Korea Travel Guide

/ / / / / / /

If You Only Do One Thing in Seoul, Let It Be a Late Night Food Tour

Where: Seoul, Korea
May 22, 2013 at 11:30 AM | by | Comments (0)

No Seoul/jokes jokes this week, guys. We're just going to tell it like it is in celebration of American Airlines' new route to Seoul, South Korea, a city so hugely underrated and yet so majorly cool. It's a city that comes with the Jaunted seal of approval many times over and for the next several days we'll be explaining exactly why.

Bibimbap. Bulgogi. Tteokbokki. We're not going to sugarcoat things; Korean cuisine can be just as confusing as attempting to correctly pronouce the name of a dish. Now, that's no reason to spend every evening dining at Lotteria (Korea's version of McDonalds, complete with a ramen burger); in fact, all the etiquette and ingredients and ceremony of a hearty Korean meal means diving in head-first and, yes, tasting the kimchi.

For first timers to Seoul or those who need a refresher, we recommend joining an O'ngo Dining Tour. Depending on your tastes (literally), O'ngo will take you out for Korean BBQ, to nibble from street stall to street stall in bustling Myeongdong, or—what we booked—down the alleys and into the local favorites around Anguk after dark. This one tour gave us the confidence (and pronunciation help) to continue devouring only Korean cuisine for the next 7 nights of our stay. Best idea ever, really.

more ›

/ / / / / / / / / / / /

The City via 'Vine': Six Seconds in Seoul

Where: Seoul, Korea
May 20, 2013 at 5:35 PM | by | Comments (0)

No Seoul/jokes jokes this week, guys. We're just going to tell it like it is in celebration of American Airlines' new route to Seoul, South Korea, a city so hugely underrated and yet so majorly cool. It's a city that comes with the Jaunted seal of approval many times over and for the next several days we'll be explaining exactly why.

Instead of several boring paragraphs explaining our love for this mega metropolis, we're kicking off Seoul Week by just putting it all out there in visuals, or Vines.

Vine, a social video sharing app, is best deployed for capturing the tiniest moments in travel, those which would be easily lost in the static menagerie of Instagram. Below are six examples, all shot while we tooled around Seoul for 9 days of perfect late spring weather:

more ›

/ / / / / / / /

Foreign Grocery Friday: The Foot-Long Ice Cream Cones of Seoul, South Korea

Where: Seoul, Korea
May 17, 2013 at 4:55 PM | by | Comments (0)

When we travel, one of our favorite things to do is to pop into a local grocery store and check out the food products and candies we'd never find anywhere else. So we're trying out this new feature, Foreign Grocery Friday, where each week we'll feature some of our (and your) favorite overseas treats. Got a recommendation? Let us know!

Walk through the super popular shopping district of Myeungdong in Seoul, South Korea and you're bound to see them. Strolling young couples take a moment to put away their smartphones and focus on the most impressive street food south of the Cheonggyecheon: the 32cm ice cream cone.

Okay so it's not technically a grocery, but you wouldn't want to buy this at a supermarket anyway. Available in several basic flavors as well as a mix, the ice cream is served up by a few skilled workers who pull the soft serve from sun down until past midnight, depending on the strength of the crowds. The allure of the foot-high cone is simple: it's cheap, it's quick, it's cooling after a warm early summer day, it's a treat, and it's an ideal subject for photos posted to social media.

more ›

/ / / / / / / / /

Kind of a Big Deal: Onboard American Airlines' First Flight to Seoul, South Korea

Where: Seoul, Korea
May 14, 2013 at 1:41 PM | by | Comments (0)

If we were to tell you that American Airlines only just began flying to Seoul, you'd probably say "what, they weren't flying there already?!"

As crazy as it seems, it's the truth. Prior to May 9, any traveler wanting to fly American to Seoul would actually only get as far as Tokyo, where there'd be a connection to a Japan Airlines flight onward to Seoul-Incheon (ICN). Furthermore, this new route means some very nice competition for airlines to Korea and some fresh service enhancements from American (like the bibimbap!).

more ›

/ / / / / / / / /

Surprisingly Yummy Airline Meals: Korean Bibimbap on American Airlines

Where: Seoul, Korea
May 10, 2013 at 5:28 PM | by | Comments (0)

We have all had a terrible meal on a flight before. In fact, we have shown you some of the sadder trays slid in front of us. With this new series of amazing airline meals, we can revel in the airline culinary delights and give kudos to the airlines that got it right.

