely stroll through the village, enjoy the ocean view and check out shops and cafes. I really liked the Huinyeoul Coastal Tunnel for photos and the milky ice cream sold in the village.

Lunch, Haeundae Beach, Busan X the Sky

Haeundae Beach is one of the nicest areas in Busan and some say it is the best beach in Busan. It is a super modern area with a ton of high rises, restaurants, and shops. It is also where Busan X the Sky (as well as the tallest Starbucks in the world) is located.

We took a taxi from Huinyeoul Village to Haeundae because public transportation would take over an hour.

We first stopped by Solsot Haeundae for the famous Busan pot rice, then walked through Gunam Square and Haeundae Traditional Market before arriving at the beach.

Our main focus on Haeundae Beach was to visit BUSAN X the SKY, a modern observation deck with the highest Starbucks in the world on the 99th floor. The elevator at Busan X the Sky has these cool video screens as you ride up to the 99th floor. Once you get off the elevator, you can already start to see the panoramic view of Busan and the water.

Haedong Yonggungsa Temple

If there is only one temple you can visit in Busan, then it would be the seaside Buddhist temple of Haedong Yonggungsa Temple (if there are 2 temples you can see, then be sure to also see Samgwangsa Temple).

Haedong Yonggungsa Temple is a very popular Buddhist temple in Busan. It was founded in 1376 but was renovated later on. Unlike most temples in Korea, which are nestled in mountainous regions, Haedong Yonggungsa is built along a rocky shoreline, offering stunning views of the ocean.

In order to visit, we had to walk down a 108-step staircase to the temple. Along the way, we walked by statues of the twelve zodiac animals, large Buddha statues, and pavilions offering panoramic views of the sea. Since we went in the afternoon, it was pretty crowded. If you want to avoid the crowd, then I would recommend visiting in the morning instead.

Blueline Park Sky Capsule

I’m sure you’ve seen these cute capsule looking trains on a monorail along the water from social media. Well, that is the popular Busan Sky Capsule in Haeundae! Since there are two stations for the Sky Capsule, you can technically get on from the Mipo station in Haeundae Beach, get off Cheongsapo Station, then go to Haedong Yonggungsa Temple after.

However, I was determined to take this during sunset for the cotton candy colored sky, so we did it the other way around. The ride is a one way 30 minute slow ride in a private car so you can relax and take as many photos (or simply enjoy the view) as you want.

Dinner: Busan Pork Rice Soup

Pork rice soup is one of the Busan specialty foods. Since it was windy and cold, we were looking for some comfort food after we got back to the BIFF square area (which took over an hour due to rush hour traffic).

The place we went to was called Sancheong Dwaeji-gukbap (산청돼지국밥) and it was run by an old Korean couple. The place looked anything but fancy and food was simple and cheap. They gave us so much meat in the soup that we literally couldn’t finish. Despite all the meat, the soup was not greasy at all and it was really tasty.

Day 7 in South Korea: Busan & Train back to Seoul

Day 7 is another day to explore Busan, see some of the most popular attractions there before taking the KTX train back to Seoul for the evening. To be honest, if we had more time, I would’ve preferred to spend the night in Busan to do a few more things.

Hwangnyeong Mountain Observatory

Hwangnyeong Mountain observatory is usually not on a first time visitor’s radar as it is pretty out of the way, but it is a beautiful and popular spot for locals, especially for sunset.

Instead, we opted to visit early morning to avoid the crowd (also we only had one sunset in Busan so we wanted to do the Sky Capsule instead). We took a taxi from our hotel and on the way up, we saw a good number of older Koreans hiking up!

The view from the observation deck (free) is nothing short of spectacular and having the place to ourselves was even better. There are benches to sit and even wooden “swings” to chill and relax. You can also walk around the area if you want, but we were mainly there for the view and the photos.

Read next: How to visit Hwangnyeongsan Mountain Observatory in Busan

Stairs of Wishes (Somang Stairs Monorail)

If you are on social media a lot, you probably would’ve seen this Tiffany colored monorail in a residential neighborhood in Busan. This steep staircase with the colorful tiles, combined with the cute monorail is an off the beaten path attraction.

In fact, it’s not meant to be an attraction. The monorail was built to help the local residents, especially the elderly, to get up and down the steep steps easily. The monorail is free to use and priority should be given to residents.

Keep in mind that there are 2 different monorails, only the upper level one can be used by tourists.

Located right next to the stairs is a vibrant Dakbatgol Mural Village. Busan is such an artistic city that there are so many different murals all around the city. Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to explore the murals, but if you have time you definitely should walk around.

