<The First Day>

1. Starting a short journey 

 Let's assume you have four days in Seoul. If you landed at Incheon airport at 9:00 AM on the 1st day, and leave at 5:00 PM on the 4th, what would you do? 

 When I was an 8th-12th school student, I attended boarding school in the southern suburb area outside Seoul. Since my home was in the north-western suburb, I had to go home every Saturday, passing through Seoul. As a teenager, the trip to Seoul every weekend was a thrilling experience. I strolled authentic Seoul's old palaces, walked into the National museum as many as possible to calmly watch my favorite ancient sculpture. The well-structured subway system always delivered me in the right places, and the stacked stories of past consistently enchanted me. Therefore, for me, suggesting four days itinerary is like choosing only a dozen at a large buffet restaurant with hundreds of foods. Although Seoul has plenty of captivating places that can't be mastered in four days, there is no way but to admit our limitation of time. As a traveler, we can only spend a few days in one city because there are so many places to visit and experience in the world.

 As soon as you get out of the immigration office at the airport, you can easily head to downtown Seoul. Catching a bus costs ￦15,000($13) in 90 minutes(Bus no. is 6002, 6005, etc.) And using a train costs ￦9,000($8) in 50 minutes to get to the Seoul train station. The train may be a cheaper option than the bus, but it's better riding a bus when you'd like to rush your first destination in Seoul directly. And looking at the unfamiliar scenery outside the window, you can organize your first impression of Korea. 

Tourism of Seoul (Overall)

1. Seoul, thirteen million foreign tourists destination

 Seoul has become a popular tourist destination in recent years. That is a somewhat surprising development considering in 1953, just 66 years ago, the disastrous war completely ruined Seoul. Korean war had left nothing to see in that old city except children crying for their parents, people lost in grief, and scruffy rubble in thorough destruction. Seoul is an ancient capital of Korea that has a long history from 1392, which reach 627 years as of 2019, bearing a lot of distinctive cultures and characteristic architectures. But at the time of 1953, they were of no avail. Seoul was worse than the city starting even ten years before. Regardless of how hard they might try, the underlying despair on this poor city seemed to be not going away.

 Nowadays, annually, 13 million foreigners visit Seoul, and in the first quarter of 2019, 3.03 million foreign tourists, the largest in history in that period, chose Seoul as their place of refreshment.

 What makes Seoul a competitive tourist attraction? What do they watch in Seoul and is it worth to visit there? Let's talk about it, beginning with the modern colors and going on to the traditional features.

2. Modern color

 41.2% of 3.03 million visitors in the first quarter of 2019 stopped at the shooting location of K-dramas or K-entertainments. The places where these shows were filmed are Indeed diverse. For example, in the case of 'Goblin(2017, tvN),' the wall where the protagonists first met, the traditional house in which the goblin has lived, the high school of the heroine are all famous tourist destinations. The 'Bukchon' village, already a center of Seoul's tourism, is drawing more people thanks to the fans of this drama. K-dramas and TV shows are so popular these days to attract manias to the real places of the screen and provide them a pleasant feeling. Advantages offered by that are becoming even more prevailing as the Korean wave(Hallyu in Korean) stretches into a new stage. Tourist number of Seoul may move toward another record in lockstep with the wave's propagation.

 39.7% of the tourists in the first quarter of 2019 also spent their time in Seoul in the tasty restaurant(Mat-Jip in Korean, which means delicious house). Korean wave stars often drop by and introduce the foods and enjoyable atmosphere on their Instagram or Youtube. The bulgogi(marinated beef), bibimbap(mixed bowl), kimbap(seaweed rice), sam-gyeup-sal(pork belly), chimac(chicken and beer), and many fusion foods are already familiar to those visitors thanks to frequent exposures throughout those SNS channels and also K-dramas.

 The primary activity tourists do in Seoul is predominantly shopping. They enjoy buying from luxury items like perfumes, bags, clothes at fancy duty free shops or big department stores to low-priced goods like accessories, fast-fashion products, and street foods; u-mook(fish cake), tteok-bokki(spicy rice cake), hot dog, fries, sun-dae(pork sausage), Korean-taco, etc.

 To increase these tendencies, Korea has renewed an endeavor to add more stylish facilities. These include large duty-free shops in downtown, nice hotels, huge shopping malls, convention centers for international conferences, fancy art galleries, big Hallyu concert halls, etc. They will make future tourists pamper themselves with comfortable, fantastic experiences in Korea.  

3. Traditional resources

 In addition to this strong Hallyu and shopping infrastructures, Seoul boasts itself the fabulous traditional contents one can hardly see anywhere else apart from Korea.

