Beautiful Jeju Island and a Wonderful Guide!
Review of: Jeju: Fully Customizable Private Tour
It was truly fortunate to have met such an excellent guide. Their dedication, efficient time management, and detailed explanations about the tour spots were deeply impressive to me.
I am grateful to Jane for making my trip wonderful.
Unforgettable Memories in Busan
Review of: Busan: Fully Customizable Private Tour
Our guide was the kindest and most professional I have ever met. He had an exceptional ability to pinpoint exactly the places and restaurants I wanted, perfectly meeting my needs. Harry from This is Korea also provided great assistance. I am truly grateful to Harry and David for making my trip to Busan unforgettable.
Simply Amazing!!
Review of: Busan: Fully Customizable Private Tour
My trip to Busan was incredibly satisfying. It was just fantastic, very friendly and stunning. The areas and restaurants I visited were exactly what I had hoped for. I am thankful to Kevin and Jake for designing such a tour.
A beautiful and fantastic night view with a romantic cruise!
Review of: Seoul Night Tour with Han River Cruise and Gyeongbokgung Palace
It was great to enjoy the tour in the cool evening, avoiding the sweltering daytime. Particularly, thanks to the dedicated efforts and assistance of our guide, Jay, we were able to have a joyful and comfortable tour. If you’re planning a tour of Seoul in the summer, there couldn’t be a better itinerary than this.
A Unique Seoul Night View Experience
Review of: Seoul Night Tour with Han River Cruise and Gyeongbokgung Palace
Our guide, David, was very diligent and humorous. Throughout the tour, he provided various explanations about Seoul and Korea, and I have never met such an excellent guide anywhere else. Enjoying chicken and beer in the cool river breeze was a very unique experience, and the night view of Seoul from the cruise was fantastic.
Complete and Hassle Free!
Review of: Seoul: Fully Customizable Private Tour
Thank you John for being very accommodating! We had a wonderful Seoul tour and experience with you. Highly recommended!
Excellent!!!
Review of: Seoul: Fully Customizable Private Tour
Excellent tour!!! We are a group of 11 with seniors and kids… and they were able to accommodate all our needs and wants! The service was superb! Kudos
A beautiful country with warm, amazing people
Review of: Seoul: Fully Customizable Private Tour
Our family’s first international travel to Seoul, Busan and Gyeong-ju South Korea from April 1-7, 2024 had been hassle-free, amazing and memorable, thanks to This is Korea Private Tour Agency. From planning in October 2023 until confirmation of our trip in December 2023, Mr, Kevin Hong helped us a lot. He was very responsive through his emails, patiently answering all our queries and suggested options to our prepared itinerary. Mr, Harry Hong was wonderful and assisted us with the final details of our trip, including reservations for our stay at Nami Island and ride at the Gangchon Rail Bike. Thanks too, to the drivers for their efforts in picking us up from the airport to the hotel and vise versa. We are likewise grateful to the agency in assisting us with our luggages that we don’t need to bring to Busan.
The guides, Aaron and Kassy both did a great job. They checked on us if we are comfortable, brought us to really nice restaurants, had the pleasure of taking our group pictures, speak good English, shared knowledge in historical/ cultural sites and ensured we would really have a great time each day in our itinerary. Kassy’s driver, Allen was also friendly and brought us to places where we could enjoy more of the cherry blossoms. Would surely recommend This is Korea to our friends and relatives.
감사합니다!
-Hannah Rubio and Family (from the Philippines)
10/10 – Fantastic Tour and Experience. Would recommend Kory to anyone.
Review of: Seoul: Fully Customizable Private Tour
Kory is one of the best guides I’ve ever had in any city, period. Very friendly and knowledgeable, very efficient in getting around the city, and willing to adapt the tour and stops to your preferences and requests.
He also has some great special hookups at restaurants and other hidden gems (my colleague and I skipped a 1 hr + long lunch line to be ushered in by the manager. And I had some of the best chicken noodle soup ever).
I would highly recommend Kory to anyone (family, friends, business) who needs an English speaking guide in Seoul!!
Exceeded all expectations!!!!
Review of: Seoul: Fully Customizable Private Tour
I cannot imagine a better experience. From our airport pick-up and throughout the week, we enjoyed a fully customized trip of a lifetime, thanks to the incredible attentiveness of our guides, David and Maha. They communicated well, both before and during the day’s activities, then sent hundreds of fantastic photos helping to memorialize every experience. Their personal perspectives and insights brought further dimensions to our visit. I’m so grateful we relied on This is Korea for all of our arrangements. Worry free and magical. I’ve recommended them to everyone, and already plan to use them again.
