Category: Review

▪ Tour: Winter Image Tour for 4 days/3 nights; MT. SEORAKSAN ~ YONGPYONG RESORT

“Overall, we are happy with the tour. Although weather disrupted some plans (this happens !), nonetheless, we did manage to take in the beautiful winter scenery of Korea, and we thoroughly enjoyed the cuisines that you planned for us. We will definitely return, probably some time in autumn.”

Daryl Tan and his travel mates
Singapore

▪ Tour: Highlights of Mt. Seoraksan (1d)

We had the best experience of Korea thanks to HAPPIMIZE TRAVEL, the reason we use private tour due we travel as family with young infant, hence we required flexible schedules and time-management. HAPPIMIZE has shown it professionalism, very punctual.
Our first tour with HAPPIMIZE was to mt seorak, it was such a wonderful experience where our guide was very informative and shows us many things which we believe that we wont be getting from a normal group guided tour.
He was very knowledgeable, commands good English, and a very careful driver too.
The food was also become the highlight of the tour. Our guide introduced us to a large variety of traditional Korean cuisine that are not available in Korean restaurants overseas. All the places were specialty restaurants that served food specific to that area. The food varied from vegetarian (tofu), very cultural style BBQ/grill.
They were all very delicious and definitely we would never tasted them if we went on our own or joined a group tour.

It just a very peace of mind for us knowing that everything has been taken care by HAPPIMIZE to make sure we enjoy the whole trip. And WE DID ENJOY it VERY MUCH…. We didn’t need to worry about small thing, everything is included and schedule perfectly, most of all it’s flexible.

A very highly recommended private tour, all we need to do just sit, relax, and enjoy.

▪ Tour: Highlights of Jeju (3d2n)

We were very thankful for our recent Jeju Island trip with HAPPIMIZE. Traveling with whole family plus young infant couldn’t be better….
A very very thank you to our guide, JC, he prepared everything carefully to make sure everything is smooth and enjoyable experience for us adults and the baby.
(* Jay was also our tour guide during our Mt Seorak trip- it’s good to know a familiar person again.)

The itinerary was carefully planned to accommodate our interests, and flexibility for us and the infant, we arrived in Jeju feeling relax, and able to enjoy every single moment. I heard its not that easy to explore if we are on our own, now I fully see that. It’s a such great place to visit, JC shows us so much, from the modern places to very nature/cultural places.

And again, we love our food experience which HAPPIMIZE has plan for us, HAPPIMIZE had consulted us to small details before we even arrived in Korea to make sure the whole needs will meet our standard. We love to travel, so we are an adventurous people, live seafood on the menu!! Great experience, thanks for that!! =) we experience Jeju famous chicken stew for one of our lunch, it was great, we would never found that place if we go on our own or even big group tour. It’s very local with great taste and atmosphere.  Not to forget every meal is included, so nothing to worry during the whole trip, nothing to worry what to order, as we do need some local personalized experience as locals. HAPPIMIZE has provided us not just a cultural experience, it’s become food culinary experience, from typical home local food to high fine dining experience still with local feeling, great combinations. Would not change a thing, they are perfect!

During our trip to Jeju, the weather was not all good, thankfully for taking such a great organized private tour, thanks to our guide JC, he offer some options  due to weather conditions, and we were so happy that everything just went perfectly and at the end we actually see more than planned. Our itinerary was carefully arranged to meet our interests and when we requested one additional visit to a theme park in Jeju, he was very happy to accommodate our request.

The hotel which HAPPIMIZE chose was also great location, the ocean view just splendid, Jay always make sure that we are comfortable during our trip, during the journey, even during our resting time.
It just such a great treat we had from HAPPIMIZE TRAVEL on our Korea holiday, we really see the different between big group tour to our personalized private tour, and we surely will choose HAPPIMIZE TRAVEL as our main tour whenever we are in Korea again.

Christina Boentaran
Australia

▪ Tour: Personalized Tour (SEOUL – GYEONGJU – BUSAN – JAPAN)

I’d like thank you and your staff for your courtesy and professional job.
Please report a special thank to our tour guide Mr. Alex Lee.
He was competent, patient and friendly.
He supported us to better understand your beautiful country.
The tour was fast, anyway it was interesting.

We appreciated your suggestions as:
– Hotel Shilla and hotel Paradise are very pleasant,
– A special surprise was to see Busan (unexpected sparkling city)
– Restaurants in Seoul and Gyeongju
– Very comfortable transportations by van

Thanks one more time for all!

Sergio Sparacciari
Italia

▪ Tailor-made Tour (Seoul ~ CHEORWON DMZ ~ MT. SEORAKSAN ~ SEOUL)

“We had a wonderful trip, and we are now happy to be back home. After leaving Korea, we joined an Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) tour in Tokyo and did not return home until May 5. I will try to get a copy of my comments regarding Korea and your travel company to them. It would make and excellent extension of their tour of Japan.

Itinerary – Excellent for time available and for what we wanted to see – Thank you for working with me to better understand the possibilities. As you may remember we had several iterations back and forth to develop the trip that you provided for us. It was excellent for the limited time we had and for what we wanted to focus on. Three days were all we had to travel in your country.

