Jeonju, Yeosu & Jeju Island, 4 Nights

Built for the early-morning flights from India that reach Incheon around dawn; a later arrival needs an extra Seoul night first. South to Gongju, capital of the Baekje kingdom in the fifth and sixth centuries. The Tomb of King Muryeong, found intact in 1971, and the ramparts of Gongsanseong above the river are both part of a UNESCO listing. Then on to Jeonju and its hanok village, more than six hundred tiled houses, for a first bibimbap in the city that claims it.

An hour in the hanok lanes before the day-trippers arrive: Gyeonggijeon, the shrine holding the portrait of the Joseon dynasty's founder, and the red-brick Jeondong Cathedral opposite. South then to Suncheon Bay, one of the best-preserved coastal wetlands in Korea, where boardwalks cross acres of reeds that turn gold in autumn and migrating cranes winter. On to Yeosu on its peninsula, host of the 2012 Expo, for the waterfront and a replica turtle ship at Yi Sun-sin Square.

East along the southern coast to Jinju, whose riverside fortress held against a Japanese siege in 1592 and fell to a second a year later; the Chokseongnu pavilion looks over the Nam river. The road continues to Gimhae airport on the edge of Busan for the short flight across the strait to Jeju, which is reached only by air or by a long ferry. A driver meets you at Jeju airport, and the evening is free near the hotel, perhaps at the Dongmun market.

Jeju is a single volcano with Hallasan, the highest peak in South Korea, at its centre. The day begins at Seongsan Ilchulbong, a tuff crater formed in the sea about five thousand years ago; the stair climb to the rim takes around half an hour. Nearby, the haenyeo, the island's women free-divers, sometimes show their catch. Seongeup folk village keeps its thatched lava-stone houses and stone grandfather statues. The afternoon follows the south coast to Seogwipo, Cheonjeyeon's three-tiered falls and the basalt columns at Jusangjeolli.

Breakfast and a short stop on the way to the airport at Yongduam, the dragon-head rock on the shore just outside Jeju city. The domestic flight to Seoul Gimpo takes a little over an hour, and the transfer across to Incheon for the international departure is about fifty minutes more; the timing works best for evening flights home. If your flights connect better through Busan or elsewhere, we route this morning accordingly.