Trip Review: Seoul, Busan, and Jeju Island, South Korea

The final stop of our nearly six-week honeymoon in East Asia: South Korea. After about two weeks in Japan and a week in Taiwan, we continued on to spend the last couple of weeks visiting two cities in South Korea… and one island.

While we faced quite a bit of rain, me being sick for a few days, and some general travel fatigue, we still packed a lot into our time in South Korea and had a lot of fun! So here’s exactly what we got up to in Seoul, Busan, and Jeju Island — so you can use it to plan your own trip to South Korea in the future.

Seoul

We flew with Jeju Air from Taipei to Seoul, where we spent the first five-ish days of our time in South Korea. This is where we first ran into some rain! But honestly, we couldn’t be too upset — our first 3+ weeks of the trip had been spent in suffocatingly hot conditions in Japan and Taiwan, with temperatures often around 93°F (34°C) or higher, along with extreme humidity. In Seoul, we finally got to experience some cooler weather with high temps typically only reaching about 78°F (25°C), and if it had to come along with rain, so be it.

What To See and Do in Seoul

Seoul is the capital of South Korea, and it’s obviously a really big city with a lot to do. Unfortunately I caught a cold on like our second day there, so I needed to spend a bit more time sleeping and resting than I normally would, but I feel like we were still able to do a lot. Imagine how much more we could have done if I hadn’t been sick (and it hadn’t rained so much!).

The first place you won’t want to miss — and it has somewhat limited hours, so you’ll probably want to head there early — is Bukchon Hanok Village. This is a residential neighborhood that is made up of restored traditional Korean houses, which are called hanok. Not only are the houses pretty cool to look at, but they’re also up on a hill which gives you a great view of Seoul.

However, this area is only open to tourists between very specific times: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day. This is due to the high volume of tourists that visit the area, and they have apparently had problems with them being loud and disruptive. You’ll see a bunch of signs in the area warning about the curfew as well as the threat of having to pay ₩100,000 KRW ($70 USD) if you are caught in the area outside those hours.

One of our favorite things we did in Seoul was visiting the Changdeokgung Palace grounds and the Secret Garden. You’ll need a ticket for the garden, and when you buy it, you’ll have to select a tour time. But once the “tour” starts, you’ll have the option to wander through the garden at your own pace, or stay with the group for the tour. So if you want to do the garden on your own, don’t worry if the English “tours” are sold out for your desired time. We really enjoyed exploring the garden — it was beautiful even on a rainy day!

And the more famous palace in Seoul is the Gyeongbokgung Palace. Unfortunately, we did not make it here — we tried to visit on a Tuesday which ended up being the one day of the week it was closed. 🙁 But I definitely think it’s worth visiting, too! Gyeongbokgung, which means “Great Blessings Palace,” was built back in 1395 and was the first palace of the Joseon Dynasty, which is really important in Korean history. The palace is home to the National Folk Museum of Korea, as well as the National Palace Museum of Korea, and even hosts a changing of the guards ceremony twice a day.

So, that’s traditional Seoul. But there’s also cosmopolitan Seoul! Like where you imagine being surrounded by bright lights and billboards of K-pop stars and K-beauty advertisements. Look no further than Myeongdong, a busy shopping area where you can find all of those things, and more. I personally fell victim to the allure of Olive Young, a Korean skincare/cosmetics chain, more than once in Myeongdong, where they have their flagship store.

But not all shopping areas in Seoul are quite as bright and crowded as Myeongdong. There’s also Hongdae, which is colorful, trendy, and a bit less overwhelming; as well as Insa-dong Culture Street, a pedestrianized area that features galleries and traditional teahouses. And no matter where you do it — there are locations all over Seoul — you have to get a caricature drawn at Acorn Caricature! In their signature style, I’m pretty sure it’s impossible for you to not look cute.