Day 1 was spent touring Seoul, Day 2 was to the DMZ for the CHEORWON DMZ tour, and then on to the ‘East Sea’ for the night. Day 3 was a visit to SEORAKSAN National Park, and then a country tour on the drive back to Seoul.
Also, being meet at the airport upon arrival, and taken back for departure by Yumi Jang was very helpful.

Food – Excellent – Quite different than what we are used to, but all interesting and all good. The only non-Korean food was for breakfast at the hotels. At each restaurant, we took off shoes, sat on the floor and ate with chopsticks and a spoon. Several unique and very good experiences would include seafood at DAEPO HARBOR at the East Sea, Tofu soup for lunch, Korean chicken for dinner, and always with several kinds of kimchee.

Guide – Yumi Jang served as our guide. He was truly outstanding in every way!

She knew the planned itinerary, and generally followed it. He also improved it with his own suggestions. An example – on our first day, we were to go to an evening show at 8:00 PM. He arranged a change to an afternoon show – a much more enjoyable time for us considering our travel fatigue. He kept us informed and on schedule through the trip. He knew the best restaurants and had suggestions on what to order. On our way back to the airport for departure, an early start was necessary to accommodate possible traffic problems. Since there were no problems, we were going to arrive very early. Yumi stopped at an area just before the airport, and treated us to tea and some favorite items that he liked (I had no Korean money left).

Yumi was excellent in explaining and teaching about Korea – both it’s history, and the current situation. His detailed knowledge of where we were, and where we were going next helped us. He is passionate for his country, and he shares this in a positive way.

Ms. and Mr. Sherrick
USA

▪ Tailor-made Tour (10d9n) (SEOUL ~ GEUMSAN ~ BUSAN ~ JEJU ~ GYEONGJU ~ MT. SEORAKSAN ~ SEOUL)

Dear HAPPIMIZE and ALEX

I don’t know where to begin this letter.
The most appropriate way to start is to say THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for a wonderful and memorable trip to Korea.  Your preparation and company on the tour of Korea for my mother’s 75th birthday was beyond all my expectations.  You made this the best birthday present ever for her. I cannot thank you enough for making this family trip so special.

We couldn’t have had such a successful tour without your diligent help.
When I called and asked for your help on this trip, I was expecting a few interesting stops and some good food.  You went above and beyond all expectations when you provided a true culinary experience of all the diverse facets of Korea.  And showed us the beauty of the country.  We still don’t know if our family liked the free range chicken more than the seafood from the fish market or the side of the road in jeu.  It really doesn’t matter, all the meals we had were outstanding.

Beyond showing us the beauties of Korea (which incidentally my mother was never able to experience first hand until her 75th birthday), I thank you profusely for going above and beyond in helping us find part of our family and family history.

I called 3 other very high end luxury tour guides asking for their help in locating my mom’s birthplace.  We were ecstatic that you took the challenge willingly and then went way beyond our wildest dreams and actually found our family history records and missing family members.  It didn’t even cross our mind that this was a possibility.

We found long lost family while on your trip and we will always welcome our tour guide Alex like family because of this incredible journey that we escorted us on.  You will forever be a part of the family after this trip.

Thank you for taking your responsibility to a level beyond all expectation.  Thank you for making our trip Korea fun, delicious and incredibly special.

Kindest regards
Pearl O’Rourke
USA

▪ Tour(s): Tailor-made Tour (SEOUL ~ YANGGU DMZ ~ SEORAKSAN MOUNTAIN ~ DAEGU ~ GYEONGJU ~ HAEINSA TEMPLE ~ SEOUL)

1. How was your itinerary? Are those places worth visiting?

“Our itinerary was great and detailed. What I liked the most was the flexibility and our tour guide. He made the sights interesting to my two 12 year old boys. There was one sight in GYEONGJU which I added after seeing the Great Queen Seondeok TV drama series which I would not return to (Silla Millenium Park) as it did not meet my expectations.
I liked the fact that we did some cultural activities such as going to the public bath spa and a temple stay so that Patrick and Matthew had more than a tourist perspective of their mother country.”

2. How was food that your family had?

“All but a couple of the meals were excellent. We especially liked the court lunch in GYEONGJU and the chicken dishes in Andong. We ate very well and enjoyed the food so much that we even looked forward to what and where we would be eating next. We learned to eat the foods in the traditional manner, rather than how we ate it in the US…and it was more delicious (i.e. wrapping grilled items like bulgogi in lettuce, rice, condiments).”

3. How was your guide? (in regard to knowledge, passion, communication,…)

“My twin sons were adopted from Korea at 4 months of age. At age 12, this is their first trip back to see their country. Our goal was for Patrick and Matthew to learn and experience their mother country. We left Korea achieving this goal and more due to our guide. He made Korea come alive for Patrick and Matthew. He explained what we were seeing in an interesting manner and was very knowledgeable. He was passionate about making us understand the traditions of his country Korea. Besides being very professional, He is also a very generous and kind man. When I told him I was looking for a particular TV drama series, he went out of his way to find them. We always had a secure feeling that we were in good hands with a friend.”