Short but memorable and enjoyable Trip!
Review of: Seoul: Fully Customizable Private Tour
The tour is very short but enjoyable. Places we visited are memorable. Our tour guide Ms Bella Park is very accommodating. She is always on time and consistent to assist our needs. The Bus is clean and relaxing. The Driver is helpful and drive us safely.
A trip to remember
Review of: Seoul: Fully Customizable Private Tour
The experience was great! Ms belle park was able to guide us each day with our smooth itinerary. The driver was also courteous and on time, he and ms belle make sure that the group will always be dropped off at the nearest drop off point of each of our itinerary.
Ms belle also navigated us with the korea tourist spot and she’s very good in history telling.
Delightful tour
Review of: Seoul: Fully Customizable Private Tour
Jay took us to Gyeongbokgung Palace, Cheongyeheon Stream, Bukchon Hanok Village, Samcheongdong-gil, and Namsan tower. This was a customized tour for 6 of us. Jay was personable, communicative and his English was excellent.
Jay took us to a ginseng/chicken soup restaurant for lunch. It was absolutely delicious!
When we were at Namsan Tower, to our delight it snowed. It was fun seeing snow in Korea. Then Jay took us to his favorite restaurant for a light dinner.
Jay was accommodating (a few in our group wanted souvenirs so he took us shopping). He was fun to be with and created an enjoyable day for us. Well worth it.
3 Amazing, Jam Packed Days
Review of: Seoul: Fully Customizable Private Tour
We spent 3 very full days in Seoul with our guide Jay, a warm and knowledgeable guide.
We started with a pickup at Incheon port where we had disembarked a cruise. Jay met us with a comfortable van and took us first to Changdeokgung Palace and the Secret Garden tour., a serene and lovely place, sadly not yet in bloom but still interesting. Then on to the main palace. After our lunch we walked the Cheongyecheon Stream, visited the Jongmyo Shrine, the Royal Tombs, drove through Gangnam district and Itaewon before drop off at our hotel. What a busy day.
Day 2 was a trip to the DMZ. Very interesting. One note g our pickup time was very early and the only option for some breakfast was the hotel buffet which was Very Expensive. However, we had over an hour wait at the DMZ fot the start of our tour and there were cheaper breakfast options there which we would have done if we knew this, so it would be good to advise future clients about this.
Jay took us to a nearby local restaurant for Korean barbecue and showed us how they eat it. What a feast and very delicious! On the way back he took us to the Korean Ginseng Center after my husband had asked where he might buy some ginseng. A fabulous place and a very happy husband.
Day 3 we had a later start since we would be dropped off at the airport for a late night flight. We went to Namsen Tower, Insadon Street, Myeondong where we had lunch, Gyeongbokgung Palace (missed the colorful changing of the guard due to our late start today so timing didn’t work out but I did see a bit from the van on day 1 as we drove past). Here we saw lots of tourists in traditional Hanbok clothes. We followed with a drive to Buchon Hanbok Village and then a drive through an area where the most affluent Seoul residents live. Finally we were dropped off at the airport after 3 great days with Jay. He had taken numerous photos of us to have great memories of our time here.
We highly recommend Jay and This is Korea tours.
A perfect tour of Seoul with Jay
Review of: Seoul: Fully Customizable Private Tour
Our party of six are grateful that we found Jay (Junyoung Park). We were all very impressed with the quality of service provided by him. He made the trip to Seoul extraordinary. He was very prompt, accommodating, informative and was able to take us to see the beautiful sites of Seoul which included the Gyeongbokgung Palace, Namsan Tower, Cheonggyecheon Stream, lunch at a chicken-ginseng soup restaurant, Bukchon-ro Hanok Village, Dondaemoon Design Plaza and finally dinner at a street market. He also waited patiently while we shopped for souvenirs. It’s an experience that we will never forget.
The many pictures and videos he took of us are amazing. Being a photographer went beyond what was expected of him. We’re very appreciative of him to do this. The pictures and video are of professional quality. What a deal we got…a tour guide and a photographer!
Therefore Jay is who you want to book if you’re looking for a tour guide to show you around Seoul. I highly recommend Jay. You won’t regret your decision if you choose to book him for a beautiful experience.
