Seoul City Guide - Seoul Travel Tips

Where to stay

Seoul has multiple options for finding a cheap or expensive place to stay. As I said, could be expensive but you can fit also on a budget. If you don’t have to worry about your budget can book plenty of hotels rooms and pensions where you like on www.booking.com or www.agoda.com.

If you are looking for a cheap option ob Booking you can try FlexHome Seoul for only 16$ per night or Seoul Forest Guesthouse for 27$.

If you don’t worry about your budget we suggest RYSE, Autograph Collection with great coffee and a nice view of the city. Another choice can be The Westin Chosun Hotel Seoul in great an area for shopping.

If you are looking for three stars hotels you can book a room at Ibis Styles Ambassador Seoul Gangnam for 141$ per night or Hotel Uri for 195$ per night.

It’s a different city and must consider how much you will to walk, how close to the city center it is your place. If you like to hang out with a local you can book a room on www.airbnb.com and you can find a good price for your accommodation.

Also if you can stay with them for free using Couchsurfing app. You can use it also only if you want to meet with them. If you are traveling on a budget or not couch surfing seems to be a good idea.

It’s a great opportunity for making new friends maybe for a week or maybe for a lifetime, you never know. Hostels are less expensive than a hotel room. Why spend 300$/night for a hotel room when you can spend 30$/night for a hostel room?! The culture of making friends never fails to amaze people.

Must see

Now we are getting to our top. Here are some of the most beautiful sites Seoul presents to its visitors. In other words, let’s start!

HONGDAE SQUARE

Hongdae is located in the center of the capital, north of the river. It is a hipster, lively, trendy quarter with dense music such as underground, indie rock and artistic life.

The life of the square is fundamentally determined by the fact that there are four universities here. Among them is the Hongik Daehakgyo (Hongik University). It is one of South Korea’s most significant universities of arts.

A lot of shops have very good prices. Nightlife is very active; there are many themed, character cafes and walking trails.

GYEONGBOKGUNG PALACE

Do not miss out on Seoul’s best tourist experience this emblematic place gives you the opportunity to learn about Korean history. The palace is not in its original state, as the Japanese destroyed the original, and the North Korean army caused terrible damage to the place in the early 1950s.

The inner part of the palace is also beautiful. However, you cannot go into three main buildings, but through the window, you can take a glance at the decor. It is worth taking a look at the ceremony of changing the guard at 10 o’clock in the morning.

On Tuesday the place is closed if you visit it, it will take about an hour to see everything as there is no real museum content, but you can still view the palace and its beautiful garden.

CHANGDEOKGUNG PALACE

Changdeokgung Palace is a beautiful, huge palace with a wonderful garden. You travel back to Soul of the 19th century when you visit this extraordinary place. You should buy a ticket in advance online to avoid the long lines.

There is a special ticket to visit the garden as well that needs to be purchased separately. There are other parts that can only be viewed if a special booking is done in advance former example you have the change to check out the district of comfort in the place.

It is best to schedule your visit before the evening to avoid crowds.  

KOREA NATIONAL MUSEUM

The Korean national museum is an interesting, huge modern museum that can impress the visitors. Many hours can be spent here as it is so rich and interactive. It is worth watching more little movies and you can easily spend 2 hours here.

In the open air of the museum, you can see a B-52 bomber. The museum is fairly propagandistic, which is understandable for foreign tourists, considering that South Korea is still f battling with North Korea.

MYEONGDONG SHOPPING STREET

Is not just a street but a lot of small streets that intersect each other. It is a good place to shop, but it is certain that international brands are not cheaper than in Europe or America.

There are many clothes shops, but there are a lot of cosmetics as well. Surprisingly, there are also trademarks. It is a more convenient place to shop than Seoul’s shopping malls, which are the same as in Europe.

Much more interesting is that after six o’clock the street becomes a food market. You can eat delicious food from a huge selection as there are plenty of stands, so you can spend hours here.

LOTTE WORLD TOWER

At the beginning of April 2017, the 555-meter-high 123-story Lotte World Tower skyscraper has its lookout tower in Seoul. On the banks of the Han River, the magnificent building has the fastest lift in the world, which takes visitors to the lookout tower on the 118th floor, in only 1 minute.

