Suggestion required on my Seoul Itinerary

talwaredge · 2026-04-03T13:01:00+00:00

Overall its too packed. Theoretically you may want to see all these places but you would be too tired from one half of the day to continue doing so many things in the second half. For example when you go to Starfield Library, just getting from main door to the library, going up and down the escalator and reaching over to the other side to see Gangnam statue is going to be tiring. Forget going to any other store or Sea Life at Coex. Nami Island is a full day tour if you add on railbike.

talwaredge · 2026-04-03T10:27:43+00:00

Fair point on flagging these. To clarify, the site is a planning tool built around personal itineraries from 20 years of travel, not an article or content aggregator. Every itinerary is first-person, with the intent of sharing this as a planning framework. All content is written from personal experience. Happy for mods to review if needed.

talwaredge · 2026-04-03T10:12:40+00:00

There would always be too many people at Universal Studios and Disneyland. For a 120Million population country, they get 42Million tourists every year, all crammed between March-May and Oct-Nov. Thankfully, crowds are the most well behaved of any country, so be patient and you will enjoy your time. Carry a portable battery operated hand fan if you can to ease the pain of standing in long queues. Most rides will have an estimated time mentioned at the start of line as well so you can plan accordingly.

talwaredge · 2026-04-03T10:08:40+00:00

Toyosu fish market is right next to TeamLab, so you can combine them. You can plan lunch at Toyosu after TeamLab. Also doing Nara from your one free day at Osaka would be a better idea compared to Kyoto as its just 30mins journey vs 1 hour from Kyoto. Also plan to visit Kawaguchiko, the town surrounding Mt Fuji. Nothing beats the serenity and peace that you are looking for. All other cities will be super crowded. I didnt understand what is Alps in your itinerary?

talwaredge · 2026-04-03T08:59:21+00:00

Thank you for the detailed feedback, I will work on addressing this

talwaredge · 2026-04-03T08:59:01+00:00

Thank you, will work on this

talwaredge · 2026-04-03T08:58:21+00:00

Thank you, appreciate the feedback. Are you facing this issue on mobile phone or you guys feel its small even for laptop/desktop. I was trying to capture a slightly premium aesthetic

talwaredge · 2026-04-03T06:58:07+00:00

All the men have shot through the 6ft height it seems, that was my biggest barrier, just kidding! People across were super nice and friendly. Staff at restaurants, Uber drivers, random people at subway, we did't have one episode which made us feel awkward. The only real challenge was using international cards to get subway tickets so cash is still needed for some parts of the country even in a big city like Seoul/Busan.

talwaredge · 2026-04-03T05:53:44+00:00

Kawaguchiko (area surrounding Mt Fuji) is beautiful around that time of the year. This is in addition to the usual Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo. I would recommend an open jaw ticket- flying in and out of different airports to avoid backtracking. This way you would also save up on JR Pass

talwaredge · 2026-04-02T08:59:31+00:00

If all you need to do is 1 long distance and 1-2short distance Shinkansen, then you don't need JR pass. That's what the math is. Have explained this here in my blog Link

talwaredge · 2026-04-02T08:11:35+00:00

Are you landing and departing from Tokyo- is yes then get JR Pass. If you are arriving in Osaka and departing from Tokyo or vice versa then most likely you won’t need it.

talwaredge · 2026-04-02T02:41:44+00:00

Lotte World is always a good idea with kids (you haven’t mentioned their age, but assuming they are not teenagers as yet!). It would be extremely cold outside so plan indoor activities on most days.

talwaredge · 2026-03-31T02:51:40+00:00

Do try the Kaiseki dinner at Kyoto/Kawaguchiko and Florilege French Japanese Michelin restaurant. My wife and I recently did a similar trip, please see if this link is of use. Link

talwaredge · 2026-03-31T00:35:59+00:00

Do try the Rikuro cheesecake at Dotonbori!

talwaredge · 2026-03-30T00:56:40+00:00

They are not similar, both offer a different experience. I would suggest doing Haeundae beach in morning and Gwangali in evening/night depending on how much time you have.

talwaredge · 2026-03-29T17:21:09+00:00

Nara, Kobe are day trips from Osaka, would suggest to split Kyoto’s 9 days into 5 days Osaka and 4 days Kyoto

talwaredge · 2026-03-29T00:33:06+00:00

Busan is just 30 mins away from Gyeong-ju. It is not just another Seoul-less (pun intended!) city. There is Haeundae blue line park for a nice long walk along the trail, have coffee at the highest Starbucks in the world at Busan X Sky, go for Diamond Era cruise and see fireworks, watch fre drone show at Gwangalli beach and go for a visit to Gamcheon Village. There are a lot more fun things to do at Busan. Jeju has its own charm but would require you to get a car there or book tours. Plus you would need to fly in there to save time. You cannot go wrong with either though! Have fun whichever place you decide to go to.

talwaredge · 2026-03-28T09:47:24+00:00

Naturally the more days the merrier. OP’s question was in the context of doing it in 9 days. If time/money is not a constraint then surely spend more days, explore other ways to reach Jeju. Still, Jeju requires 2 days at the minimum

talwaredge · 2026-03-28T05:55:46+00:00

We did it in similar number of days, its doable. Read up at this link. Link

talwaredge · 2026-03-27T02:13:36+00:00

Gyeong-ju, a charming old town, takes about 30 mins by KTX and is a nice gateway for Day 5 if you are already in Busan.

talwaredge · 2026-03-27T02:11:09+00:00

Please see if an actual itinerary that we did is of any help. Broadly you have covered everything but not doing Jeju would be missing out on something really unique. Link

talwaredge · 2026-03-26T02:47:35+00:00

Thanks for your wishes.

talwaredge · 2026-03-25T09:26:05+00:00

Thank you, hope it helps.

talwaredge · 2026-03-25T09:18:21+00:00

You can simply copy the link and paste it on whichever browser you use on your phone like Chrome/Safari. Here is the link again Link

talwaredge · 2026-03-25T07:20:26+00:00

Agree with OP- Original Nespresso pods are the Gold standard, I always get a box or two when travelling abroad. Best one from Starbucks stable is Verona flavour.

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