Seoul Activities and best Starwood Hotel

I%26#39;m headed to Seoul in April on business. I%26#39;ll have about 1.5 free days and a few evenings. A few questions:

1. What are the best activities for someone looking to get a ';feel'; for the city?

2. Where should I stay? I%26#39;d like to stick to Starwood, but can be flexible on which specific hotel. I generally like W Hotels, however I%26#39;ve heard the W Seoul has a poor location. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

Seoul Activities and best Starwood Hotel

First thought on W hotel. It%26#39;s a very nicely decorated hotel (check out the Woo bar, it%26#39;s beautiful). However, yes the location is a major bummer. It%26#39;s only accessible by cabs and on top of a mountain so for a one-nigth drunk excursion awesome, but not the most conveniently located hotel.

Seoul really has lots to offer, but what%26#39;s most imp is what kind of tourist you want to be (are you the, tourist trap one? the adventurer..the shopper? etc)

For spots to hit, I%26#39;d say ignore all other tourist traps and hit

1) Insadong - turning a little more touristy than it used to be, but def has the old Korean tradition feel to it (please do google it =D)

2) Clubbing - if you do want to check out the Seoul night scenes (I%26#39;m from NYC, and I%26#39;d say clubbing scene here is better...now skip this part if you are way over your 30s). There are places called Circle and Answer, and of course the spot in W hotel is also another cool one.

I%26#39;m in a hurry (going to work soon..) so just throwing basic ideas- feel free to ask more.

Seoul Activities and best Starwood Hotel

Not sure if you left on your trip yet, but most of the major hotel chains are nice. you can stay at the lotte hotel, the intercontinental, or the ritz, which all have good locations. the W is beautiful but as mentioned, location is inconvenient.

depending on what you are interested in, you could go the cultural route and see the historical sites or insa-dong. or, if you are into shopping, you can check out Coex (near intercontinental), which is essentially a shopping mall, check out the kangnam bus terminal, where they have tons of stalls selling everything from hairpins to cheap clothes to $10 shoes, etc. or, you can see the huge department stores- Lotte, Hyundai, and ShinSaeGae. all the dept stores have a lot of restaurants in them (check out Oodles in ShinSaeGae) and a whole floor dedicated to food and food courts. all have free samples! kyobo is the big bookstore. you should go to an hot spring sauna and get a body scrub. if you are a night owl, go to Migliore, which is night-time shopping (starts around 10pm) for fake bags, hair accessories, etc. for the inner child in you, you could go to Lotte World, which is an indoor amusement park. the current hot spot for clubbing is called MASS in kangnam. everyone there is in their early 20s. you can go to Lotte Dept store and then walk a few blocks to myung-dong, which is closed to traffic and everyone walks around.

hope that helps!

Which bus from Airport to JW Marriott.

Can someone tell me which bus to take from Incheon to JW Marriott? Does bus stops right at hotel?

Where in the Airpor do I find the buses? Where do you buy the tickets?

Ciberteco

Which bus from Airport to JW Marriott.

There is a big travel/tourist help desk once you exit the restricted area on the arrivals level that you can approach for help and free maps. To reach the bus boarding area, you have to turn right towards the end of the airport. You can buy the tickets from the driver, korean won, exact fare. Unfortunately the fares have gone up from KRW10,000 to KRW13,000. For service routes and hotels served, check out this link:

http://www.lifeinkorea.com/Travel2/IABIe.cfm.

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August

I also was looking at travelling in August. The tour directir (i haven%26#39;t signed up yet) says it is not as hot as Japan or China at that time of year and that the temperature is around 84 degrees f. Is this not true? Does it rain everywhere at that time of year? I rea that the rainy season ends in July. Is that also untrue? Thank you

August

It%26#39;s humid and very warm, about 84 sounds right.

And the rain certainly usually decreases by August.

Look at http://english.visitkorea.or.kr; under ';location and weather'; tab you will find your info

Seoul + some other destination - advice?

Hello,

Planning a trip to Seoul (from west coast USA) for Nov 2008, and will visit a friend in Seoul for a few days. Would also like to visit some other destination, as I will have about 7-9 days total (exclusive of travel time over the Pacific). While in South Korea I would like to see some other sights - maybe the DMZ and one or two other sights. So that leaves me with perhaps 3 to 5 days to go elsewhere if I so desire.

Thailand is very interesting to me, as is Japan (and perhaps I could stage a long layover on the way there or back, in Tokyo?).

My interests include historical / cultural sights, a little bit of nightlife, sampling local foods %26amp; drinks, and generally experiencing the locale and seeing things I won%26#39;t see at home.

Any suggestions as to what else I could comfortably fit in (both time- and money-wise)? I%26#39;m a regular guy with 2 weeks vacation per year and average income, so I want to make this trip as worthwhile as possible.

Thank you!

Seoul + some other destination - advice?

There are so many good places to visit, old temples, old Korea mountain tops, island resort, etc. Buy a travel book and make a plan. Buy the Korea Rail Pass so you can zip through Korea in ~3 hrs. by their bullet trains and rails between any major cities(Seoul-Busan %26amp; others). Your time frame is good to see the beautiful fall foliage.

Seoul + some other destination - advice?

Hi amazinga,

Thank you for the reply. You%26#39;re right - a book or two is definitely in order, to give me some more ideas.

I have decided on 5-6 days in Korea and then 5-6 days in Tokyo on the way back.

I%26#39;m super-jazzed!

Almost bought my airline tickets through vayama.com (which I%26#39;d read about here and there), as their fare was $940- compared to $1400 on the Northwest Airlines site (same flights, days, and times); other sites were all $1200, $1300, +. But a local agency got me the same NWA flights for $1075, an AmEx Travel partner. I figured worth the extra $ just for the peace of mind, as vayama.com just seemed too good to be true...

