As I have just come back from an incredible 10-day trip to Korea with my husband, my first article on this blog came as a given. Let me share with you the itinerary we followed for the first part of our trip in Seoul. Hopefully, it will inspire you to go visit this ultra-modern city in the beautiful country of Korea.

OUR ITINERARY

• DAY 1: Visit of Insadong neighborhood + Changdeokgung Palace & Secret Garden
• DAY 2: Namsan Tower + Gyeongbokgung Palace + Bukchon hanok village
• DAY 3: Seoul forest + Gangnam neighborhood + Lotte World Tower
• DAY 4: Lotte World Adventure + Gwangjang market
• DAY 5: Shopping in Myeongdong + Changgyeonggung palace + Cheonggyecheon stream
• DAY 6: Jongmyo shrine + Shopping in Haedong neighborhood + Ihwa Mural Village + Seoul city wall trail + Dongdaemun

DAY 1: INSADONG & CHANGDEOKGUNG PALACE

In this picture: Insadong neighborhood (left), Changdeokgung Palace (middle) and Jogyesa Temple (right)

On our first day, we stayed close to our hotel and visited the Insadong neighborhood. This is probably one of my favorite places in Seoul. This neighborhood, close to the most visited palaces of the city, is also home to many antiques shops and lots of restaurants.

What to visit in Insadong?

• Tapgol Park – A small public park featuring a historical stone pagoda and a pavilion built with the Korean traditional architecture
• Insadong street – Main street of the neighborhood, you will find plenty of shops along the street. Perfect to buy souvenirs, see beautiful antiques and find nice restaurants. Do not miss the Ssamzigil shopping center that has a lot of artsy shops and the Annyeong Insadong shopping center with lots of nice stores including one specialized in Kpop merchandising and a Play Line Friends shop for fans of anything cute. In the Annyeong Insadong shopping center, you will also find many cafés and restaurants.
• Jogyesa Temple (photo above) – If you are like me and that you’ve always found Buddhist temples absolutely beautiful and very peaceful, go see this one. It is situated right behind the Annyeong Insadong shopping center.

Why visit Changdeokgung Palace?

Changdeokgung Palace is the 2nd biggest palace to visit in Seoul, right after Gyeongbokgung palace. It is a stunning example of the traditional Korean architecture and, during your visit, you will also learn more about Korean history. One recurring theme you will find is that Korea has been highly affected by various periods of Japanese occupation during the course of its history.

I encourage you to also pay for the guided visit of the palace’s Secret Garden (photo above). It will allow you to learn even more about life in the palace at the time and our guide was particularly nice and open to questions.

The cost of the visit is very affordable: 3.000 ￦ per person to visit the palace and 5.000 ￦ additional per person to hop on the Secret Garden guided tour. As for all the palaces in the city, the visit is free if you come dressed in traditional Korean hanbok clothing.

Where to eat & drink around Insadong?

A few addresses that I have tested and that I recommend:

• Yesul Gimbap (photo above) – https://maps.app.goo.gl/2d2jme5qgF1Rwoh87 – The perfect place to try gimbaps. Price between 4.000 ￦ and 5.000 ￦
• Maruj jaYeonsik Gimbap – https://maps.app.goo.gl/fmearoi8NuosRsKC7 – Another place to try gimbaps that only offers vegan versions.
• Check out the numerous restaurants of the Annyeong Insadong shopping center! We ate at a delicious restaurant serving mandu (Korean dumplings) soup with rice cakes there and it was only one option among many.
• Shin Tea House – https://maps.app.goo.gl/vLp63euZxwGQ79n5A – Try their delicious Jujube tea (costs around 7.500 ￦).

DAY 2: NAMSAN TOWER + GYEONGBOKGUNG PALACE + BUKCHON HANOK VILLAGE

In this picture: Namsan tower (left), Gyeongbokgung Palace (middle and top right), View from Namsan tower (bottom right)

We took advantage of the sunny weather on our 2nd day in Seoul to go see the view of the city from Namsan Tower. We got to the tower by bus and then went back down by foot (path made of stairs with charming views on the city). There is also a cable car going up and down the mount but this last option is more expensive. We then visited some of the most emblematic attractions of Seoul.