16 hours in the air is nothing to take lightly. That's three mealtimes, plus several naps, plus a movie or two and some general spacing-out-while-staring-at-clouds time. Thus, when it came to our nonstop in Business Class from Dallas/Ft. Worth to Seoul, South Korea yesterday on American Airlines, we knew we had plenty time to enjoy filling up on food.

AA 27 was actually the very first flight by AA to Seoul, a momentous occasion on which we'll go into deeper depth next week. Still, because it was an inaugural to South Korea, it would be the first time American has offered the Korean dish of Bibimbap on a flight. How could we pass it up?

While our seatmate tucked into his chicken order, the flight attendant presented us with a printed "How To" sheet on properly mixing the ingredients together, as bibimbap is actually rice with a plethora of colorful additions (carrot, zucchini, cucumber, shiitake, spinach, egg, tender beef bulgogi and pepper paste to taste). Even though this was an airline meal, presentation and quantity didn't suffer in the least.

more ›

/ / / / / /

So You're Heading to Seoul: How to Prepare for a Trip to South Korea

Where: Seoul, Korea
May 8, 2013 at 10:31 AM | by | Comments (0)


At Seoul's Gyeongbokgung Palace

Forget "Gangnam Style" for a moment and consider what influence the tiny country of South Korea has on the planet. Own anything by Samsung or LG? Ever tried Taekwondo or tasted Red Mango yogurt? These are all Korean contributions to the world. Finally more airlines are figuring out that Seoul is awesome enough to warrant nonstop flights—like American Airlines' nonstop from Dallas-Ft. Worth starting tomorrow (May 9).

If you're not scared off by North Korea's threats—and you shouldn't be because everything is progressing normal as pie in South Korea—and you're hopping a flight to ICN soon, then there are a few steps you can take to prepare for a trip to Seoul:

· Register with the State Department's STEP Program
STEP, or "Smart Traveler Enrollment Program," used to by the less jazzy title of "State Department Travel Registration," but its function is still the same—to make the US embassies to which you're traveling aware of your presence. Should there be a weather disaster, civil unrest, or other emergency occurrence, the embassy will have your contact information and know that you're likely in need of assistance along with other American in the country. In times of peace and sunny weather, the program occasionally sends an email with the latest travel alert news on the destination.

We actually register with STEP for any trip we take lasting over one week, or to any country with even the least bit of weirdness.

more ›

/ / / / / / / / / /

South Korea Does the Obvious and Names 'Gangnam Style' Singer New Tourism Ambassador

Where: Seoul, Korea
May 3, 2013 at 4:56 PM | by | Comments (0)

CNN reported earlier this week that Psy has been named South Korea's new tourism ambassador. To which we immediately thought: ummm...he wasn't that already? Who were they using for tourism advertising instead? Because apparently it wasn't the really popular guy whose music videos have been viewed by billions of people in the recent past. And while we're not experts at this sort of thing, it seems to us like maybe they should have been using the really popular guy whose music videos have been viewed by millions of people in the recent past.

It turns out there's an answer to that question. Since October 2012 the tourism ambassador of South Korea has been Kenny G. No punchline. We're just going to let that hang there with no comment. The face of South Korean tourism for the last 6 months? Kenny G.

more ›

/ / / / / / / / / /

5 Real Locations in Seoul from Psy's 'Gangnam Style' Music Video Sequel, 'Gentleman'

Where: Seoul, Korea
April 18, 2013 at 10:31 AM | by | Comments (0)

It's craxy to think that it's already been 9 months since the South Korean hit song "Gangnam Style" began its viral spread and climb from K-pop success to international movement. Just as crazy is the fact that the music video holds the record of being the first YouTube video to be viewed over 1 billion times.