(just mentioning vayama here in case others go searching the forums for them - my advice is go with a local trusted agency for the extra $, if you can...)

I%26#39;d say check out Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon as an afternoon excursion out of Seoul. I%26#39;ve been here 3 years but never gotten around to doing the DMZ tour. Go figure. Give yourself the experience of a good scrub and soak at a sauna or oncheon (hot spring resort). You don%26#39;t actually have to go too far for that; the Silloam Sauna near Seoul Station is great. Busan%26#39;s got a good vibe and is worth a couple of days. I%26#39;ve heard good things about all the historic sites around Gyeongju (which is a bit northeast of Busan) but haven%26#39;t made it down there yet. I wouldn%26#39;t opt for the pass, though: train fares here are cheap and the whole country is the size of Indiana.

Korea%26#39;s hotel scene is artificially expensive because love hotels, yeogwans (traditional little inns), and jjimjilbangs (the sleeping rooms in public saunas) fulfill that role but are often impossible to book online in English. You can crash at the Silloam for almost nothing. Lots of people do this if they%26#39;ve been out late drinking and they miss the last trains.

There aren%26#39;t many good Seoul and Korea guidebooks but the Wallpaper one (I think that%26#39;s it -- it%26#39;s a little folding thing) is one of the better ones, and it has some sensible recommendations.

hi, you might find this destination guide useful

cheaperhotelrates.com/seoul-south-korea-hote…

all the best

burts bees

INC to Korail station

Can somebody please give me an idea of how far the train station is from the airport. Any information on how to get to the train station, and how long that would take would be great help.

INC to Korail station

Take it you mean ICN?

And which station are you looking for?

There%26#39;s a local train on airport.

If you mean Seoul Station- i.e. main line including KTX high speed train, you need a bus or cab into town. I%26#39;d reckon on a full 2 hours.

BUT you need pre-reserved seats on Korean main line trains, and unless you%26#39;re going 1st class, that can be quite hard for popular journeys.

To get to Seoul Station, you can take KAL limousine bus for 14000Won- I think it%26#39;s line 1, the Namsan bus.

INC to Korail station

Hey thanks for they replying to my shotty question!

Yes I did mean Incheon international.

And yes Seoul station is where I need to get so that I can train over to Busan.

About 2 hours into town and to the station eh, thanks for the estimate!

Do you happen to know what metro stop seoul station is at, I know line 1 and line 4 can get to it, but I just can%26#39;t seem to find the exact stop.

As for booking a KTX, I%26#39;ve searched all over the Korail page and only seem to have found a page for reserving trains that is in korean writting. Anyone have an english link?

At present time I am now thinking I will stay a night or two in Seoul before making my way to Busan. It would be too much to try and tack on the train ride after a long flight. So to abruptly change the subject, anyone know of good hostels near

a) Seoul Station

b) Incheon airport (or on a limosine drop off route)

no longer any English link, I%26#39;m afraid.

Seoul Station is pretty close to City Hall, if you look at the subway map.

There is of course a bus from ICN to Busan- not much longer than train as you don%26#39;t need to get into Seoul.

You could take KTX back.

From Airport to Myeong-Dong Area

What are the various options for getting to Myeong-Dong Area for ICN?

What is the ';KAL Limousine bus'; and how much does it cost?

Is there a subway and/or train from ICN to the Myeong-Dong Area?

Thanks!

From Airport to Myeong-Dong Area

Taking the Airport limo, is the cheapest option for one or two passengers, if more, it might be better if you take a jumbo van.

Just exit ( think exit 11 or 12, can%26#39;t recall ) and look for bus 605-1 and you will get to Myeondong, they stop at Sejong Hotel, you can let the Limo bus travel that you want to get off there but its one of the more popular stop.

I am not sure if the fare is still the same but you can check this out.

http://www.lifeinkorea.com/Travel2/IABIe.cfm

From Airport to Myeong-Dong Area

KAL bus is run by Korean Air Lines, duck egg blue bus. Costs 14000 won and runs on different lines to various hotels. Journey time 60-90 mins dep on time of day.

Subway can get you there, but involves changing trains a couple of times and usually with stairs to negotiate.

Google ';KAL Limousine';- the Korean Air website is pretty helpful. Route 1 is the KAL one for you.

O/wise there%26#39;s an Incheon airport website that sets out all the options

Limousine buses also run by others; lines 600 onwards. Cost is a little less, but space on bus also less.

I%26#39;d go for the KAL bus every time to be honest: spacious reclining seats and an ice box with water make it good after a long flight. A porter loads your baggage and gives you a receipt.

What hotel do you stay in?

Thanks for the detailed reply. I am staying at the Ibis Myeong-Dong.

Yes: KAL bus- take City Hall line, get off at Lotte Hotel

I am staying at Sejong Hotel in Myeong-Dong and I was checking the KAL website but die not notice that there is a stop there. Does that mean that I have to take the normal Airport bus and not the KAL Limousine?

to Myeong Dong, you can still take KAL bus, but there will be a walk. the 601 bus( I think -you need to check) would also work, and there are other buses as wel- or indeed the subway which is longer more complicated but cheaper

I think I will opt for the Airport bus as I don%26#39;t want to be carrying my luggage. I will check at the information counter. Thanks.

Electric??

Traveling to Korea next week. What kind of adapters do I need to run my chargers for Computer, amera, ipod etc etc?? Also, do I need an inverter... Is the power 220 or 110?? Thanks

Electric??

South Korea uses plugs with 2 small round pins, similar to those in Austria. Voltage is 220V, see if your equipment is marked 100-240V or not.

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