South Korea with kids

Wearing hanbok makes entry free and turns a palace visit into dressing up. Hire shops line the street outside.

Free, hands-on and timed-entry. Book the slot online the week before — it goes.

Two large aquariums inside two large buildings, both on the subway. Whichever is nearer — there is little between them.

Traditional tiled houses on a steep lane above the palaces, still lived in. Signs ask for quiet, and they mean it.

Under the tower at Jamsil, with a beluga tank and a long tunnel. Pairs with the theme park upstairs rather than filling a day.

The observation floors of the Lotte World Tower, with a glass floor section. Timed entry and the sunset slots go first.

The observatory ticket itself — the Namsan cable car up is bought separately, so budget for both or walk one way.

A very large zoo in the hills at Gwacheon, with a sky lift and an elephant train on the combo ticket. You will need both — it is a long walk otherwise.

An aquarium at the Ilsan lake park, quieter than COEX and about fifteen dollars. Sea lion and otter feeds through the day.

A kitchen-set comedy performed on chopping boards and pans, with no dialogue to follow. The safest show choice with children.

Comic martial arts — a family of taekwondo experts and a burglar. Slapstick, wordless and about an hour and a half.

Paintings made on stage in minutes, set to dance and music. Short, loud and visual.

Two small themed villages at Gapyeong, filmed in a great many dramas. Nine dollars, and usually done alongside Nami.

Traditional court and folk music at the National Gugak Center, about twelve dollars. Saturdays only, and properly good.

Half of it is indoors, which makes it the reliable winter option. Directly above a subway station.

Korea's biggest theme park, an hour out, with a safari bus and a very good zoo section. A full day including travel.

Flat riverside cycling, convenience-store ramyeon eaten at the water's edge, and fountains after dark.

The role-play city at Jamsil, about eleven dollars. Stations run in Korean, though the format carries most children through.

The older theme park next door to the zoo, and cheaper than Lotte World or Everland. Dated rides and short queues.

Painted illusion rooms in Hongdae, about nine dollars. An hour, and entirely built around photographs.

A puzzle-and-obstacle maze you work through as a team. Better with two children than one.

A large trampoline hall at Songpa. Grip socks required and usually charged extra; sessions are timed.

An indoor sports complex — digital games, climbing, a ropes course — inside the Starfield mall. Half a day without going outside.

A jjimjilbang and water play under one roof at the Starfield malls. Swimwear areas, so children are welcome throughout.

A big indoor and outdoor water park at Ilsan, which means it runs through the Korean winter as well as the summer.

An indoor animal park where small children feed rabbits, meerkats and parrots. Aimed firmly at the under-eights.

On an island in the river at Chuncheon, ninety minutes from Seoul. Aimed at the under-tens, and quiet on weekdays.

An indoor park built around the two children's characters, at Wolmido in Incheon. Very much for the preschool end.

An hour of making and playing with slime, in Incheon, about eight dollars. Exactly as messy as it sounds.

A short cable car up Namsan and a view over the whole city. Go before sunset and come down in the dark.

An hour on the water from Yeouido, about fifteen dollars. The evening sailing takes in the Banpo bridge fountain in summer.

A tethered helium balloon that lifts you 150 metres over Yeouido park. Fifteen minutes, and it does not fly in wind.

The palace-and-Namsan hop-on loop. Mostly useful for the hills, which Seoul has more of than the metro map suggests.

The uniform rental most Korean teenagers do at Lotte World, and children find it very funny. About fourteen dollars.

Pedal cars on a coastal track near the airport. A good use of a last day when the flight is in the evening.

A gravity luge track north-west of the city, with transfers included. Height minimums apply for solo riding.

Transfers, lift pass and hire on one booking, an hour from the city. December to February, and the simplest first ski day.

A short class making kimchi and usually trying on hanbok alongside. Cheap, hands-on and you take a jar away.

Cooked at the table, which children like watching. Ask for the non-spicy cuts and a bowl of rice each.

Egg bread, tornado potatoes and hotteok from the evening carts. Cash is faster than card at most of them.