Excellent service and professional
Review of: Seoul: Fully Customizable Private Tour
We took a tour yesterday on Mar 22, 2024 with This Is Korea Tours and it was 12 people in our group.(private and customized tour) John was our tour guide and he was awesome, friendly, good sense of humor, flexible and knowledgeable about Korea history. He let us know a day in advance about the weather, how to dress properly for the trip. We visited 2 Palaces, InsaDong, Gwangjang Market and Secret Garden. And another best part was having lunch with John. He recommended a restaurant that local people comes for lunch . He showed us how to eat like a Korean and the food was out of this world! Kudos to you John. And we will see you again in near future
Fully Customized Hometown Cha Cha Location Tour in Pohang
It was a day to remember! We are a group of 7 women – siblings and cousins, who are all avid K-Drama fans. Thanks to This is Korea for facilitating this customized tour for us. Kay and Bruce were very patient and accommodating to my queries and requests. They made it very easy for me. Kudos also to Julia, our tour guide, for making our tour very interesting and comfortable. Hong Bang-jan! ☺️ I highly recommend booking with This is Korea for a worry-free tour.
Fantastic trip
I had a good time with Cabin.
He is the best guide and has a lot of historical knowledge, so he helped me tour so much.
I really enjoyed the food because you recommended it as our favorite food.
Awesome Customized Tour
Review of: Seoul: Fully Customizable Private Tour
John was a fantastic tour guide. We asked for a customized BTS tour and that’s exactly what we got. I highly recommend John and his company.
Seoul Private Tour
Review of: Seoul: Fully Customizable Private Tour
Our family had an amazing day with Kory! Kory was very helpful, insightful, knowledgeable about all of the places we visited around Seoul, and was caring towards our family.
We had a set itinerary and he was quite flexible about changing one of the locations. Kory suggested something he felt would interest us and we would enjoy more.
Kory created beautiful memories for us!
Our guide Kory created a beautiful and memorable experience for our family in Korea. He was attentive and very flexible to our interests and needs. Our kids loved him and enjoyed their time very much with his good natured and friendly approach. Thank you for a wonderful week Kory!
Our Great Tour Guide Sums up our Excellent Tour
Our tour guide Mr John80 was great…Not only was he knowledgeable, he was very involved in organizing the tour our group of 10 with great suggestions on sights and food
Amazing private tour
I took the private full day tour. My tour guide and driver Teddy Park was fantastic and tailored the day to be able to show me the best in Seoul, as I only had 1 day to go around. And he took great photos! It was super worth it!
Amazing tours with knowledgeable guides
My mom and I went on 2 tours with This is Korea. Our first tour was 2 days in Jeju and our guide Sookhee, Sally was great! She shares so much about the island and suggested places like the women divers museum which was such a bonus as we never would have known about it.
Our second trip was 1 day in Seoul with Rokgwan, John. He was also amazing and extremely great at making sure we got to see what we wanted. He helped orchestrate my mothers favorite activity, meeting an artist she has followed for years. His upbeat attitude and willingness to go with the flow with us as we spent more time than allowed really made the trip for my mom. He was super conversational and knowledgeable about the city.
Highly recommend both guides!
Simply the Best experience
The booking process was very easy and scheduling itinerary was very simple. Kory, our guide, was great and would add or amend our itinerary depending on what we wanted. We got to do, see and taste everything we wanted at a pace that was very doable for our family (youngest 10 yo and oldest 74 yo). The professional, on-time, courteous, knowledgeable and respectful. We all had a wonderful time. Thank you This is Korea and Thank YOU Kory.
Amazing!
Irene was so kind and knowledgeable of the city. She explained the history well to us. She
worked around our preferences.
Professionalism: Our guides maintain a professional demeanor at all times, dressing appropriately and acting as representatives of Korea tourism industry.
Excellent tour !
Fantastic tour overall!! John, our guide/driver was attentive and professional. He was flexible and made sure that our family of 5 had a fun and busy day exploring the city. Because it was our second time in the city, he made sure to visit all the attractions and highlights, both popular, and off the beaten path, as requested. Instead of the N soul tower, we visited the Lotte world tower as per our request. We enjoyed lunch with him and had a great day together. I would highly recommend John and this tour overall!!!
Flexibility: Our guides are adaptable and able to handle unexpected changes or situations that might arise during tours. Flexibility ensures a smooth experience for both guides and tourists.