Gamcheon Culture Village

Known as the Machu Picchu of Busan (or the Santorini of Busan), Gamcheon Culture Village is probably the no.1 tourist attraction in Busan.

Known for its colorful houses on the slope of a hill, Gamcheon Culture Village is a “revitalized” village thanks to the government renovation project, which aimed to turn an once impoverished neighborhood into an artistic and vibrant area. Clearly the renovation project worked as it attracted an influx of tourists from all over the world.

The best way to explore Gamcheon Culture Village is to go to the tourist office near the bus station and buy a stamp map. The map is like a scavenger hunt and shows you the location of all the important spots in Gamcheon Culture Village. Each time you visit the particular spot, you can put a stamp on the map.

You will need about 4 hours to fully explore the entire place; we spent around 2 hours just exploring about half of the village. I heard that if you do explore the whole place, you will have to walk back up the hill/ stairs.

Jagalchi Market

After visiting Gamcheon Culture Village, we went back to Nampo-dong to see Jagalchi Market, one of the most famous markets in Busan.

The seafood market is large, with the first floor packed with seafood stalls. We saw people buying live octopus and fish and you can get them cooked upstairs and eat that for lunch. If you love seafood, then this is a must-do!

Lunch, BIFF Square, Yongdusan Park & Lotte Mall

We were in the mood for some noodles instead of seafood, so we just randomly picked a cold noodle place near BIFF Square. BIFF Square, otherwise known as the Busan International Film Festival Square, is a lively place known for its association with movies, fashion, and food.

The area is quite big and you can walk around it during the day or at night. Since we stayed right across the street, it is super easy to check this out before getting our luggage. The main attractions of BIFF Square include the Gwangbok-ro Fashion Street/ Film Memorial Street, the Gukje Market Food Street, and Bosu Book Street.

After walking around BIFF Square (and doing some shopping), we made our way to Yongdusan Park, home of Busan Tower. The park is free to visit and there is a cafe/ souvenir shop at the bottom of Busan Tower, so it’s nice to leisurely take a stroll and relax with the view. You will find a couple of landmarks as well as the Statue of Admiral Yi Sun-sin at this park if you are into history.

After seeing the park, we walked downhill to Lotte Mall. There are two buildings next to each other, one with fancier stores whereas the other one had stores like H&M, Zara, Olive Young and a fountain show.

KTX Train to Seoul & Dinner

After getting our luggage from the hotel, we went to the train station, located about 10 minutes away by car. KTX Train is the high speed bullet train in South Korea, and it can pretty much take you everywhere within the country (except to Jeju).

You don’t have to get to the train station super early, as KTX trains don’t arrive until 15 minutes before departure time. We got there 45 minutes before and ended up just chilling at a cafe upstairs.

By the time we got back to Seoul it was around dinner time. We took the subway from Seoul Station to Myeongdong and it was only 2 stops, super quick and easy.

Even though we were back in Myeongdong, we stayed at a different hotel closer to the station (and it was slightly cheaper). This time we stayed at Solaria Nishitetsu Hotel, steps away from the night market and Myeongdong Station.

After checking in and settling down, we grabbed dinner near our hotel at Myeongdong Joomak. The restaurant offers a variety of Korean food and we got bibimbap and a seafood pancake. Food was pretty good and we left some room for more street food after.

After dinner it was shopping time! Myeongdong has so many stores that are open till at least 10pm. We went crazy at Olive Young buying skincare products (and we couldn’t find everything we were looking for). I also walked around the night market once again and got this yummy Mango shaved ice as well as another hotteok.

Day 8 in South Korea: Olympic Park, Gangnam, Day Trip to Anseong Farmland

South Korea has pretty amazing nature all year round and flower fields are one of them. My friend that traveled to South Korea with me really loves flower fields and while planning the trip, we were debating between visiting a farmland and hiking at Seoraksan National Park.

Due to time constraints, we decided to skip Seoraksan National Park (although it looks pretty awesome) and do a half day trip to Anseong Farmland, 2 hours from Seoul.

Olympic Park

The Olympic Park in Seoul is not usually on a first-timer’s Seoul itinerary but it’s one worth visiting. The park was built for the 1988 summer Olympics and inside the park you will see the various stadiums and halls built for the game.

The main reason we went to Olympic Park was to see the orange cosmo flower field during its peak bloom in October. The flower field is located near the Rose Plaza and it certainly did not disappoint. Since we were there early, we were the only people there and the orange cosmos were in full bloom.