The tree-lined island from the dramas, plus an alpaca farm and a rail bike. An hour and a half out and the standard Seoul day trip.

A working village of traditional houses with tightrope walking and horseback archery, plus a cave and a rail bike on this tour.

A choice of the city's paid attractions on one ticket. Add up what you would actually visit before deciding.

The observatory, a suspension bridge and usually an infiltration tunnel. Sobering rather than frightening, and it needs explaining first — from about eleven.

A tuff cone on the east coast, climbed in about twenty-five minutes of steps. Sunrise is the point but any time works.

A kilometre of walkable lava cave, cold and dark and dripping. Take a jacket even in August.

Botanical gardens, two caves and a folk village in one ticket. The most content per won on the island.

Exactly what it says, and one of a dozen small themed museums on the island. Ridiculous, indoors, and a reliable answer to Jeju rain.

The largest aquarium in Korea, out at Seongsan near the sunrise peak. Pairs with that morning rather than needing its own day.

A bonsai garden built out of volcanic rock over decades by one man. Quiet, and more interesting to children than it sounds.

A camellia forest that peaks between November and March, when little else on the island is flowering. Seven dollars.

Superhero and animation figures over several floors. Small, indoor, and a reasonable hour when the weather turns.

Projected art across the walls and floor of a former telecoms bunker. Dark, loud and hypnotic — under-fives sometimes find it much.

White sand, shallow water and a view of Biyangdo. The gentlest swimming on Jeju.

Kimnyoung Maze Park is a hedge maze with cats and a bell at the finish. Twenty minutes of pure competition.

Gravity racers on a mountain track, timed and scored — no engines, all downhill. There is a height minimum and it is strictly enforced.

The Running Man activity park, built around team games from the show. Works whether or not anyone has seen it.

A digital theme park currently themed on One Piece. Screens and interaction rather than rides.

Short led rides across the volcanic grassland the island's ponies come from. Twenty minutes is plenty and costs very little.

Go-karts through a tangerine grove, about eleven dollars. Short, cheap and very Jeju.

Dress hire and photographs in Jeju City, about thirteen dollars. Children's sizes are stocked.

A yacht along the north-east coast where Jeju's resident bottlenose dolphins live year round. Sightings are common but never promised, and the boat stays back.

Grilled at the table with anchovy sauce. The island's one unmissable meal, and it is not spicy.

The lava tube, the sunrise peak and the coast on a guided day, at about twenty-one dollars. Cheaper than hiring a car for one day.

An aquarium under Haeundae beach with a LEGO Brickman section on the same ticket. Handy on a wet beach day.

The outdoor sister park, on a hillside at Osiria with sea views. Smaller than Seoul's and far less crowded.

Indoor water play and a jjimjilbang together, about thirteen dollars. The winter answer in a beach city.

Missions, name-tag games and a maze from the show. Cheap, and it lands hardest with children who watch it.

Trick-art rooms themed on films, about ten dollars. An hour, and it fills a gap near the beach.

The indoor animal park, at Gyeongju. Ten dollars, and worth knowing about if the day trip has a wet afternoon in it.

Little pastel cabins on a rail along the sea wall, plus the beach train. The single most-booked thing in Busan — reserve days ahead.

The same luge as Sentosa, on a hillside above the coast. Height minimums for riding alone; younger children ride tandem.

Out over the water on the old beach, with glass-floor cabins if you want them. Thirteen dollars and about twenty minutes.

A boat from the fish market around the harbour. Cheap, short, and the market itself is the real attraction.

Make a little animated flipbook in the painted village, about eleven dollars. Gives children a reason to be there.

Sky Capsule, Gamcheon village, the Blueline park and the coast, driven between rather than worked out on buses.

A temple built onto the rocks over the sea, which is rare in Korea, plus a skywalk. Steps and spray, so sensible shoes.

Grass burial mounds you walk between, Bulguksa temple and an observatory, an hour up the road. The old Silla capital.

A theme park and observation tower in the next big city, on a guided day. Longer than it looks — an hour and a half each way.

A choice of the city's paid attractions on one ticket. Works out if the Sky Capsule and one aquarium are already on your list.