The old imperial city first, while the pace is still yours; then Tokyo; and Seoul last — palaces and hanok lanes on one side of the river, everything new on the other. Three cities that are better for being taken slowly, and in this order.
01 — Japan
Kyoto
Temples, gardens and wooden lanes in the old imperial capital.
Kyoto was Japan's capital for more than a thousand years, and it keeps the temples, shrines, gardens and geisha districts that the modern capital does not. It lies in a bowl of wooded hills, with the eastern Higashiyama slopes, the bamboo of Arashiyama to the west and the torii gates of Fushimi Inari to the south. Osaka's airports serve it.
Fushimi Inari
Kinkaku-ji and Ryoan-ji
Higashiyama and Gion
Arashiyama
Spring, March to April. Cherry blossom along the canals and in the temple gardens, usually in early April. The city fills; book far ahead.
02 — Japan
Tokyo
A vast, quiet city: neon crossings, wooden shrines and perfect bowls of noodles.
Tokyo is a metropolis made of villages, each around its railway station: Shibuya's crossing and Shinjuku's towers on the west side, Asakusa's temple and the old downtown to the east, Ginza's department stores and the imperial palace's moats in the middle. It is orderly, endlessly deep, and Mount Fuji shows on clear winter mornings.
Shibuya and Harajuku
Asakusa and Senso-ji
Shinjuku
Tokyo Tower, Skytree and the views
Spring, March to May. Cherry blossom in late March and early April, then fresh green and mild days. The most sought-after weeks; Golden Week in early May fills trains.
03 — South Korea
Seoul
Palaces and hanok lanes on one side of the river, neon and K-pop on the other.
Seoul fills a basin of granite hills on the Han river, with the Joseon palaces and the old hanok quarters north of the water and the towers of Gangnam to the south. It is a city of mountains inside its limits, markets that never close, barbecue smoke and a pop culture that has gone around the world.
Gyeongbokgung and the palaces
Bukchon Hanok Village
Insadong and Ikseondong
The markets and the food
Autumn, September to November. Clear skies, crisp air and the maples turning red in the palace gardens and on the mountains. The season most would choose.
