“I really wanted to travel!” That’s all what I have on my mind whenever I hear about Korea — from famous drama, thousand filming locations, mix of old and modern culture, perfect sceneries, hiking during Autumn, Winter Sonata, chasing Cherry Blossom and name it! I do love to visit Korea! And ever since I was a child, I really wanted to have a reward vacation for me and for my family. And voila! Dreams do come true! I’ve been travelling to Korea for five times already and I make sure I have different itinerary and new travel destination for each visits. Here’s one of the cheapest travel that I had during Spring 2018. With a more or less 20,000 php budget in a row, I just explored Jeju Island and various hot spots in Seoul in 6 days!
April 2 – Arrival in Incheon Airport with a cheap Cebupacific roundtrip ticket. Check in at my first hotel at K-Incheon Airport. Nearest Station: Unseo station
April 3 – Check out and proceed to Gimpo airport. Domestic flight and travel from Gimpo Airport to Jeju International Airport using my JejuAir promo roundtrip ticket. Upon arrival, check in at my second hotel at Hotel Oakra (20 minutes from the airport). Explore mainland of Jeju Island using Klook’s one day hop in and off bus card. You can also plan your itinerary ahead of time by checking the Bus Routes and Time table using below: http://www.jejugoldenbus.com/en/
April 4 – Explore more of Jeju Island. Since the unlimited one day bus card only covers the Jeju mainland, it is also a nice experience to get out of the mainland and spend more time in South, East and West areas of the island. Here’s what I visited on the Western side of the island: Hyupjae Beach, Hallim Park, O’sulloc Green tea, Mt. Sanbang, Chonjeyeon Waterfalls
More sceneries in Jeju Island. To all nature lovers out there, Jeju Island is the best place to be!
April 5 – Back to Seoul. Travel from Jeju Island to mainland Seoul and check in at my third hotel at Guesthouse Myeongdong. (Nearest Station: Myeongdong Station) Explore Myeongdong street market and visit Namsan Seoul tower. If you wish to visit some night market aside from Myeongdong, there are other options to visit like the 6 night market or the Bamdokkaebi Night Market which are only open from April to October. You may refer to the 2019 information on location and schedule: https://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/AKR/FU_EN_15.jsp?cid=2593293
April 6 – Visit Seokchon lake Cherry blossom festival. (Nearest Station: Jamsil Station). You also have option to visit Lotte World Theme Park (one of the biggest theme park in Korea) and Seoul Sky Observatory at Lotte World Tower (the fifth tallest building in the world as of this writing). These two spots are all walking distance to Seokchon lake. From Seokchon Lake, proceed to Korean Folk village (Nearest Station: Jonggak Station). If you love historical dramas, this is the perfect place for you! You can see typical Korean houses during the Joseon period. You can also experience some folk shows and folk dancing inside the village. Tips: Just show your Jejuair membership and they will give you a special discount rate. Also see below complete guide on how to go to Korean Folk Village: https://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/ATR/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=264121
April 7 – Experience a different kind of theater show. If you like to experience some live acts with a mix of acrobatic stunts, you have to see “Jump Show”. The location is walking distance from Myeongdong Street market and Myeongdong Cathedral. (Tip: You can download and use Naver Map App. This app is Korea’s own version of Google map but I preferred to use Naver Map since most of the transportation and location in Korea is more accurate compared to Google map.) From Jump Show theather, proceed to Namdaemun market for some cheap street foods and shopping. One of my favorite street food in Namdaemun is the “hotteok” or Korean pancake. It is very heavy but satisfying since there is chapchae inside the pancake. And from Namdaemun, proceed to Yeouido Park for more Cherry Blossom experience at night.
If you also want to have other activity aside from watching theater, why not join some Hallyu Activities or Korean culture experience for foreigners? From Hallyu cooking class, MBC TV station tour, e-stadium tour or be it like a Korean celebrities and attend the Hallyu star make-up classes and visit your favorite Kpop stars at SM Town Musem Tour. Sounds good right? And the good news is all of the classes are free except for the cooking class with a minimal fee. All you need to do is to check out the schedule and register four weeks before the class. You may refer for the 2019 list of Hallyu Activities and upcoming schedules here: http://english.visitseoul.net/hallyu/Hallyu-Activities-Program?indexSn=88§ionSn=840#
Return to Manila.
Since I have remaining load on my T-card, I do have options to use it on my next return to Seoul and also have an option to refund all the remaining load. But T-card is very useful in Seoul and Jeju Island (and all other parts of Korea) since we can conveniently use it in all means of transportation like train, bus and taxi. I also use my T-card in paying some of my food and drinks in major convenient stores in Korea like 7-eleven. T-card has also discounts in some tourist entrance too. Please refer here for the complete guide: https://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/TRP/TP_ENG_8_1_1.jsp
Also, here’s the summary of my expenses:
Day 1: Cebupac Airfare – 4,800; Wifi Rental – 696; Hotel – 1,200; T-card Reload for 6 days – 30,000 won. Total – 8,060 php
Day 2: Jejuair – 2,500; Hotel – 1,000 x 2 days; Jeju bus card – 500 pesos. Total – 5,000 php
Day 3: Klook’s West Jeju Tour – 3,000 pesos. Total – 3,000 php (Just use Klook’s discount coupon and you will enjoy 15-20% off just do a little research before your travel date)
Day 4: Hotel in Myeongdong – 1000 x 3 nights. Total – 3,000 php (Tips: If you booked via Agoda, there is also additional discount of 5-10% off and you may also use each booking as Gift Cash which can be used as Cash discount on your next booking!)
Day 5: Seokchon lake – Free; Korean folk village – 10,000 won. Total – 454.72 php
Day 6: Jump Show ticket – 1,000 php; Yeouido Park – Free; Total – 1,000 php
Overall Total is 20,514.72 PHP. (assuming 1 php = .0044 won)
Note: Everyone has options to cut their budget in expensive foods and luxury shopping. Just always take note that the most important thing is to enjoy the trip without spending much! I also have special trips in provinces and cities in Jeolla-do and Gangwon-do and spend a lot of time in hiking during Autumn — my most favorite season in Korea. Kindly stay tuned for my next TravelDiaries! 😊
**PS: If you have request, questions or suggestions, please feel free to drop an email at mytraveldiaries101@gmail.com or you may send any comments below. I’ll be happy to assist and answer as much as I can. 😊
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