Usually your first port of call on a trip to South Korea and perfect to get over the jet lag and aclimatise yourself to the wonders of this part of Asia. Seoul has history, food, shopping and of course that inimitable Gangnam style, all with a cutting edge wrapper that lets you know you are in one of the technology capitals of the world.
Getting around
Getting into Seoul from Incheon international airport is easy enough, hop on the AREX and you’ll be in the centre of Seoul in just 45 mins.
You can pick up the Discover Seoul Pass for multiples of days that will give you a trip on the Arex, unlimited metro and reduced entry to many of the sights. The metro is great for going East <> West, but is a bit limited to go North and South, so plan for some walking along the streets to meet colourful characters,
or take buses or taxis to get to the main palaces and the Seoul Tower…for those Dutch who visit, biking is just for art rather than getting around.
If you do end up buying single journey tickets then be aware that you pay a deposit on the ticket that you collect back from a machine on the way out…it’s easy enough, but rather cumbersome. Also note that if you are travelling with baggage, the metro can be a bit of an effort with lots of stairs, underground walking and strange bag conveyors.
Where to stay
Seoul has a number of areas that you can head to depending on what you are looking for – fashionable Gangnam, the studenty west, the historic centre, or vibrant Myeongdong. We went for the bustling option of Myeongdong, central to great food, the Namdaemun market, a 20 minute walk to the main Palaces and of course shopping, shopping, shopping.
Stay at the Crown Park hotel, right in the heart of Myeongdong, a great place at a very reasonable price. Sure, the room may be a bit on the small side, and for some reason, reception is at the top of the building rather than bottom (great for views!) but comes with everything you will need and makes for a perfect base to explore.
What to do
Eat, shop, eat, shop, eat…but we’ll get to that in a little while!
If you have just arrived after a long transatlantic flight then treat yourself to some streetfood and soju and then grab a Korean massage. Great value, at around 30 Eur for an hour and following the philosophy of pummeling the customer into jelly, so that any tension will be bashed out of your body…try O2 Massage just under the Ibis hotel, this is not a high-end spa experience, but a short sharp massage shock to get your system straight after a long flight.
Just north of Myeongdong are the palaces of Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung. Two of the five grand palaces of the Joseon dynasty that have been around since the 14th Century.
Both are a must visit, to get lost in the mazes of gates, halls and pavilions. Changdeokgung gets the UNESCO seal of approval, but our favourite was Gyeongbokgung that had some picture perfect spots with the Main Throne Hall
The cherry blossom framed Royal Banquet Hall
and the towering pagoda of the National Folk Museum
Both palaces have several daily Changing of the Guard ceremonies and we got to see the main Royal Guard Ceremony at 10am (also at 2pm daily). Get your spot just inside the Gwanghwamun gate early as it seems that this is also a main trip for all the local school kids that seem to be bused in especially in their hundreds!
These palaces are one of the few places in the world where having more tourists adds to the experience of a visit; where visitors dress up in local Hanbok costumes to snap a picture for the family album
or a cheeky selfie for instagram.
If you are wearing Hanbok or 20’s gear (that is popular owing to a latest tv episode in Korea) then you can usually get in free to the palaces (which are pretty cheap to visit anyway at just a couple of dollars).
In between the two palaces is the Hanok Village of Bukchon, where you can first experience the classic Korean residences that you will find across the whole of the country.
Compared to Japan, Korea has really held onto its traditional homes that take up so many of our photographs; a lovely visit for a couple of hours, but remember to keep your voice down!
Gangnam – a trip to Seoul is not complete without a visit to the infamous area of that famous song by Psy.
There are a couple of photo opportunities for you to do a little mimic dance, but really this is just a relatively upmarket city district that has yet more shops and places to eat, so a quick visit is all that is needed.
Seoul Tower – at nearly 500 metres above the city (including the hill that it sits on), visible from across the city, makes for a great visit for a few hours. If you have good weather in Seoul then make a beeline for here first, as the weather can change quickly (esp in Spring) and the tower ends up shrouded in cloud…as happened when we visited.
Even if the weather is not so good there are still a few interesting things to do at the tower, from the lovers padlock forest
to the Hello Kitty Island where Lyssa got to spend some quality time with her childhood hero.
Play some Kitty piano
and catch the Kitty bus home
A Seoul institution for the evening is to see the theatre show Nanta…basically setting you up for this Gourmand’s journey into Korea with a musical about food! Expect clapping, leg thumping music, mouth-watering smells, slapstick comedy and great abs, a must do show to see whilst here in Seoul.
Also in the Myeongdong area, get your tickets in advance on their website and you can get a pretty good discount.
The Food
This is what will keep you busy for a lot of your time in Seoul (and Korea) and with thousands of places and foods to choose from that will never get tiring.
