8D7N Korea Travel | Korea Travel Guide – Celine Chiam | Singapore Lifestyle, Beauty and Travel Blogger
Before we embark on our trip, it’s normal to search online several itineraries to find out what’s there to do, what’s there to eat and some of the iconic places not to be missed! I was on a 8D7N trip to Korea and in the middle of it, I joined a 3D2N tour with K Shuttle US Travel. Without further ado, let’s see how KTO Singapore has prepared my 8 day itinerary in Korea!
Before we jumped into heavy content with lots of photos, here’s a brief outline of my 8D7N Korea Itinerary:
Day 1
Arrived Incheon airport in the morning
Take AREX rail to Seoul Central Station and checked in hotel
Train to Common Ground (container shopping concept)
Lunch at Tosokchon for Ginseng Soup
Gyeongbokgung Palace
Walk around Namdaemun (closes early)
Dinner at Namdaemun
Day 2
Board our K shuttle tour (for the next 3 days)
Gongju, Tomb of King Muryeong
Gongsanseong Fortress
Buyeo, Baekje Cultural land
Goransa Temple & Nakhwaam Cliff
Jeonju, Jeonju Hanok Village (street food!)
Drive to Gwangju
Day 3
May 18th National Cemetery
Bosung Green Tea Plantation
Suncheon Bay Garden/ Suncheon Ecological Park
Admiral Yi Sun-Sin Square
Day 4
Jinjuseong Fortress
Jagalchi Fishery Market
Busan International Film Festival Square
Gwangalli Beach
Day 5
Taejongdae Park
Hae-undae Beach
Lunch at the beach district
Train to Centrum
Beach for night scene
Dinner at Mom’s Touch
Day 6
Train from Busan to Seoul
Dongdaemun Design Plaza
Dongdaemun shopping
Cheonggyecheon Stream
Myeong Dong shopping
Day 7
Express bus terminal shopping
Garosugil Shopping Street
Lotte mart snacks shopping
Day 8
Our in-flight meal on Asiana Airline, and many people has been recommending the Bibimbap! I would say it fairs way better than all flight meals, but it’s definitely not on par to what you get in Korea. Nonetheless, it’s an inflight meal and it’s pretty good!
We collected our 3G data sim card from this booth as we have already booked online for the sim cards. You can of course buy them on the spot. Read more on my Guide to Korea for data plans in Korea!
And off we leave the Incheon Airport to Seoul Station on the Airport Railroad Express (AREX)! It took about 45 mins to reach the city centre, which was quite fast.
Once we checked in our hotel, it’s time to find a place for lunch. Thankfully, our hotel was conveniently located 5mins walk away from Seoul Station, and 5 mins walk away from Namdaemun.
Hotel Manu Seoul
84-16 Namdaemunno 5-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul, SO, South Korea
We settled our lunch at Myeong Dong before we trained to Common Ground, a new container shopping mall concept. This place is amazing for photoshoot as well! The open space outside definitely attracted a lot of people taking OOTDs. If not, enjoy the cooling air condition and the unique architecture of this shopping place.
How to go Common Ground:
Take train to Konkuk University station on line 2 or 7, exit 6. Walk less than 5 mins you’ll find yourself an array of blue containers. Welcome to Common Ground!
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| Common Ground |
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| Open space outside Common Ground |
After Common grounds, we headed for lunch at one of the most famous Ginseng Chicken Soup Restaurant before going to Gyeongbokgung Palace, another famous tourist attraction.
Find out more about Tosokchon, the Famous Ginseng Chicken Soup Restaurant
How to go Gyeongbokgung Palace:
Take exit 5 and walk for about 5-10mins and you’ll find the palace.
The entrance fee was quite affordable but there isn’t much inside. I thought the guards changing session and the FOC costume fitting was more interesting!
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| Say hello to the imposter Chief Guard! |
And finally we called it a day with a nice traditional dinner at some random eatery at Namdaemun… Cold noodles and Bibimbap to end the day well!
Apparently, Namdaemun closes quite early. It’s also more for wholesaling so you might not be very interested to visit here.
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And day 2 (of my itinerary) begins with K Shuttle Tour! I will not elaborate much here as I’ve done an entire post dedicated to K Shuttle. Read my 3D2N Tour in Korea with K Shuttle article!
