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Any S. Korea DMZ visitors in the past few years? Tour recs?

Posted by (Chicago) on

I will be returning to Seoul early summer. My travel companion wishes to see the DMZ. I wondered if anyone has been to the DMZ in recent months and can recommend a tour company.

My research - The reviews for several companies seem circumspect - Tripadvisor, for instance, has pages of submissions for several different providers all from today, March 28, 2024 - all with one contribution from the reviewer and, of course, all 5 star reviews. I see checking the RS board that several have used Koridoor which is now listed as permanently closed.

My sense is that the tours are all quite similar which makes sense as I'm sure access is limited. I don't wish to visit the suspension bridge which is on most tours.

Any suggestions? I'll also contact the concierge at our hotel, but thought perhaps someone here had some experience. All comments welcome!

Posted by
589 posts

We used Koridoor when we visited in 2019. I tried the link to their website that I saved and it appears that they are still running tours. Here’s the link: https://www.koridoor.co.kr:5033/idx.asp

I can’t say that it was the best tour I’ve ever taken, but it did the job - transportation , guide, lunch, several stops. You can’t go to the DMZ on your own - you must go with an organized tour.

Posted by
1269 posts

Thanks, Renee!

I agree the website looks up and running with some references to closed dates just last month.

I can't find 2024 traveler reviews and the reviews I did find for late 2023 were not good. However, I have found Koridoor mentioned in some of the more recent printed guide books I've looked at - maybe it was Fodor's.

These tours are very similar - my research says the main difference may be the English language ability of the guide. Am I correct that the tour companies bus you up to the DMZ, then turn the passengers over to official guides for continued touring?

Hopefully, I can find several companies and compare.

Posted by
589 posts

As I recall, we had a guide on the bus and she did all the guiding at the various sights. We also had sone free time at each sight to wander on our own. I don’t remember being turned over to any other guides, but some tours may do that.

I had a lot of trouble understanding the guide on the bus because the sound system wasn’t very good (and, to be fair, I hadn’t yet gotten my hearing aids LOL.). Her English was pretty good when we had the chance to speak with her in small groups off the bus.

As an aside, at other points on our trip we had two excellent guides for a private day-long tour of Seoul and an evening food tour. It seems that those companies did not survive the pandemic, but I’m sure with some research you could find good guides.

Posted by
1269 posts

Thanks again! I appreciate reading of your experience.

This is not my first visit to Seoul, I am going to be "guiding" my travel companion to my favorite spots. (Ha, ha!) We've traveled together previously, so I know the interests that we share. A food tour might be something enjoyable - I'm not that adventurous myself.

The DMZ is not a place I've visited - this is not a particular interest of mine, but I will try to accommodate my companion. I'm sure I will learn a lot - I always do when encouraged to go somewhere I have not previously considered!

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