Gangnam: COEX Starfield Library

Since we are very into Instagram spots, we certainly could not pass on the popular Starfield Library at COEX mall in Gangnam. The mall is actually a direct bus ride away from Olympic Park and we got to witness the crazy morning rush hour traffic in Seoul first hand.

The Starfield Library is located in the middle of the mall in a very open area. There are a number of seats both downstairs and on the second level. Google Maps says the library opens at 10:30am but it actually opened way earlier. When we got there around 9 something it was already open.

On the second floor there are two coffee shops, one of which is % ARABICA, a popular coffee shop from Kyoto, Japan. Get some coffee and pastries there for breakfast while you are there. If you walk through the coffee shop, you will come to a balcony with a nice view of the library’s escalator. This is the best spot to photograph the escalator (or just relax).

Gangnam: Bongeunsa Temple

Bongeunsa Temple is a Buddhist temple directly north of the Starfield Mall in Gangnam. It is another Buddhist Temple in Seoul. It was destroyed in a fire in 1939 and has since been restored.

Compared to Jogyesa Temple, Bongeunsa Temple is a lot bigger (in fact it is one of the largest temples in Seoul and one of the 14 major temples in South Korea). There are more buildings in the temple complex and there is also a giant Buddha Statue of Maitreya Buddha that has become a major tourist attraction.

Grab & Go Lunch and Getting Rental Car

Since our plan was to get a quick lunch, get our rental car and drive out to Anseong Farmland, we didn’t really have much time for a sit down meal.

We walked to Hyundai Mall, a high end shopping center next to the COEX mall. This mall is super fancy and there are stores like Hermes inside. The downstairs has a nice food court and super market. At the food court we found this hand roll sushi place and just got something from there. There are other food stalls if you want some other types of food.

Similar to Jeju, we rented a car from Lotte Car Rental in Gangnam, about a 10 minute walk from the mall. However it was quite the experience driving out of Gangnam as it was during lunch hour, the narrow street the car rental agency is at was packed with office workers.

Anseong Farmland

Anseong Farmland is about a 2 hour drive south of Seoul, and it is a popular day trip for families and couples from Seoul.

As the name implies, the place is a large farm, with numerous flower fields, farm animals, playground, a kid’s movie theater, maze, and seasonal family friendly activities. When we visited in October on a weekday, we saw school aged kids doing a field trip with their class.

The area is large and you can literally spend all day there checking out the different activities and fields. October was the blooming season for the pink grass as well as the cosmos. My friend saw a photo of the pink cosmos stretching for miles at Anseong Farmland and convinced me to visit with her.

The flower fields were nice, although not as beautiful as the Instagram photo we saw, but it was still a very nice place. If you visit in the summer, there will be sunflowers and in the winter I believe there are the yellow flowers as well.

We had originally wanted to make another quick stop at Suwon on the way back to Seoul, but due to traffic it just didn’t make sense. In case you are wondering what’s at Suwon, it is the place where the other viral Starfield library is.

Michelin Guide Beef Noodle Soup In Gangnam

By the time we got back to Gangnam to return the car, it was already dinner time! Originally we wanted to go to this super popular Korean BBQ place but we couldn’t figure out the reservation system online.

Instead, we found a Michelin Guide recommended beef soup place called Oegojip Seolleongtang (외고집설렁탕). There are only a few items on the menu and everything is beef related. I just got the bone soup and it was so flavorful and yummy. If you are ever in the COEX mall area in Gangnam, I would highly recommend this place!

Day 9 in South Korea: Last Day in Seoul

This is our last full day in Seoul and you have a lot to choose from. For us, we started the day early (again) with a visit to Cafe Onion (again), followed by exploring a mural village and the ancient city wall. We got to experience the Netflix famous hand cut noodles for lunch before going back to Gangnam for some beauty treatment and shopping.

Cafe Onion Breakfast

I mentioned that we walked by Cafe Onion on the first day after landing in Seoul at 5am. Unfortunately last time the line was insanely long (it also coincided with Chinese national holiday so a ton of Chinese tourists were visiting). Well this time we learned our lesson and decided to go right after they opened at 7am.

While you certainly don’t need to go at 7 something like we did, I would say that the line gets quite long after 8:30am. When we got there around 7:20am there was no line, with only a few Japanese tourists before us.

The only drawback of going early is that not all the pastries were out when we got there. We waited for a bit to see if they would bring out more pastries. We eventually got the garlic cream cheese baguette, the pandoro and a salt bread. The garlic cream cheese baguette was AMAZING, the other two were ok. I heard their strawberry pastry is good but it wasn’t out when we got there.