Some of our favorites whilst in Seoul were: the Namdaemun market (close to Myeongdong) or Gwangjang market (across town but a must visit for the evening) for some introductory street food of: fish cakes (on a stick), where for 50 cents you help yourself to a skewer and enjoy together with a cup of soup (a friendly local will show you the ropes),
the glutinous Tteokbokki in red chilli sauce
Pajeon (Korean pancakes)
And a plethora of meat and seafood to overcome the senses!
Bungeoppangs – leave some space for desert and pick up the sweet / savory (at the same time) – fish shaped pastries that are fried to a crispiness on the outside and filled with moreish red been paste on the inside…yum yum!
The staple drink to go with all this food is Soju, a distilled drink from rice, wheat or barley that is about 16%, cheaper than beer and several bottles can easily be had with some tasty food. After a couple of weeks in Korea you will wonder how you ever drank anything else!
The home of Soju is Andong, so check out that blog of ours to get some authentic liqour. You can also go for Makgeolli / a type of unfiltered, slightly sparkling rice wine, it looks like milk, about the strength of beer (6%), a bit strange to begin with, but in a drinking session with locals it does start to grow on you.
Korean BBQ was our staple meal whilst in Korea, and as is always the case your first time always seems to be the best. Our first time (outside of Europe) was at Kang Ho-Dong Baekjeong where we feasted on pork, beef belly and marinated finger meat (!) it’s not really the place for vegetarians.
Heated over live coals these Seoul bbqs also have a great way to serve an accompanying omelette in the side of the bbq and well as all the kimchi and all the banchan (side dishes) you could want.
Noodles – come hot or cold, and there’s nowhere better to go to in Myeongdong than Myeongdong Koja, where the noodles come long and spicy, together with steaming dumplings. You’ll find the chopsticks hidden in a drawer table and a pair of scissor will come with the noodles to cut them into more bite size pieces (no slurping here).
The restaurant is simple and service is short…”pay now” when you order, but it means no hanging about when you are done. Talking of payment that leads us onto tipping…basically it is not done; you’ll still get great service, but just no expectation or even acceptance of a tip.
If you want to try a Royal Korean Banquet then head to the Korea House for a most traditional experience of a plethora of tasting dishes to delight the senses,
set in what was once the official government reception hall of Korea where you will get platters of delicacies that will leave you wondering what great tasting stuff you had just eaten.
An experience, but owing to the size of the place probably better with a large group otherwise just two of you get a bit lost in the big spaces of the house.
Make sure you try the fried chicken…super crispy and dripping with finger-licking sauces that make it hard to stop eating. If you get caught into the whole ‘you can not drink without having food’ trap of Korea then a place like Noonaholdak Chicken Myeongdong is the perfect place to go to order some tasty side dishes whilst enjoying your late evening Cass Beer and Soju!
Shopping
If there are three things that Lyssa loves (apart from Matt) then it is food, travel and shopping; Seoul ticks all those boxes big time and especially the last one if you head around the streets of Myeongdong.
From the huge department stores of Lotte and Shinsegae (take your passport to get Duty Free discounts) to the profusion of cosmetic shops that are ready to entice you in with a ‘free’ sample (conditional on you buying something!) to buy snail cream, white foot masks, a variety of moisturising face masks including Dr Jart’s firm lover and moist masks!
Day Trips
Before you set off on your tour of the rest of Korea you can do a couple of great day trips from Seoul whilst still keeping your base for an extra couple of days. To the DMZ and the border with North Korea to spy into one of the world’s most secretive and inaccessible countries.
Pick up a tour with the Panmunjom Travel Center for a crazy and surreal day of the world’s most fortified border turned into a tourist Disney land of selfies, barbed wire, flags and high powered binoculars. Read more on this trip in our blog.
Suwon – a city in itself, but so close to Seoul that it almost feels like a suburb. It’s quite possible with public transport from Seoul – either the subway or KTX railway – but the main sights of Suwon are still quite spread out, so if you have a car, take it!
The main sight is the Suwon Hwasong, a centuries old fortress with a city wall that almost encircles this part of the city…like a medieval Korean York! Before navigating the wall, make sure you get to the Haeng-gung (temporary palace) to see the martial arts performance outside the front gate at 11am.
Stop for lunch along Chicken Alley for the famous fried chicken of Jin Mi, on the day we went, it seemed there was a special discount for school kids and it was like a school canteen…but the chicken was great.
The cultural trip to Suwon is not complete until you visit Mr Poo House! Shaped like a toilet, and set up by an ex-mayor who wanted to improve the quality of Public Toilets in both Suwon and the rest of Korea.
Visiting Korea today, we have to say that he has pretty much succeeded, with Korean toilets being almost as ubiquitous and clean as the public toilet nirvana of Japan…well done Mr Poo! A sort visit here will also yield some great pictures of toilets over the ages.
If you are around in the evening in Suwon then you’ll have the chance to experience one of the best quality Korean BBQs in Korea at Gabojeong-Galbi, where the finest quality Korean beef will literally melt in your mouth.
So that brings our 72 hours to a close in this wonderful city, to bare our Seoul with all its fun, sights, shopping and food, enjoy!