For some relaxation away from the big shopping streets, you can walk along Cheonggyecheon, which is easy to meet up with near Myeongdong. This is a public park that runs along the Cheonggyecheon River, where you’ll find families and friends going for a stroll or sitting and enjoying the space together. We also personally ventured out to Haneul Park, and though it was a bit far from the city center, we still appreciated the chance to spend some time away from the crowds.

Another park that we visited, that we did not have a great time in, was Namsan Park. Although it looks really cool and I think we were in the wrong part of it. Plus we were stuck in a downpour there, so overall I think we didn’t set ourselves up for success. Not only is the park absolutely huge, but it’s also home to N Seoul Tower, the Seoul City Wall, and Namsan Cable Car. If you go, I recommend not hiking in from the south near the botanical garden. Especially when it’s raining. I think the north or east side is probably more hospitable and less confusing for tourists.

And finally, we spent one of our days on a day trip out of Seoul to the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone). We booked this fairly last-minute because neither Matt nor I were 100% sure whether we wanted to go, but in the end we decided to do it… because we were already there, so why not? We actually both really enjoyed the day and we learned a lot about the relationship between South Korea and North Korea as a result of the visit, so I’m glad that we did it. Keep an eye out for a future deep-dive post on what our day was like. And this is the tour we booked: Small Group Tour to DMZ & Suspension Bridge with Hotel Pickup.

Where To Eat in Seoul

I very conspicuously have left out mention of any markets until this section, but now’s their time to shine. As a reminder, I’m celiac so I couldn’t actually eat anything at any of these markets, but I am sure that if you don’t have any dietary restrictions, you’ll have a great time eating some delicious food at these markets!

Gwangjang Market: One of the biggest and oldest markets in all of South Korea, with more than 5,000 stalls and more than 65,000 visitors every. single. day. We wandered through and I can definitely say that it felt like there were 65,000 people there. 😂 I kind of feel like if I’d been able to eat something, the choices would have been overwhelming. There were so many options!

Myeongdong Night Market: Along with all the crowds and bright lights in the Myeongdong district, they also had a night market. While not nearly as extensive as Gwangjang, you can find a variety of traditional and modern Korean foods to enjoy in between your shopping.

Now, here are two entirely gluten-free restaurants we ate at in Seoul and absolutely loved… both me and Matt, who is not celiac.

Sunnyhouse: A cozy cafe that is truly a hidden gem. The interior is warm and welcoming, and the staff work hard to make it feel like your home away from home. Plus, the food was absolutely delicious! If you like tasty baked goods, brunch, and good vibes, I can’t recommend Sunnyhouse enough. I promise you won’t even miss the gluten.

Sunnyhouse
341-17 Sangsu-dong
Mapo-gu, Seoul, GWWC+8X

6Day Chicken: Korean fried chicken. What more do I need to say? Incidentally, this was the only place in all of South Korea I was able to try the traditional Korean staple of tteokbokki, which are simmered rice cakes. Just because there’s no gluten doesn’t mean that the fried chicken isn’t crunchy, saucy, and full of flavor. Highly recommend!

6Day Chicken
#53-9 Sungin-dong
Jongno-gu, Seoul, H2H8+84H

Where We Stayed in Seoul

We stayed pretty close to the Insa-dong Culture Street in a hotel called Grid Inn. The room was small — I think all hotel rooms in Seoul are probably small — but I liked the hotel’s location. It was also close to the Jongno 3(sam)-ga station metro station, which was also really convenient, and within walking distance to Myeongdong as well as Changdeokgung Palace. My other favorite thing was the fact that it had a cafe on the bottom floor which was perfect for getting some work done at night!

Final Thoughts on Seoul

Overall, I enjoyed Seoul a lot! It’s a big city with lots to do, similar to Tokyo, but its culture is also a lot more relaxed and I get the sense that it doesn’t take itself too seriously. I just know the Korean food would have been amazing if I’d had a chance to try it, though you can’t go wrong with Korean barbecue! Next time, I definitely want to make it to Gyeongbokgung Palace and maybe give Namsan Park another try. And I’m dreaming about my return to 6Day Chicken. 😉

Busan

From Seoul, we moved on to South Korea’s second-largest city: Busan. While Seoul is in the northwest of the country, Busan is a coastal city in the far southeast. And we decided to try out the Korean train network to get there. So I guess you could say we took the Train to Busan. We spent about five days there.

