Grand Korea: Seoul, Jeju, Gyeongju & Seoraksan, 10 Nights

Seoul gets one night at either end of this trip rather than a full day, so the city is seen on arrival. Most flights from India land at dawn; after a rest at the hotel, the afternoon is Gyeongbokgung palace (closed Tuesdays, when Deoksugung replaces it), the National Folk Museum in its grounds, and the hanok lanes of Bukchon. Dinner and an early night, because tomorrow the road trip begins.

South out of the capital to Gongju, one of the capitals of the Baekje kingdom. King Muryeong's tomb, discovered intact in 1971, and the ramparts of Gongsanseong above the Geum river form part of the UNESCO Baekje listing. The afternoon arrives in Jeonju, whose hanok village of tiled houses, the portrait shrine of Gyeonggijeon and the red-brick Jeondong Cathedral are all within a few streets. Stay for dinner: Jeonju is often called Korea's food capital.

Through the rice country of Jeolla to Suncheon Bay, where boardwalks cross a vast reed wetland to a hill with the view over the winding tidal channels. The national garden beside it is closed one Monday a month, and the walled folk town of Naganeupseong takes its place. Yeosu, on its peninsula, is reached by late afternoon; its harbour, Dolsan bridge and the waterfront lights are the evening's entertainment.

East to Jinju fortress on the Nam river, scene of two sieges during the Japanese invasions of the 1590s, and on to Gimhae airport outside Busan. The flight to Jeju takes about an hour; it is not included in the package price, and we book it for you. A driver meets you at Jeju, and the evening is spent near the hotel. The island's black-pork barbecue is its best-known dish; vegetarians do well with its tangerines and buckwheat.

A full day on the western half of the island. Hyeopjae beach and Hallim Park's lava caves and palm gardens come first, then the O'sulloc tea fields and museum, where green tea grows in rows below Hallasan. Sanbangsan, a lava dome with a cave temple in its flank, overlooks the Yongmeori coast of layered sandstone. The day ends at Cheonjeyeon, a three-tier waterfall in a gorge crossed by an arched bridge.

Early to Seongsan Ilchulbong on the east coast for the climb to the crater rim, around half an hour of steps, while the haenyeo divers work the rocks below. Seongeup folk village, with thatched lava-stone houses, is on the way back across the island. An afternoon flight of about an hour reaches Busan, also booked separately; the evening is for Haeundae beach and its lit promenade.

A morning in Busan: the stepped pastel houses of Gamcheon, built by war refugees, then Jagalchi fish market on the harbour. Heading north, the route stops at Haedong Yonggungsa, a temple perched on the rocks at the water's edge, which lies on the road to Gyeongju. The Silla capital is reached by late afternoon, in time for Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond, reflected and floodlit after dark.

The full Gyeongju day. Seokguram's granite Buddha in its cave on Tohamsan, and Bulguksa's stone terraces below, both UNESCO sites since 1995. Back in town, Daereungwon's royal burial mounds, Cheomseongdae observatory and the Gyeongju National Museum, which holds the great bronze Emille bell. An hour west to Daegu, one of the largest cities in South Korea, where Seomun market is the place for an evening of street food.

The longest drive of the trip, but its two sights are among the best in Korea. Haeinsa, in the mountains of Gayasan, keeps the Tripitaka Koreana: more than eighty thousand woodblocks of Buddhist scripture carved in the thirteenth century, stored in halls designed to ventilate themselves. North to Andong for Hahoe, a clan village still lived in, then up into the Gangwon highlands to Pyeongchang, arriving in the evening.

A morning walk on the fir-tree path to Woljeongsa temple in Odaesan National Park; an overnight temple stay here is possible for larger groups. East to Seoraksan for Sinheungsa and its great bronze Buddha, with the Gwongeumseong cable car as an option. Back to Seoul by evening, about three hours, for a farewell dinner after ten nights on the road.

Breakfast and check-out, and perhaps an hour for last shopping near the hotel if the flight is in the evening. The drive to Incheon is about an hour and a quarter; we time the pickup to your flight and suggest allowing three hours at the airport, which is large and has tax refund counters for purchases made on the trip.