South Korea

Apart from a few choice modern appliances, precious little has changed over the years in Hahoe villagers way of life so if you want to experience a traditional festival or ancient culture, this is the ideal place to go.

Less aesthetically-minded scientists believe South Korea was first inhabited around 30,000 BC, when tribes from central and northern Asia stumbled on the peninsula.

South Korea’s stunning landscape has played a big part in creating a cohesive Korean identity. This is a country swathed in green, prodding its stony fingers skyward, and the Koreans are a people obsessed with nature (mountains in particular).

For some of the oddest sea food you will ever eat, head to Busan, a real sea town which is – apart from Seoul – the only other place in South Korea where you can let your hair down for a night out. 

Jeju-do off the south coast of Korea is the warmest and wettest place in the country. Lying 50 miles off the southernmost tip of the peninsula, Jeju-do has the (perhaps over-exaggerated) reputation of being the ‘Hawaii of South Korea’.