South Korea: Seoul: Itinerary for First-time Visitors and Beyond

Welcome traveler!  From my learning and experience I hope the tips and guides below will also help you plan and enjoy your upcoming travel in South Korea!

Go to the following topics:
How to Apply for Visa: Guide and Tips for South Korea Trip
Rules in South Korea Embassy (Taguig, Philippines)
When is the best time to go in Seoul in terms of weather?
How to find cheap flights to Incheon (Seoul) and Busan
Encounter with the Immigration Officer
Airport Transfer: What to do on late arrivals or delayed flights?
Airport Transfer: How to reach Incheon Airport with early flights?
What transportation card to use?

Accommodation: Where to stay in Seoul?
Itinerary: Places to go, Things to see, What to do in Seoul?

Budget Travel: How much does it cost to travel to South Korea
Where and how to get Korean Won?

Where are the markets and where can I go shopping?
What application or interactive map to use for locating a place and getting directions in Seoul?
How hard it is for someone who doesn't speak Korean to make their way around the country?
More Tips on traveling around the city
How to stay connected while in Seoul?
Where to get discount coupons in Korea?

More Sample Itineraries for South Korea [for frequent flyers]

Where do you get your travel information?

Where do you get your travel information?  What are your sources of information when it comes to planning a trip or making your next itinerary.

For the veterans, boomers, or Gen-Xers, they say or prefer printed copies.  But for Xennials, Millennials or modernized adults obviously internet is their main source of information.

Books

Name	Link	Description
Lonely Planet	lonelyplanet.com	Largest travel guide book publisher in the world [Wiki].  Plan and book your perfect trip with expert advice, travel tips, destination information and inspiration from Lonely Planet.
Fodors Travel Guide	fodors.com	A publisher of English language travel and tourism information and the first relatively professional producer of travel guidebooks. [Wiki]
Rough Guides	roughguides.com	British travel guidebook and reference publisher [Wiki] Find a destination, look for inspiration, read features and get great travel advice, from Rough Guides.
DK Eyewitness Travel Guides	traveldk.com	Browse DK's award-winning travel content on a range of top travel destinations. Discover all you need to know to plan your next trip.

Where to Stay? How to choose your hotel or budget guesthouse?

Do you often ask and wonder what is the recommended accommodation to stay in a foreign land? Are you often looking for budget hotels, cheap guesthouses or just simply where to stay?  In travelling anywhere else in the world, planning and researching always go hand in hand - so make sure to enjoy such activity for you to gear up and to know more on what to expect and not on your upcoming journey.

What is an accommodation for you?  Is it something just to sleep-in and to care about nothing?  Are you the type who can sleep anywhere in the middle of the road? Or do you consider it an escape from the busy city that you consider as a temporary humble abode?  Do you consider it as a temporary resting place? 

Are you a planner, who has the time to do your research?  Or you go your way unplanned and just do all the whining after the trip?  Remember, you'll spend money and effort for this temporary escape so make sure to consider small things that will greatly affect your behavior in your trip. 

Where to start your hunting activity?  Browse on the features and offers of agoda, booking, expedia, hotels, trivago, etc. 

Japan: Nagoya and Toyota: 4 days Autumn Itinerary

Weather
Travel Date: Nov 14-17, 2015
Temperature: Minimum at 11.6 Celsius, Maximum at 17.4 Celsius; Rained for 3 out of 4 days stay in the city.
http://en.tutiempo.net/climate/11-2015/ws-476360.html

Bearable cold temperature (coming from a tropical country).  No need for fleece yet, you can have double shirt and leather for layering.

2015 Feb: Singapore: Itinerary

2015 Feb: Singapore: Itinerary

Travel Date 
Feb 13-16, 2015 (near Chinese New Year celebration)

Accommodation: Where to stay in Singapore?

Fragrance Hotel - Bugis 
Location: 33 Middle Road Singapore 188942 
Contacts: +65 6336 9888, web@fragrancehotel.com

Trip Report

Itinerary: Places to go, Things to see, What to do in Singapore?

2012 Nov: Arrival at Kansai

I started preparing for this Japan trip (Nov 2012) last April 2012 (after my Langkawi-Singapore fun time).  I read Travelpack’s Osaka and Tuttle’s Japanese for Travelers, I studied Osaka and Kyoto maps – and initially, I must say that their train system will definitely be a challenge for me.