It turns out that Busan is a massive, sprawling city — completely different vibes than Seoul! In Seoul, you’re surrounded by buildings almost everywhere, so it’s hard to get an idea of the city’s scale. But in Busan, it’s almost like there are all these different pockets that are architecturally and culturally really different from the others. And since there are miles of coastline — and even an island — I felt like it was easier to see just how big the city is, especially because some buildings are stacked up into the surrounding mountains.

What To See and Do in Busan

The first place we went — an obvious first stop since it was relatively close to our hotel — is probably one of Busan’s most famous sites: Gamcheon Culture Village. If you’ve ever done a Google Image search of Busan, this is probably one of two things you saw over and over. But how could it not be? The brightly-painted houses seem to overlap all the way up the hills, along with the winding streets that are way too easy to get lost in. Visually, it reminded me of Comuna 13 in Medellín, Colombia.

Gamcheon started as a housing development for laborers in the 1920s and 1930s; in the 1950s, it also became home to Korean War refugees. The area was in poor condition and was seemingly left behind while the rest of Busan modernized. But in 2009, a national project to revitalize Gamcheon through public art helped skyrocket the neighborhood into a can’t-miss spot on any traveler’s Busan itinerary. While you’re in Gamcheon, be sure to take part in its most famous activities: sending a slow-mail postcard, taking pictures with The Little Prince installations, and finding the most amazing viewpoints! (We couldn’t find the Stairs To See the Stars… let us know if you do!)

The other thing you’ll certainly see on Google Images: colorful little trolley cars running on an elevated track. These are the famous Sky Capsules! You’ll find them near Haeundae Beach, which is the complete other side of Busan compared to Gamcheon, and the vibes in this part of town are completely different — more modern, and very beachy (duh).

You can ride the Sky Capsule between Haeundae (Mipo Station) to Cheongsapo, which takes 30 minutes. Each party gets a capsule to themselves, and there’s even a little table for snacks and a Bluetooth speaker, so you can have a little 30-minute picnic during the ride! There are also several observatories along the walking path back, if you choose to walk back to Mipo (it really doesn’t take that long to walk, that’s how slow the sky capsule is, lol).

Further north along the coast is probably my favorite thing we saw in Busan — Haedong Yonggungsa Temple. While I saw plenty of diverse temples on this trip, especially in Japan and Taiwan, this was by far the most impressive one we saw in South Korea. It was unlike any temple I’d seen before, situated right on the rocky shoreline. The larger-than-life Chinese Zodiac statues reminded me of the Terracotta Army but in a strange anthropomorphic way that was both whimsical and slightly unnerving. (I loved them.) Haedong Temple felt like a very spiritual place, full of opportunities to have your wishes granted by throwing coins from the bridge or writing on colorful Bodhi leaf charms which were hung above our heads, fluttering in the wind.

For our last day or so in Busan, we stuck closer to our hotel, which was near Jagalchi Fish Market. Of course, we had to visit the market! It’s one of the largest fish markets in South Korea, and we saw all kinds of things we’d never seen before. The cool thing about Jagalchi is that you can apparently buy your fish in the market, which is the bottom level, and then take it upstairs where the restaurants will cook it up for you.

And there are also two other markets nearby. Gukje Market is a traditional Korean market, initially established as a place for Korean War refugees to sell their goods. You’ll find everything from household items to clothing, from electronics to antiques. It has a food market section too, called Gukje Food Street. The Gukje area then kind of morphs into the BIFF Square area, which also boasts street food, restaurants, and shopping.

Where To Eat in Busan

I had an extremely difficult time eating safely in Busan, so unfortunately I don’t even really have any recommendations on this one. I was basically living off gummy candy that I could find in the convenience stores — seemingly one of the only things in Korea that explicitly listed “gluten-free” on the package.

