Possible Busan Fix

Fastest train in Korea with 300km/h

I changed part of the end of our South Korea itinerary, let me know if you think these changes are a good fix.

Changes and/or additions from the original itinerary are in bold yellow text.

Monday, March 17

• Shopping at a few of the Markets (Namdaemun & Dongdaemun)
• Leeum Samsung Museum of Art
• Gyeongbokgung Palace
• Take a high speed night train to Busan. The trip from Seoul to Busan takes just under 3 hours and there are 2 trains that leave fairly late; a 9pm that arrives at 12:10am and a 10pm that arrives at 12:50am.
• Check-in to our hotel in Busan, South Korea

Tuesday, March 18

• Day trip from Busan to Gyeongju City
• Full day tour visiting the remnants of the ancient Silla Dynasty, including secluded temples, ancient ruins, burial mounds and National Museum
• Return to Busan, South Korea

Wednesday, March 19

• Take the high speed ferry in the morning (8:45am or 10am) and arrive in Fukuoka, Japan (11:45am or 1pm.)

Notes ->

• In the original itinerary the train ride from Seoul to Gyeongju City would have taken 4 - 5 hours.
• We would have had to find a secure place to stow our luggage while we visited the sights.
• This new and improved version allows us to store our luggage in our hotel room, we can take a train or express bus to Gyeongju City (the ride takes 1 hour by bus) from Busan and spend half the day visiting sights. Then in the late afternoon and evening we could traipse around Busan.
• This version allows us to still visit the "must see" sights in South Korea plus adds an additional day to the Japan leg of our trip.

Things to Consider ->

• We may want to buy a Korean Rail pass. The cost of Korea's high speed bullet train is about $80 one way; use of the high speed bullet is covered by the rail pass.
• The rail pass that covers 3 days of unlimited rail travel costs $76, there's also a saverpass that costs $68.
• I emailed a US Korail representative to find out where in the Chicago area we can purchase the pass and if we qualify for the saver pass.
• We may want to reserve our bullet train tickets, just incase seats fill up fast.