Hello we are a couple late 30's, first time Seoul arriving in just under 2 weeks!! (Last minute planned trip) We are well travelled, and we love to experience culture, and food the most when we travel. We are staying in Insadong.

My partner has never been Skiing, so we planned to go on a day trip to Vivaldi to Ski and another day to the Hwacheon Ice Festival / fishing. We picked those to be on weekdays, as we figured they won't be as crazy busy compared to the weekend?? Especially the ski resort...


Wanting any opinions, tips and advice on the below proposed Itinerary please!!



Day 1: Arrive Early morning flight (from Hong Kong) 08:00

12:00 Tongin Market / 14:00 Gyeongbokgung Palace - Changing of the guards

Day 2: Day Trip to Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival (Organised tour)

Day 3: Day Trip to the snow for Ski Vivaldi Park Resort (Organised tour) / 20:00 Gwangjang Market (Dinner)

Day 4 (SAT): Free day to roam city

20:00 The Nanta Show - Myeongdong

Day 5 (SUN): AM Half Day (self) trip to Suwon

Afternoon: Namsan Park / N Seoul Tower

Day 6: Morning:

Changdeokgung Palace

Bukchon Hanok Village

Day 7: Depart Morning

The Olympic Park in Seoul is nice to visit, and very peaceful. Especially in the evening.

I hope you enjoy Nanta as much as I did!

Suwon may take more than a half day – it depends on your interests.

I wasn’t all that impressed with the Bukchon Hanok Village, but that’s just me. What isn’t “just me” is that it has become swamped with tourists. Good luck!

If you haven't already seen it, you might find some useful information in my trip report. The sections on Seoul start with post # 16 and post # 100.
4 wonderful solo weeks in South Korea

Hope that helps!

I did not go to the Hanok Village in Seoul, but I did go to the big one in Jeonju. I found it to be a bit dull.

Nanta is a riot. I also saw another show of physical theatre in Seoul. It was called The Original Drawing Show, where the performers created works of art live on stage. No language barrier. I see that the same theatre now hosts a show called The Painters, at Gwanghwamun Theater. In case you want to see a second show, this is the English version of the show's website:

https://www.thepainters.co.kr/en

These two places are, IMO, quite different.

Here is a link to our blog with photos and comment on some of the places you mention https://accidentalnomads.com/category/asia/south-korea/. We were in Seoul for around 5 days and thoroughly enjoyed our time there.

Gyeongbokgung Palace is a must and we quite enjoyed wandering around Bukchon Hanok Village though that was a few years ago and there weren't many tourists. I read somewhere recently that the authorities had banned visitors so that may be worth check out. If you have any interest in modern history, then I highly recommend a and organised tour to the DMZ. we found it fascinating.

In contrast to what some people have said here, I enjoyed Bukchon Hanok Village. It was fairly quiet when I went (Dec 24) and very nice just to walk around in. While I was there I even ducked into a traditional foods store and did a makgeolli tasting.

It’s not the star attraction of Seoul (imo, that’s Changdeokgung) but it’s nice and worth your time.