Get packing for holidays in North Korea

holidays in North Korea

It’s notoriously the most secretive and secluded country but how about taking your next holidays in North Korea?

Trips to the country, famed for its hardline communist regime under dictator Kim Jong-Un are being sold by travel company Experience North Korea at the World Travel Market show which opens in London on Monday.

Nathalie Armengol, owner of the Shanghai-based company which is the first North Korea specialist to attend the show in its 35-year history describes the country visited by just 5,000 tourists a year as the “last frontier” and says visits are “not only possible, but safe”.

“We want to change people’s minds about North Korea,” she said. “People are really surprised when they visit. You have to respect the rules and stay with your guides – you are not allowed to go on out on your own. But you will see amazing beauty and untouched nature, as no one has been there for many years.”

Top sights on the trips, that include Pyongyang city breaks and camping holidays, include the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, a mausoleum housing the remains of former madcap leader Kim Il-sung.

Tips for a trip include sticking to formal clothing as shorts, jeans, sandals and trainers are frowned upon. You have no mobile phone communications, and governmental tour guides are by your side for the duration – even if you fancy a quick jog around the hotel block in the morning.

There is also little to do at night but stay in your hotel. “They are aimed at foreigners and have lots of facilities including mini-golf courses, restaurants and even casinos,” says Armengol.

Visas are unexpectedly easy to come by and can be organised in absentia by the Shanghai-based travel company.

The North Korean government banned foreign visits last week until anti-ebola checks are implemented but Armengol is convinced these will be short lived.

She said: “While we have not yet been given a timescale for the re-opening of the border, we have been re-assured it is a temporary issue until measures are put in place.”

Brit Max Kirby, 47, of Norwich travelled to North Korea with the company to run the 2014 Pyongyang Marathon.

He said: “The marathon experience was fantastic. To finish in the National Stadium being clapped home by 70,000 fans was very special.

“The people were very friendly, warm and welcoming, but it felt very behind the times when compared to other Western and Asian countries.

“The lack of internet and mobile access felt very strange, as did being under constant surveillance – but our tour guide was keen to help us understand how different the country was.”

A three-day package Capital of Communism trip is from €1,370 per person, including visas, guides, all meals and return flights from Beijing to Pyongyang. International flights to Beijing are extra. See experiencenorthkorea.com