Our Namsan Tower experience

Namsan tower, also called the N Seoul Tower, is a 243m tower based on Namsan Mount. The tower gives you a panoramic view on the full city. Several locals told us the view from the tower is even more breathtaking at night. However, we made the choice to see the day view of the city from Namsan Tower and the sunset + night views of the city later in the trip from Lotte World Tower.

The entrance to go up the tower is 21.000 ￦. You will first go to the highest floor of the observatory deck and then go down one floor where you will find a café. I suggest reading the indications on the windows in this last floor as you will learn a lot about the city and its main attractions.

The view from Namsan tower is absolutely beautiful. However, if you are visiting Seoul on a budget and you can only afford going up one of the 2 towers on your trip, I would recommend going to Lotte World Tower instead.

Visiting Gyeongbokgung Palace

Gyeongbokgung Palace is the biggest and most impressive palace in Seoul. You will see that it is also the most visited by tourists. On your way to the palace’s entrance, you will arrive on an impressive avenue with a gold statue of King Sejong, the inventor of the Korean alphabet. Further up the avenue, you will get to the impressive Gwanghwamun gate, the palace’s main entrance. Your entrance to the palace will cost you a reasonable 3.000 ￦ per person and you can even enter for free if you wear the traditional Korean hanbok clothing.

Once inside, you will soon find out that most Korean traditional palaces have a very similar style of architecture and that there are a lot of similarities between Changdeokgung Palace and Gyeongbokgung Palace. If your trip to Seoul is shorter and you can only visit one palace, we would recommend Gyeongbokgung palace as it is the biggest and most impressive one. Make sure to read the written information on the panels placed in front of each part of the palace to learn more about Korean history.

On your way out of the palace, we recommend you take the National Folk Museum exit. That will allow you to admire the beautiful pagoda that the museum comprises. There are also many exhibits outside of the museum that you can look at. When we went, there was even a real-size reconstitution of a small Korean town from a few decades ago that you could explore. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to visit the inside of the museum but it looked really interesting and should we come back to Korea, this museum is definitely on our to-visit list. Furthermore, admission to this museum is free.

Where to eat near Gyeongbokgung Palace?

The neighborhood around Gyeongobokgung Palace and Gwanghwamun Square is mainly a business neighborhood with lots of company HQs and ministries. As a result, a lot of the restaurants you will find around are Western restaurants serving the same kind of food as in Europe.

Using Google Maps, we ended up finding a nice Japanese tempura donburi restaurant called Onsen in a commercial center located below the Seoul Finance Center – https://maps.app.goo.gl/2CTsMsvaqHVYxA949.

Exploring Bukchon Hanok Village

Bukchon Hanok Village are a couple of streets where all houses have been built with the traditional hanok architectural style. There are a lot of tourists visiting it as it is a great place to see hanok houses still inhabited in Seoul. Most other hanok villages we have seen during the trip had been transformed into restaurants, shops or even hotels. Be careful to be quiet while visiting the village so as to not disturb the residents of this beautiful neighborhood.

DAY 3: SEOUL FOREST + GANGNAM + LOTTE WORLD TOWER

In this picture: Lotte Tower and view from Lotte Tower at sunset (top left) and Bongeunsa Temple (bottom left and right)

To start our 3rd day in Seoul, we headed via metro to Seoul Forest, a large public park in the city. Unfortunately, winter was probably not the best season to visit this park as some of the installations were still closed and the cherry blossoms were not yet in bloom. I would recommend only going if you are visiting Seoul in spring during cherry blossom season.

We then crossed the Han river by foot through Seongsu bridge to arrive in the famous neighborhood of Gangnam. Gangnam is the richest neighborhood of Seoul and you will thus find there all the luxury European brands with flagship stores.

What to see in Gangnam?

• K-Star road – Located in Apgujeong-ro avenue, alongside the luxury flagship stores, you will find colorful bear statues, each representing a famous K-pop brand. Great opportunity to discover more about K-pop if, like me, you know very little about it.
• Bongeunsa Temple – This buddhist temple is absolutely beautiful and conveniently located right across the street from the next stop on our list: COEX shopping mall.
• COEX Shopping Mall – If you are going to Seoul, you will surely have seen this place recommended all over Instagram. COEX Shopping Mall is especially famous for being home to the Starfield library. This public library has books from floor to ceiling with impressively high bookshelves. It is one of the must-see when visiting Gangnam. We also recommend eating at one of the many restaurants within the COEX mall.

