Winter: the season most visitors skip, and probably shouldn't

Cold enough to take seriously. Seoul spends much of January below freezing, and inland Gangwon considerably below that. What makes it manageable is that it is dry and often brilliantly clear — the winter light is the best of the year for photography.

The compensating factor is that everything indoors is heated aggressively, including buses, subways and shops. Dressing in layers you can shed matters more than owning one very warm coat.

Jeju is the mild exception, staying above freezing, though it is windy enough that the numbers understate how it feels.

Skiing and snowboarding are the obvious draw, and the resorts in Gangwon are well run, close to Seoul by KTX, and inexpensive by international standards. Night skiing is standard and popular.

Ice fishing festivals are a genuinely Korean winter institution — the largest, in Hwacheon, draws enormous crowds to drill holes in a frozen river and catch mountain trout. They run in January and are as much fairground as fishing.

Hot spring towns come into their own. Onyang, Suanbo and Icheon are all built around thermal water, and a mountain bathhouse with snow outside is one of the better experiences the country offers.

Winter is the cheapest and least crowded time to travel domestically, outside the ski areas and the New Year holiday. Sites that are unpleasant with October crowds are calm and legible in January.

Mountain temples in snow, with almost no one else present, are the strongest argument for a winter trip. Templestay programmes run year-round and the winter ones are the quietest.

Accommodation prices drop everywhere except ski resorts, where they do the opposite.

Crampons are genuinely necessary on icy upper trail sections, not an affectation. They are sold cheaply at any outdoor shop and at many convenience stores near trailheads.

Daylight is short. Plan to be off a mountain well before dark, and expect regional attractions to close earlier than in summer.

Bring a hat and gloves rather than assuming you will buy them. You will, but you will pay tourist prices for them at the moment you most need them.