South Korea is small enough to cross in under three hours by train and varied enough that the route you choose changes the trip completely. Understanding how the country is arranged makes planning far easier, whether or not you ever mark it on a map.
How the country is arranged
South Korea divides into nine provinces plus several self-governing cities. For planning purposes it helps to think in four bands running roughly north to south.
- The northwest — Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province. The capital region, the main international gateway, and where most first trips begin.
- The centre — Chungcheong provinces and Daejeon. Often skipped, which is precisely why it stays quiet. Good for national parks and traditional architecture.
- The southeast — Gyeongsang provinces, Busan, Daegu and Gyeongju. The coastline, the country's second city, and its densest concentration of historic sites.
- The southwest — Jeolla provinces and Gwangju. Widely regarded within Korea as the best region for food, and noticeably less visited by international travellers.
Jeju Island sits off the south coast and is a short flight from Seoul or Busan. It functions as a separate trip rather than a detour.
Planning a route that does not backtrack
The KTX high-speed line runs down the spine of the country from Seoul towards Busan, which makes a north-to-south route the path of least resistance. A common and efficient shape is Seoul, then Gyeongju, then Busan, flying home from Busan rather than returning to Seoul.
The mistake worth avoiding is treating Seoul as a base for day trips to the far south. Busan is reachable in about two and a half hours by KTX, but doing it as a return day trip means five hours on trains and a rushed afternoon. Move your base instead.
When to go
Spring and autumn are the reliable seasons. April brings cherry blossom, which moves south to north over roughly two weeks. October and November bring autumn colour and the clearest skies of the year. Summer is hot and humid with a distinct monsoon period; winter is cold and dry, and is when the ski resorts in Gangwon Province operate.
Keeping a record of where you have been
Korea rewards repeat visits, because the regions are genuinely different from one another and few people cover more than two on a first trip. That makes it a country worth tracking rather than simply visiting.
A scratch map is one way to do that: you reveal each area as you get there, and the unscratched parts quietly suggest the next trip. Our Korea edition is currently out of stock with no restock date, but the World Scratch Map covers Korea alongside everywhere else you travel, which suits anyone whose trips are not limited to one country. If Japan is also on your list, the Japan Scratch Map breaks that country down to all 47 prefectures.
You can see the full range in Scratch Travel Maps.