Korea (Seoul Selection Guides)

I'm just back from my first trip to Korea and I used this as my primary guidebook.The author is obviously very passionate about Korea, especially traditional Korean culture and history, and it shows. But in my opinion he's overly positive about everything and this makes it very difficult to determine which sights are worth seeing and which aren't on a limited schedule. Many of the sights he mentions will be of no interest to the average traveler unless you have a diehard interest in Korean history or a good deal of imagination. An artificial pond or a few rocks in a field that are apparently ancient ruins become a place to (quote) "happily spend the day with a bottle of makgeolli rice wine, watching the willow trees and contemplating the city's former greatness." An incense burner in a museum becomes something (quote) "you could stare at for hours and not feel the time pass." Every temple or park mentioned is one of the "most important" or "most beautiful" or "most idyllic" in Korea.The author's interest in traditional Korea also causes the book to be somewhat lacking if you are interested in modern, high-tech Korea. For example, he completely omits mention of the area around Gangnam station in Seoul, which I found one of the more exciting parts of the city, rivaling the nightlife of Tokyo or Osaka and definitely worth seeing if you are more interested in modern Korea rather than visiting yet another temple or contemplating an incense burner for hours. Or the e-sports stadium on the top floor of the electronics mall in Yongsan where you can walk in on a professional Starcraft match - an experience you can only have in Korea, but also omitted in this book.I would have appreciated more recommendations for Korean restaurants. His restaurant recommendations (in Seoul especially) tend towards foreigner bars or cafes serving Western food. It's not like I came all the way to Korea so I could socialize with foreigners and eat the same food as I could at home? Unlike in Japan where there are pictures and plastic models of food all over the place it's more difficult to find good places to eat Korean food in Korea if you don't know the language well.The town maps included are mostly useless, giving a poor sense of scale and distance, which is a problem because the tourist maps you often get in Korean towns are also cartoony, useless and not to scale. The transportation info is often somewhat lacking and usually oriented towards day-trippers from Seoul rather than someone traveling through the country.The included Korean phrases, while helpful, lack useful ones like "can you please take my picture?"(which I really prefer saying rather than thrusting a camera at a stranger and grunting and making hand motions) or "two tickets for Busan please" or "can I leave my luggage here?" but strangely includes "please ring up the bill", which was always met with incomprehension whenever I used it in Korea because you generally just go and stand around at the cashier when you're ready to pay rather than the US style of a bill being brought to your table.Don't get me wrong, this is a good book, with almost every tourist site in Korea of note included, with nice pictures and printed on good paper, but it's far from perfect. Probably best suited towards someone based in Seoul already familiar with Korea who is interested in making day trips to other parts of the country, rather than someone traveling there for the first time.

Excellent: Succinct but very helpful descriptions, frequently with historical background of various destinations. I referred to Koehler's book frequently during my recent trip to Korea...and given his descriptions of other places, I aim to return within the next couple of years! "How to get there" bus routings extremely helpful and critical to know given the isolation of many of the places he describes. It's quite heavy, though: For those of us that still like to read via paper, suggest getting a hard copy as well as the digital version to actually take with you.

Great book! Has everything you would want to know and more! A very thorough and excellent guide. I highly recommend this travel guide. I went for two weeks and this made the journey so much easier.

This is probably the prettiest guide I've ever seen. The pictures are gorgeous and it's so complete. You can't miss anything with this guide. Sure, it's pretty thick and heavy, but worth it.

Great guide. They provide maps, and everything is well written. They made it easy to find almost everything by using subway. I would highly recommend it! Only problem might be weight and durability. It is durable enough but I guess I used mine too much! :P

excellent photography

All information you need is in this book. And even when time goes by and the content will be updated in a newer version, it still is a nice piece to have in your book collection.

I'm a big Lonely Planet fan, but took the plunge and bought Robert Koehler instead after reading such positive reviews.I find the book enjoyable, with entertaining and interesting facts. A very leisurely read.Looking forward to purchasing Seoul.

This guide is unlike most travel guides, rather than concentrating on the details of history, local customs and specifics of getting to and around the country this book covers a huge range of interesting places to visit, many not normally covered by other guides, with details how to get to them and why they're important. It covers Seoul in detail but also most other major cities and rural areas. I wish there were more guides like this available for other destinations. If you need a guide coving essential survival knowledge or good maps you'll probably need an accompanying guide but this is still definitely worth picking up. I now can't wait for my trip to Korea.

Sehr große Hilfe für unseren Korea Urlaub. Hotel und Hostelbeschreibung eher dürftig, was aber in Korea gar kein Problem darstellt bei den vielen Schlafmöglichkeiten und fast überall WLAN Möglichkeiten.Bietet einen super Überblick über alles, was man in diesem tollen Land entdecken kann!