About us

Tokyo to Seoul is for anyone planning a first trip to Japan, South Korea, or both in one go. Most of our readers fly in from the United States, Canada, the UK, Europe or Australia, with one or two weeks to spend and a long list of places they have seen in photos. We write the guides we'd want open on the flight: how many days each city really needs, how long the train actually takes, what a day costs once you add it all up, and which forms to fill in before you land.

Why two countries

Tokyo and Seoul are about two and a half hours apart by plane, and more first-timers now combine them in one trip. They feel close on the map and very different on the ground: different trains, different apps, different payment habits, different rules at the border. Most guides cover one country or the other. We cover both, side by side, so you can decide where to spend your days and how to move between them.

Fewer bases, more time

Japan in particular tempts first-timers to see everything: Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, Hakone, Mount Fuji and maybe the Alps, all in ten days. It can be done, but much of it happens on platforms and with suitcases. We think a first trip works better with two or three bases and short side trips, a free afternoon for jet lag, and a last night close to the airport you fly home from. Our itineraries are built that way: morning, afternoon and evening blocks, the travel time between stops, and a rough daily budget in dollars and yen or won.

Rules change, so we date them

Entry rules in both countries have changed a lot in the last few years, and more changes are planned. When a guide mentions a fee, an online form or a rail pass price, it comes from the official page of the government, the railway or the venue, and we say when we last checked it. When something changes, we update the guide and the date at the top.

Who writes

Tokyo to Seoul is written by a small editorial team that also publishes travel guides on other parts of the world, signed together as the Tokyo to Seoul editors.

Spotted something out of date, or have a question we haven't answered yet? Write to us: many of our guides start from readers' questions.