Our previous trips were centered in Seoul and nearby places. On our third Autumn holiday this year, my husband and I opted for a countryside exploration as we wanted to dive deeper into the authentic culture of South Koreans and searched for tranquility from the hustle and bustle of city life.
Here's a look of how we spent our notable six-day itinerary.
As usual, catching the Korea Train Express to reach the Immigration was challenging yet exciting. We get to join the parade of high volume of arriving tourists from various nationalities as well the returning locals. The number of tourists was not as huge compared to our visit in November 2017 and I guess, not many can tolerate a much colder temperature in South Korea this year compared to the past.
The subway of the greater metropolitan region has 22 lines and 716 stations including the Seoul city proper. At first, it was never easy to get familiar on which stations to board and alight. But with patience and common sense, our extremely challenging journeys are always the most meaningful. Thanks to the prominent English signs and languages present in all places of interests and public properties.
Like I mentioned in my previous blogs, we never hire local guides in all our travels. It was always crucial for us to discover things on our own even if it means taking the path the hard way. Knowledge and experience are earned through stones not bubbles.
If you wish to learn more information about taking the subways in Seoul, check my previous blog HERE where I shared our first-hand experience during our pioneer visit to the country including Visa application, how to navigate the Seoul subway stations and what to buy from the local shops.
Going back to our 2018 Autumn journey, we reached Sinseoldong Station Residence Dongdaemun after an hour and a half subway journey from Incheon International Airport. This is the first time we book for this guesthouse which is only 750 meters from Sinseoldong subway station. Convenience in public transportation is a great consolation.
Since the long journeys and the tedious immigration process was too exhausting on our first day, we took a quick nap to recharge and had our dinner at Cups Express which is right beside our guesthouse. A sip of coffee should never be missed out when you're in South Korea. By the way, the weather on our first day reached to negative six degrees celsius.
So we headed Paris Baguette just across the street for coffee and bread. Not only do we love this local coffee shop but we also wanted to defrost our freezing bodies.
Here is how the surroundings of Sinseoldong Station Residence looked like.
You can reach Sayuksin Park via subway and alight at Noryangjin station exit 1. You can walk straight for about 15 minutes to reach the park. The huge signage will take you to the right place.
Nurori trains to Suwon leave Seoul station every hour. The ticket price is KRW 2,700 (PHP 126) one way per pax. If you find it quite costly, you can choose to take the subway from Seoul station to Suwon which will take you about one hour and a half for an average fare of KRW 1,950 (PHP 91) one way per pax.
You can also take the same subway line station back to Seoul which we did. We were just excited to get a feel of an express train and we also wanted to reach the province of Gyeonggi-do much faster because we left Seoul station around past lunchtime already.
It is in Seoul station where you can also book train tickets to Busan which will cost you an average of KRW 56,000 (PHP 2,622) one way per pax.
We trekked for an hour and it is recommended to visit the fortress closer to dawn when it is most pristine on top of the mountain with a negative three-degree temperature embracing us.
From Seoul city, you can take subway line 1 and alight at Jonggak station exit 2. From the station exit, you can walk straight for 10 minutes to reach Jogyesa Temple.
The Seongbuk-dong Roman Catholic Church is located in Seonjam-ro. The church officials were currently putting-up Christmas decors when we arrived. This Catholic Church is situated inside a private residential area. While walking along this very private community towards Seongbuk-dong Church, we passed by these fine local shops, Home Base supermarket, Napoleon Bakery, and Haru Cafe. I always like to view local shops in South Korea. The appearance is very unique and relaxing.
From Seongbuk-dong Catholic Church, we headed to Hyehwa Roman Catholic Church. This is where most Filipinos residing in Seoul gather together on Sundays for the Tagalog mass at 1:30pm and visit the market (they call, Little Manila) which sells Filipino dishes and products.
To reach Hyehwa Catholic Church, take subway line 4 and alight at Hyehwa station exit 1 and walk about 240 meters to reach the church.
It was past 5:00pm and after our 30-minute meditation with souvenir photos, we left Hyehwa Cathollic Church. We decided to walk back to Hyehwa subway station when our tummies began to beg for food. While walking along Jeollanam-do, the Kintono Japanese Restaurant was too flaring to ignore so we hopped-in for an early dinner and for only KRW 17,000 (PHP 796) for two pax, we got ourselves an authentic Japanese Ramen, Salmon Rice and Japanese Green Tea. The price was so worth it. The servers are also fluent in English.
Instead, we just took photographic memories of the Noryangjin-ro neighborhood. The early risers can take advantage of including the Fish Market in their itinerary.
You can take subway line 2 and 5 and get off at Euljiro 4-ga station exit 4 and walk about 500 meters towards the market. You won't get lost as there are English signage to direct tourists to the market.
It was in November 2014 when we first visited Gyeongbokgung Palace and here we are again. It is a 10-kilometer walk from Seoul city. By subway, you can take line 3 and alight at Gyeongbokgung station exit 5.
We fell in love with this place and we wanted to have another awesome glimpse of that gorgeous mountain behind the palace. Gyeongbokgung Palace is also known as the Northern Palace and the most beautiful and largest among the five palaces in South Korea.
Look at those snappy tall guards in their 18th century colorful uniforms never fail to amuse us.
On our second visit to this village (the first was back in 2014), we were blessed to experience their unique handcrafted arts and crafts from painting, perfume making, baking and brewery (coffee, tea and beer). I treasured this moment which is a measure of genuine, simple and peaceful living.
You might also want to check out the local beer for sale just a few steps from the doughnut bakery.
Want to learn more from our previous trips to South Korea? Visit my blogs HERE and HERE.
If you need more in-depth guide, tips and advice in crafting an itinerary for your next trip to South Korea, please feel free to CONTACT_US or message us on Facebook @jitrrietravelntours.
Salute to all the travelers who aim for a more cultural and sustainable journey!