 Today's tourists aren't just satisfied with seeing marvelous remains from the past. They surely would like to experience it and feel it. Wearing traditional Korean costume is gaining popularity in that sense. Five different beautiful palaces in Seoul are the best runway for walking in Hanbok(Traditional Korean clothes) like the royalty in the old dynasty. Famous historical K-dramas make this experience more authentic. The same thing happened to walking in the traditional village next to the palace. You can be right on down to the street where the old sceneries is preserved. For example, in Bukchon and Samcheongdong, scattered between the city’s two main beautiful palaces(Gyeonbokgung and Changdeokgung) among its total five, antique atmosphere stands in stark contrast to the rapidly built urban landscape that faces it.. Traditional remains and modern fancy stores are neatly lined up in there..

 In addition to that, hundreds of traditional museums, old houses, fortress walls, pavilions, royal mausoleums, big gates, temples are great destinations for history and culture lovers.

4. Safe and convenient

 In addition to that, Seoul is super safe. It's a kind of wonder even adolescents and women can walk the downtown street at night by themselves feeling almost no threats. And if you lose something, chances are you can receive it by mail or police soon with the help of strangers. Car burglary, pickpockets, armed robberies are quite rare in Seoul. Why would does anybody try to do those reckless behaviors on the risk of being caught? That guy should be jailed by CCTV or advanced DNA test after all.

 Besides, traveling in Seoul is extremely convenient. Efficient networks of buses and subways take you anywhere on time for nearly under $2. There are always grocery stores and small restaurants on every corner of streets for you to quickly grab something to eat or use. And the prices displayed everywhere are all tax included, exempting you from calculating complicated math from time to time. Even a small store would accept your Visa, Master, Amex card if the price is over $0.8. There are very few homeless on the street, and you can find a clean public restroom for free almost every time you are in need.

5. Some defects

 But of course, there are some shortages for Seoul's tourism. First of all, Seoul is a super crowded city where you would see many people everywhere who seem to look like the same. It's so congested to cause a little dizziness to the person even from quite big cities as well as rural areas. In addition to that, all the complicated signs are confusing to people who don't understand Korean. And English has not yet everyday words for Koreans, so you would see it challenging to find someone whom you can ask a direction. That famous landmarks are scarce is another problem. Unfortunately, Seoul has no structures like Eiffel tower, London bridge, Berlin wall, Coloseum, Gaudi house, Empire State building, National monument, Hollywood sign, Golden Gate bridge, etc. N Seoul Tower(Namsan Tower), Han river, Lotte tower, DDP, Seoul city hall, Seoul botanic garden are all great. But they are far from what everyone in the world has heard of yet. However, when you think about the whole changes over the past period since the devastating Korean war, who knows what kind of surprising thing happen in Seoul next? Can Seoul achieve its ambitious goal to welcome 23 million guests in a year by 2023? We will see it again in 2023.

Published: Sep 15, 2019.  Last updated: Oct 23, 2019

Korea's various regional tourist spots

1. Looking around Korea

 It's possible nowadays to go anywhere within Korea for about 3~4 hours. Fast transportation system of high-speed trains, efficient buses makes your journey extremely comfortable. But of course, only around 120 years ago, the trip was different. It took almost 15 days on foot from Busan, Korea's southeast port city, to Seoul, Korea's capital since 1392. Even though you wanted to visit the nearest town, usually, one entire day was needed to walk along Korea's mountainous terrain. It kept many people stay in their hometown for their whole life. This geographical characteristic led to the diversity of regions in Korea peninsular in spite of its relatively small size. In plains, almost every city has similar traits, but on the deep valleys, every town has different figures.

Although the appearance of various regions has become similar through rapid industrialization for the past 60 years, some colors and tastes of Korea's varied areas remain. In addition to that, the local autonomy since the 1990s has enhanced the specialty of each region. There are a lot of distinctive festivals in Korea, and local governments have developed lots of tourism programs which foreign tourists also can easily enjoy. The best place to visit in Korea depends on what the tourists want to see and do and where their interests lie.. 

What kind of tourist attractions does Korea have except for the well-known Seoul? Let's see one by one.

2. Traditional heritage and the conformity with nature

 Korea has tons of old cultural properties. Thus, it has been often said 'Korea peninsula is the museum without walls.' There are thousands of temples, Buddhist towers, royal tombs, old houses, pavilions, battlefields, national and local museums, old towns, fortresses, etc. They are all valuable relics for Koreans having great glories, sorrows, lessons of a long history. But for foreigners, it is required to experience more than just visiting another country's cultural site. One of them is appreciating the spirit of Korea's architecture. The buildings embrace Korea's charming nature, which shows diversity throughout the four seasons and conformity to the rugged and cozy environments of Korea's mountains. Staying a night in a temple or an old house is a great way to feel that atmosphere directly. It's worth one-night spending. For example, 'Rakkojae' in Hahoe Village, Andong(Middle East), is where you can stay a quiet night in an old house located in the old village. And 'Hakindang House' in Jeonju(Middle West) is also a prominent accommodation. 

