Seven Days in South Korea: Seoul, Jeju and Busan Without Rushing
Palaces in the morning, night markets after dark, a volcanic island an hour away. A week-long Korea itinerary with the visa and transport details spelled out.
Seven Days in South Korea
Korea is the East Asian country that converts people fastest. Part of it is Seoul itself — a 14th-century palace and a neon shopping street sit twenty minutes apart on the metro, and neither feels like a museum piece. Part of it is how easy the practicalities are: near-total card acceptance, a metro that shames most of the world, and food that Indian palates take to immediately.
Here is a week that works, plus the details that decide whether it goes smoothly.
The seven-day shape
Day 1 — Seoul, the old city. Land at Incheon and take the AREX into town. Rent a hanbok near Gyeongbokgung — it waives the palace entry fee and it is the best photo hour of the trip. Then Bukchon Hanok Village's lanes and Insadong for tea and paper shops.
Day 2 — Markets and the skyline. Gwangjang Market for bindaetteok and mayak gimbap, Cheonggyecheon stream, then N Seoul Tower on Namsan for sunset. Myeongdong after dark for street food and skincare.
Day 3 — The DMZ. A half-day tour to the Demilitarized Zone and the Third Infiltration Tunnel. It is sobering, well run, and unlike anything else you will do. Carry your passport. Afternoon free for Gangnam or Dongdaemun; evening in Hongdae for the buskers.
Day 4 — Nami Island or Everland. The tree-lined avenue from a hundred Korean dramas, plus Petite France and the Garden of Morning Calm — or the theme park, if children are along.
Day 5 — Fly to Jeju. An hour from Gimpo. Seongsan Ilchulbong ("Sunrise Peak") in the late light, Manjanggul lava tube, and a first night on the coast.
Day 6 — Jeju's coast. The Jusangjeolli basalt cliffs, Cheonjiyeon waterfall, a stretch of an Olle coastal trail, and a tangerine farm in season. Watch for the haenyeo, the free-diving women who still harvest shellfish by hand.
Day 7 — Back to Seoul, then home. Morning flight, last shopping in Myeongdong, and the express to Incheon.
Swapping Busan in: if you would rather have beaches and seafood than an island, replace days 5 and 6 with a KTX to Busan — under three hours — for Haeundae beach, Gamcheon Culture Village's painted hillside, Jagalchi fish market and the cliffside Haedong Yonggungsa temple.
The visa is the part to start early
Indian nationals need a visa for South Korea, applied for through the Korea Visa Application Centre. A tourist file usually needs:
- Passport valid six months beyond travel
- A day-by-day itinerary with confirmed flights and hotels
- Six months of bank statements
- Income tax returns for the last two or three years
- Employment or business proof
There are also group tour and multiple-entry categories that can be faster depending on your profile. Start four to six weeks ahead of travel, and expect the itinerary to be read properly — a vague one generates queries.
Requirements change. Confirm the current position before you commit money; our visa desk does that in writing on every Korea booking.
Transport: three things to set up
- T-money card. Buy one at any convenience store on arrival. It works on the Seoul metro, buses, most taxis and in convenience stores. Tap in and tap out on buses.
- KTX for Busan. Book ahead for weekends. Seoul to Busan runs under three hours and beats flying once you count airport time.
- Jeju needs a flight. There is no ferry worth taking as a tourist. Gimpo–Jeju is one of the busiest air routes on earth, so seats are plentiful and cheap.
Taxis in Seoul are inexpensive and easy — use Kakao T rather than hailing, since drivers often do not read Latin-script addresses.
Eating in Korea as an Indian traveller
Korean food travels well with Indian palates: chilli, garlic, fermentation and a lot of vegetables.
Easy wins: bibimbap (ask for it without meat and without egg if you need), japchae glass noodles, kimchi jjigae made with a vegetable base, tteokbokki, hotteok from a street cart, and Korean temple cuisine if you can book it.
Say this: gogi ppaego juseyo — "please leave out the meat". Note that fish sauce and anchovy broth are common even in vegetable dishes, so add myeolchi-yuksu-do ppaego juseyo if that matters to you.
Fallback: Itaewon has a solid cluster of Indian restaurants, and there is at least one in most Seoul districts.
What it costs
Our Korea packages start at ₹1,49,999 per person for seven days including flights, hotels, transfers and sightseeing. Direct Delhi–Incheon flying time is around six hours forty-five minutes, which makes it one of the shorter long-haul options from India.
Day to day, Korea sits below Japan and above Southeast Asia. Street food and metro fares are cheap; hotels in central Seoul and anything on Jeju in peak season are not.
When to go
- April — cherry blossom, roughly the first week in Seoul, a week earlier in Busan and Jeju. Short window, big crowds, extremely pretty.
- May–June — warm, green, comfortable, and much better value than April.
- July–August — humid, with a monsoon spell in July. Beach season on Jeju and in Busan.
- September–November — the most reliable weather of the year and the best foliage in late October. Our pick.
- December–February — cold and dry, ski season in Gangwon, and Seoul under winter lights. Bring proper cold-weather clothing; it gets well below freezing.
Small things worth knowing
- No tipping. It is genuinely not expected anywhere, including taxis and restaurants.
- Two hands. Give and receive money, cards and gifts with both hands, or with the right hand supported at the wrist.
- Shoes off in guesthouses, temples and many traditional restaurants.
- Papago, not the general translation apps. It handles Korean far better.
- Convenience stores are a meal option, not a last resort — CU and GS25 do proper hot food.
- Book palace visits for a weekday. Weekends at Gyeongbokgung are busy enough to change the experience.
The short version
Give Seoul four nights, add Jeju for landscape or Busan for beaches, start the visa file early, and travel in April or October if you can choose. Korea repays the small amount of admin it asks for.
See our South Korea packages or send us your dates and we will send back a costed itinerary with the visa checklist attached.
