Road-trip to South Korea's NPs and historic places, with hikes

We want to discover the fascinating Korea's culture, nature, and historic destinations by road-tripping along the ocean from Seoul to Busan. The route, with 1or 2-night stops in each location, will be: Seoul, Sokcho, Gangneung, Samcheok, Hanoe Folk village, Gyeongji, Busan.

On this way we would explore and hike at Bukhansan National Park, Seoraksan National Park, and Jirisan National Park. One more of the top-rated Korea's national parks, Songnisan, requires some detour.

While at Seoul we want to have a day-tour to DMZ (demilitarized zone) and Panmunjom. We will make sure we stop and explore Gyeongji, the ancient capital.

We may use the public transit in some parts of the route if it makes sense cost-wise. Prices on air-tickets with connection in Seoul and Busan look being at the same level.

Please note that the South Korea territory is not available in Google maps for route calculations. If you want to track the trip on the go, you need to get familiar with other services like Naver.

This trip is subject to COVID-19 restrictions imposed by the country. As of end of 2023 South Korea is NOT open for tourism, and we hope it changes by fall of 2025. We'll be monitoring closely the situation and as it changes this event will be updated. Here is a page by the South Korea Travel Advisory from the US Department of State to check on status: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/south-korea-travel-advisory.html

Fall weather in the areas on our route is mild with day average temperatures 73-75 degree F (60 degree at night). See updates of weather forecasts at: https://bit.ly/3zXcu1W

Trip's Summary:

• 7 days/6nights trip for a small group of 6 explorers.
• The starting point is Seoul and ending point is Busan.
• Hotel accommodations in, preliminarily: Seoul, Sokcho, Samcheok, Gyeongju, and Busan.
• Level of activities: Easy to Intermediate.

Clothes and gear recommended:

• good hiking shoes,
• warm jacket for evenings, be ready to layer up,
• day backpack,
• hiking poles if you used to them,
• consider hydration bladder for hikes,
• sunglasses,
• sunscreen,
• hat,
• for personal protection: mask, carry-on sanitizer, gloves (by your choice.)

Tentative cost: $1300 (no later than 1 month before the start this cost can be updated, for no more than 10%, based on services price changes, like gas and others.) What is included:

What's included:

• 6-night stay in 2-people occupancy non-smoking room (two beds in room),
• Breakfasts in some hotels,
• Transportation by minivan covering approx. 900 mi of road-tripping total,
• Park entrance fees,
• Organized hikes in all days.

What is NOT included:

• Getting to Seoul, getting back from Busan,
• Meals, snacks, water.

Sunrise: 6:30am. Sunset: 6:20pm. Every day we want to start off from the hotel at 7 am or 7:30am, or 8am as the latest. If you are a night owl, please try to adjust yourself for an earlier getup during the trip - the purpose of it is to use more of daylight for activities.

Please sign up and feel free to contact the organizer with any questions!

If you see that the event is full/no tickets available, do not hesitate to contact the organizer about your interest as spots can become available.

Also, please check on the photo-albums from our past trips (in About section) and our future trips to U.S. National Parks and National Parks in Europe and Asia for 2024-2025. Thanks!

ATTN. There will be a Zoom meeting on this trip and a WhatsApp group chat will be formed for the group to communicate and prepare for the trip. Please be available to connect by WhatsApp (provide the organizer with your WhatsApp contact info to be included in the chat.) Regular messaging will not work out for this trip, sorry.

ATTN. The $10 payment through Eventbrite is for reserving a spot in this small group event (it counts in toward the whole payment for the trip.) After you reserved your spot, you will be contacted by the organizer about a Zoom meeting with the group and joining a WhatsApp group chat. Meeting your future groupmates in a Zoom and being able to communicate by WhatsApp are mandatory steps to become a part of this trip and make the full payment. If any of these cannot be done/mind changed, the $10 reservation payment will be refunded in full though the initial means of payment, minus fees paid to Eventbrite/third parties. The outline of the trip will be communicated during a Zoom meeting and in WhatsApp group chat. The detailed, hour-by-hour, itinerary will be provided to the confirmed participants of the trip.

Also check out other Trips & Adventurous Activities in Seoul.