In the Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2018 list, South Korea ranked no.2 on the Top Countries list for the site. Originally called Lonely Planet Publications, the Lonely Planet is now the largest travel guide book publisher in the world and although has their headquarters in Franklin, Tennessee, United States, it has locations all around the world in locations such as England, China, India and Australia. Since 2009, they started publishing the monthly Lonely Planet Traveller magazine in the UK which spread to being published in several other countries as well. It also has its own television production company to which has put out numerous productions such as The Sport Traveller, Lonely Planet: Six Degrees, and Globe Trekker to just name a few. In 1995, the Lonely Planet published their first guidebook on Korea and has since put out several revised versions with their most recent being in 2016.
In the Lonely Planet’s newly released Best in Travel 2018: Top Countries list, the countries of Chile, South Korea, Portugal, Djibouti, New Zealand, Malta, Georgia, Mauritius, China, and South Africa all made the list in respective order. The guide book publisher described South Korea as a “compact playground of Asian modernity” and talked about Seoul’s newest urban park, Seoul-lo 7017- a park built on top of an old high-rise highway in Seoul’s ongoing urban renewal project. Another part of this project was the Cheonggyecheon, a stream that had had the construction of a highway built over it before it was eventually taken down and the stream revamped in 2005 for public use. Despite earning much criticism initially, the Cheonggyecheon stream is now a popular site for tourists and locals alike. And Seoul-lo 7017 hopes to gain the same kind of interest from visitors, putting in cafes, gardens, stages, and an information center as well along its 17 sections.
In a continuing link on the Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2018: Top Countries site page, it redirects visitors to a piece highlighting South Korea’s new green spaces and is written by Lonely Planet writer Simon Richmond, who has worked with the company since 1999. The article discusses the Seoul-lo 7017 while also talking about other additions in Seoul’s urban renewal such as Seonyudo Park where you can find lotus ponds created out of an old water filtration plant. It also talked about Korea’s longstanding natural relationship with architecture. Ancient palaces such as the UNESCO World Heritage site Changdeokgung, one of many in the country, were made with harmony in mind, incorporating nature in its design. The article talked about Changdeokgung’s Huwon, a “serene and rustic glade” which focuses around a lily pond overlooked by a viewing pavilion.
Other places that were mentioned include nature sites such as Namiseom Island and Jeju Island. The former, made popular by the Korean TV drama Winter Sonata, offers visitors an “avenue of redwoods” as well as yellow-leafed ginkgo and cherry trees, as well as 20 different gardens. The latter, Jeju Island, which is located off the south-west coast of the main peninsula, is described as home to a warm climate and rich volcanic soils, offering up some unique subtropical plant life and making it a popular holiday destination for South Koreans.
Written by: Lacey Bonner
Originally from the Washington DC metropolitan area, 3rd year student and Candidate for a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Candidate for Bachelor of Arts in the Korean Language at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa, current exchange student for a 1-year period at Korea University and intern at VANK (Voluntary Agency Network of Korea)