South Korea Cultural, religious historic sites Trips

Yoko was fantastic she went above and beyond in making the trip a memorable one!! Highly recommend you give her a raise. the korean tour guide was average. Nice but needs a little more fun.

Fabulous trip overall I loved it, however I would refine the itinerary in the following ways if feasible : - DMZ on Day 1 as predominantly slower day on the bus (helps recovering from jet lag) - Seoul city exploring was ~ 20,000 steps so perhaps split some of these sights at start and end of tour (doing this on the current Day 1 itinerary with jet lag was a struggle for a lot of people). - drop seeing missionary houses - Buddha temple afternoon was too long (archery was fun, show was good, but several hours of meditation and slow training was very boring) - keep the paper making factory visit in itinerary (as this wasn’t in our original itinerary but added due to weather circumstances and it was excellent) - make this a 2 week trip - tour is very city heavy, consider having a rural visit to rice farmers or equivalent Tour guide JAMES JIN - absolutely fabulous, one of the best guides I’ve experienced on all my many trips with explore. - He went above and beyond to clearly explain the history, culture and flavours of South Korea - his dedication to ensuring the group were content, fulfilled and safe whilst dashing up to Seoul from Busan to attend the surprise early birth of his first child was truly commendable - his patience with the different levels of fitness of the group was caring and supportive - BOOK him again (as this was his 1st explore guiding trip I believe)

The cooking classes were fantastic and really enjoyed going to the Japanese shrines. Very well rounded tour. Korea DMZ was up close and personal tour that I will never forget. loves the Korean markets and subway systems.

I’ve done over a dozen tours with Collette and this one was my favorite for many reasons: The hotels were super clean and modern; more included meals and right balance of free time. The tour manager was very informative and sent us helpful information two weeks prior to departure. Visits and stories from Hiroshima bomb survivor and North Korean defector will stay with forever. Finally, I feel Collette’s small group tour offers better experiences and value.

Korea is an interesting country and the itinerary covers the main features. Fast paced, I think you need to be reasonably fit to cover the sometimes irregular terrain and changing weather conditions; take a raincoat if travelling in spring. Nikky, our Guide was enthusiastic and a 'speedy' walker. Accommodation was excellent.

South Korea is an amazing country to visit as a tourist having: modern high quality, across the board infrastructure; beautiful scenery; cherry blossoms every where in season; fascinating historical cultural sites; first class museums; unique and vibrant food culture both in restaurants and on the street; excellent coffee; welcoming, friendly and helpful people; signs and explanations in English on public transport and at tourist sites; safe, crime free environment. A fascinating, inspiring and memorable trip.