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Korean Culture Tour: Visit Palaces and Traditional Villages in Seoul, Including Gyeongbokgung
3.8
25 Ratings
Seoul
Immerse yourself in traditional Korean culture on a guided tour of Seoul’s palaces and villages. Explore grand palaces, learn about Korea’s history, and experience age-old customs at a folk village.
Duration:
8 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation:
1 day
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Highlights
- Seoul - Begin your morning with pickup from your Seoul hotel
- The Blue House - Then drive by air-conditioned coach past Blue House, the executive office and official residence of the South Korean head of state and the President of the Republic of Korea.
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Gyeongbokgung Palace - Your first stop is Gyeongbokgung Palace, a royal palace constructed in 1395. Because much of it was destroyed during the Japanese occupation, there has been a large effort to restore it to its original condition. With your guide, marvel at the grandeur of the preserved portions and the restorations.
(Please note that Gyeongbokgung Palace is closed on Tuesdays, in which case youâll visit Deoksugung Palace instead. This walled compound with traditional palace buildings, forested gardens and a statue of King Sejong the Great is home to the Seoul Museum of History, where you’ll discover Seoul’s traditional culture as you navigate the exhibits with your guide.) - National Folk Museum of Korea - Visit the National Folklore Museum, which uses replicas to illustrate the history of traditional life of Korean people. Browse the numerous exhibitionsâ more than 90,000 artifacts conveying what life has been like for Koreans from ancient times to the 20th century. Youâll also learn about the deep roots of Confucianism in Korean culture.
- Jogyesa Temple - , tour Jogyesa Buddhist Temple, the chief temple of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. Outside, admire the lovely locust and baeksong trees lining the entrance. Enter the Daeungjeon, the main temple building dating back 500 years, and see the statue of Seokgamoni, the historic Buddha at the moment of enlightenment.
- Seoul - Next, you will stop at a traditional Korean restaurant for lunch.
- Seoul - Korea is one of the countries with the biggest Ginseng industry. We will drop by a Ginseng center to learn more about this health care product and you will have the opportunity to purchase some ginseng to take home with you.
- Korean Folk Village - Youâll then spend your afternoon exploring the Korean Folk Village, a living museum that displays elements of traditional Korean life and folk culture. You’ll get the unique opportunity to watch well-preserved customs such as pottery making, basket weaving and the hand-making of winnows, musical instruments, embroidery and bamboo, wood and brass wares.
- Seoul - After this incredible immersive experience, youâll be taken back to your Seoul hotel.
![](https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/attractions-splice-spp-720x480/06/71/a1/af.jpg)
What's Included
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Professional guide
- Lunch
- In-vehicle air conditioning
What's Not Included
- Gratuities
Additional Information
This engaging journey through Seoul offers a thorough exploration of classic Korean heritage. Accompanied by an expert guide, meander past majestic royal residences, delve into Korea’s rich backstory that stretches from bygone eras to the present, and observe time-honored traditions being enacted in an ethnic village. The excursion includes a traditional Korean meal and convenient coach travel.