Our Lotte World Tower experience

Before going up to the observatory deck of the Lotte World Tower, I would recommend getting outside and doing a lap around Seokchon Lake. Located just in front of the tower, this lake and its views on the tower will allow you to appreciate just how impressive Lotte World Tower is.

Lotte World Tower is the highest skyscraper in Korea with a height of 555m and a total of 123 floors. To have an element of comparison, the Eiffel Tower in Paris measures 300m. The main attraction of the Lotte World Tower is its observatory deck called Seoul Sky situated on floors 117 to 123. To buy your tickets, you will first need to head to floor B1 and take the elevator from there once your tickets bought. The elevator goes up very fast so get ready to feel your ears pop during the journey. The tickets will cost you 31.000 ￦ per adult.

Seoul Sky is a wonderful experience that should be on your must-do list for your trip to Korea. The view from the top of the tower is spectacular and surely one of the best I have seen. It reminded me a lot of the Taipei 101 Observatory deck in Taiwan that has also been a memory-worthy experience during a past trip. We went up right in time for sunset and stayed until the night came. I would recommend to anyone doing it like this so you can get the best views possible.

DAY 4: LOTTE WORLD ADVENTURE + GWANGJANG MARKET

In this picture: Lotte World Adventure Magic Island (left & middle) and Gwangjang market (right)

Having lived several years in Paris, I have had the chance to go to Disneyland Paris which is probably among the best theme parks in the world. As a result, I could not resist to go when I heard that Seoul had its own theme park, very similar to Disneyland. It is Lotte World Adventure.

Our day at Lotte World Adventure

Even if you will see many comments online saying that Lotte World Adventure is similar to Disneyland, my advice is go see it because it is actually quite different and worth discovering. First of all, Lotte World Adventure is one of the biggest indoor theme park in the world which makes it quite impressive to see. The settings and decorations of the park are stunning. In addition to its indoor part, the park also has an outside section called Magic Island located right in the middle of Seokchon lake with some beautiful views on Lotte World Tower.

Important tip: The entrance tickets to the park are significantly cheaper if you buy them beforehand online. We bought ours the day before on trip.com for about 31.500 ￦ per adult.

I am not one for strong adrenaline-filled attractions but here are some of my favorite attractions in the park:

• Balloon Ride – At the ceiling of the indoor part of the park, you will see some beautifully recreated hot air balloons. Although these do not actually function with hot air, you can still ride this balloons to have a panoramic sky tour of the inside section of the park.
• Swing Tree – This attraction is in the Magic Island section of the park. It is your typical swinging chairs but with the shape of a moving tree.
• Camelot Carousel – Your typical carousel as you find it in many other places.
• Bumper Car -Your typical bumper cars as you find it in many other places.
• 4D Shooting Theater – You have to shoot at enemies appearing on a screen. A ranking with all the players and their photos shows up on the screen at the end.
• The Adventures of Sinbad – Similar in some ways to the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction at Disneyland Paris. Admittedly, if you don’t know much about Sinbad’s story, a lot gets lost in translation.
• World Monorail – A train with the cute head of the Lotte park mascot that allows you to visit the whole park comfortably sitted.

Around mid-day, you can also view the Lotte Parade at the center of the indoor section of the park. The parade floats are inspired by the themes of the different attractions of the park and the song playing during the parade was quite catchy.

One of the things I most appreciated at Lotte World Adventure vs other theme parks is the quality of the food. The number of restaurants and cafés available is impressive and you can almost have any type of food you want. Furthermore, the prices are the same as outside the park. I got a fried tofu ramen at Oysy Food on the 2nd floor and a delicious Brown Sugar Bubble tea at New York Hot Dog on the 4th floor.

Dinner at Gwangjang Market

Gwangjang market has been one of our favorite places in Seoul. It is the perfect place to try some of the best street foods in Korea. If you are like us and that you are not used to spicy food, you will find that there are many non-spicy options in Korean street food.

