I'm back after a long time and I'm sorry~~~ I was really busy at work but I suddenly wanted to write even just a short post on my ideal Korean trip!!!
Planning is good and just being able to have an itinerary in mind is something really exciting. It makes you have something to look forward to and it gives you inspiration to work harder for it to happen someday.
For a first-timer, it is the best to be able to visit all the most famous tourist spots in Korea! You'll want to visit places that have the most historical significance and be able to experience the best shopping places!! Well, either way, I'll be happy like crazy doing anything just as long as I'm there!!! There surely won't be any dull moment and I'll immerse myself in everything that I encounter!!!
Below would be the "general itinerary" great for us that will visit Korea for the first time! I got this from a friend and I felt that it's already really worth it by just reading the schedule! Each day is jam packed with great places to see!!! I just really can't wait until the day I can do it myself!
5D/4N Seoul Tour
Day 1 ICN Airport –Bukchon Village
–Samcheongdong –Lunch
-Insadong –Gwangjang market –Hotel
Bukchon Village
At Bukchon Hanok Village, you can see many houses
standing side by side with shared walls. Differing from western roads, the
traditional roads in this village look like tree branches or streams.
Samcheongdong
Samcheong-dong is home to distinctive cafés,
shops, and galleries. Art appreciators have their choice of roughly forty
different galleries displaying pieces from professional artists with exceptional
skill.
Gwangjang Market
t the market’s nucleus there is a fantastic street
food section. Lines of tightly packed cooking stations spider web out from
the central concourse, selling a range of Korean street food classics. Huge
coils ofsundaeperch languidly on narrow countertops; boiled, hairless pig
trotters await transformation intojokbal; and dexterous ajummas churn out piece
after piece of perfectly formedmandu.
Day 2 Hotel –Skin Anniversary –Trick Art
–Teddy Bear –Lunch –Paju Outlet –Hotel
Skin Anniversary
SkinAnniversary Beauty Town isa beauty complex
offering visitors a chance to experience the diverse facets of the Korean
beauty culture. It is the world’s biggest beauty town, boasting an impressive
area of 15km2 and a capacity of 2,000 guests.
Trick Art Museum
Experience the excitement of trick art with a collection
that captures its very essence.Trick Artis an art gallery where paintings on
walls and floors are captured in three dimensions.
Teddy bear museum
The Teddy Bear Museum lives up to its name,
boasting quite an impressive variety that has been loved for more than a
hundred years the world over.
Paju Outlet
Korea’s second Premium Outlet Center®, Paju
Premium Outlets is a one-hour drive from Seoul featuring 160 designer and name
brand outlet stores at savings of 25% to 65% every day in an upscale, outdoor
setting. (Some items may be excluded.)
Day 3 Hotel –Namsan Hanok Village-Samsung
Delight -Gangnam Garosugil-Apgujeongdong-N Tower by Cable Car-Myeongdong
–Dinner –Hotel
Namsan Hanok Village
You may consider it interesting to find this area
standing between the tall buildings. This village has five restored traditional
Korean houses and a pavilion, a pond and a time capsule, which make it a
perfect spot to take a walk.
Samsung Delight
‘Samsung d’light’ is a global exhibition space
that showcases the latest product lineup by Samsung Electronics. The name
d’light combines the words ‘digital’ and ‘light’ to correlate with the company’s
vision of being ‘a guiding light to the digital world’ and sharing the
excitement and delight of digital technology through interaction with visitors.
Gangnam Garosugil and
Apgujeongdong
The street (also known as ‘artists' street’) has
an eccentric flair thanks to its variety of charmingly decorated coffee shops,
and designer stores. Apgujeong Street is the leading fashion mecca, formed as a
cultural zone with a high propensity for consumption.
N Tower by cable car
The 236.7m Seoul Tower sits atop Namsan Mountain
(243m), Seoul Tower offers panoramic views of Seoul and the surrounding areas.
The view is so stunning that many consider Seoul Tower the best tower in Asia.
The Namsan Cable car runs from the base of Namsan
Mountain (located in central Seoul) up to the Namsan Tower, one of the most
representative tourist attractions in Seoul, loved bytourists and residents
alike.
The new cable cars, which have been in operation
since Dec. 6, 2008, have an increased capacity of 48 people per car (up from
38).
Myeongdong
Myeongdong is one of the primary shopping
districts in Seoul. The two main drags meet in the center of the block with one
beginningfrom Myeongdong Subway Station.Many brand name shops and department
stores line the streets and alleys.
