Culinary Korea

Day 1-3

Seoul

Seoul is starting to rival New York with its reputation as the city that never sleeps – and with so much amazing food and drink on offer, it’s easy to see why. There’s Gwangjang market, the best place to sample the best of the city’s street food, micro-breweries serving craft beer akin to Brooklyn’s backstreets in Seongsu (read our guide to the best breweries in South Korea), and a sprawling cafe culture that means you’ll never have to search hard for your next caffeine-fix.

You’ll spend three days getting under the skin of Korea’s capital, with plenty of time for the classic sights – including Gyeongbok palace, Namsan tower, Bukchon’s hanok village, and the temple of Jogyesa in Insadong.

Highlights

Fill your belly as soon as you land by jumping straight into a feast of KBBQ and chimaek (fried chicken and beer)

Dive into the craft beer scene in Seongsu, the ‘Brooklyn of Seoul’, or duck into several of the quirky cafes spread across the city

Explore the famous sights – from the grand Gyeongbok palace to Bukchon’s traditional hanok village

Three friends enjoying Korean street food

Day 4

Jeonju

Koreans refer to Jeonju as the nation’s culinary capital for a reason – and during your day here, you’ll get to sample a whole host of it. There’s even a local saying extolling the deliciousness of Jeonju’s food scene: “eat once in Jeonju and be spoiled for life”. So, consider yourself duly warned!

While here, you’ll get a chance to wolf down the local take on bibimbap – a rice bowl quite like no other – and work your way through expertly prepared side dishes, as well as exploring the olde-worlde cafes and restaurants that you’ll find clustered in the city’s Hanok Village, complete with charming teahouses set in traditional wooden structures.

Highlights

Visit Korea’s renowned city of gastronomy

Taste the famous bibimbap rice bowl – a true local speciality

Practice clinking cups and cheersing over fizzy rice wine in Makgeolli alley - geonbae!

Day 5-6

Yeosu

With its lively fish market and maritime cable car, Yeosu gives you a taste of what life’s like in a Korean port-city – complete with some of the tastiest (and spiciest) seafood soups and deep-fried fish you’ll find. The best place to take in the sights, smells, and sounds of Yeosu is Nagman night market, where you’ll find streets of food stalls, complete with long queues of hungry locals, lit up like tiny gems right along the seafront. Sip soju while gazing out at the sea or watching street performances pop up on every corner. While here, you’ll also get your fill of zen at the peaceful Seonamsa temple, and visit a well-preserved historic walled town, right out in the countryside.

Highlights

Browse rows of red pocha tents serving spicy seafood soups at Nangman night market

Breathe in the crisp mountain air, surrounded by acres of wild tea at Seonamsa temple

Dive deep into local culture with a visit to Naganeupseong folk village

Day 7-9

Jeju Island

Jeju Island, with its balmy climate, juicy tangerines and beautiful beaches is the nation’s top holiday spot – with flights from Seoul touching down as often as every five minutes. At its heart, it’s an adventure island – boasting Korea’s highest mountain, walls of volcanic rock, plunging lava caves, and its own version of Giant’s Causeway.

Start with a taste of fruit farm life, picking and tasting the island’s famous tangerines. Then, you’ll learn all about Jeju’s most fascinating residents – the haeyno, a generations-old community of female free-divers, sea women who’ve been diving into deep waters with their bitchang spear to harvest abalone, octopus, and sea urchins for decades.

Tree-lined pathway through ancient gateway past paper lanterns

Highlights

Get a taste of the island’s famous tangerines after picking them yourself

Taste the spoils of the sea that the free-diving haeyno women have been collecting for generations

Rent a car to explore Jeju’s more adventurous side – from volcanoes to beaches, art galleries and more

Tangerine trees in Jeju Island on sunny day

Day 10-11

Busan

Coastal Busan, with its jumble of steep alleyways crammed with tiny shops and cafes, and thriving modern sea-front strip, is known as a smaller version of Seoul – but with beautiful beaches thrown in. At Jagalchi fish market you’ll find restaurants selling the freshest catch of the day – from nakji octopus tentacles to spicy maeun-tang fish soup – which you can enjoy while watching the market activities unfold. It’s here that you’ll also take part in a cooking class: with a local Busan resident as your teacher, you’ll learn how to craft some of Korea’s most traditional dishes, perfecting your skills so that you can recreate the dishes back home. What better souvenir could there be?

Highlights

Learn how to make the tastiest typical Korean dishes from a local Busan resident – complete with recipes for you to recreate at home

Sample sashimi at Jagalchi, the country’s most famous fish market

Visit the colourful Gamcheon cultural village

Ingredients prepared ready for cookery class in Busan

Day 12

Seoul

For your last day, you’ll whizz back to the capital. As well as any last-minute sight-seeing or souvenir shopping, you’ll also indulge in one final feast: a traditional Korean court course menu. We won’t tell you exactly how many courses are involved, but as a clue, it’s more than 10...