First trip to Korea, go go!

晏彤

2 years ago

🎨Travel Style

How to plan your first trip to South Korea? Let's see how the editor planned it!

This time the editor went on a free trip with family. The route is more biased towards girls' shopping and scenic areas, with a casual style. Usually, we only decide where to go the day before, and we may change places during the trip. If you are interested, keep reading!

✈️Travel Summary

Because the editor is going to Korea for the first time, and coincidentally encountering the Korean cold wave, the temperature during the 10-day trip is even below zero, reaching a low of -14 degrees. It really feels like being in a freezer, so the approach taken is to develop an ABCD plan, based on the day's weather to determine the day's itinerary.

For example:

A itinerary: Gyeongbokgung Palace+Hanbok Experience

B itinerary：Nami Island

Pre-departure preparation

Planning is essential for a good trip! There are also many preparation guides online, so please be sure to refer to them a lot~ Korea has a dry and cold climate, so moisturizing is really necessary. I can't stand the cold wind blowing on my face🥲 Remember to bring moisturizing essence and lotion.

Warm clothes are really essential in winter, but because it is dry and cold, the body temperature does not feel so uncomfortable. The editor is extremely afraid of the cold. Wearing thermal underwear + sweater + coat + big coat is enough. Outer pants + thermal pants will also not be too cold, but a hat and scarf are very necessary. When the wind blows, the head really hurts. Don't forget gloves, the body won't be cold, but the extremities like fingers and toes are really very cold. Even with gloves, it's not warm enough. It is recommended to prepare local warm packs in Korea!

Also, everyone must remember to change more cash, bring a little more Taiwanese dollars, and if it's not enough, you can exchange Korean won locally! Cash is needed for snacks, markets, street vendors, and transportation card top-ups. Also, make sure if your credit card can be used for overseas withdrawals and overseas payments. The editor didn't bring enough cash, and there wasn't enough Taiwanese dollars to exchange for Korean won. The credit card can only be used for overseas payments, so you must keep cash for top-ups and shopping at Gwangjang Market. It's really a shame that you can't buy the delicious snacks in Myeong-dong because of the lack of cash 🥲🥲

📅 Travel Period

The editor has arranged a total of about 7 days of travel, with early departure and late return flights, which is very good! But it is really recommended that no matter whether it is the outbound or return journey, you should arrive at the airport 3-4 hours early, as there are really a lot of people, and if the check-in counter is not open for so long, you will have to wait a long time.

The editor took China Airlines on both the outbound and return trips, with two rows open at the check-in counter on the outbound trip, so there was not much waiting, and it took about 1.5 hours to clear customs. But on the return trip, there were fewer check-in counters open, and there were group travelers, so the waiting time for boarding was much longer, about 1 hour. Fortunately, the editor did not have to clear customs, and was able to use smartpass directly, otherwise it would probably have taken another half an hour. The total time for the return trip was also about 1.5 hours.

🇰🇷I did in Korea

- DAY 1 Shopping in Myeongdong

- DAY 2 Little French Village + Little Italy

- DAY 3 Nami Island + Hongdae

- DAY 4 Gyeongbokgung Palace + Hanbok Experience

- DAY 5 Sinsadong + Han River Park

- DAY 6 Seoul Forest Shopping in Myeongdong

- DAY 7 Gwangjang Market

- Which day is the best?

I really love the itinerary of Han River Park, it's really relaxing, sitting on a rocking chair and watching the sunset is super chill! Seoul Forest is also great, the scenery is very beautiful, there are deer inside, and it seems like there are many kpop shops nearby, so friends who are fans can take a look!

🥢 I ate something

- DAY 1 : Myeongdong Shopping

Arrived in South Korea around 10:30, went through customs + picked up sim card + exchanged money at the airport around 12:00, so bought a ticket for the express train to Seoul station. Originally planned to go to Namdaemun Market to eat knife-cut noodles, but after exiting the station realized that the baggage locker was inside, so had to enter the station again before exiting, so gave up on Namdaemun Market and went directly to check into the hotel. Went to Myeongdong at night to shop and eat snow thick soup, highly recommend the snow thick soup, it's really delicious, and the highlight is that it's the best kimchi we've had in the whole trip!

- DAY 2 : Little France Village + Little Italy Village

This attraction is near South Jeju Island, quite far from downtown Seoul, it takes about 2 hours, so be sure to check the schedule for the circular sightseeing bus, there are fixed departures, if you miss one, you have to wait 50 minutes for the next one.

The editor bought a ticket for the double garden area, but I think buying a ticket for the Little France Village is enough. Little Italy has fewer things and overlaps a bit with Little France. Inside, there are mostly displays of some art pieces, but each exhibition area is only the size of one room, so once you walk around, it's over. Little France Village has a little more, but it's almost the same. Many TV dramas have been filmed here, and the scenery is really beautiful, but if you expect to see the real life of the French people, you might be a little disappointed.

- DAY 3 Nami island

Nami Island traffic to the small French village, the shuttle schedule is slightly different. The editor took the train to the Gapyeong station, then transferred to the shuttle bus. The disadvantage is that it takes longer to get to Nami Island, about 1 hour. The advantage is that the scenery along the way is very beautiful. If there are few people, the driver will even stop to let us take pictures! Another way is to take the train to the Gapyeong station and then transfer to the shuttle bus, which takes about five minutes to get to Nami Island.

