Ganghwa Island - Ganztägige private Tour

A good guide can make all the difference in a tour. My guide was knowledgeable and brought important and interesting historical events of the area that had context for Westerners.

The trip was very enlightening, especially about the history of Korea at the end of the 19th century, the beginning of European and American contact. The number of Christian churches and especially the Anglican Church was fascinating; the architect encompassed the traditional basilica form of Western churches with Korean temple architecture of the time. The tour included a major Buddhist temple, over 400 years old as well, and gave us an understanding of the religions of Korea today. The visit to the ginseng market introduced us to the agriculture and growing of ginseng on the island. The grilled fish restaurant our guide, Juno Lee, took us to was an experience of how fresh and varied Korean fish can be; we had at least five varieties of fish for our lunch. The last stop was to the closest point between North and South Korea, where we actually saw a person walking on a road and another person riding a bicycle; it was less than a mile between the two countries. Our guide spoke good English and was very knowledgeable about history, geography and the Korean culture. He answered all our questions and looked up data for us, if he was not sure. Thank you to Juno Lee for a wonderful day.

This private tour is worth the experience. Not only did it show a new side to South Korea, it really showed what life was like outside of the bustling city. Getting the chance to seeing a Buddhist temple, learn more about wars Korea fought back in the 1800s, and see a different side of North Korea outside of the DMZ was an amazing experience. Our tour guide did a great job at guiding us around and explaining every bit of the tour in great detail, while showing us the beauty of Ganghwa Island! I would highly recommend this tour!

Our guide and driver Mr. Lee was the best! He told us so many exciting facts during our trip! He was enthusiastic and seemed to enjoy the tour as much as we did!

Seeing rural Korea was a relief from the big cities. Enjoyed the agricultural tours. Enjoyed the fish BBQ. Appreciated the observation towers. Good driver.

Our guide Juno was incredibly knowledgeable and took us to all the special places on Ganghwa island! He was also very understanding of our kids impatience and came up with many creative ways to keep them engaged and entertained along the way. I definitely recommend him!

We absolutely loved our day with Miae! She was a personable, knowledgeable, and overall amazing tour guide! We went to a famous fortress, temple, peace observatory, and market with her. We also had great food and coffee. This was our first full day in Korea and really set the tone for our trip. We would highly recommend this tour to anyone!

If you are looking for the very best private tour guides in Korea, pick Top Korea. I just returned from Korea and had 3 private tours with this company: Ganghwa, Suwon and the DMZ. Top Korea consists of husband/wife: Miae and Juno. Both are extremely knowledgable and speak fluent English. They were hospitable and kind, picking me up at my hotel in Incheon, and providing fabulous tours full of insightful information, including finding the best places for lunch. While in Korea, I had a couple of tours with other companies through Viator and was sorely disappointed. On those tours we were rushed around by guides whose English was neglible, There is no comparison: Top Korea was, by far, superb. Don't waste your time looking for other tour guides. I know when I return to Korea I will plan ahead and make sure all my tours are with them.

This was my second trip with Miae at Top Korea Tour. Three years ago she took me on a city tour of Seoul. I had so much fun and learned so much that I reached out again on my next visit to the area. This time we traveled 1-1/2 hours outside of Seoul to historic Gangwha Island. We visited Gwangseongbo Fortress, built in the 17th century to protect Korea from foreign invasion, and Jeondeungsa Buddhist Temple dating back to the 4th century. Our lunch was a delicious traditional Korean barbeque. After lunch we visited the Gangwha Peace Observatory where we could look across the Han River through telescopes to the farms and mountains of North Korea. From the observatory we proceeded to the popular Joyang Bangjik Coffee shop built on a former factory site and retaining much of the original decor. We visited the Ganghwa Anglican Cathedral combining traditional Korean architecture with Anglican Christian interior. We walked through the Pungmul Traditional Market offering locally grown foods such as turnips, sweet potatoes, and fish along with handcrafts. Then we returned to Seoul. Pickup and dropoff service was provided to my hotel. Miae is an excellent tour guide. She is very knowledgeable, upbeat, friendly, and fun. Top Korea Tour is highly recommended.

Excellent tour service by Juno, our guide. Incredibly thoughtful and really paid attention to the smallest details. He speaks English and a little bit of Spanish, which in our case turned out to be most Spanish spoken. He tried his best to make us feel at home and explained history in a fun and easy way. Definitely worth taking a trip with TOP!