I’ve had family visit Korea a few times and each time I have stressed the f*$k out!! Don’t be like the old me. Wherever you are in the world here are my tips for having a stress-free visit. (Not in order of importance)

Do your best to take into account your guest’s interests and any limitations. For example, they may love mountain views but are too young or have some injury that prevents long hikes. Cable cars or scenic drives might be what you’re looking for. (In Korea, rail bikes are a fun option!)

Don’t leave your best friend’s 30th birthday dinner to chance. Seoul has Michelin starred restaurants! Also, check out a Fat Girl’s Food  Guide to Eating in Korea. I’ve been following her for years and her site is chock full of yummy food and cool Seoul area restaurants. For the Daegu area, try the Good Eats in Daegu Facebook group for local recommendations. Besides restaurants, there are plenty of musicals and concerts to check out.  You can search for and buy tickets in English on Interpark. Starting this fall both The Lion King and Cirque du Soleil will be in Korea. Yeah!

Even if you always facetime from your favorite local café, take them there so that they can smell the coffee beans roasting. Introduce them to the folks in your town and the shopkeepers who save you the freshest veggies on “Market Day”.   In Korea, Market Day is essentially a pop-up farmer’s market. In my town, it occurs alongside the river on dates ending with four and nine.  So the 4th, 9th, 14th,  24th, and 29th of the month.  Show them where you catch the bus or wait for your carpool. Months after her Korea visit, my sister still gets a kick out of being able to visualize my neighborhood as opposed to just imagining.

If you live in Korea there’s a good chance that your family and/or friends spent 10 plus hours on the plane just to see your face. If you don’t live in or near Seoul and your family is flying into Incheon International airport,  I recommend staying a night or two at a nearby hotel. Build-in time to do nothing. That way they can rest and get acclimated to the time difference. I’ve stayed at both an Airbnb and the Grand Hyatt Incheon hotel and they were both worth every penny. There are a bunch of cool things to do in and near Incheon and Songdo (arguably the best burger that I’ve had in Korea was at Burgeroom 181 near Central Park in Songdo).

I found this to also be true during a quick trip to Japan. Do your online research in advance and ask around. These discounts are often available for both foreign visitors and residents. Examples: Korail, Everland Amusement Park, Shopping, Subway, and Bus Transportation Cards, cultural attractions and shows, etc., I would be remiss if I didn’t mention festivals in Korea! I was pleasantly surprised to receive a foreigner discount at the not-to-be-missed Taean Tulip Festival last year!

We rented an SUV twice because my family bought a lot of luggage (thanks for all of the Western food and clothes fam!) and we live four hours away from Incheon Airport. So for us it just made sense. That and both times my family opted to stay in Incheon and Seoul for the first several days of their trip. The SUV came in handy when we went sightseeing in Gyeonggi including Everland Amusement Park, Hwaseong Fortress and the Korean Folk Village. We had one really bad traffic day in Seoul and free parking can be scarce in areas like Insadong. Still totally worth it. Some guidance on how to rent a car in Korea here.