Where to stay in South Korea: the best cities, islands and hotels

Seoul is enormous, but it breaks down neatly. North of the Han River is the old city: the royal palaces, the wooden houses of Bukchon, the shopping streets of Myeongdong and the markets of Dongdaemun, which stay open far into the night. South of the river is Gangnam, the district of broad avenues, towers, plastic-surgery clinics and very expensive handbags.

First-timers should stay north of the river, near City Hall, Myeongdong or Dongdaemun, where the sights are close and the street food is everywhere. Gangnam suits shoppers and anyone who wants big, sleek hotels with every facility. The financial island of Yeouido, in the river, has some of the city's newest five-stars and skyline views. Wherever you sleep, the subway makes the rest easy.

Busan is Seoul's easy-going seaside cousin. The city is squeezed between green mountains and the sea, so it comes in a series of bays and neighbourhoods linked by bridges and tunnels. It has the country's biggest fish market, a hillside village painted every colour of the rainbow and a cliff-top temple with waves breaking below.

Most visitors stay in Haeundae, the eastern beach district, where a broad strand of sand is backed by glittering towers, and the top hotels have ocean views and pools high above the water. Gwangalli, the next bay along, has a great night-time view of its illuminated bridge. Songdo, in the older west of the city, is quieter and closer to the markets. The bullet train from Seoul takes about two and a half hours.

Jeju is Korea's favourite escape, an oval volcanic island off the south coast with a mild climate and a personality of its own. Hallasan, the country's highest mountain, rises in the middle. Around it are lava tubes, waterfalls that drop into the sea, tangerine groves and a coast of black rock where women divers still gather shellfish by hand.

Where you stay depends on your plans. Jeju City, in the north, is beside the airport and has the biggest, flashiest hotels. The south coast, around Seogwipo and the Jungmun resort area, is warmer and prettier, with five-star hotels in landscaped gardens above the ocean, about 40 minutes from the airport. The west coast around Aewol is known for sea-view cafés and sunsets. Hire a car if you can.

For nearly a thousand years Gyeongju was the capital of the Silla kingdom, and the evidence is everywhere. Enormous grassy burial mounds swell up in the middle of town like a row of green hills. A seventh-century observatory stands in a field. On the mountain to the south-east, Bulguksa Temple is one of the most beautiful Buddhist sites in the country.

There are two places to stay. The old centre has the tombs and the best restaurants within walking distance. Bomun Lake, a few miles east, is the resort district, where the large hotels are, with gardens, pools and a lakeside path lined with cherry trees. A hotel beside Bulguksa suits early risers who want the temple to themselves. Busan is about an hour away.

Almost every international visitor arrives at Incheon, and for a first or last night it can make sense to stay put. The hotels beside the airport are not the usual grey boxes: there is a large five-star next to the terminals, a design hotel with an infinity pool looking over the Yellow Sea, and a vast entertainment resort with an arena and an indoor water park.

Across the bridge, Songdo is a new city built on reclaimed land around a central park with a seawater canal, where you can paddle a boat between the towers. It is calm, modern and good with children. Central Seoul is about an hour away by airport train.

Daegu is one of Korea's biggest cities and sees a fraction of the visitors that Seoul and Busan do. It sits in a basin ringed by mountains, famously hot in summer, with one of the country's great traditional markets, a lively downtown of cafés and fashion shops, and temples in the hills to the north. It lies on the bullet-train line between Seoul and Busan, so it is an easy stop, and Gyeongju is close by. Hotels are large, modern and good value, several with pools, saunas and spas.

Gwangju holds a special place in Korean hearts as the city whose 1980 uprising helped bring democracy to the country, and it honours that history with moving memorials. It is also an arts city, with a major contemporary art biennale and a huge cultural centre downtown, and the surrounding region is widely held to have the best food in Korea: every meal arrives with a table full of side dishes. Stay downtown near the cultural centre, or in the newer western district close to the fast-train station and the convention centre.

North-east of Seoul the land crumples into forested hills and long, still lakes, and the pace slows right down. Chuncheon, the regional capital, is a relaxed lakeside city that Koreans associate with spicy stir-fried chicken and weekend escapes; a cable car now glides out across the water to the hills beyond.

The big draw for families is the mountain resorts in the surrounding countryside. These are huge, self-contained complexes with hundreds of rooms, where you ski in winter and swim, hike or play golf the rest of the year. They are aimed squarely at Korean families, which is part of the fun. Small lakeside guesthouses with terraces and barbecue grills offer a simpler alternative.