South Korea 2026
Flight from Washington, DC
My partner and I had a direct, 14+ hour flight with Korean Air. 2nd to last row in economy, 2 seats only, whole row to ourselves.
Service and food: good. First meal was their famous bibimbap (yummy). Snack was a hot pocket (fine). Second meal was beef, mushroom, and rice (yummy). Plentiful water and pineapple juice.
Temperature: warm to hot, ok to bad. No self-controllable air vent. Made sleeping extra difficult. Learned Korean Air is infamous for this. Wish I brought a fan and wore shorts.
Economy seat space: great. Very spacious, recline was good.
In-flight entertainment: good. IMO United is slightly better but I'm not complaining.
ICN customs and immigration: good. We were out in maybe 20-30 min, including waiting for my checked bag. No K-ETA needed for U.S. passport holders. Still needed to fill out Arrival card (at airport).
As I remembered from my last (much shorter) time in Korea, getting from ICN airport to Seoul is logistically easy but long. Lots of public transportation options but ICN is far from Seoul city center. We got to our hotel in Gwangwhamun in 1.5 hours. Exhausted.
We were so tired that we settled for having a quick and casual meal at the hotel restaurant - we otherwise have never eaten at our hotel's restaurant except for complimentary breakfast.
Day 2: Nandaemun Market tour & N Seoul Tower
The tour was ok. We tried 7 different street foods. We mainly liked the noodles (one hand cut and hot, other cold and made of potato starch with egg) we had at one of the crowded, busy stalls served by a couple older women and surrounded by other older women. 😆 We also had hoettok (pretty good), tteokbokki (eh), Korean potato / onion / pork pancake (good but greasy), spicy fishcake with soy sauce (eh), and bibimbap (ok; we've had better). The guide also showed us around several flea market style shops where folks buy fresh or artificial flower, Korean souvenirs, army-themed clothes, kitchenware, furniture, bedding, and more. Felt very much like New York Chinatown. At the end she showed us Namdaemon Gate and shared a bottle of makgeolli.
The guide was very sweet, took pics of us, and generously shared with us recommendations for other things (food, Jeju sights, skincare products, more) to see via Naver Map lists.
She recommended we hike to N Seoul Tower next, and we did – but we underestimated the climb! We came across a free City Wall Museum on the way. We could've taken a cable car but anyway it was crowded. The top was beautiful and full of people enjoying the scenery and little shops. There is a tradition for couples to buy "love" locks too, but we opted not to.
We took a bus back to our hotel - it was an easy straight shot. We only had to wait a few min for it to come.
So far our bus experience here has been nice – buses are frequent and cheap and haven't been too crowded in the times we have used them so far.
Day 3: Private tour around Gwanghwamon, Insadong, Hanbok Village, Kilsangsa
Breakfast: oxtail soup from Imun Seolleongtang (https://naver.me/Go57Jhv7). Alright. Hidden local spot. Michelin guide??
Coffee: espresso from bitterbutter. Yummy!
Lunch: Suwang (https://share.google/RRoi9WS8VMKkWpJ0u). Good. Had clam ramyeon and soybean paste seafood soup with rice and banchan. Hidden local spot.
Dinner: SUPERPAN.
Day 4: Fly to Jeju Island, drive to Seogwipo
Breakfast: Coffee and salt bread from Mass Coffee. Anko butter pretzel scone from bitterbutter. Sandwiches from Jimmy John's. Everything's good. JJ's was a much needed break from Korean fermented food to fresh vegetables.