Flight 5J-828, I’m definitely going to Osaka, “Japan - the most awaited destination, before I go out of Asia”.  It took around 3.5 hours before we reach Kansai International Airport (IATA: KIX).  Good that there is a connecting bridge to the terminal building and we did not walk at tarmac area at 6 degrees Celsius ground temperature.  Just follow the arrival signs and you will still take a monorail going to the Immigration section.  Wait for your turn, don’t be too agitated, and do not submit any necessary documents.  You just need to show the arrival form and the officer will get your photo and finger prints.  

It’s my first time to see arrival stamps which are actually stickers with bar codes; they will normally staple the departure card on your passport so you would not lose it.

2011 November: South Korea: Korea Pass

Surprise Event for Travelers to Korea!

Korea Tourism Organization is giving away 3,000 Korea Pass cards on a first-come, first-served basis to international visitors arriving in Korea between November 7th and December 15th, 2011.
The Korea Pass cards, each worth 20,000 won, can be used anywhere except for transportation and at Shinsegae and Hyundai Department Stores, E-Mart and Homeplus. [Reference]

2011 March: Boracay Island, Philippines: Arrival at Caticlan

Travel Date: March 16, 2011 Destination: Caticlan, Malay, Aklan October 2010, I bought my 750php worth of Manila-Caticlan-Kalibo-Manila round trip at Cebu Pacific. Upon the announcement of boarding time, we get in to a bus – hmm, that was unusual! We waited for around 30 mins in tarmac before getting into a propeller plane – I was thinking that if it is like only one bus getting into the plane, then it is like a bus added with wings. One foreigner said, “I though we are riding a plane going to Boracay, how come we are riding a bus”. Since, the plane already stayed in open air for a long time, it was too hot when we get in and until we get off. Since it was a propeller jet, they do limit the weight of check-in baggage to only 10 kilos. Also, each of the passengers is required to pass a weight check. Upon our landing, it was already windy – our plane bounced twice, had a very hard break that you really need to tighten your seat belt, to hold on to your arm rest and push the seat in front of you, and finally a strong right turn going to the parking area. Before getting out of the Airport Gate, you need to fill up an arrival form – name, flight details, and accommodation. The transfer guides are near the gate waiting for you and you just need to look for your name on which agency you booked. To be honest, I do not know the procedure when you prefer to commute. The South West Transport helped us carry our bags going to the boat and upon transfer to a multi-cab. We stayed at Boracay Holiday Resort.

Boracay Holiday Resort Station 2, Corner Main Rd. & Tirol Rd., Manggayad, Balabag, Boracay Island Malay, Aklan Philippines http://www.boracayholidayresort.com/

The standard room costs 3000php, and we also take the advantage of getting their Caticlan-Boracay-Kalibo transfer. The room is clean and neat, television are with good cable channels, refrigerator is available, there are hangers on the cabinet, towels and toiletries (shampoo, condition and soap) are provided. Your rooms will be cleaned upon request. Also, no slippers and hair dryer are provided. Wifi connection on your rooms are with corresponding fees.

Breakfast is free on our stay. A breakfast slip is required to be checked by the staff. Food ranges from bread, hot cakes, eggs, fish, pork, ham, cereals and plain rice. Available drinks are coffee, fresh milk, juice and water.

Wifi is available on the lobby and pool area. The pool is open from 8am-11pm. They do clean the pool everyday.

After we settled our things, we slept for a while and finally get out for our first night at Bora. We had dinner at Manana – a Mexican themed restaurant. Walls are painted in vibrant orange. Table napkins are in rainbow sheets, and service is fast and great. We ordered for a beef taco, with Mexican rice and few simple side dishes.

While walking, this corner caught my attention. Near the Lonely Planet store, there is a group of people painting shirts with your name. They were really artistic and talented – totally amazing!

2006 July: Singapore: Day 3: Orchard Road

2006 July: Singapore: Day 3

On our last day, we went on shopping malls (Tang City, Ngee An, Paragon, Wisma, Lucky Plaza, Takashimaya) along Orchard Road to buy gadgets (Sim Lim), clothes, shoes and pasalubongs.



Then after being so tired on shopping, we headed back to our condo and ate our dinner. At almost 9 or 10pm, we go to the Singapore Night Safari.



We came back to the condo by almost midnight. We prepare our luggage, had a nap and go straight to the airport for our 7am flight back to Manila. We were just near the the check-in entrance when our flight was tagged with 'last call' in the display screen, thus we run to reach the last gate which is for Jet Star Asia flights.

Thanks to my sister for this wonderful trip.

Full PDF copy of the SINGAPORE-KL itinerary version July-2006, click here.