Among the best food that we tried, we would list: egg bread, honey or red bean paste hotteok (glutinous rice pancake with a filling), mung bean pancake, small gimbap, glutinous rice pretzel, sweet potato donut, black rice donut filled with red bean paste and makgeolli (rice wine).

DAY 5: MYEONGDONG + CHANGGYEONGGUNG PALACE

In this picture: Me wearing a hanbok around Changgyeonggung Palace

We dedicated our 5th day in Seoul to shopping for souvenirs in Myeongdong and to taking photos in traditional hanbok clothing on the premises of a wonderful palace.

What to do in Myeongdong?

Myeongdong is famous for its cathedral, one of the most beautiful Catholic cathedral in South Korea. It has thus been our first stop in Myeongdong neighborhood.

Apart from its cathedral, Myeongdong is also shopping heaven. If you are looking to dedicate some of your time in Korea to shopping, this is the best neighborhood to do so. You will find many stores offering Korean skincare products and many clothes stores as well. If you are like me and are small by European standards, you will love the free size in Korea. Indeed, many stores offer only “free size” / one size clothing and it is the equivalent of a Petite S by US standards.

I will share a few stores I particularly liked in Myeongdong neighborhood:

• Butter – https://maps.app.goo.gl/LVqwQbtzew6YV23S6 – If you like anything with a cute design or featuring cute characters on it, this brightly-colored shop is your place to be.
• In the neighborhood, you will find many shops selling a very nice and affordable brand called Another Awesome.

Where to eat in Myeongdong neighborhood?

Around midday, the streets of Myeongdong turn into a street food market. We tried here the tornado potatoes (fried potatoes in the shape of a tornado on a stick), the fruit-filled mochi (a mochi with a real fruit inside – can be a strawberry, a kiwi, a tangerine,…) and some Oreo churros.

Hanbok rental & Changgyeonggung Palace

For the visit of the last palace in Seoul on our list, we decided to rent a traditional Hanbok and to take pictures around the palace as a souvenir. We kept this experience for our last palace visit at Changgyeonggung Palace because on the other days, the weather was quite cold and we would not have enjoyed the experience as much. However, if you plan on renting a hanbok to visit one of the palaces, I suggest you do it for your visit of Changdeokgung Palace or of Gyeongbokgung Palace. Indeed, there are very few hanbok rental places near Changgyeonggung Palace and so the prices are much higher. In any case, before choosing your hanbok rental place, check the reviews on Google Maps to pick one that does not charge many extras that will make your bill go up.

Renting a hanbok to visit one of Seoul’s palace is a unique and unforgettable experience. The hanboks are absolutely gorgeous and you will feel like a princess for a few hours while wearing one. I highly recommend to take part in this experience during your stay in Seoul.

Once my hanbok ready and my hair done, we headed towards Changgyeonggung Palace. This palace is the smallest of the 3 mentioned in this post. Part of the reason for this is that a wide part of the palace has been destroyed during Japanese occupation and is now a park. However, it features the same beautiful traditional Korean architectural style as the other 2 palaces which makes it worth visiting.

The entrance to Changgyeonggung palace is also cheaper: 1.000 ￦ per adult or free if you go wearing traditional hanbok clothing.

Night stroll along the Cheggyeoncheon stream

At night, many young Koreans go have a stroll along the Cheggyeoncheon stream. This stream of water in the middle of the city makes for a very nice walk. At the end of it, we find Cheonggye Plaza which has a small waterfall illuminated with a colorful light. We thoroughly enjoyed walking along this stream after a nice Korean barbecue dinner.

DAY 6: JONGMYO SHRINE + HAEDONG + IHWA CULTURE VILLAGE + SEOUL CITY WALL + DONGDAEMUN

In this picture: Dongdaemun Underground Shopping Center (left), Bulgogi at Restaurant Minari in Haedong (top middle), Heunginjimun Gate (bottom middle) and view from the top of Ihwa Mural Village (right)

Starting the day at Jongmyo Shrine

We started our morning by going to Jongmyo Shrine. This UNESCO World Heritage site is home to the spirit tablets of former kings and queens of Korea. Annual rituals are still being carried out every year in May in this impressive and very peaceful site.