So day 1 (of the K Shuttle tour) was pretty cultural and historical as we visited places like museums (Gongju, Tomb of King Muryeong) and historical sites like Baekje Cultural land.
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Gongju, Tomb of King Muryeong |
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Gongsanseong Fortress |
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Buyeo, Baekje Cultural land |
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Buyeo, Baekje Cultural land |
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Buyeo, Baekje Cultural land |
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Buyeo, Baekje Cultural land |
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Nakhwaam Cliff |
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Nakhwaam Cliff |
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Nakhwaam Cliff |
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| View at Nakhwaam Cliff |
My favourite part of Day 1 was definitely the free and easy time given at Jeonju Hanok Village, where there’s aplenty street food and interesting finds. Some Korean ladies were even dressed in their Traditional Costume Hanbok.
My friend strongly recommended me the PNB Chocolate biscuit sandwich and this is the one and only authentic outlet at Jeonju Hanok Village!
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Day 2 of the K shuttle tour (but day 3 into the 8D7N Trip already) was slightly more relaxed as we discover lesser places, like the Bosung Green Tea Plantation and Suncheon Bay Garden/ Suncheon Ecological Park. It’s more toward to scenic views and nature, so nature lovers may particularly be interested.
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| Sipping on everyone’s favourite banana milk |
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May 18th National Cemetery |
We first visited the May 18th National Cemetery, a museum that commemorates the Braves who sacrificed themselves during the Gwangju Democratization Movement. There is no entrance fee to the museum.
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Bosung Green Tea Plantation |
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Bosung Green Tea Plantation + green tea ice cream! |
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Suncheon Bay Garden/ Suncheon Ecological Park |
As I’ve mentioned, Suncheon Bay Garden/ Suncheon Ecological Park is an absolutely stunning and massively huge park. It’ll be great for photoshoots, OOTDs and photography!
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| Water Cooler are widely found in Korea as well. |
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Admiral Yi Sun-Sin Square |
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Day 3 was a short one since we left the tour halfway.
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Busosanseong Fortress |
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Busosanseong Fortress |
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Busosanseong Fortress |
And how can I not try the live squid when I’m in Korea? I got this at the open space near Jagalchi Market. It was quite messy here at the wet market because most of the vendors only speak Korean. We were lucky that we have our tour guide to help us order the dishes, and my other friend who visited Korea separately also mentioned that it’s better to have a Korean there with you, else you’ll get cheated with high prices!
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| At the wet market near Jagalchi Market |
Cockles were almost the size of my palm, WHAT IS THIS!? This is the first time in my life seeing such huge cockles.
We also had lunch street food at Busan International Film Festival Square. This place is filled with arrays of street stalls and I assure you you won’t go hungry here.
Since we got some time to spare after feasting at the BIFF Square, we went to Gwangalli Beach just right before the sunset, so that we can have a day and night view of the beach.
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| Gwangalli Beach |
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| Gwangalli Beach |
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| Night scene at Gwangalli Beach |
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| Night scene at Gwangalli Beach |
Our fried chicken dinner at Mom’s Touch!
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Finally it’s Day 5! I can’t believe how time flies.
It was our last day in Busan so we had to make good use of this day. First place to check off the list was Taejongdae Park.
We took bus 88 or 101 to Taejongdae Park. Taejongdae is a natural park of Busan, South Korea with magnificent cliffs facing the open sea on the southernmost tip of island of Yeongdo-gu. The view here is truly breathtaking as you view across the landscape of Busan from a bird’s eye view.
The bus ride was estimated to be an hour but we arrived within 35 mins thanks to the lenient traffic. Since the weather was really merciless in Jul, we bought the tram tickets (2000KRW per person) and waited for an hour just to take the tram!
I will suggest you to take the tram before it’s a longggg way up the hill, but to such a gorgeous view! If the weather was better, I wouldn’t mind taking a stroll too.
THIS is the view that I’m talking about! How nice isn’t it!?
After a great view at Taejongdae Park, our team split into two, one headed for the Haeundae beach while the other Gamcheon Village. Both are great places to visit so it’s either you prefer having a dip in the sea or admiring the nice mural paintings on the walls along the streets in the village.
