Best time to visit South Korea

“One of the many positive things about a visit to South Korea is how far they've come since the Korean War in 1953. The country was absolutely flattened. Not a stick of anything was left. Everything that you'll find today has been replanted and rebuilt to provide an absolutely fabulous modern experience with lots of little touches, like flowers planted along the centre of motorways, displaying just how much people value and respect their country; there's a real sense of civic pride.”

“I'd definitely recommend spending a night at the Haeinsa Temple in the Gaya Mountains as although sleeping arrangements are fairly basic – you sleep in communal same sex dorms on a floor mat with one small pillow – the experience, as a whole, was uplifting. On arrival you swap your Western clothes for temple clothes and do as many ‘temple activities as you wish, including getting up at 3am to take part in early morning prostrations with the monks. Food is simple fare: rice, soup, veggies and tofu, and there's no speaking at meal times. A question and answer session with a Buddhist monk with a PhD in law and impeccable English lasted about an hour. He was prepared to answer some invasive question very fully!”

“The Chuseok harvest festival is one of South Korea’s best-loved celebrations and takes place at the end of September or early October, around the time of the autumnal equinox. Tombs and ancestral homes are visited across the country as families sit down to a traditional feast which will usually include kimchi (pickled cabbage), songpyeon (glutinous rice cakes), Korean table barbecues and plenty of rice wine. Things can get really busy around this time of year with services and transport often booked up in advance.”