Top South Korea hotels
Other Place to Go Seoul
22 Reviews I would definitely take them to the Jong-ro district. The center of the city has many exciting places, restaurants, cafes, fashion stores. They can buy a lots of stylish clothes and accessories at...
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Gyeongbokgung (Palace) Seoul
16 Reviews Gyeongbokgung was the main palace during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). One of five palaces in Seoul, it has a 500 year history. It was built by the founding King of Joseon dynasty, Lee Seong-Gye, in...
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Other Stuff Seoul
59 Reviews 1) Money (listed in KRW - won) to bring if you are traveling on a budget: accommodation could be 15000 ~ 50000 won per day depending on where you book -food will run you about 5000~10000 won per meal...
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Shopping & Money Seoul
21 Reviews South Korea's monetary unit is the won (KRW) and due to the financial crisis, It had depreciated 35% to the US Dollar. The Exchange rate today is 1 USD: 1,380 KRW! The Won is available into ₩1,...
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Pleasent/Amusing Surprises Seoul
16 Reviews If you happen to be a non-Asian in Seoul (a Caucasian, as shown in photo), do not feel alarmed if some students approach you with a notebook, a camera, and/or a tape recorder. A lot of the kids there...
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Lotte World Seoul
7 Reviews Give your baby a relaxing time at Lotte world with their luxury Inglesina Zippy strollers. Inglesina is the world famous Italian brand since 1963. Rental Place: 1st floor of Lotte world Tel:...
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Changdokgung (Palace) Seoul
6 Reviews Seoul is a city of royal palaces. There are five of them in all. One of my favourite things is looking inside the palace rooms. They have a simple, uncluttered style, quite different to that of...
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Jongmyo (Royal Shrine) Seoul
2 Reviews Now follow me over a footbridge ... and we are arrived at Jongmyo Royal Shrine, another "Must See" of Seoul and another area, which is registered on the UNESCO´s World Cultural List. They put it on...
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Toksugung (Palace) Seoul
2 Reviews Tracking down the Past along the Palace Walls Doksu Palace Lane winding along the stone wall of the palace is often compared with the streets on the Mont Martre hills of Paris. But the bustling...
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Korea House & Namsan Hanok Folk Village Seoul
2 Reviews Namsum Village of Traditional Houses. If you can?ft get out to Folk Village, you can still visit traditional homes near the city center. The homes were moved from around the country and really give...
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Myeongdong Seoul
2 Reviews This quarter has two faces, each of which seems totally different from each other. First, it is a most important financial district of Korea, having headquarter buildings of the nation's...
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Hiking Seoul
3 Reviews If you ever get the chance, hike up Mt Soraksan, about 3 hours north of Seoul by bus, on early autumn and just take in the colourful view of the countryside and mountainside. An easier way would be to...
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National Folk Museum Seoul
1 Review The museum is located at the back of Kyongbok'kung Palace. It also had free entry on National Day. The museum was very, very good. It wasn't possible to take pictures inside but there were some...
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Events Seoul
4 Reviews The annual Seoul Drum Festival last weekend (8 -10 October 2004) was a free display of many different styles and cultural drum performances. Each set lasted about 20 minutes and each session lasted...
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Korean War Memorial Seoul
2 Reviews War Memorial. A great museum (though you might want to skip the first floor if pressed for time). I learned a lot about the Korean War. I came close to crying quite a few times. Make sure you read the...
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Tapgol Park Seoul
1 Review This park celebrates the Declaration of Independence from Japanese occupation. The last time I was here there were photo exhibits of the horrors perpetrated by the Japanese. This time the mood was...
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Kyonghuigung (Palace) Seoul
1 Review Resting Place for Citizens The kyonghuigung had been used as the main royal palace for the period of the reigning of ten kings since being built in 1617 by Prince Regent Gwanghae. Counted one of the...
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Changgyeonggung (Palace) Seoul
1 Review No More Cherry-blossom Viewing Here Tragically, the Japanese colonists at one time transformed the Changgyong (Palace), one of the five main palaces of the Choson Dynasty, into a leisure facility,...
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Here is a great website to help you translate Hongul to English. You might encounter, as I did, that many hotel websites are not written in the Roman alphabet, but if you can translate some of the key parts you can at least navigate through and find the price of rooms and things like that.http://translation.babylon.com/korean/to-english/
this is a pretty depth site created by the 'sparkle korean' tourist association. You can find lots of hotel information, sightseeing locations, maps, some restaurant location ect ect. I used the site a lot to plan my trip.As well, they claim they will send you maps and travel books free of charge, but I signed up and requested books and they never came. you can however download said things as an e-book. http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/index.kto
Well, Koreans can be shy and even if they know some English they might not use any, so knowing a few key phrases would be really helpful. Below you'll find some helpful Korean broken down into the syllables and phonetic pronunciation.Hello = a-ne-ha-see-oThank you = com-sa-ha-ne-daYes = E-ehNo = A-ne-oBeer = Meg-chuKorean Alcohol = So-juBeer/soju mix = So-meg (it's really good)Delicious = Ma-sista-yoStation = YakHere/attention = Yo-gi-(yo)I want/take me = Jew-say-yo very useful... you'll see why belowcheaper = go-ka-jew-say-yoso, lets say you're in a bar and want a beer. you can call out to the bartender (yogiyo). when they come over you say (megchu jewsayo). when they give it to you say (comsahanida).oryou want to take a taxi to Seoul station. Hail a taxi and say (aneohasio, Seoul yak jewsayo).Once you're in Korea you'll get a chance to practice. No two ways about, Korean is hard but...
