South Korea Private Tour Guides

“Excellent Haedong Yonggungsa Temple Visit, Disappointing Market Experience”

Our guide did an excellent job with the first part of the day. At Haedong Yonggungsa Temple, he handled my limited mobility extremely well and paced the visit so I could enjoy the temple without feeling rushed. He was also very knowledgeable about Korea and gave us useful cultural and historical context throughout the day. He got us to lunch smoothly and on time, and the morning was very well managed. The market portion, however, was much less successful. We had specifically said we were interested in local food, kimchi, Korean specialty products, and artisan items. Early in the day I told our guide that I had no Korean cash and asked whether I needed to get some before the market. He repeatedly assured me that credit cards would be fine. Unfortunately, that was not true. Virtually all of the vendors we encountered were cash-only, with credit cards being very much the exception. This was frustrating because there were many things we wanted to taste or buy. Eventually I exchanged some Japanese currency with our guide for Korean won, but by then it had already affected the experience. We also spent a significant amount of market time walking through street after street of clothing stalls, which did not interest us, before reaching the food areas we had specifically wanted to see. We found only a couple of scattered kimchi vendors, and by the time we reached the more interesting food stalls, we had relatively little time left. Overall, our guide was knowledgeable, personable, and especially good with my mobility needs. The morning was excellent; the market portion simply needed better planning around the interests we had communicated in advance.

Dylan K.

(55 reviews)

Dear Carol, Thank you so much for taking the time to share such a thoughtful and detailed review. I'm really happy to hear that you enjoyed Haedong Yonggungsa Temple and that our guide made you feel comfortable and well cared for throughout the morning. At the same time, I'm genuinely sorry that the market experience didn't meet your expectations. You had clearly shared what you wanted to see, and we should have done a better job of planning around those interests. The incorrect advice about cash payments was also something we should have handled better. Your feedback is incredibly valuable to us. We'll share it with our guide and use it to improve how we prepare personalized market visits, especially for guests with limited mobility. Thank you again for choosing us and for recognizing the care and effort of our guide. We truly appreciate both your kind words and your honest feedback. Warm regards, Dylan

“The easiest way to travel”

Our tour was made so easy with our personal guide, he was ready and waiting as soon as we walked off the ship and then we were on our way. He was flexible enough to make changes to our itinerary according to our needs for the day and took us the cable cars and then for a Korean BBQ lunch. Purchasing our tickets and explaining everything in English so we understood. Our guide was able to share information on the local area of Busan.

“Food and Fun in an awesome Tour!”

This was our second tour with Jeeseon, and it was even more fun than the first! We could have never experienced the things we did without her. The food on the tour was delicious, and Jeeseon tailored the things we sampled to our food preferences. She was also able to make a modification to the tour, which let me experience a pojangmacha, which I would have never been able to do otherwise. I highly recommend Jeeseon as a guide. She was friendly, fun, easy to understand, and made our experience unforgettable.