The editor chose to enter Nami Island by taking the high-altitude zip-line, which was a great experience. There are usually no people on weekdays, so you can take it right away. It takes about 1min30s to reach the zip-line, and the scenery along the way is very beautiful. The editor thinks it's very worthwhile without having to wait in line!

Nami Island scenery is famous for its beauty, even though the trees are bare in winter, it has a unique beauty~ Taking a leisurely walk on the island is very relaxing, it is said that in spring you can see rabbits and squirrels, but the editor only saw peacocks walking around everywhere 🤣

Came to South Yi Island to eat the Chuncheon fried chicken next to the pier, it tastes pretty good, the rice cake is very chewy!

-DAY4 Gyeongbokgung Palace+Hanbok Experience

People who have never worn Korean clothes really deserve a try! There are also many strategies on the Internet that can be referred to. The editor feels that they are all about the same. If you choose, it is recommended to choose a store with more colors and patterns. It is better to have a prettier hairstyle, and you can choose the skirt you like! Liking is the most important thing ~ The editor bought a 4-hour experience, which is quite enough for taking pictures, but almost didn't see much of Gyeongbokgung Palace, all were taking pictures 🤣🤣

After the tour, we had a delicious ginseng chicken soup at the local village. One serving is actually enough for two people, but each person has to order a meal, so we also ordered seafood scallion pancake.

Chicken soup has a strong nutty flavor, the soup is very thick and delicious, the chicken is very tender~ Kimchi and pickled radish are super delicious! Seafood pancake is also good, it's the soft type of pancake.

-DAY 5 Sinchon + Han River Park

In the morning, I went to Myeong-dong for shopping. There are quite a few nice clothing stores inside to browse around. Afterwards, I suddenly thought it's quite close to the Han River, so I decided to go to Yeouido Han River Park after eating.

For lunch, we had the famous tofu and kimchi hot pot nearby. I recommend the pork neck flavor and the seafood flavor. The pork neck is super tender and sweet, with plenty of kimchi, so the soup is a bit salty. The seafood includes small shrimp, cuttlefish, and clams, which is quite abundant. The soup is even tastier than the pork, not as spicy or salty.

Around 3:00 pm, I went to Yeouido Han River Park. The weather was great, and the Han River was super beautiful. Sitting on a rocking chair, listening to music, and watching the sunset was very relaxing. I highly recommend everyone to come and try it. It feels like a spiritual cleansing for the whole person.

-DAY 6 Seoul Forest Shopping in Myeongdong

Seoul Forest and Yangjaecheon Han River Park are very close, but Seoul Forest feels bigger, and the scenery is more beautiful! There are also deer and rabbits inside, and it's really nice to take a walk. It's so relaxing to walk slowly along the Han River~

Had a very famous pot rice for lunch, this can be listed as the top 1 food for the editor's trip, the steak flavor is really delicious, the abalone flavor is light, the editor still loves the steak flavor more, eating it with wasabi is amazing!

-DAY 7 Gwangjang Market

Last day to go back~ in the morning, I went to the Kwangjang Market and bought a specialty product - a quilt 🤣🤣 Very soft and comfortable, I heard it is very warm, and you can wash it directly in the washing machine. The editor bought a single winter quilt made of silk, one is 60,000 Korean won, equivalent to about 1,500 Taiwanese dollars. I went to the most recommended store, number 169, and after buying it, I regretted not looking at a few more stores. They have fewer colors (looking at the colors displayed outside), and I don't know if the price is different.

Too early to go to the market, there were not many people. Around 10:30, more people started to come. Finally, I got to eat stir-fried rice cakes and fish cakes~ The stir-fried rice cakes didn't really suit my taste, they were sweet, without any spicy flavor, and the rice cakes were the thick kind, very chewy! I prefer the thin rice cakes like the ones in Chuncheon stir-fried chicken. The fish cake soup was just fish cake soup 🤣🤣 You can imagine the taste. I also bought the very famous fried twisted doughnut, highly recommend, it's super delicious, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside!

👍 Most memorable things

Overall, what I like the most is the scenery of Korea, the sky is completely blue, and the sunlight is really beautiful. Their mountains are shaped like sharp triangles, and any random shot looks like a big movie!

The food doesn't quite match the editor's taste, and there's a strange sense of familiarity and unfamiliarity, which is quite different from what I imagined. Personally, I recommend the pharmacy cafe, the desserts there are super delicious! I recommend the strawberry tart, the crust is crispy, and the strawberries are super sweet~

When shopping, the editor thinks everything is too expensive, so in the end, nothing was bought. Only bought olive young beauty bagel slices and alkaline water biscuits. It is recommended to go to the store at Seoul Station, where there are fewer people than Myeongdong, and everything is available. There are really too many people in the Myeongdong store, and the staff don't have time to attend to you. 😮‍💨

👀Place to visit next time

Next time I want to go to Busan~
Editor thinks if you are not a very good shopper, or go for a purpose, you will be a little unsure of what to play in Seoul. Most of the strategies are shopping strategies. If you want to find other scenic strategies, you can search for the name of the subway station you want to go to and then find it. There will be more attractions to see.

Hope this sharing can help everyone plan their trip. The key is to have fun and play at your own pace!

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