But we did eat at Jagalchi Fish Market one day. Rather than choosing a fish from the market below and knowing we’d have to try to communicate about cooking food safely for me, we went up to the restaurants section and ordered a steamed snow crab to share. (After also verifying that there was no seasoning and all that good stuff.) It was expensive (like $100 USD), but it was really good! And they pre-cracked a lot of the crab for us, so it was easy to get the meat out.

Matt also ate several meals at the same little family-run market stall in the BIFF Square area, so I’m assuming he liked it.

Where We Stayed in Busan

As I mentioned, we stayed over by Jagalchi Fish Market, which was pretty convenient for visiting Gamcheon Culture Village and getting to the Jagalchi metro station. Our hotel, Nampo Ocean2Heaven Hotel & Spa, was nice and really comfortable, with good views of the sea and the hills. But we were kind of isolated from the rest of central Busan — and my friend Hannah, who taught English in South Korea, told me the other day that we didn’t stay in the “good” part of Busan apparently. I asked her where she would recommend, and she said the Haeundae area.

Final Thoughts on Busan

Busan was much different than Seoul. I think I enjoyed the places we visited in Busan more, but I liked the overall vibes of Seoul better. I would be interested in visiting again with better weather (some sun would have been nice) and also maybe staying in a different area. It also didn’t help that it was way harder for me to find safe food in Busan! But I’m still glad we went, because I know South Korea is more than just Seoul.

Jeju Island

Our last stop in South Korea was probably the place I was most excited for — Jeju Island! I was alerted to the existence of Jeju Island in a book that I read a few years ago, The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See. Besides its natural beauty, the island is famous for its legion of haenyeo, female free divers and seafood harvesters. For our visit to Jeju, we flew into Jeju City and then rented a car to help us explore the island more fully during our five days.

What To See and Do on Jeju Island

While the haenyeo may not have the numbers that they used to before the mid-20th century, you may still be able to spot small groups of them diving for seafood with their bright orange buoys around the island. They also host a small demonstration, sometimes called the Haenyeo Performance, every day at 2 p.m. at Seongsan Ilchulbong Beach. (This is subject to change — many sources online state that it’s at 1:30 or 3 p.m., but it was 2 p.m. while we were there, as you can see on the sign below.)

Seongsan Ilchulbong is already pretty famous — also known as Sunrise Peak, it’s a volcanic tuff cone on the east side of the island that dominates the horizon, and you can hike it for ₩5,000 per person (‎about $3.50 USD). But if you don’t want to hike, you just have to head down the left side of the fork to get down to the beach for the haenyeo performance.

When we arrived, it was an absolute downpour, but we didn’t want to miss our chance to see the haenyeo. We walked down all the stairs, being pelted by rain in all directions, umbrellas flipping inside out from the strong wind. And only when we got to the bottom, to the small covered picnic area where haenyeo were selling their catches, did we see the sign: “Haenyeo Sea Women Divers’ Demonstration Canceled due to Rough Sea.” 🙃

But even though we didn’t get to see any haenyeo actually diving, we still felt their presence all around the island. Not only do they have other stalls where you can buy fresh seafood from them, but you can tell the Jeju community is proud of their history. You’ll find plenty of souvenirs and sculptures depicting the haenyeo tradition.

You’ll be able to find a few of these sculptures at the Dodu-dong Rainbow Coastal Road. It’s literally just a part of the road that is covered in rainbow blocks, but they’re insanely photogenic and the views along the coast are nice, too! And there are two sculptures of the haenyeo there.

Just a few minutes’ drive from Rainbow Road is another photogenic spot — the Iho Tewoo Horse Lighthouses. Yes, there are two lighthouses in the shape of Jeju ponies, one red and one white. While apparently they can get busy with tourists, we basically had them all to ourselves! From where we parked, it was easiest to walk up close to the red one and look at the white one from a distance.

