Korea with children: 11 days that work for everyone
Korea is one of the easier countries in Asia to travel with children, and it is under-used for it. The cities are exceptionally safe, the subway has lifts, the trains are short and fast, everything is clean, and the food is a lot less challenging than parents expect once you know that grilled meat,
- Duration
- 11 days
- Pace
- Relaxed
- Hotel changes
- 3
- Best months
- Apr, May, Jun, Sep, Oct
- From
- $2,750 per person
Eleven days rather than ten, because the extra day buys a genuine rest afternoon in the middle rather than a squeezed one. Three hotel changes, no travel day longer than two and a half hours, and every day has an escape route built into it.
Who it suits: families with children roughly five to fifteen. Under five, we would shorten it and stay in two places.
Day by day
Day 1: Arrive Seoul. Private transfer with car seats if you need them, hotel in Jongno with a room that sleeps four. Nothing scheduled. An early dinner nearby and an early night.
Day 2: Seoul, palaces and a hill. Gyeongbokgung at opening for the guard-changing ceremony, which children reliably enjoy, then hanbok rental for anyone who wants it, which makes the palace grounds free to enter and makes the photographs. Afternoon cable car up Namsan and the tower, then dinner in Ikseon-dong.
Day 3: Seoul, the fun day. Morning at the Children’s Grand Park or the National Science Museum depending on ages, then the afternoon on the Han river: bike hire, the floating islands, a picnic from a convenience store, which is a genuine Korean institution. Optional Lotte World for older children as a full-day swap.
Day 4: Seoul, free day. Unscheduled on purpose. Suggestions include Everland, the Trick Eye museum, Seoul Forest and the Seongsu bakeries, or an afternoon at a jjimjilbang, the family bathhouse, which children usually find much better than they expect.
Day 5: Seoul to Andong. Train and a short transfer, arriving early afternoon. The Hahoe folk village on the river bend, thatched houses, a mask museum children can handle, and a stay in a traditional hanok guesthouse with heated floors. Andong jjimdak, braised chicken with noodles, for dinner, which is the least intimidating dish in Korean cuisine.
Day 6: Andong to Gyeongju. Short road transfer south. Afternoon cycling between the burial mounds, which is flat, easy and the best way to see Gyeongju at any age. Ice cream and the lit pond after dark.
Day 7: Gyeongju. Guided morning at Bulguksa, kept to two hours rather than four, then the afternoon free. Optional Gyeongju World or the Woljeonggyo bridge and a boat.
Day 8: Gyeongju to Busan. An hour south. Straight to the beach: Haeundae or Songjeong, sand, swimming from June to September, and the Blue Line Park beach train along the old coastal railway, which is the single most popular thing we book for families in Korea.
Day 9: Busan. Jagalchi market in the morning, which is loud, wet and much more interesting to children than a temple, then the aquarium or the Igidae coastal walk. Evening fireworks-free but well lit on Gwangalli, with the bridge in view.
Day 10: Busan, free day. Beach, the Taejongdae headland and its road train, or a day trip to Geoje. Nothing scheduled.
Day 11: Departure. Fly out of Busan, or KTX back to Seoul for an onward flight.
What is included
Family rooms or connecting rooms throughout, breakfast, all train legs with reserved seats, private transfers on arrival and between Andong and Gyeongju, two half days of licensed English-speaking guiding pitched at your children’s ages, hanbok rental, bike hire in Gyeongju, the Blue Line Park booking, entries, a day-by-day document with addresses in Hangul, and a WhatsApp group with your consultant and our Seoul partner.
What we would change, and when
- Under-fives? Cut Andong and Gyeongju to one stop and give the time back to Seoul and Busan. Two bases beat four.
- Teenagers? Swap the folk village night for a second Seoul night in Hongdae or Seongsu, and add a K-pop or dance workshop, which our partner books.
- Travelling in July or August? The beach days work well, the city days do not. We move the Seoul portion earlier in the day and add a mountain night in Gangwon.
- Want the island? Replace the Andong night with three nights on Jeju and hire a car. Outside July and August the island is excellent with children.
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