Finally we had some rest at a random eatery which my friend called it the Korean fast food. Their serve the food rather fast and there’s not much services provided, literally like a fast food restaurant. Prices are cheap and the food are amazing for the price we are paying. Compared to what we are having in Singapore, these are gems!
Also killing the heat here with a soft serve!
Since we got some time, we visited Centrum shopping centre which is just a few stops away from Haeundae station. This place is great for those who wish to shop for branded items or cosmetics at a shopping centre, a takashimaya equivalent.
We also got some time left so we actually headed back to BIFF Square again, to grab some street food for dinner!
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Day 6 arrived and we woke up early to catch our KTX Speed train from Busan to Seoul. Thank you for such a wondering experience here Busan, but it’s time for real shopping in Seoul too! :p
The KTX speed rail costs about SGD60 and it took only 2 hours 45 mins to depart from Busan and reach Seoul. There was even wifi on the train so you can choose to do work on the train.
When we reached Seoul Station, we wasted no time and quickly checked in our hotel before heading to the next destination.
For the artsy people, the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) may interests you with its unique architectural design. No doubt it’s definitely an amazing place to take photos, so simply join in the latest correct exhibition being held (most of them free!). If not, you’ll be happy to know that the popular shopping district Dongdaemun Street Shopping is just right opposite the DDP, so you can easily cross the road and enjoy some shopping.
Exhibition at DDP.
Personally, I walked around the Dongdaemun shopping area for a while and find that some of the stuff can be quite worth it. Prices range from 10,000 to 20,000 KRW (S$12 – $25), which is reasonable compared to Singapore’s blogshops pricing. However, some of the clothes designs just aren’t very flattering so you may have to use some discretion…
Since we had got some time to spare, we took a stroll to the Cheonggyecheon Stream just a few mins walk away. Though it’s nothing very interesting about the stream, many locals were actually found here relaxing their feet in the water stream. Weather was really hot and the feeling of placing your feet in cooling water was terrific. Check out the amount of locals under the bridge!
Finally, stomach calls for protest so we had to settle our lunch. We decided to have some Korean BBQ since we haven’t had any since we arrived in Korea. We chose some random restaurant on the edge of Myeong Dong shopping district but to be honest the price was quite expensive. Nonetheless, we manage to get our korean BBQ cravings settled!
The shopping began at Myeong Dong! My friend and I spend a good 3 hours here, well including an hour spent at the cat cafe!! 🙂
I’ve also written a detailed Shopping Guide to Myeong Dong, so hop over to find out about my shopping experience in Myeong Dong.
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| At the Cafe Cafe in Myeong Dong |
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It’s our second last day here in Korea so we had no time to waste. Since I’m quite a shopaholic overseas who’s always on a lookout for cheap decent apparels, I know I couldn’t give the Express Bus Terminal Underground Shopping a miss. The express bus terminal was quite hard to find at first. I reach this place right after we exited the station’s gantry but apparently this isn’t the real Express Bus Terminal shopping area! Nonetheless I was still quite caught in my own excitement busy ransacking the racks hahaha.
The real underground shopping should look like this:
Be stunned by lines and lines of stores. It’s like one storey of Platinum Mall in Bangkok.
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Express bus terminal shopping |
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Garosugil |
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Garosugil |
Then we visited Garosugil, a tree-lined street full of cafes, designer fashion stores and many pockets of unique shops, it’s like our Haji Lane but in Korea. We also spotted the LINE app shop and wen’t a bit too excited inside!
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| Line merchandises are SOOOO adorable!! |
We got really tired and all we wanted was some good bingsu to kill the heat. Sulbing is apparently one of the nicer bingsu chain and I can say they don’t disappoint. Each bingsu costs about SGD 6-8?
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| I strongly recommend the chocolate one! |
After dinner, we actually headed to Lotte Mart to stock up our snacks to bring back to Singapore.
Next day early in the morning, my roommate Dina and I decided to make full use of our half day by heading up to the N Seoul Tower! There were a few flight of stairs of course, and there’s the option to hike all the way up. But of course, if you are not keen to do so, there’s always the cable car option!
Enjoying the view up here from N Seoul Tower.
Thanks for reading! ❤
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Love,
Celine