Continuing west along the 1132, you’ll also come across a couple more points of interest. The Gueom Stone Salt Flats are a good place to learn about the history of Jeju salt and explore the shallow tide pools — as long as the tide is out! Hyeopjae Beach is ideal for swimming with its shallow water and soft white sand, or just for enjoying the views of the clear, turquoise water. And if you’ve ever wanted to get up close to a wind turbine, do I have just the thing for you… Sinchang Windmill Coastal Road. 😜

Closer to the south side of the island are the last few things you can’t miss (in my opinion). Jeongbang Falls is the only waterfall in Asia that falls directly into the ocean, and Cheonjiyeon Falls is the reward for a pretty nature walk that doesn’t even require any hardcore hiking to reach. Hueree Nature Life Park is (obviously) a park that has all kinds of Jeju native plants and flowers, all in different sections — and no matter what time of year, something’s guaranteed to be in bloom. During our visit in September, the famous pink muhly grasses were popping!

And we also enjoyed our time at Snoopy Garden, which we definitely thought would just be a small garden with a few themed statues… but instead it was like a full museum + garden combo, and it took us several hours to get through. It does seem kind of random, but it’s pretty cute!

Where We Ate on Jeju Island

The food situation was even more dire for me in Jeju. 😅 But I can recommend two places for sure.

Gamttanam Cafe: This is a tangerine-themed cafe near Seogwipo (close to where we stayed — more on that in a bit) and I’m so glad we visited! In case you didn’t know, tangerines are a major symbol of Jeju Island, because it’s their main export. Not only can you get an assortment of tangerine drinks (I will never forget the tangerine Americano as long as I live), but you can also pick your own tangerines at their orchards between November and February!

Gamttanam Cafe
1890-2 Gangjeong-dong
Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do

Pasta Studio Jeju: Also in Seogwipo, Pasta Studio Jeju was an absolute lifesaver for me. And the food couldn’t have been more homemade — it was a one-man show, with the owner also serving as the waiter AND the chef. He was super friendly and we chatted with him in English a bit, even learning about the special type of jam — cheong — that was used in my drink and is a big part of Korean culture. Highly recommend if you’re in the Seogwipo area!

Pasta Studio Jeju
510 Seogwi-dong
Seogwipo, Jeju-do

Where We Stayed on Jeju Island

Other than our first and last night on the island, when we stayed in Jeju City to be near the airport, we stayed on the complete opposite side of the island in the far south — near Seogwipo. And I absolutely LOVED where we stayed!

After about 4-5 weeks of staying in hotels in big cities, Jungmun Log Pension & Resort was absolutely what we needed to decompress and really relax to close out the trip. We basically had our own little two-story log cabin in a community of other identical little cabins, and I think it was probably the first time I’d seen the stars in weeks! You could also see the ocean from the porch, which was equipped with a picnic table and a grill for setting up your own K-barbecue feast.

While it did take about an hour and 45 minutes to get to Seongsan Ilchulbong, that was honestly more because of Jeju Island’s insanely low speed limits than it was because of distance, so traveling around Jeju Island by car will always lead to some long drives if you stay in the same place multiple nights in a row. But the log pension was so peaceful and I’d 1000% stay there again on my next trip to Jeju Island!

Final Thoughts on Jeju Island

We loved Jeju Island! (Though we did not love driving there.) It was so naturally beautiful and it felt like there was something new to discover around every corner. I wish it hadn’t rained quite so much, because I think we spent 75% of our time there soaking wet, but it was hard to be too upset. On my next visit, I hope I’ll finally be able to spot some haenyeo out on the sea — or at least catch their performance!

Plan Your South Korea Trip

 

So, now you know almost everything there is to know about our South Korea trip! More to come about specifics — from the DMZ tour, to taking the KTX train, to renting a car on Jeju Island, and more. Thanks for following along!

Have you ever been to South Korea? Or would you like to visit someday? Let me know in the comments!

-Cathy

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