Taipei & Seoul Recommendations
Discussion
I will be visiting Taipei and Seoul next month with the missus for 8 and 6 days respectively.
My interests are the usual stuff; sightseeing, culture, food, nightlife (probably in that order). We like to travel outside of major cities for a day or two if not too inconvenient and also try to fit in a relaxing day or two along the way if possible.
Has anyone been and have recommendations for these places, possibly including some out of town trips? Recommendations for a DMZ tour in Seoul would be majorly appreciated! Have I allowed too much time in each? We could possibly add another city in in between. Maybe Shangai or Beijing?
Visited HK, Singapore, Tokyo etc. previously so relatively comfortable navigating major Asian cities.
My interests are the usual stuff; sightseeing, culture, food, nightlife (probably in that order). We like to travel outside of major cities for a day or two if not too inconvenient and also try to fit in a relaxing day or two along the way if possible.
Has anyone been and have recommendations for these places, possibly including some out of town trips? Recommendations for a DMZ tour in Seoul would be majorly appreciated! Have I allowed too much time in each? We could possibly add another city in in between. Maybe Shangai or Beijing?
Visited HK, Singapore, Tokyo etc. previously so relatively comfortable navigating major Asian cities.
Only spent my time in Seoul enjoying the nightlife (apart from the main Samsung shop in Gangnam (yes, the same!) which is worth 30 minutes or so), but had trips out to Seoraksan National Park for a couple of nights and some hiking. The trails aren't what you might get in the Alps - they are normally proper paths, and stairs to climb the steep bits. Some cracking views, once you get away from the crowds of Koreans (they love their hiking), and some good temples etc on the way.
I also did a full day at Gyeongju - perhaps need a night there if coming from Seoul. One of the old Capital cities from the middle ages, fantastic history - temples, buddhas, literally a big outdoors museum. Train to Daegu, change there to Gyeongju (if there are no direct ones, I was staying in Daegu so made life easy!). The trains in S.Korea are 300km/h bullet trains, so it really doesn't take long to get across the country and the stations are pretty easy to navigate.
The subway in Seoul is something else - its huge! Takes a little while to work out what route to take, but there are some phone apps which will help with that if you take a look on your app store.
I didn't manage to make time for the DMZ tour, but the tours run by the USO were recommended to me. I think you can book them through Koridoor, but google it!
I also did a full day at Gyeongju - perhaps need a night there if coming from Seoul. One of the old Capital cities from the middle ages, fantastic history - temples, buddhas, literally a big outdoors museum. Train to Daegu, change there to Gyeongju (if there are no direct ones, I was staying in Daegu so made life easy!). The trains in S.Korea are 300km/h bullet trains, so it really doesn't take long to get across the country and the stations are pretty easy to navigate.
The subway in Seoul is something else - its huge! Takes a little while to work out what route to take, but there are some phone apps which will help with that if you take a look on your app store.
I didn't manage to make time for the DMZ tour, but the tours run by the USO were recommended to me. I think you can book them through Koridoor, but google it!
Live in Korea, but not in Seoul.
Next month it will be election fever after the impeachment of PGH, and will be awesome, trucks blaring out slogans, colour-co-ordinated teams of people bowing at street corners. For sights, honestly Tripadvisor has it covered. Gyeongbokgung Palace, a couple of temples, Cheonggyecheon Stream at night, a good park if the cherry blossoms are out, Insadong. DMZ a must. Take her to Myeongdong and let her loose in the warren of streets to do some serious shopping (if it's a weekend it's a plus, the girls are stunning and you'll fall in love 100 times every 100m). Korean cosmetics are the most popular in Asia if that's her thing. For food, definitely lots of Korean BBQ.
6 days might be a bit much, maybe a side trip to Gyeonggu (as suggested) or Busan (3h by train. Note that Korail has an English booking site and you can pick up your tickets at the station). I'm close to Busan and really like it. Haeundae beach in Busan is great for a day's beach break.
Alternatively, you could squeeze in a short hop to Shanghai (obvs. you'll need a visa), just to see who'll be the next superpower for this century and will own your kids and grandkids lives. But Shanghai is not really a tourist destination, a full day will see all the sights (the Bund at night, Nanjing Lu, Tianzifang, Yu Garden). Great restaurants, love me some Uighur kebabs
Don't know anything about Taipei, but everyone who goes there seems to really enjoy it.
Next month it will be election fever after the impeachment of PGH, and will be awesome, trucks blaring out slogans, colour-co-ordinated teams of people bowing at street corners. For sights, honestly Tripadvisor has it covered. Gyeongbokgung Palace, a couple of temples, Cheonggyecheon Stream at night, a good park if the cherry blossoms are out, Insadong. DMZ a must. Take her to Myeongdong and let her loose in the warren of streets to do some serious shopping (if it's a weekend it's a plus, the girls are stunning and you'll fall in love 100 times every 100m). Korean cosmetics are the most popular in Asia if that's her thing. For food, definitely lots of Korean BBQ.
6 days might be a bit much, maybe a side trip to Gyeonggu (as suggested) or Busan (3h by train. Note that Korail has an English booking site and you can pick up your tickets at the station). I'm close to Busan and really like it. Haeundae beach in Busan is great for a day's beach break.
Alternatively, you could squeeze in a short hop to Shanghai (obvs. you'll need a visa), just to see who'll be the next superpower for this century and will own your kids and grandkids lives. But Shanghai is not really a tourist destination, a full day will see all the sights (the Bund at night, Nanjing Lu, Tianzifang, Yu Garden). Great restaurants, love me some Uighur kebabs
Don't know anything about Taipei, but everyone who goes there seems to really enjoy it.
The MRT system in Taipei is very cheap and simple to use (signage and announcements are made in both Chinese and English). You simply see which station you want to go to and it tells you how much it is, then you get a token to access the platform. You can use it to get to the usual tourist attractions (Taipei 101, Longshan temple, Taipei Zoo). The national museum is also very interesting, some really beautiful artefacts. You can get there by bus, think it was something daft like 15NTD to ride around all day (40ish pence).
Food wise, plenty to eat, though I struggled in some places because the menus were a sort of 'ordering card' you ticked your choice on, and were in Chinese. I stayed at the MRT Hotel in Banciao district, the rooms were nicely done out and it was fairly reasonable in price, and there is a mini mart across the street if you fancy some snacks.
Food wise, plenty to eat, though I struggled in some places because the menus were a sort of 'ordering card' you ticked your choice on, and were in Chinese. I stayed at the MRT Hotel in Banciao district, the rooms were nicely done out and it was fairly reasonable in price, and there is a mini mart across the street if you fancy some snacks.
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