From Seoul's Joseon-dynasty palaces to the Silla royal tombs of Gyeongju, a guided journey through 2,000 years of Korean kingship.
Korea's history runs deeper than its skylines suggest, and this trip is built to show it — starting in Seoul's Gyeongbokgung Palace, where guards in period dress change formation on the hour, and ending in Gyeongju, once capital of the Silla kingdom and still scattered with grass-covered royal burial mounds rising straight out of the modern town. A high-speed KTX train link makes the transition between the two feel almost too easy.
In between there's Hahoe folk village, hanok tea houses in Bukchon, and Gyeongju's Bulguksa temple and Seokguram grotto, both UNESCO-listed. Evenings in Gyeongju are spent walking among the illuminated tombs and Donggung Palace's lotus pond, lit gold after dark. It's a trip for travellers who want Korea's imperial and Buddhist history laid out clearly, with good food and comfortable hotels throughout.