Seoul, Jeonju, Yeosu & Gyeongju, 7 Nights

The transfer from Incheon takes about an hour and a quarter. Rooms are normally ready by mid-afternoon; the rest of the day is unplanned on purpose, because the next six involve steady travel. A good first evening is Namsan's lit walking trails or the Gwangjang market, the oldest covered market in the city, where cooks fry bindaetteok pancakes of ground mung bean that are vegetarian by default.

The morning is Gyeongbokgung, the largest of the five Joseon palaces, with its throne hall, lotus-pond pavilion and the National Folk Museum in the grounds; Deoksugung replaces it on Tuesdays, when it closes. Jogyesa temple is a few minutes away. After lunch, south to the Korean Folk Village at Yongin, an open-air museum of more than two hundred relocated and rebuilt houses from every province, with farmers' music, tightrope walking and craftsmen at work.

Out of Seoul southwards to Gongju, a Baekje royal seat of the fifth and sixth centuries. King Muryeong's brick tomb, discovered undisturbed in 1971, yielded gold crown ornaments now in the nearby museum, and Gongsanseong's walls follow a ridge above the Geum river. Late afternoon in Jeonju's hanok quarter: Gyeonggijeon shrine, Jeondong Cathedral and the Omokdae viewpoint over the rooftops. Bibimbap for dinner is almost obligatory here.

South through Jeolla province to Suncheon Bay, a tidal wetland of reed beds crossed by boardwalks, with an observatory hill at the end for the view over the S-bend channels. The adjoining national garden closes on one Monday each month, when Naganeupseong, a walled Joseon town still lived in, replaces it. On to Yeosu by late afternoon: Yi Sun-sin Square with its turtle-ship replica, Odongdo island's camellia path, and the harbour and bridges lit after dark.

East along the coast to Jinju, where the fortress on the Nam river is remembered for the sieges of the Imjin war in the 1590s and for Nongae, the courtesan who pulled a Japanese general into the river. Then on to Gyeongju, arriving mid-afternoon for Daereungwon's royal mounds and Cheomseongdae, the oldest surviving observatory in East Asia. Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond, floodlit in the evening, are the finest sight in the city after dark.

An early start for Seokguram's cave Buddha on Tohamsan, then Bulguksa below, the Silla temple whose stone stairways are counted among the treasures of Korean architecture. North to Andong for Hahoe, the Ryu clan village held in a loop of the river, where masked dance performances are staged at weekends in season. The afternoon drive climbs to Pyeongchang in the Gangwon highlands; expect to arrive in the early evening.

Past the 2018 Winter Olympic venues and over the ridge to Seoraksan National Park, a UNESCO biosphere reserve of granite spires above the East Sea. The flat path from the entrance to Sinheungsa and its bronze Buddha suits everyone; the cable car up to the Gwongeumseong ruins is optional. The drive back to Seoul is about three hours, arriving in time for a farewell dinner.

A relaxed breakfast after a week of early starts. Depending on the flight, there may be an hour for the Myeongdong or Hongdae shops, where Korean cosmetics are sold with tax refunds for visitors who show a passport. The drive to Incheon takes a little over an hour; we time the pickup to your flight. Keep shopping receipts together, because the tax refund kiosks at Incheon need them.