Geography

Full interactive map first — pan, pinch, scroll-wheel zoom, tap any marker for a popup with the link to that city's guide. DMZ approximated with a dashed red line across the 38th parallel. OpenStreetMap tiles.

Controls

• Scroll wheel / pinch to zoom
• Click + drag to pan
• Click a marker → popup with the link to that city's page
• Double-click zooms in; the + / − buttons (top-left) work too

Schematic overview

Stylized version of the same places — colored dots, KTX rail lines, no internet needed. Useful as a quick-glance reference.

How far is everything

Straight-line distances from Seoul (approximate — real routes are longer):

To	km	KTX / transit time	See
Incheon Chinatown	30	Line 1, 70 min	Incheon
Suwon	35	ITX 30 min	day trips
Goyang	20	Line 3, 50 min	day trips
Paju / DMZ corridor	40	Bus 70 min	day trips §Paju
Chuncheon + Nami	85	ITX 80 min	day trips
Gangneung (ARTE)	165	KTX 1h55	day trips
Daejeon	160	KTX 58 min	Daejeon
Jeonju / Wansan-gu	210	KTX 1h40–1h55	Jeonju
Gyeongju (from Busan)	30 from Busan	KTX 30 min	Gyeongju
Busan	325	KTX 2h40	Busan

Full table: travel.md → master table.

Reading the map

• Red dots (Seoul / Busan) — your two multi-night bases, 325 km / 2h40 apart by KTX along the Gyeongbu corridor.
• Orange dots (Gyeongju / Jeonju) — worth one night if the timing lines up. Gyeongju fits as an overnight on the Busan leg; Jeonju fits as a Seoul↔Busan transfer stop.
• Blue dots — day-trip range from Seoul. Everything above the DMZ dashed line is North Korea; Paju sits right at the edge.
• Grey dots — within reach but not on your itinerary. Daegu, Gwangju, Pohang, Sokcho are plotted for scale reference.
• Jeju (inset, bottom-left) — skipped this trip. An hour's flight south; deserves its own 4-day trip later.

The shape

South Korea is smaller than you think: 400 km north-south, ~300 km east-west at its widest southern bulge. The country is organised around the Seoul–Busan spine (the Gyeongbu line — KTX, motorway, everything). All your multi-night cities + Daejeon + Gyeongju sit on or within 50 km of that spine.

The east coast (Gangneung, Sokcho) is the mountain side — Taebaek range, beaches, coffee culture. The west coast is flat plains and the ports (Incheon, Gunsan). The south coast is bays, islands, seafood.

For a 14-night trip, staying on the spine is efficient; venturing east (Gangneung ARTE) means committing to an overnight because the KTX back kills a day.

Mental model in one sentence

Base in Seoul. KTX down the Gyeongbu spine to Busan. Everything within a 2-hour radius of either is a day trip. Jeju is another trip entirely.