Self-drive holiday in Korea recommended?

Hi, hoping to do a self-drive in Korea this Dec. Avis Car Rental has GPS but not in English. Was told their system is similar to Japanese ones i.e. just key in phone number of your destination. We don%26#39;t speak the language but definitely plan to learn some essential words like turn left/right, numbers, etc...in addition to greetings, %26#39;thank-you%26#39; %26amp; %26#39;please%26#39; of cos :)

Is that enough to see us through?

Plan to drive in Jeju. Then from Busan to Mt Seorak to Seoul.

Appreciate any advice/suggestion. thanks!

Self-drive holiday in Korea recommended?

Hi,

we just did a self-drive holiday in South Korea in October and drove from Seoul-Chuncheon-Seoroksan-Busan-Yeonju-Suwon-Seoul. We rented a car and a GPS with Kumho Rent (Herz) and it was great. The GPS is indeed just like a Japanese one (we went there last year and also did a self-drive). There is an option where you can enter phone numbers, which you will find this in the somewhere menu (usually there is a pictogram of a telefone). It is very easy to use once you get the hang of it. It took us a while the first day.

First enter the area code of your destination. Please check the displayed combination of area code and the name of the area in Hangeul carefully. I recommend you buy a Lonely Planet because next to the English name of an attration there is also a translation into Hangeul.

Second, enter the phone number of your destination without the area code. The GPS will show you the results and next to it are pictograms of what kind of destination it is (e.g. hotel, national park, restauran). You select the destination, then it will show you a detailed map. You can zoom out in order to compare the location with your own map of South Korea (if you have one). Then you press Go (only displayed in Hangeul) and then the GPS will do its job.

BUT:not all numbers are listed in the GPS.

In a few cases we had to enter Hangeul to find our destination. This is manageable when you keep the following in mind:

One Korean words (word) consist out of 2/3/4 hangeul characters. You start by entering the most upper left character, followed by the one to the upper right (when needed), then lower left(when needed), then lower right (when needed).The GPS will be smart enough to transform this into one Korean word.

Give it a few tries and you will get the hang of it.

Remember to choose the region/area of your destination first, or it perhaps won%26#39;t show the destination in the result list.

Before we took off with the rental car, we asked an employee of Hertz to walk us through the GPS en teach us the usefull words like turn left/right. He was very kind but he didn%26#39;t know the phone number option...we figured out along the way.

Additional advice:

Get a free road map and travel guide from the Korean Tourist Organization. You can order them from their website and visit an office of KTO when you are in Jeju (I think there is one there). At an office you can get addition leaflets and brochures of your destinations including maps for Busan, Seoul and Sokcho (entrance to Seoroksan).

Enjoy your holiday!

If you have additional questions, please email me.

Self-drive holiday in Korea recommended?

thanks so much wollywobbel. that was really helpful. the pieces are falling into place and i%26#39;m getting more excited by the day. will certainly email you if i hit roadblocks ;)

Do you know of an online navigation system, like yahoo map, that I could use to map out the routes prior to arrival in Seoul? I don%26#39;t read or speak Korean and am trying to travel with 2 kids by car to go from Incheon to the ski slopes. I am hoping to map out the routes in case we can pass by Everland or some other sights prior to returning to Lotte World. Thanks!

this is the only one i found emap.visitkorea.or.kr/Scripts/EngMap.aspx

i think it%26#39;s still under testing so doesn%26#39;t work very well. for mapping out route, i used a map that i got from my local KNTO. was really useful.

just got back from airport. had a lovely time in Korea. depending on which ski resort you go to, it is possible to visit Everland before returning to Seoul.

must get GPS with the car, makes it much easier.

happy holidays :)