signed up for this tour to get historic sites, and I got so much more. Helped rest of Korean trip!
Taylor_W, Jul. 2022
Korean Palace and Market Tour in Seoul Including Insadong and Gyeongbokgung Palace
Absolute Must Do! I signed up for this tour to get historic sites out of the way, and I got so much more! The tour guide, Soyoung, went well above and beyond to make this tour fun, comfortable, informative, and helpful. This tour even helped the rest of my stay in Korea as Soyoung helped me to learn the Korean subway system.
I took my first solo trip to Korea a few weeks ago. I cannot emphasize enough that I am so glad I took this tour on my first full day there! For the first half of the day, we went to 5 1/2 different sites. It happened to rain all throughout, but the sites were still so cool to see and never felt too rushed. The tour guide was excellent at explaining detail & facts about every site; even adding her own personal favorite things about every place, which was cool to hear from a local's perspective. Her English was very good and very understandable.
Soyoung also always offered to take photos for us and would suggest the best backdrops to have in our photos. She wouldn't mind if you wanted to retake them.
By the time we were just hungry enough, we went to a cool Korean BBQ place hidden within the Insadong alleyways. It was very local (exactly what I had in mind when I came to Korea - so it was perfect) and the food was good.
The group that we started with included me and a family of five. The family of five only signed up for a half-day tour whereas I had signed up for a full-day tour. This meant that for the second half of the tour it was just me and the tour guide.
Soyoung did a fantastic job of keeping up the conversation, making me feel comfortable, and stopping in stores whenever I wanted to. When we went to the Namdaemun Market she would help me look for specific items and helped to negotiate down the price when able. When we went to the Changdeokgung palace, not only did we get to take more time exploring the area, but we also stopped at a cafe where she bought me water and offered to buy me snacks as well. And, because it was raining so hard, she also let me borrow her brand-new, never-before-worn raincoat just to help keep me warm! (See photo)
And at the end of the experience, instead of having the driver take me back and forth to my hotel (a two-hour total drive for the driver), she asked if we could use the subway instead. This ended up working perfectly because I had never used the Korean subway system! When Soyoung heard this she helped me to find a t-money card (a cute one that we took two stops to get, haha). She also showed me how to put money on the card and how to navigate the subway system. She sat with me for the hour-long subway back to my hotel! At the end of it all, she even offered to exchange contacts so that if I needed anything for the rest of my trip I could message her at any time!
Basically, this was above anything I could’ve asked for! A very memorable experience! I would highly recommend going on this tour and going with Soyoung if you can.
Absolute Must Do! I signed up for this tour to get historic sites out of the way, and I got so much more! The tour guide, Soyoung, went well above and beyond to make this tour fun, comfortable, informative, and helpful. This tour even helped the rest of my stay in Korea as Soyoung helped me to learn the Korean subway system.
I took my first solo trip to Korea a few weeks ago. I cannot emphasize enough that I am so glad I took this tour on my first full day there! For the first half of the day, we went to 5 1/2 different sites. It happened to rain all throughout, but the sites were still so cool to see and never felt too rushed. The tour guide was excellent at explaining detail & facts about every site; even adding her own personal favorite things about every place, which was cool to hear from a local's perspective. Her English was very good and very understandable.
Soyoung also always offered to take photos for us and would suggest the best backdrops to have in our photos. She wouldn't mind if you wanted to retake them.
By the time we were just hungry enough, we went to a cool Korean BBQ place hidden within the Insadong alleyways. It was very local (exactly what I had in mind when I came to Korea - so it was perfect) and the food was good.
The group that we started with included me and a family of five. The family of five only signed up for a half-day tour whereas I had signed up for a full-day tour. This meant that for the second half of the tour it was just me and the tour guide.
Soyoung did a fantastic job of keeping up the conversation, making me feel comfortable, and stopping in stores whenever I wanted to. When we went to the Namdaemun Market she would help me look for specific items and helped to negotiate down the price when able. When we went to the Changdeokgung palace, not only did we get to take more time exploring the area, but we also stopped at a cafe where she bought me water and offered to buy me snacks as well. And, because it was raining so hard, she also let me borrow her brand-new, never-before-worn raincoat just to help keep me warm! (See photo)
And at the end of the experience, instead of having the driver take me back and forth to my hotel (a two-hour total drive for the driver), she asked if we could use the subway instead. This ended up working perfectly because I had never used the Korean subway system! When Soyoung heard this she helped me to find a t-money card (a cute one that we took two stops to get, haha). She also showed me how to put money on the card and how to navigate the subway system. She sat with me for the hour-long subway back to my hotel! At the end of it all, she even offered to exchange contacts so that if I needed anything for the rest of my trip I could message her at any time!
Basically, this was above anything I could’ve asked for! A very memorable experience! I would highly recommend going on this tour and going with Soyoung if you can.