Day 4 Hotel –TIC Korean Wave Center
–Gyeongbok Palace –Nat’l Ginseng Outlet –Korean Herb Center –Seoul Museum and
Historic Seokpajeong Villa
–Pass by Nat’l Presidential House –Drop off at
Lotte Department Store -*Optional tour: NANTA Performance (20:00 –21:30)
The Korean Wave (Hallyu) Hall
Korean wave hall has Kstar Gallery, a photo
zonewhere visitors can take pictures with life-size cutouts of some of Korea's
most famous celebrities. Hallyu celebrities' handprints are also displayed
here.
Gyeongbokgung Palace
Gyeongbokgung Palace is also commonly referred to
as the “Northern Palace”Gyeongbokgung Palace is arguably the most beautiful and
remains the grandest of all five palaces.
Korean ginseng
Koreanginseng is a medicinal plant reported to
have wondrous palliative powers. Although it grows in other countries as well,
it is wildly cultivated in Korea where the climate and soil produce the world's
finest specimens.
Oriental Raisin Tree
The Korea Food & Drug Administration approved
in December 2008 that extracts of theHovenia dulcis(헛개나무) fruit can protect and help
recover the liver from substances such as alcohol.
Seoul Art Museum
The exhibition focuses on six artists including
Lee who held an exhibition at a coffee shop in Busan in the cold winter of 1952
― even as the Korean War was still raging on ― shedding light on their artistic
endeavors while battling poverty in the war-ravaged country. The five other
artists include Han Mook, Park Ko-suk, Lee Bong-sang and Sohn Eung-seong and
Jeong Gyu.
SeokpajeongVilla
The Seokpajeong was originally the villa of Kim
Heung-geun, a high official who served as Chief State Councillor. The villa
enjoyed spectacular views of the surrounding mountains and forests. So spectacular
they were, in fact, that the villa was considered one of Seoul’s finest.
The National Presidential
House
The signature markings of the Presidential
Residence of Cheong Wa Dae are its blue tiles. It is the first thing that
catched one's attention upon entering the premises. The blue tiles and the
smooth roof blend beautifully with Mt. Bugaksan in the backdrop.
Lotte Department Store&
Myeongdong fashion district.
**Optional Tour: NANTA Performance
USD 100 / person
NANTAhas been running since
October 1997 and is the most popular show ever in Korea. It also has achieved
outstanding international success having performed on Broadway and toured
widely around the US and the rest of the world. It receives rave reviews
wherever it performs and quickly sells out.Without a dialogue, but through
rhythmic banging ofknives, pots and pans,
knives, pots and pans, NANTA (or Cookin’ as it was
known in the States) tells the story of four crazy chefs who have been set the
impossible task of making a wedding banquet in just one hour. What follows is
pure musical mayhem, and they even manage to fit in a love story! The show is
based on Korea’s traditional garak (rhythms) of Samulnori (traditional Korean
percussion quartet), and can be enjoyed by all the family.
Day 5 Free Day
Ofcourse, aside from this, there will be places that are a MUST-VISIT for mee~~ teehee!
WHY Style (Yesung's Eyeglass Shop)
87-4, Myeongdong 2-ga, Junggu, Seoul, Korea
Tel. No.: +82-2-3789-0823~4
Mouse Rabbit (Yesung's Cafe)
5-14, Hwayang-dong, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, Korea
Tel. No.: 02-462-4015
Donkastar (Hoya's Family Restaurant)
경상남도 창원시 성산구 상남동4-4 ( Near exit 13 of Bupyeong Station’s underground mall in Incheon-shi Bupyeong)
Telephone number:055-261-5103JYP Entertainment
JYP Center, 41, 79-gil, Apgujeong-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
Tel. No.: 82-2-3438-2300
SM Entertainment
521 Apgujeong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
Tel. No.: 02-6240-9800
Woolim Entertainment
# 103, 21-25, Seongsan-Dong, Mapo-Gu, Seoul 121-843 Korea
Tel. No.: 02-335-4611
Well, this is just for you to have an idea of what you may want to visit in Korea! You can edit it as much as you like and do what's most important to you!!! It'll really a big step in my life if I'm finally able to visit my dream country! Even if it's the only country I can go too!!! I'll definitely choose Korea!!! :D
Thanks for reading again and hope this helps in planning your own adventure in Korea!
Yours Truly,
Darlene~ <3