tod

My husband is adamant - He does not want to go to Australia and New Zealand!
What's a gal to do?
He says he wants to go to Korea. What can we do in Korea????
All answers greatly appreciated!

thursdaysd

Lonely Planet has a guidebook, so does Rough Guide. You could start by reading them, followed by the trip reports here.
E.g. http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...-excursion.cfm
http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...outh-korea.cfm
http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...g-shanghai.cfm

Good destination for outdoors-types who want to hike, not so good for history buffs, as much was destroyed by the Japanese and the 20th century wars. (But there's always Geongju.)

Cicerone

Without knowing the specific reasons for your husband’s objection to NZ and Australia, it’s hard to provide a response other than personal opinions. (For example, if his objection is personal safety/crime, I would have to agree with him that Korea is the safer place. Other than of course the chance of nuclear war taking place during your holiday…in which case NZ may be the preferred place to be!)

Having been to all three places, I personally would put Korea fairly far down the list of places to take a vacation in. In fact it would not be on my list at all, as even on business trips there I have rarely ventured far from Seoul other than Cheju. New Zealand would be near the top. It’s hard to beat NZ in terms of sheer wild natural beauty. (Scotland is probably tied with it.) Australia would also be near the top as well. I have trouble understanding why your husband would object to either of those places, and would choose a place like Korea instead. From you other posts, I believe you have been to Singapore, but I don’t know where else you have been is Asia, and if you have not travelled much here, I find it a bit odd that Korea would be the next Asian a choice as opposed to China, Thailand, India, or Bali just to name a few.

It would seem to me that the major factors in making this decision would be your interests and the time of year you would plan for the trip. Korea has a cold winter (in some places bitterly so), and I am not sure I would recco it for a trip during the northern winter months unless you like skiing. (Which you can also do in New Zealand). Seoul offers very little in terms of historical sights and IMO is not a charming city; as opposed to at least half a dozen delightful cities in NZ and Aus, starting with Sydney. I think you might find traveling in countryside areas of Korea to be a bit of a challenge due to the lack of English, both spoken and in things like signage and menus. It is possible to do of course, but other than Seoul, perhaps the DMZ area and maybe Cheju Island, I don’t believe Korea has any significant Western tourists. While I suppose it can be fun to feel like you are off the routes covered by Western guidebooks (but not the Japanese ones and increasing the Chinese), trying to check into a hotel or go to a restaurant where you cannot be understood or understand the language can get tiring after a while.

I don’t think anyone returns from Korea raving about the friendly people; but I think you would find this to be in the case in both Australia and New Zealand.

From your other posts, it appears you have an interest in food and cooking. I will say that Korea offers some good as well as interesting food. But that would be the case in many Asian countries. You might consider Taiwan which offers even more, IMO in terns of food, is off the Western tourist path, has better weather in terms of temps, and IMO is more interesting than Korea. It also has an excellent museum in Taipei. That being said, you certainly would find good food in NZ and Australia and options like the wine country areas of Australia.

Both New Zealand and Australia would give you the option of renting a car or motorhome and doing the trip as a self-drive. You can rent cars in Korea as well, but outside major areas like Seoul I think you would be hampered by the lack of English signage.

I would think there would be a compromise place in Asia which you can agree on if you can’t agree on Korea or Aus/NZ.

thursdaysd

"I don’t think anyone returns from Korea raving about the friendly people" - I found that those people who spoke some English went well out of their way to be helpful, and those who didn't certainly seemed friendly. I didn't find traveling in Korea any harder than in any other country where I don't speak or read the language. That said, I would chose Taiwan in preference to Korea, but if DH had his heart set on Korea, it's not the end of the world.

JC98

Have you left for your trip yet? My DH and I recently came back from 1 week traveling in Korea after our biz trips there. It turned out much better that I thought.

Most people don't venture beyond Seoul, but there are a lot of interesting places to visit in Korea. It was easy to get around, even to remote areas which where we went--ancient capital and villages, Unesco World Heritage sites and temples, national parks. We did a templestay, and even slept in a 500 years old traditional mansion listed as a national treasure. We went everywhere by public bus, and even hitchhiked 3 times. We found the people to be very friendly, even though we knew only 2 Korean words--hello and thank you.

Anyway, if you're still interested, I can tell more.

indianapearl

Seoul is not a charming city, although there are some little nooks that are ancient and interesting. Korea is 65% mountainous and has a number of national parks that are supposed to be lovely if you like to hike. We were also in Cheongju which is the seat of the ancient Shilla kingdom, as well as Ulsan (which has nothing to offer other than it's the home of Hyundai).

Korean food can be quite good, but some of it is not to my taste. It can be both north Korean or south Korean. I believe one is more spicy, but I can't remember which (I was there in 1998).

I'd follow thursdaysd's advice and get a good guidebook, read up on it, and make your decision with more info.

JC98

For guidebooks, I checked them out from my public libary. I didn't see one from Fodor's, but Frommer's, Lonely Planet, Rough Guide, Moon Handbook are the publishers that have a guide on Korea.

JC98

Also Visit Korea website has tons of good info, and you can email them to ask specific questions. In Korea, they have a 24 hour hotline that you can call to talk to a live person in English for any help. We used it several times, to ask for inter-city bus schedules/terminals, hotels, etc. One time they talked to a bus driver for us, so he could drop us off at a more convenient location. It's a great service for foreigners.

Also, as a promotion, they provide free shuttle buses for foreigners to several remote cities. You have to sign up on the website, and if it's over the limit, they do a lotto. We got a free bus to Gyeongju (ancient capital) that's 4 hours from Seoul, and probably saved us $50 USD.

SeeHag

We visited my son while he was living in Korea. He lived in Gwangju which is the sixth largest city in Korea. I was shocked at the lack of decent hotel choices. He tried to convince us to stay in a "love" hotel but it was pretty weird. The place we stayed was a resort and the common areas were nice but our room looked like a bordello.

I like many types of ethnic food especially Asian food but Korean food doesn't seem to have much variety. Nearly everything has lots of chili paste and garlic and in my opinion everything tastes the same because of it.

I enjoyed the countryside, we visited a beautiful tea plantation. If you enjoy mountain biking or hiking, there are many beautiful trails.

I was dissapointed that there were very few buildings that were older traditional styles of architecture. The apartment buildings that we saw were really plain and uninteresting.

We did find people to be really friendly but we had the advantage of our son being able to speak Korean. I think many of the older people come across as unfriendly because they don't smile much.

The taxi drivers make New York cabbies look like wimps!

gearsau

I used to go to Korea for businesss. First time from 1992 to 1997, then, after a 7 year gap, was back then on and off from 2004 to 2008.

Interesting country,but, I have no desire to go back there for a visit either. For business, I covered from Seoul to Pusan and Masan in the south, and was even over on the east coast once, way up near North Korea.
I could never get into Korean food. Korean BBQ's used to take ages, and I am not one to enjoy sitting cross legged on the floor.

I'm Australian, and have been to Auckland, New Zealand a couple of times for business. However, I would like to see the South Island.

I think you need to work on your husband and get him to change his mind.

Cilla_Tey

I have been to Korea once, many times to the rest of Asia like Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, China, India, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Maldives. New Zealand thrice. I was born in Malaysia and have lived in Oz for many years. I have to put Korea at the bottom of the list. I loved the food and the shopping but had a few unpleasant experiences like being knocked down to the floor at a station and being shoved a few times while walking slowly looking at the shops.

dgunbug

Interesting thread, but note that the original poster never returned.

gearsau

Dgunbug

Didn't see the date original date ..Time to stop.