I think Chinese (mandarin) may be useful in S. Korea but most people do not speak english or other languages.It is helpful to learn a few phrase & here is a site to learnhttp://rki.kbs.co.kr/learn_korean/text_htm/e_text/1e.htm#Hope it is useful.Bring pen & paper with you at all times to write numbers to haggle
I've been in Korea for ~3 years now. Yes, the sands do come over starting in the early Spring (~March). But to be more accurate, it is not sand, but rather a very fine dust. It is a phenomenon locally called Hwangsa (황사). It is also called Kosa in Japan. In some extreme storms, when the particles are fine enough, they have even reached the western coast of USA and BC Canada, such as in 2001.While your personal experiences may only result in a yellow-ish haze on the horizon compared to a more unsettling brown-ish smog layer which is customary in the big cities during most of the other months. But again, this yellow haze is not visible every day, but rather is possible "if" the jet stream winds directly pass over your area a few days after there is a significant sand storm over the Gobi. I agree, that the further north in Korea, the more visible the phenomenon is. This sand...
The kids here work a lot harder than most kids in other parts of the world. Most of them are in school for almost 12 hours a day from the time they're only 7 years old. They go to regular elementry school, and after that to private schools which are called "hagwons." English hagwons are very common (I work in one of them) and then there are art hagwons, piano hagwons, math, ballet and other subjects. Usually when the kids get home, they have homework from some of their schools. I try to keep their homework to a minimum because I feel sorry for the amount of work they have as it is. I actually find that their behaviour is worse than Western kids because they don't have the same free time to play around and be children. So a lot of them have problems focusing and paying attention in class, because they get bored and overwhelmed with all the work.This kind of schedule usually continues...
It is not too hard to get around without knowing much Korean. I'm living here and don't have too much trouble. I would recommend however, learning a few basic words because sometimes they come in handy. Other than that, I've found hand actions and pointing to words in my phrasebook to have gone a long way.You might be surpised how "English-ized" Seoul and Busan (Korea's two largest cities) are. I'm living in Busan, there is a LOT of English here and I heard there was even more in Seoul. All the American-chain restaurants have menus in English, and you can just point to what you want. Eating at Korean fast food places might be more challenging, but if you learn the name of the food you like, you shouldn't have trouble communicating that especially if its a simple order. A lot of the younger generation will be able to speak a little English (at least) and if all else fails - you can always...
As of today (June 23, 2009), Korea has now officially issued the 50,000 KRW note. It is yellow in color.Until now, Korea had only issued paper currency in the denominations of 1,000 / 5,000 / 10,000.This was done for a various number of reasons, but most popularly accepted is to deter corruption and bribery. It is widely accepted that passing along large sums of untraceable money is more difficult if the largest denomination is 10,000 KRW ($7.80 USD as of June 23, 2009).Korean banks and cash kiosks are distributing the new 50,000 notes (~$39 USD) immediately.Limited ATM's are already capable of distributing, but bank branches are being fitted quickly.According to one on-line site:"The portrait on the new bill is another source of ongoing controversy. The bank selected Shin Saim-dang — a renowned writer, artist and calligrapher and mother of Lee Yulgok, a scholar whose face is on the...
Ginseng chicken soup was royal kitchen, but became successful among normal people. The chicken is small one and inside put with ginseng (Korean herbal) and sticky rice. Together stewing till soft. The chicken will be melt in your mouth. The soup tastes light and sweet. If you fill ginseng alkohol in it, it will smell better and stronger. One eats ginseng chicken usually with long-life-noodles= thin white noodles. The sticky rice inside chicken which absorbs essence of ginseng and chicken is the most delicious part that you should never miss.
Korean street stands are in tends. The most offer Korean national food, spicy rice cake, fried dumpling, fried seafood etc. The sauce of spicy rice cake is hot-red, but the taste is not as spicy as fire. It's a bit sweet. Unlike Taiwanese dumplings, Korean dumplings are huge and big.
Lotte Hotel Seoul Seoul
7 Reviews and 699 Opinions We stayed here for a week. It is very nice but DO NOT have your laundry done by them, a piece of...
The Westin Chosun Busan Busan
4 Reviews and 150 Opinions My wife and I have stayed twice at the Westin Chosun within the last three months. The rooms are...
Youngpyung Resort Kangwon-do
0 Opinions
Reviews and photos of South Korea attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for South Korea sightseeing.
Q: Hi all, I am traveling to South Korea from 4/15-4/21 for a friend's wedding on 4/19 in Seoul. The majority of the wedding...
A: Have a nice trip and fun. Be sure to visit the two tourist kiosks to get maps and guides. One is next to the express bus terminal while the other is beside the main train...
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