 On the point of view of the abundance of traditional properties, Seoul, Andong(Middle East), Gongju(Middle West), Gyeongju(Southeast), Jeonju(Southwest) have lots of remaining architectures from the old era. However, as it was mentioned before, the whole Korea peninsula is like a living museum. Therefore you can expect marvelous ancient relics wherever you go in Korea. Just call '1330', Travel Hotline run by Korea Tourism Organization(KTO), asking the historical site worth visiting around your destination if you are interested.

3. Festivals

Having too many festivals by region is nowadays Korea's concern and worry. That means there are literally lots of celebrations. Let's look around the most popular programs by season.

1) Spring

 Spring is blossoming in Korea. So you can meet varied events all around the country. In Hampyeong(Southeast), butterfly festival is held every spring. You can meet thousands of beautiful fairies flying around your eyes. In Gurye(South), Flower blossom festivals are all around every spring. There are too many spring welcoming parties in the entire peninsula to enumerate all of them.

2) Summer

 Korea has three sides of oceans. Therefore hot summer becomes the season you must hit the road to the beach. Except for the beaches, there are plenty of water parks around every big city. The problem is the cost to enjoy all of these beautiful experiences of hot summer. It's not only swimming but various kinds of themes available such as Boryeong mud festival, Busan Sea Festival, etc. Besides, cool summer night add mood to the night festivals like Seoul Bamdokkaebi Night Market, Suwon cultural heritage night, etc.

3) Fall

Why there are so many festivals in relatively small Korea peninsula? One reason is that Korea has distinctive four seasons. Every season has its own unique color and smell. It makes it hard for Koreans to stand still inside the home. You should go out and play something before this beautiful season passes by. And fall is the definite time to enjoy excellent weather and delicate feeling. Busan International Film Festival, Jarasum Jazz Festival, Jinju Namgang Yudeung Festival, Andong International Mask Dance Festival, etc.. There are too many to write their names all. 

4) Winter

Korea's winter is freezing, windy, and sometimes gray. For those reasons, winter is actually not an ideal season to hold a festival. Nevertheless, a lot of winter events embrace the harsh environment to enjoy the coldness itself. The most famous one is the Sancheoneo Festival in Hwacheon(North), having lead the streams of the winter festivals. Starting from that, dozens of festivals where you can catch fish from a hole on the ice have followed. And winter snow and ice can turn into an art. Cheongpyeong Ice Flower Festival and Daegwallyeong Snow Flower Festival are well-known events with their beautiful ice decorations.

4. K-Drama locations

 Finding a K-Drama filming site is also a great way to see the various regions of Korea. In Nonsan(Middle West), Sunshine land is located where the popular K-drama 'Mr. Sunshine(2018)' was filmed. You can indulge yourself in the scenery of the 1900s of Korea. In Osan(Middle), 'Asdal Chronicle(2019)' had its sets, which was made as a prehistoric city. Nami Island in Chuncheon(Northwest) has been the hot tourist attraction since the 'Winter Sonata(2002)' got its popularity. Besides that, many old buildings, beaches, arboretums, mountains, rivers, valleys are the main stages of lots of K-Drama. If you are interested in visiting the spot of one of your favorite dramas, just give a little time searching the Internet! You will get a lot of information about places to enhance your feeling towards the touching K-Drama story. Moreover, you would always find interesting places worth visiting near the filming locations like traditional heritages, exciting streets, fancy villages, fine museums. 

5. Difficulties of sightseeing Korea's local areas

Despite these attractions and events all over the country, there are still a few difficulties for foreigners to jump into sightseeing to local areas. For example, big festivals are always packed with people, especially in the peak season. Therefore foreigners who are not accustomed to Korea's environments may have a hard time finding where to eat, sleep, park, and buy tickets. And all the waiting line might make visitors exhausted and tired after a long trip. Besides, even though it has gotten better now, the lack of affordable, clean accommodations in local regions is massive huddle to have many foreigners. It makes them hesitate going outside of already well-known tourist destination cities like Seoul, Busan, Jeju. 

 Unfortunately, another vital huddle for local tourism might be the similarity of every Korean city. Our views of new cities is, of course, based mainly on what we’re used to. That’s where we get our baseline from which we form our impression to those places.. Though Korea has a long tradition, as mentioned earlier, most buildings have been constructed in recent 60 years after the devastating Korean war. Same concrete, steel-glass, granite, brick buildings are everywhere. And, because of the similar signage of stores, all Korean cities seem to look alike by their appearances . Korea's local governments well aware of that, which is why they have tried so hard to make their cities' unique colors. But it looks like that kind of hardware innovation would take more time.

 In spite of these challenges, it is worth exploring every corner of Korea. You can surely find delicate, time-honored beauty which might not be recognized in the famous cities. And, the hospitable local residents would make your stay impeccable.. Enjoy your time in every region of Korea!

Oct 8, 2019