This is how to plan a Korea trip itinerary for your family based on things I wish I knew
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You will find tons of itineraries online for your first Korea trip with your family, but oftentimes these articles just list the same locations. They will not provide a real step-by-step guide on things to consider from the moment you land to when you depart the country of Korea.
Sit tight. This is how to create a Korea trip itinerary for your family, especially if you are not fluent in Korean.
Maps
First and foremost, you must understand that Google Maps does not work for Korea. Try it. Plug in a random location in Korea to another random location in Korea. It will most likely give you incredibly long walking directions but not anything useful for public/car transportation. Bummer because that is all you really use when it comes to travel in the States.
Now, there are native Koreans maps like Naver and Kakao below that everyone from Reddit to Titkok will refer to. In reality though it’s difficult to understand and search for places on these apps if you don’t know Korean. Both images above have been switched to English translation and it’s still pretty limited on what you can read. I highly recommend you download both apps on your phone and test it out. The last thing you want to do is figure out your map while your kids are going bonkers from hunger.
Once the apps downloaded, map out locations on Google Maps and cross reference with actual traveling directions within these apps. Google Maps can at least show you high level where things are. Then you can decide what order you want to travel throughout the day and trip as a whole. However, the apps will be the only way to actually see the details of what bus or subway to get on. The apps are limited, but it will still be helpful.
So what am I suggesting you do? Ok, let’s take a step back first and think, big picture.
It doesn’t matter if you use an Iphone Notepad, Microsoft Word Doc, or a Google Excel Doc, the strategy of planning a trip that is easy for you to navigate even with the chaos of taking care of your kids should be as follows.
Start with Dates and Flights for your Trip to Korea
The first thing you need in order to plan a Korea trip itinerary with your family is to start by picking the dates you wish to travel and booking the flights. Then you can begin building an itinerary that makes sense for your family.
Click here for my experience on Air Premia with my young kids
Wherever you decide to visit within Korea, don’t forget you will either start at Gimpo or Incheon Airport which are on the northwest side of South Korea.
2 Main Options on How to Plan a Korea Trip Itinerary for your Family
From here, there are two things you can choose to do to create your itinerary.
First, you can take my word for it that the most popular cities in Korea to visit are Seoul, Incheon, Busan, Daegu, Gwangju, Daejeon, and Daegu. But to cut to the chase, everything you’re hearing and seeing about Korea on social media are really mostly in Seoul and Busan.
If you map out Seoul to Busan, you will see they are on the north and south ends of Korea. The train travel time between the two cities is about 3-5 hours.
For a 7 day trip to Korea, then I recommend only going to those two cities. If you are able to stay 14 days, I recommend adding Gwangju or Daejeon. If you want to be aggressive, you can even add Jeju Island. But keep in mind, these are HUGE cities. It can easily take you 1 to 3 days to see a whole city.
The second option is to start watching Youtube shorts and Tiktoks on Korea travel. After scrolling through a few, you will quickly get an idea of what destinations might interest your family and what you can expect to see and eat around there.
Whichever option you choose, map out those places in Google Maps and see which order makes sense for travel.
Approximate Days in Each City
Then schedule out approximately how many days you’d like to spend in each city based on your time limits.
Next, refer to Youtube for long form videos on vloggers who have already done the research on famous food and activities spots. Add these places to your itinerary. The more options you can find the better, because by the end you will have to eliminate some choices depending on location and realistic ability to move around with your family.
Accommodations
I personally prefer to book my accommodations last. This is risky because you will have fewer choices if you take a long time to build your itinerary, but in my experience I always want to live as close as possible to most of my destinations. You don’t want to book your hotel because it was nice and cheap, for it to turn out that it will take you 2 hours each time to travel to the places you realize you want to visit.
Click here for things to consider with hotels in Korea
Yelp-Like Korean Review Platforms
This might be the most difficult part of how to plan a Korea trip Itinerary for your family. Korea does have Yelp-like platforms, but again if you don’t speak/read Korean, it will be difficult to read the reviews of what people think of these places. If you’re lucky, Google will have some English reviews on hotels and restaurants. Another option that sometimes works but requires a lot of reading is to copy/paste and translate the Korean reviews to English for more clarity. For me, it was a huge trip and I didn’t want to waste any precious time staying at a terrible hotel or eating at an underwhelming restaurant. So I bit my tongue and translated reviews to English.
Food
If you’re traveling with kids, you’re most likely going to have to cut your activities by ½ or ⅔. I know that sucks, but the reality is, they will not be able to keep up. Also, keep in mind a lot of Korean food is spicy. So while you may love spicy food, the restaurant you want to try may not have a non-spicy option for your kids.
Korean restaurants tend to be very niche. In America, you’ll often find Korean restaurants with extensive menus that will ensure everyone has something they’d like. In Korea, the restaurants often serve a few specific dishes. For example, Myeong Dong has a very popular knife cut noodle restaurant called Myeong Dong Kyoja. But guess what, they only sell knife cut noodles, dry spicy noodles, and dumplings. If someone in your party doesn’t like any of those, then you’re out of luck with that spot.
Traveling within Korea
Finally, factor in travel between cities and within the city. Sometimes people forget how time consuming traveling within the country might be. When you are considering how to plan a Korea trip Itinerary for your family and especially if you have young kids, avoid rush hour at all costs especially if you are moving around with strollers. Trains and buses run on a schedule just like everywhere else. Take the time to read maps ahead of time and see how they connect.
Click here for why you need strollers in Korea.
How much time do you need to really understand how to use their public transportation system? WIll you be able to understand how to buy subway/bus/train tickets within 5 minutes or do you need to factor in at least 30 minutes? When you’re traveling as a family with young kids, it’s very likely one person will have to figure it out while the other watches the kids.
What are the modes of transportation that make sense for your family? Our family committed to using public transportation most of the time, but if you’re up for it, I would definitely recommend renting a car. It’s very difficult to get a stroller around public transportation. NOBODY in Korea cares about your stroller situation. It’s just very different from the States in that respect.
Final steps in how to plan a Korea trip Itinerary for your family
At this point in the planning, you should have a good foundation of where you want to go, for how long and how to get there. The last step is really to map out step-by-step which direction you’re going and starting what time each day. Maybe this all seems too regimented. But if you don’t speak the primary language and you have young kids, this is the only way. Winging this trip will only cause you to waste time on the streets figuring out your next step using Google Translate for hours.
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