Tips to survive during Chuseok (Thanksgiving) National Holidays in Korea!

I did a mistake when i booked my cheap flight from AirAsia Promotion. It was sure that it gonna to be a Malaysia's public holidays and I happily booked my flight , without checking through the calendar on the other side of the planet which i'm going to visit ! Tada.. my holidays plan clash with Korea National Holidays, Chuseok 2016 , and it is a 3 consecutive holidays in Korea where most places would be closed of business! Oh no ...

No worries ..

Here i'm going to tell you how to survive through Chuseok in Korea as a foreigner like me !

This is the traditional Chuseok snack available at bakery

I arrived at Korea on 10 Sep 2016 and I was there untill 18 Sep 2016 where 14,15,16 Sep is the Chuseok Holidays and a long weekend holidays in Korea!

Tips 1 Avoid Intercity Travelling

A lot of website will tell you to avoid intercity travelling during Chuseok due to the traffic congestion or fast selling train ticket (KTX/ITX) . But I have to travel on 16 Sep (day after Chuseouk) to catch my flight back to Malaysia from Busan instead of Seoul!  Since 14,15,16 Sep 2016 is the official Chuseok Holidays (Thanksgiving Korea) and a long weekend holidays in Korea! What tripadvisor and "a lot of website" commenting were true , you should avoid intercity travelling. It was really HARD to get a KTX / ITX ticket during this period. But I guess we are lucky enough since we manage to secure a seat from Seoul to Busan on 16th Sep 2016 (afternoon) ! Woohoo... 

Tips 2 Travel around Seoul 

Due to the not advisable intercity travelling, you should visit places like "palace" and "themepark"! The pro about visiting theme park during national holidays is that , you no need to wait for a long que since majority will be travelling back to their hometown. It doesn't mean that the entire themepark will appear to be really empty like a ghost town, there are still foreigners/ tourists in the themepark with lesser visitors and shorter Que... hmm... seeing it as blessings in disguise?!  

It is also good to visit a palace during national holidays like this which allows you to feel the cultural of this country through all sorts of performances in the palace. Yes, i 've celebrated my Chuseok in Gyeongbokgung Palace! We enter the palace for free and there are also lots of activities to do in the palace on this special day!

Tips 3 Relax and Enjoy (where to eat)

You must be having this thought in mind that since it is a Long Weekend Holidays, will the shops open for business? well , the street appear to be really EMPTY & Quiet , but there are still places for you to find foods ,  places like GS25, 7-11, CU / CVS 4u , Lotteria etc! On this special day , i had some pork cutlet + udon noodles at Bukchon Hanok Village. Certain shopping mall or local shops is not open on this special day, however, duty free store - such as Lotte Duty Free , Doota Duty Free are open 24/7 all year round!Last but not least, enjoy my Travelogue as shown at the links below ...

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i'm using Samsung NX mini from
http://www.camera2u.com/

♥ Must  know travel tips before you go to Korea♥ How to go to Nami Island from Seoul♥
♥ Where to stay in Seoul (D7 Residence Suites) & Busan (Louis Hotel Sasang) ♥
♥ Where to EAT in Korea ♥ Follow NanaPatricia for hanbok fitting in Korea (free hanbok) ♥

♥ Korea Day 1: AirAsia Flatbed + Dongdaemun Design Plaza 

♥ Korea Day 2: Unhyeongung + Toksochon + EhwaUniversity + Nene Chicken 

♥ Korea Day 3: Myeondong + Line Friends Store + N Seoul Tower 

♥ Korea Day 4: Nami Island 

♥ Korea Day 5: Lotte World + Doota Duty Free（太阳的后裔）

♥ Korea Day 6(Thanksgiving Day 2016): Gyeongbokgung + Bukchon Village + Sam Sam O O

♥ Korea Day 7/8/9: Jagalchi Market + Busan Hop On Hop Off  + Hollys Coffee Haeundae Beach  

♥  Do like and share this post if you find it useful to you! Thanks for reading~  ♥

Love, 

NanaPatricia