Ihwa Mural Village, Naksan Park and City Wall

After Cafe Onion, we decided to check out the famous Ihwa Mural Village, a neighborhood that has been revitalized by street arts and paintings after a history of being a poor neighborhood.

The street art was the work of 70 local artists and brought an influx of tourists, which actually led to discontent in the local neighborhoods, resulting in some murals being painted over. Despite some of the murals being painted over, it’s still nice to walk around the area and try to find all the murals that you can.

Since we were at Ihwa Mural Village, I also wanted to see Naksan Park, known for its hiking trails and the Seoul city wall. If you have energy, then you can hike up and down along the wall and stop by the Naksanjeong Pavilion for a view of the city. We just decided to walk along the City Wall down to Dongdaemun.

DDP (Dongdaemun Design Plaza)

Not far from Dongdaemun is a futuristic looking building called DDP. The building itself was designed by a British-Iraqi architect and it is a popular tourist attraction. There are multiple levels to the building and there are various exhibitions, design labs and even design stores inside the building.

When we were inside, we saw kiosks that let you virtually try clothes as well as actual physical stores and other design labs. There was also a free photo booth and a 360 degree video recording booth. This building is a huge contrast to the surrounding areas, which are more traditional in nature. You can spend as much as 2 hours at DDP or as little as 20 minutes.

Gwangjang Market

Gwangjang Market is one of the most popular and touristy food markets in Seoul and it is conveniently about a 15 minute walk from DDP. Its popularity skyrocketed after some of the food stalls were featured in the Netflix show Street Food Asia.

We decided to visit and try out the knife cut noodle stall featured in the show. The stall is run by an old Korean lady who had perfected her knife cut noodles and the broth. There are a number of items on the menu and we opted for her famous knife cut noodle soup and dumplings. We were given a jug of tea and a bit of kimchi (which was really good).

Gangnam: K-Star Road

When you think of Gangnam, you probably also think about K pop related things. In fact there is a “K-Star Road” in Gangnam, known for these cute bear statues painted with K star/ K pop group names as well as luxury boutiques.

This area totally reminds me of Fifth Avenue in New York City, except even fancier. We visited the Chanel flagship store as well as a few other stores before heading out to get our skin treatments.

Gangnam: Skin Treatment (or Other Things)

What is a trip to South Korea without getting some sort of beauty treatment? Medical tourism is popular in South Korea due to the affordable cost of skin treatments. There are literally skin clinics after skin clinics in Gangnam so it’s not hard to find one. The difficulty is deciding which skin clinic to go to and what treatments to get.

I opted to do a Thermage treatment due to the fact there is no downtime and it lasts 1-2 years; the other treatments I researched (like Microneedling, Rejuran, Potenza) require regular maintenance, which is not possible for me or any tourists. My friend, on the other hand, went to a different beauty clinic to do facials instead of the more hardcore/ invasive treatments.

In general these treatments take 2-3 hours to do so that took up most of our afternoon.

If you are not doing any skin treatments, then there are a few other options for you to spend the afternoon:

• Explore Seongsu: this area is across the river from Gangnam and is known as the “Brooklyn of Seoul”. There are a ton of cafes and pop ups in this area so it’s pretty trendy and popular to visit.

• Seoul Sky: This is a modern observation deck near Olympic Park. It gives you a sweeping view of Seoul against the floor to ceiling glass. It is a bit like Busan X the sky with elevator animations and 360 views.

• National Museum of Korea: If you are interested in learning more about the history of South Korea, then you can pay a visit to this museum. You will find ancient artifacts, pottery, woodwork. You can have a nice view of Namsan Tower from the grounds and the museum ground itself is beautiful.

After a long day out, we came back to Myeongdong for dinner and some last minute shopping before flying out the next day.

Day 10 in South Korea: Fly Out

Our flight back to New York City was early in the morning, so we had to get up super early. If you have a later flight, then you will have more time to explore Seoul.

Since we stayed in Myeongdong, we were able to catch a direct airport limousine bus right in front of the station. If you are interested in the bus, be sure to ask your hotel front desk for the airport shuttle schedule.

One thing to keep in mind is that we had to pay for the tickets with cash on board. I forget if you can use a T money card or not but they definitely did not accept credit card payments. So before you spend all your cash, save some for this bus ride. Otherwise you can just take the subway to Seoul Station and then take the express train to the airport.

The airport also has decent food options with Korean food. We got a beef noodle soup and a pork dish before our flight and it was pretty good! This concludes our very eventful and packed 10 days in Korea!

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