Seoul, South Korea | January 18 - 22, 2027
The Experience
Luxury stay at a five star hotelPrivate airport transfers to and from Seoul Incheon International AirportAll meals catered by incredible chefs specialising in traditional Korean and International foodKnit Lounge with tea/hot chocolate & traditional Korean dessertsExcursions visiting Korean master artisans practising ceramic painting, calligraphy and traditional knotting, with craftsmanship refined over centuries and passed down through generationsAll transport to and from excursions
What’s Included
Flights to and from Seoul, South Korea
Travel Insurance
Health Insurance
Yarn and notions for your WIPs
Extra services offered by the hotel (e.g. room service, laundry, spa treatments)
Not Included
Exclusive Workshops
Carving Your Own Name Seal: An Introduction to Korean Calligraphy
We’ll be visiting a distinguished calligraphy studio in Insadong, Seoul’s historic arts quarter, for an intimate workshop in the centuries-old craft of the Korean name seal.
Our host is an accomplished master calligrapher and craftswoman whose work has been honoured at the Seoul Women’s Craft Exhibition (2013) and the KT Co. competition (2014). She has spent 19 years teaching calligraphy at an institute affiliated with the Seoul Government, and since 2018 has welcomed over 12,000 international visitors into her private classes.
Featured on MBC’s “Welcome, First Time in Korea?” and in the Korea Tourism Organisation’s promotional campaign, she has devoted her life’s work to preserving and sharing the rich cultural heritage of Korean calligraphy and seal carving.
Traditional Korean Craft Village and Workshops in Historic Bukchon
We’ll be spending time in Bukchon Hanok Village, a preserved quarter of traditional Korean hanok houses tucked between the palaces of Jongno. At its heart is the Bukchon Traditional Crafts Center, where centuries-old Korean crafts are kept alive and taught daily, hanji paper, needlework, and handmade accessories with the surrounding lanes home to master workshops for natural dyeing, woodcraft, and traditional knotting.
Here you can join one of the spontaneous workshops on offer, choosing from a rotating programme of traditional Korean crafts, from hanji paper and needlework to handmade accessories and decorative knotting. Set in the heart of Bukchon among tiled hanok rooftops, it’s a rare, hands-on chance to try a craft that speaks to you and create your own piece to take home, alongside Korea’s living craft heritage.
Maedeup: Korea’s Centuries-Old Knot Art in the Heart of Seongsu
Tucked into Seongsu, Seoul’s creative maker district just across the river sits a cluster of independent studios and small-batch workshops beside the greenery of Seoul Forest. It’s here that the centuries-old craft of Maedeup knotting lives, hand-producing every cord, bead, and component rather than relying on mass-made parts.
Like the neighbourhood around it, the studio is built for making, not just browsing: friendly artisans walk you through genuine traditional techniques, share the stories and symbolism behind the Norigae pendant, and send you home with a piece you knotted yourself. It’s the kind of place where you can watch craftspeople at work, join a class on the spot, and let the area’s calm, creative energy catch you.
Your Free Time, Your Seoul. Explore at Your Own Pace
Seoul has been a centre for artisans and makers for centuries, and that creative energy is everywhere once you start looking. Between the retreat’s organised excursions, you will find fabric markets, independent galleries, ceramic and natural-dye studios, and coffee shops run by designers who settled in neighbourhoods like Seongsu and Bukchon precisely for how the city inspires them.
The palace walls, the hanok rooftops, the late-night street food, the winter light off the Han River all of it feeds into the same feeling. Korea has a way of changing how you see colour, texture, and craft, from the celadon glaze of a museum vase to the knots and threads passed down through generations. You will notice it in the bolts of cloth at Dongdaemun, in the way dusk settles over Insadong’s lanes, and in the work you produce when you finally sit down with your needles. Seoul does not just provide a backdrop for the retreat. It provides the raw material.
Yarn Hunting: Seoul’s Independent Yarn Shops, One Neighbourhood at a Time
Between excursions you’ll thread through the independent yarn shops of neighbourhoods like Seongsu and Insadong, each with its own character, its own carefully chosen shelves, and its own take on colour and fibre you won’t find on any high street back home.
Get escorted by our private driver to local yarn stores, both those well known on social media, to smaller, IYKYK shops. Weave through in your own time with your new knitting friends, cast on a new project at a beautiful cafe nearby, or continue to explore the crafty neighbourhood in your own time.
Sample Agenda
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Start each morning with a full breakfast high above the Han River, good company, and needles in hand.
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Each morning brings a scheduled workshop, hosted exclusively for TKR. Gather in the lobby, hop into private transport, and spend a few hours with a master artisan painting ceramics, carving your own name seal with a calligrapher, or weaving traditional Korean knots by hand.
Or don’t. Some mornings your WIP has other plans, and that’s just as welcome: linger over breakfast, stay curled up at the hotel, or drift into the city at your own speed. There’s no wrong way to spend it.
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Lunch is wherever the morning leaves you, a sizzling Korean barbecue one day, a quiet table tucked into Insadong the next. Then the afternoon opens up: skein after skein at Seoul’s independent yarn shops, with craft landmarks worth the detour along the way.
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No two afternoons look the same. One day you might be threading between Seoul’s independent yarn shops, arms full of skeins you hadn’t planned to buy; the next, standing inside a centuries-old palace as the winter light turns gold across its tiled roofs.
There are slower hours too, a traditional tea ceremony shared with the group, needles out, or an unhurried walk through an art exhibition. Wherever the day takes you, it tends to end the same way: inspiration.
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Take a dip in the pool, curl up for an afternoon snooze, or unwind with tea and river views at the Lounge & Deck with your WIP!
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Gather for a full dinner and drinks prepared by the resort’s best chefs. The menu is a mix of Korean and International cuisines.
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Wind down together at our signature TKR Knit Lounge, with Korean sweets and traditional teas to pass around.
Ready to book?
Premier River Room, 1 King bed, River view
Your own room on the Han River. 37m², floor-to-ceiling views, marble bathroom with a round bathtub and separate rainfall shower.
Payment and cancellation
A 25% deposit secures your place and is non-refundable. It covers accommodation and workshop bookings we make and pay for on your behalf in advance. The remaining 75% is charged automatically on 18 December 2026 to the card used at booking.
Please note: retreats require a minimum number of participants to proceed. We will notify you once the minimum has been met, and we kindly ask that you refrain from booking travel until confirmation is received.
All prices are listed in USD.
Coming solo…
Deluxe River Room, 2 Single beds, River view
Come with a friend and share a room. 37m² on the Han River, two single beds, marble bathroom with a round bathtub and separate rainfall shower. Same view and same floor plan as the solo room, just the two of you.
One booking covers both places.
Payment and cancellation
25% deposit secures your place and is non-refundable. It covers accommodation and workshop bookings we make and pay for on your behalf in advance. The remaining 75% is charged automatically on 18 December 2026 to the card used at booking.
Please note: retreats require a minimum number of participants to proceed. We will notify you once the minimum has been met, and we kindly ask that you refrain from booking travel until confirmation is received.
All prices are listed in USD.