4. Could you make a general comments of our services in few sentences?

“We received very good service from HAPPIMIZE TRAVEL, from the moment I put in our first inquiry to the last e-mail regarding the confirmation of our meeting with our guide. Client Care Desk always returned my e-mail inquiry within the next day and was very patient with the numerous changes I made to the itinerary. We would definitely use HAPPIMIZE again and highly recommend their services.

Lorna sykes
USA

▪ Tailor-made Tour (EVERLAND ~ HWASEONG FORTRESS ~ HAEINSA TEMPLE Temple ~ YANGDONG VILLAGE ~ GYEONGJU ~ BUSAN)

1. How was your itinerary? Are those places worth visiting?

“We enjoyed itinerary very match. Especially the Haeinsa Temple and the Busan fish market.

2. How was the food that your family had during the tour?

“Just awesome. We had the best chicken Soup ever, great food, incl. Galbi.”

3. How was your guide? (in regard to knowledge, passion, communication,…)

“He was a very gentle with huge knowledge about the history of Korea and the Religion. His communication is straight and kind. We enjoyed every minute with him.”

4. Could you make a general comments of our services in few sentences?

“First Class Travel Agency with top Tour Guides and luxury tour cars!”

Andreas Wetter and his family
Switzerland

▪ TOUR: HIGHLIGHTS OF KOREA (10D9N) (SEOUL – BUSAN – JEJU ~ GYEONGJU – SEORAKSAN MOUNTAIN – SEOUL)

We would like to thank HAPPIMIZE for giving us a fantastic time and best experience trip of Korea.

Itinerary was excellent as we covered every aspect of our detailed itinerary including some minor changes to it. The places we went were interesting ranging from historical/cultural sites to beaches and National Park and we were particularly amazed to see the enormous SILLA tombs scattered in GYEONGJU city.

Our guide was wonderful and cheerful. He commands good English and was very knowledgeable and also a very careful driver too.  He went above and beyond all expectation in providing me with a wonderful and memorable birthday celebration in GYEONGJU city.  We felt like as if we were traveling on a trip with a good old friend.

Indeed, there are some differences between HAPIMIZE TRAVEL and other travel agencies.

– Our itinerary was customized to our needs and the flexibility in changing our program is made possible.  We begin our tour each morning promptly without having to wait around for others.

– Food was also the highlight of our tour.  Each meal is something different, ranging from traditional to fusion food in different regions and they were all very delicious. All meals were included and therefore we do not have to worry about what to order during our entire trip.

– There were no hidden costs or any extra charges as we only have to pay for the price as per quotation.
We also received very good service from Client Care Desk from the moment we made our first enquiry to the last email before our trip.  We would definitely use HAPPIMIZE again and highly recommend their services to anyone who would like to visit Korea.

Once again, thanks for everything!

Sherina Fong
Sydney, Australia

▪ Tour(s): Customized Highlights of Korea (13d12d) (Seoul ~ Jeju ~ Gyeongju ~ Mt. Seoraksan ~ Seoul)

“How was your itinerary?”

The itinerary was good because both Client Care Desk and myself constructed it together after thousand of emails exchange.

“Did your guide try to do more in addition to the agreed itinerary?”

Our guide – Alex Lee always do his best to accommodate our needs and was flexible with the schedule if we happen wanting to see/do something.

Also with his foods selection – it’s totally awesome and delicious! my dad gotta love Korean foods now!! 🙂
However we did feel that we would like to know more about a place’s history or background since my dad is very interested in any historical side or in any certain meaning of something in a temple or a place. So i’d say it will be even better if you can tell us more stories or special things about the places we visiting, so we can remember and differentiate it vividly in our memory… otherwise all the temples or places will be just ordinary places without leaving a deep impression in our heart.

“What was good, what was not good during the tour”

Well again i have to say, the food is the highlight of the tour for me personally. Our guide took us to some local places that only local people know. Not even someone with a complete Lonely Planet Guide nor some Indonesian travel agency can find such places. it’s really an eye opening experience to the diverse selection of Korean foods – it’s not mere bibimbap or bulgogi!

Overall we’re very happy with our trip to Korea – believe it or not, we still talk about it every now or then whenever we have family talk over dinner. We tried to recall places we went.. the food we had… the road trip.. the pop rice (hahaha..)… how much you help us to sort out stuffs on our behalf.. and everything else! We definitely want to come back to Korea (together with my brother) and my dad already mentioned that he insists to go to the MT. SEORAKSAN area again since he didn’t get the chance to see the temple well at night time that day. 😛 Surprisingly that temple leaves a deep impression in his memory! 🙂 and as for me, i’ll go back for the food and shopping! remember you promise to take us to the shopping outlet? hahaha.. anyway, again, thank you HAPPIMIZE TRAVEL, for making our trip very enjoyable – you’ve succeeded in making all of us falling in Love with your country. 🙂 Kamsahamnida, Annyonghaseo!?

Natassha Agripa
Indonesia