- A moderate amount of walking is involved; comfortable walking shoes are recommended
- Please advise any specific dietary requirements at time of booking
- The tour requires minimum 4 people
Location
Seoul
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
3.8
(25 Ratings)
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222claudiai
Jul 9, 2024
Wonderful Korea - The land of “High Beauty”. A country with an enchanting and diverse landscape, whose special climate, striking seasons and multifaceted vegetation are characterized by the constant change of individual mountain ranges and river plains. It's a land of contrasts. Architectural works of art of modernity and rich traditions meet again and again.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Khoanxuan_t
May 6, 2017
I joined the tour ith two lovely... - <p>I joined the tour ith two lovely tourist guides Sunny and Winnie, who are both excellent at English. I got a lot of useful information regarding Korean culture thanks to them. I was lucky to have Winnie in two tours, this one and Nami island one. She is so cute and lovely. I travelled alone, Winnie knew it, so she took a good care of me, accompanying me and taking photos for me. Her knowledge of Korean history and culture is excellent and she is well capable of delivering it to us. My Korean trip was memorable thanks to her. I would have no hesitation to recommend Winnie and the tour. </p>
<p>Lovely Winnie, if you can read it, just know that I really love you. :D<br/>
From your Vietnamese girl</p>
Review provided by Viator
Tatjana_i
Feb 26, 2017
great way to start discovering... - <p>great way to start discovering Korean culture and tradition! we loved everything on this tour. lunch at Korean traditional restaurant was great experience!</p>
Review provided by Viator
Raymond_g
Jul 25, 2016
We thought this a very good tour to... - <p>We thought this a very good tour to give an overall view of Seoul both present and past. We were lucky that the rain held off until after the changing of the guard which is a do not miss. Our guide was very informative and easy to follow.</p>
Review provided by Viator
Barbara
Jul 17, 2016
The tour was what I expected, it was... - <p>The tour was what I expected, it was very interesting and the guide was very knowledgeable. We had a good lunch in a picturesque Korean restaurant.</p>
Review provided by Viator
Johnny_l
Oct 3, 2017
This was a really great tour with... - <p>This was a really great tour with very knowledgeable tour guides. The only portions which I didn't care for was the Ginseng Center and Red Pine presentations.</p>
Review provided by Viator
Kelvin
Jul 6, 2016
Would have liked more information... - <p>Would have liked more information during the tour. During the tour we went to a ginseng store which did not add to the Korean 'heritage'. We did feel pressured to purchase ginseng.</p>
Review provided by Viator
Bruce_k
Jul 14, 2016
The first guide was soft and... - <p>The first guide was soft and couldn't hear. She needed that speaker thing on their neck. The 2nd one was good. Rushed us but stayed at a Ginseng place for 45 minutes. Wasted our time.</p>
Review provided by Viator
Richard
Oct 30, 2016
This was a two-part tour with the... - <p>This was a two-part tour with the morning City tour with one guide and the afternoon Korean Folk Village tour with another.<br/>
The morning tour and guide were OK, although far from outstanding. A rather rushed affair literally sprinting after the guide.<br/>
There was, however, PLENTY of time for the compulsory Ginseng outlet stop for purchasing everything ginseng.</p>
<p>The guide for the afternoon Folk Village was simply awful. I finally told him that he should get off his smart phone and pay attention to his guests. There were only 5 of us on the tour, and the guide seemed far more interested in his cell phone than in his paying customers. Really insulting to us.</p>
Review provided by Viator
Ellen
Jul 20, 2016
I signed up for a full-day tour of... - <p>I signed up for a full-day tour of Seoul, and received less than 3 hours of actual guided touring, some of which was in very limited/poor English. </p>
<p>I was picked up at 8:40 from my hotel, and the tour bus made it to the first site at 9:30. My morning tour guide was very knowledgeable, so you could get information if you asked a lot of questions, but information wasn't just provided automatically. In the cultural museum, we stopped so she could give us a quick overview of the history of Korea, and then sped through the rest of the exhibit didn't stop walking fairly quickly again until we hit a mandatory bathroom stop. It was raining, so I would have thought we could spend a little more time in the museum to make up for moving more quickly through the outdoor parts of the tour, but we only went to one exhibit, and spend about 15 minutes in the museum. <br/>
By 11:00 we were at the amethyst factory - my advice is to stop at the cute little local cafe next to the amethyst shop and get some coffee and chat with the barista rather than do some forced shopping no one on our tour bought anything. We made it to lunch by 11:30 and they quickly banged out some basic Korean food - it was decent. <br/>
After lunch things got much worse. Two of my fellow tourists and I got into a van with ?Brian? to go to the villages. We started driving at 1 and made it to the villages at 2. From about 2:15 - 2:45 I pestered Brian with constant questions that he often didn't understand due to limited English. After that half hour, he told us the tour part was over and to meet up at 3:30 to leave. I was stunned. I'm a curious person, so I'd been very excited to have someone to answer my questions so that I didn't have to puzzle over the signs - but the signs actually knew more than Brian. <br/>
Finally, I was dropped back at my hotel around 5:30 traffic, except...it wasn't my hotel. Brian had confused which location was my hotel, and before I could correct him, he was gone and I was stuck.</p>
Review provided by Viator
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