I have attended (as a spectator!) several world-class climbing competitions, although – having failed to make it to any of the world cups in 2024 – my most recent was 2023’s world championships in Switzerland. Those are held every other year, and 2025’s would be in Korea. That at first seemed prohibitively far – more so in terms of time needed for a journey of such distance than the financial cost. But with Scarlett planning to be away for almost two months on a cross-country walk, I decided to take a fortnight of unpaid leave and make my way to Seoul.
With the events I was interested in taking place over 3 days, I had a lot of flexibility with travel arrangements and set out in search of deals. From my trip to Japan I expected that flying with Finnair would offer savings, and sure enough I found premium economy flights were much cheaper out of Helsinki than London. However, getting all the way to Finland would push the price up, as separate bookings are required to dodge the UK’s hefty departure taxes. Surveying alternative points of commencement in Europe, I hit the jackpot with France: I could fly Paris to Seoul return, using the same flights out of Helsinki, yet for a lower fare. Getting to and from Paris should be easy, given its proximity to the UK and the fact that (unlike Finland) it’s served by BA; as I’d never properly visited the city, having a couple of days safety net to avoid misconnecting was an opportunity rather than a hindrance.
Even more excitingly, I discovered that for just £250 more, I could upgrade the outbound legs to business class – giving me a chance to try Finnair’s curious new no-recline seat, the AirLounge. With supposedly only one spot available, I locked in that booking in April – a gamble as climbing tickets did not go on sale until the very end of July! Once those were finally secured, I belatedly fleshed out the rest of my itinerary: a staff hotline ticket would deliver me to Paris for under £50, albeit in economy; whilst for my return to London, I put my faith in standby travel for greater flexibility than a confirmed booking.
On the hotel side, I turned to Accor for my stays in both cities, taking advantage of generous airline industry discounts in each. Hotels anywhere near Seoul’s Olympic Park during the World Championships proved expensive, so I figured I’d rather spend £250 a night for a truly luxurious property than £200 for a mid-scale option. For balance, I split my time in the Korean capital in two, starting in the much more affordable ibis Styles in Gangnam before relocating to the Sofitel by the Lotte World tower for a shorter commute to the arena.
By various measures, this was my biggest trip of 2025. At ten nights, it was the longest – two in Paris, six in Seoul, and two aboard aircraft! I took six flights covering over 11,000 miles – in reality, significantly more, as I was once again routed over the north pole on my return from Asia to Europe. It included my most expensive hotel stay of the year, and my most expensive plane ticket ever. Plus, of course, I got to see the world’s best climbers in action.
Along the way I wrote up the entire experience on polarsteps. Here I’ve been a bit more selective, with coverage of the business class flights, sightseeing in Seoul, and, of course, a couple of photo galleries.