Last week, Psy released the sequel song and video to Gangnam Style, called it simply "Gentleman." To say it was highly anticipated would be a gross understatement, but we're happy to say that Psy hasn't let us down one bit; in fact, it's reignited our love for Seoul.

For the uninitiated, Psy is a South Korean pop star, though he's also been called a rapper. In this song and video, as in Gangnam Style, he pokes fun at the style and assumed swagger of Seoul's Gangnam-gu, a flashy district with high rents, high expectations and a focus on the high-status lifestyle. Psy traipses about the city as he thinks a gentleman would, although he's unable to part with his un-gentlemanly ways until he finds a girl who puts him in check. No amount of money or indulging in what's construed as classy can fix his pranking ways, but love can.

Without further ado, here's 5 real-life locations from the music video, "Gentleman":

more ›

/ / / / / /

Asiana Flight Attendants Win the Right to Wear Pants

Where: Korea
April 4, 2013 at 9:57 AM | by | Comment (1)

After about a year of back and forth and fight after fight, Asiana flight attendants have bucked their dress-code and can now rock up to work wearing a smart pair of pants to serve passengers. A South Korean human rights group has deemed the skirt-only rule for cabin-crew discriminatory, as it is far too gender specific.

For the first time in 25 years, any one of the over 3,000 flight attendants can wear pants to work without a slap on the wrist. The revised 10-page guidelines for what the female crew can wear gets as detailed as how big their earrings can be, what color their hair can be and which type of eye makeup can be worn.

more ›

/ / / / / /

Flash Your Korean Air Boarding Pass for On-the-Ground Discounts

Where: Korea
December 20, 2012 at 10:30 AM | by | Comments (0)

We’ve seen all kinds of advertisements and stuff scrolled across our boarding passes—even a little Sudoku game now and then. Now there’s an airline upping the ante on the boarding pass offerings, as they’re handing out their own version of coupons, discounts, and other deals. Sure it’s a chance for them to sell a little bit of advertising and making a couple bucks, but maybe you’ll actually benefit.

It’s Korean Air that’s getting into the boarding pass coupon-clipping game, as they’re releasing something called “Excellent Boarding Pass.” Like we said a minute ago, it’s all about providing benefits and discounts to stuff like restaurants, movies, banks, and kind of anything else where you can save a few dollars.

more ›

/ / / / / /

Seoul Tourism Finally Gets Hip to 'Gangnam Style'

Where: Seoul, Korea
December 10, 2012 at 10:48 AM | by | Comments (0)

Finally! We've been saying it since August (when we pinpointed the locations from the music video), but finally Seoul Tourism is using Psy's "Gangnam Style" song to advertise the capital city as a fun tourist destination.

The last few days have seen the introduction of a tourism board video that mimics Psy's dance moves, but splices in mini-interviews with foreigners in Seoul as they deliver one-word descriptions of the district of Gangnam-gu, the most fitting of which we'd say is "trend." Not gonna say "toldnya so," but yeah—we kind of did.

more ›

/ / / / / / / /

Super Sale to Seoul: British Airways' £777 Club World Deal on a 777

Where: Seoul, Korea
November 9, 2012 at 2:03 PM | by | Comment (1)


Kickin' back in Club World between London and Tokyo

When Psy's music video "Gangnam Style" went viral at the end of the summer, our first thought was "oh man, this is going to be awesome for Seoul tourism." Seriously. We're geeks about this stuff, okay? Anyway, it's holding true as British Airways just announced a huge fare sale with the headline "Get to Gangnam in Style."

Brilliant, BA. Our cursor is already hovering over the "purchase" button. What's even better are those sale ticket prices for the 9.5-hour flights:

London-LHR to Seoul-ICN* on a Boeing 777:
In Economy (World Traveller): £377/$600 roundtrip (45% off)
In Premium Economy (World Traveller Plus): £577/$918 roundtrip (40% off)
In Business (Club World): £777/$1235 roundtrip (70% off)

more ›

Use of this Site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (effective 3/21/12) and Privacy Policy (effective 3/21/12). © Condé Nast. Your California Privacy Rights. All rights reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast.
Ad Choices