VERY good tour. Truly customizable for you. Andy is a great guide!
This company was truly amazing. They gave me advice and options in advance and we worked on a truly customized tour. No need for individual tours, you can do it ALL with them! Seoul is a huge place and we saw all that we wanted to. Could take our time because they are good planners. Our guide Andy was really wonderful. He was genuinely interested in our needs. He put in the extra time and effort to make our short time in Korea memorable. Took pictures and sent to us too. Thanks!
Interpersonal Skills: Our tour guides are be approachable, friendly, and capable of connecting with tourists. They are able to handle questions, concerns, and diverse personalities with patience and professionalism.
Friendly and Helpful Guide, Sejun Tak
Brought three 80 year old folks to Seoul for five days and got them to help plan for the trip. All went well. Sejun Tak, our guide, was friendly and helpful. Showed a lot of initiative to adjust the itinerary to make sure we get the best out of the trip. On our last day of shopping, he volunteered to find carton boxes and helped us packed our stuff properly. He was not fuss with the additional time spent beyond the agreed hours. Strongly recommended.
Best way to see jeju
Viator review: Jeju: Fully Customizable Private Tour
Andrew was a wonderful tour guide. We had suggestions on where to go but he had one improvement on a site. He said there was some place better. And he was right! Thank you Andrew! This was the best way to see jeju. Highly recommend to see places without worrying about driving, parking or directions!
Knowledge of Local Cuisine: Recommending local restaurants and dishes adds a culinary dimension to the tour experience, allowing tourists to explore the local food scene.
So responsive it’s unbelievable!
We found This is Korea on Google and highly recommend booking with them for a private tour. Albert was helpful and accommodating from the start and helped tweaked our 2 days itinerary in Jeju. Bruce was always responsive and helped us with discounted Everland tickets in Seoul – he literally responds immediately on receiving my emails! The celebrity vans for airport transfers were more than enough to accommodate a family of 8 with 10 pieces of luggage – they were clean and spacious and came with a big TV screen for long rides. Our driver cum guide in Jeju, Cindy, was very responsive and contacted us the night before to confirm timings, pickup and itinerary. Cindy is a local who knows Jeju like the back of her hand and has all the restaurants on speed dial on her phone. It was raining the first day in Jeju and she switched our itinerary to ensure we visited all the attractions. Not speaking the language, we would have wasted a lot of time without her purchasing tickets and translating for us!
The other drivers in Seoul were extremely kind and accommodating esp on the day we were more than 1h late due to the long queues at Everland. Some may find their pricing to be more than than other service providers but trust me, they are so reliable and responsive it’s worth every extra cent. Who wants to be stressed about the mundane while on holiday. Most amazing thing is all the trip planning was remote, via email!
Private Solo Tour – Jeju, Busan, and Seoul
I had the pleasure of working with This Is Korea tours in April during my 2 week trip to Korea and I had an amazing time. Albert and Harry helped set up my tour; they were very prompt with their replies and were able to accommodate multiple specific requests that I had as well. The price was more than fair considering everything that I accomplished. Here’s a few short sentences about each location.
Jeju: My guide Janice was absolutely fantastic. She arrived on time, knew about what I wanted to do beforehand, and was incredibly friendly and accommodating. Her English is great and she has a lot of knowledge about every place that we went to. Not only that, but I really enjoyed our casual conversations as well. She made me feel like I was at home during my time in Jeju, and she even helped me find a bar that I wanted to go to on my off day where I was on my own, so that was very great of her to do so. The highlights I ended up visiting were the lava tube cave, Sunrise Peak, eating at a black pork restaurant, watching the famous women diver show, and driving through the “Mysterious Road.”
Busan: My guide Peter was also very good; he’s a very interesting guy with a great life story, so if you are lucky enough to get him please ask questions, you won’t be disappointed. He was immensely helpful in guiding me through Gamcheon Culture Village and was nice enough to get up early for a sunrise visit to Haedong Yonggungsa Temple. My time in Busan was short, but it was excellent and I got to see everything that I wanted.
