The whole country by train and ferry in eleven days — a capital that never stops, a Buddhist mountain temple you can sleep in, the old capital at Gyeongju, and a volcanic island at the end of the line.
Seoul, palaces
Gyeongbokgung and the Bukchon hanok quarter behind it. Rent a hanbok if you want free palace entry and a hundred photographs taken of you.
Seoul, the modern half
The DMZ tour is a half-day and is genuinely strange. Otherwise: Dongdaemun, Gwangjang market for bindaetteok, and Namsan after dark.
To Andong
East by train to Confucian country. Hahoe folk village is a UNESCO site where people still live, and the mask dance is a satire on the aristocracy that has been performed for six hundred years.
Temple stay
A night at a mountain temple — Bongjeongsa near Andong or Golgulsa further south. Vegetarian meals in silence, a 4am wake-up, and 108 prostrations if you choose them.
Gyeongju
Capital of the Silla kingdom for a thousand years. Royal tombs sit as grass hills in the middle of the town, and Cheomseongdae is the oldest surviving observatory in East Asia.
Bulguksa and Seokguram
The temple and the grotto Buddha above it, both eighth century. Go early; both are on every school trip in the country.
To Busan
South to the port city. Jagalchi fish market in the morning, Gamcheon culture village on the hillside, and Haeundae for the evening.
Busan
Beomeosa temple on the mountain behind the city, then a bathhouse. Korea takes public bathing seriously and it is the correct end to a walking day.
To Jeju
Ferry or a short flight. Jeju is volcanic, subtropical and culturally its own place — the dialect is barely intelligible to mainlanders.
Hallasan
The highest mountain in South Korea, 1,947 m, up and down in a long day on a well-made trail. Gates close early — check the turnaround times before starting.
Jeju coast
Seongsan Ilchulbong at sunrise, the lava tubes, and the haenyeo — the women who free-dive for shellfish into their seventies, and whose numbers are falling every year.
Good to know
A KR Pass is worth it only if you are moving nearly every day; individual KTX tickets are cheap enough otherwise. Buy a T-money card at any convenience store for buses, metro and taxis nationwide. Temple stays are booked online in English through the official programme and fill up in autumn. Spring (April–May) and autumn (September–October) are the seasons; the summer monsoon is hot and wet, and January is genuinely cold.
Shorter or longer?
A full-day JSA tour rather than the standard half-day, booked weeks ahead and subject to cancellation without notice.
Swap the island for Jeonju and the south-west — hanok village, the best food in the country by broad agreement, and far fewer visitors.