The lookout has a glass-covered floor part as well. The skyscraper reminds us of the pen used to write the calligraphic letters with ink due to its interesting form.

The Lotte World Tower is the world’s fifth tallest skyscraper. On the 85th floor of the tower building is a swimming pool there is no other swimming pool so high in the world like this one.

Otherwise, there is a luxury hotel in Lotte World Tower, a concert hall with 2000 seats, a cinema, an aquarium, several cafes, a restaurant, and even a gallery.

NAMSAN TOWER

At the top of a 480-meter-high Namsan mountain stands the only 237 meters tall tower. It is a 3-hour program including the ride. The tower can be reached by cable car, by bus or on foot through Namsan Park.

Many people go by bus and walk downhill. The not-so-spectacular wires run time is approximately 3 minutes, but a queue you can be standing up to 30 minutes. Maybe a 25-35 minute walk is a better idea, but you have to prepare for a steep ride. Many older locals do it all the time, so it is not too difficult.

The look-out tower itself is not special, but it is worth taking the elevator up to the 360 degrees city view. The tourist crowd is noisy and alarming but the biggest crowds are on the weekends. Many tourists are coming to see the city light in case there is no mist.

JONGNO DISTRICT

Jongo works simultaneously as Seoul’s bustling downtown and traditional “old town”. The district is home to many historic palaces, gardens, markets, and squares, and the image is modernized with modern office buildings, elegant bars, and restaurants.

Due to the carefully preserved attractions and the blend of bustling markets and music shops, Jongo is able to merge the old and the new, it is worth visiting this district.

HONGDAE DISTRICT

Hongdae is located in the center of the capital, north of the river. It is a hipster, lively, trendy quarter with dense music (underground, indie rock) and artistic life.

The life of the quarter is fundamentally determined by the fact that there are four universities here. Among them is the Hongik Daehakgyo (Hongik University).

It is one of South Korea’s most significant universities the university of arts. Nightlife is very active; there are many themed, character cafes. The Trick Eye Museum is an exciting art gallery you can find here with paintings in 2D and 3D.

ITAEWON DISTRICT

The Itaewon district is mainly cosmopolitan. If you had enough of Korean food, you have to come here, because here most of the international restaurants are located (eg Italian, Indian, Turkish, German and American). Its main street is long and full of bars. There are plenty of foreigners: both tourists and expatriates living in Seoul. In antique shops, you can find mostly replicas, with a few originals pieces but they are still very well done.
In the Itaewon District, there is also a great nightlife so if you want to party and dance this is the place to come to. If you want to take a taxi here be very careful as taxi drivers always want to set up fixed prices and will try not to turn on the meter so you may be paying more than the actual ride is worth.

Outside the city

GOYANG

If you are near Seoul you should also visit Goyang as there are a lot of possibilities to have fun.

If you like sports go to Bukhansan Mountain where you can go hiking or if you are more brave and strong why not try out rock climbing as well. If you like the outdoors but prefer just a simple long walk go to the National Haneul Park.

If you want to do some exploring then the Bukhansanseong fortress awaits where you can have a guided tour. You can also visit the Digital Media City a high-tech complex with digital technologies and lots of exhibitions where you can come across the marvels of the new high tech generation devices.

BUKCHON VILLAGE

Bukchon village is a clean, cozy, rural village with picturesque houses on the edge of the metropolis, not too far from the skyscrapers. It’s not much, but it offers a lot if you are interested in seeing some of Seoul’s old days.

You can easily go here by bus and visit the real local residents. Just make sure you are not disturbing anybody and not taking pictures of them without their approval. Go early in the morning or later in the evening to avoid the tourist.

However, the houses you are going to see here are not the original ones because Seoul has been completely destroyed several times, most recently by the North Korean troops in the early 1950s.

Still ,you can get away from the crowded city and you can also see a mesmerizing sunset.
So put on your sneakers as there are many photos that will need to be taken here mainly because many Korean visitors are impressed with the spectacular folk costumes and you will be as well.