Seoul: I had one free day in Seoul that I also used for a guided tour with This Is Korea. My guide Don also did a great job overall. He has an excellent amount of knowledge of every place we went to, and knew the best routes to get there to avoid the heavy Seoul traffic. He even recommended other places to stop at since we had plenty of extra time, and I think he also stayed longer than he needed to, which I greatly appreciated. Overall Don did a great job and I was impressed by his knowledge of everything, and he also had a lot of insights about living in Seoul and how it works to rent an apartment. Very fascinating to me and I’m grateful for the information. My stops were the usual requested ones that I’m sure a lot of people go to, but they were all still very special to me, including Bukchon Hanok Village, Starfield Library, and the Gyeongbokgung Palace.
I would not hesitate to work with This Is Korea again in the future if I ever am fortunate enough to come back to Korea. Thanks again!
Awesomeness : Our travel guides are all awesome itself.
AWESOME!!!
Irene is a great tour guide who showed us the amazing sights of Busan! Highly recommend
her as your next tour guide!
Seoul and Nonsan
Tripadvisor review: Seoul: Fully Customizable Private Tour
I did another review for Busan but we booked tours with ‘This is Korea’ for Seoul, Nonsan & Busan. Our experience, starting with scheduling with Albert (and then Grey) was amazing. They have been very patient with all our questions and changes. It was our first time in Korea and their suggestions have been really helpful. Our guides were wonderful. Paul took us to Nonsan to see Sunshine Studios and even added the 1950 film studio and the city of Gongju-si which were pleasant surprises :). Sori, our guide to DMZ was very patient, fun, and informative. We enjoyed our tours in Korea, thanks to all these people. Already recommended them to my colleagues.
Busan April 2023
Tripadvisor review: Busan: Fully Customizable Private Tour
We booked several tours in April 2023 with This is Korea tours including 2 custom tours in Busan. Our tour guides (Irene and Peter) provided excellent service from the moment they picked us up until they dropped us off. Irene picked us up from the train station, took us to all the places we requested (and even the last-minute one – Gamcheon Village that we added). She also suggested other ones that were pleasant surprise (the sunset overlooking Busan and the coffee shop).
Peter picked us up from our hotel and also took us to all the temples and Gyeong Ju landmarks that we requested and provided us remarkable stories of their history. His knowledge of history was amazing. He was also very funny and entertaining .
We will surely book them again!
感谢卓世俊hyeong这几天的陪伴！
强力推荐这家韩国的私人旅游团，非常感谢我们的司机兼导游，卓世俊hyeong（Mr. Sejun Tak）这四天在首尔的优质款待，一位很专业的司兼导，他对首尔及附近一带的景点，购物及美食了如指掌，他总会为我们介绍价格合理又好吃的美食和购物地点。特别感谢他在我们到首尔的第一天特地陪我们登记入住酒店，以及介绍了很多酒店附近的用餐地点，让不懂韩语和首次到访的我们倍感贴心。对于行程的安排，他也会根据我们的步伐进行调整，让我们六人包括三个老人家能轻松自在的旅行。期待我们下一次的韩国之旅!
Highly recommend this tour
Kory was our tour guide and took us to the main places for first timers in South Korea! We
loved the day and really recommend, it was great to hear and see Seoul history and nice
spots of the city with someone local!
Lighthouses in Jeju, South Korea
Camilla did a wonderful job of showing us the lighthouses of Jeju. She stopped in spots that enabled us to get very good photos.
See you again? Why not?
We would book again
Hiring a private tour was such a great idea for our group of 8. We all don’t speak the language and really appreciated the pick up/drop off from our hotel. The team gave us a great price and communicated well from beginning to end. Our tour guide Irene was great. She showed us interesting locations and since it was a private tour we got to control where we went and for how long we stayed. They gave a set tour but was open to modification. It rain during our tour so Irene was quick to suggest an alternative. Such a great experience and would support this company again.
Memories : Our travel guide will take great photos and provide long-lasting memories.
Excellent guide and overall great experience with this company
This was an incredible experience for my family of 6, which included kids and grandparents on a 4-day tour of Seoul. Jay was a total pro, dealt with all our requests/issues that arose with kindness and patience, and gave us an “experience of a lifetime” that we will remember for a very long time. The photos he took were incredible, he was a great driver, and he knew SO much about Seoul’s landmarks and history… he was amazing and we had a great time! This was also overall a great company to work with, helping us adjust our itinerary and we had a special request that they made happen without a glitch. Overall – I couldn’t recommend this company and our guide Jay more. We would definitely use again.
Great guide
John’s preparation was excellent as was his knowledge of all things Korean. He was honest
about his shortcomings in knowledge about contemporary art. In no way did it limit our
experience which was very positive.
Response published