The visit costs 1.000 ￦ per person. For this price, you can either visit on your own or join some of the guided tours available in various languages including English. Due to lack of time, we visited on our own but the guided visits seemed pretty interesting.

Unfortunately, when we visited, the biggest building was closed for reformation. However, the visit was still fascinating to learn more about this type of shrines and the rituals that are carried out in them.

Followed by shopping in Haedong neighborhood

Leaving the serene and peaceful atmosphere of the shrine, we continued our journey to a very animated part of Seoul: Haedong neighborhood. Known more for its nightlife, by day, it is also a key shopping area in town. You will also find there the flagship stores of Kakao Friends and Line Friends if you are into objects with cute characters on them. I highly recommend going to the cafés of these 2 flagship stores for some cute desserts. We tried a nice chocolate flan shaped like a cat at the Line Friends café (photo above).

Where to eat in Haedong neighborhood?

If you have watched many Korean series, you will have noticed that fried chicken is a delicacy much appreciated in Korea. Haedong is the perfect place to try it if you are interested as many places specialize in fried chicken.

However, we have opted instead for a nice restaurant specializing in another Korean typical dish: the bulgogi. The restaurant we went to is Restaurant Minari – https://maps.app.goo.gl/kt4iCHBhbC2Q6A9B6. Count about 9.900 ￦ for a bulgogi menu.

Ihwa Mural Village and Seoul City Wall

Ihwa MuralVillage is a neighborhood where art is prevalent and where you will find many murals on the walls. However, on that afternoon, what I found most impressive was not the mural village but the very nice view on the city that you get as you go uphill to reach the Seoul City Wall. From there, we only walked a small part of the Seoul City Wall up to the Heunginjimun gate in the Dongdaemun neighborhood. We absolutely loved this trail! If we ever go back to Seoul, we will definitely try to walk other parts of the trail.

Exploring Dongdaemun

Once you arrive in the neighborhood of Dongdaemun, we encourage you check out the Dondaemun Underground Shopping Center. It is hanbok heaven. The full shopping center is made up of little shops selling hanbok traditional clothing. All of them are beautiful and worth seeing.

Coming out of the Dongdaemun Underground Shopping Center, I was very intrigued by a billboard on one of the buildings that, thanks to moving cubes, displayed the ads in 3D. Although not a touristic attraction, if you work in marketing like me and that you have never seen this before, it is worth stopping to have a look.

Finally, while in the Dongdaemun neighborhood, you should take the chance to go see the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP). This building has been designed by the famous architect Zaha Hadid. Inside, you will find a cultural center featuring some great temporary exhibits. Due to lack of time, we were unfortunately not able to visit it but seemingly very interesting exhibits were ongoing when we went.

WHERE TO STAY IN SEOUL?

I recommend you stay in the Insadong neighborhood as it is the most central and it will allow you to get easily to all the main attractions the city has to offer. We stayed at The May Hotel – https://maps.app.goo.gl/XptrCZgTGfDHgsjm7 – for about 90 euros per night. This hotel was very nice and was one of the only ones we found where a breakfast was included. They even chose to upgrade our room without us asking upon arrival.

THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE VISITING SEOUL

• PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION: To take public transportation, we advise you buy one T-Money card by person. You can buy it and recharge this card in 7-Eleven stores. As you will see, they are everywhere in the city. The T-money card will cost you 5.000 ￦ and it is basically a card on which you put the sum of money you want. To recharge it, you have to pay in cash in 7-Eleven stores or at the machines in the metro stations. The T-money card is essential because some buses do not accept cash on-board and only allow you to pay for your ride using your T-money card. Your T-money card also works in other cities in the country, not just in Seoul.
• CASH: You should always have some Korean money in cash on you. Indeed, it is the only way to pay for public transportation tickets or to recharge your T-money card and the only way to pay for food in street markets.
• SIM CARD: It should be the first thing you buy upon arrival at the airport. You will need it to find your way with Naver Maps or Google Maps. It will also be essential to use Google Translate.
• GOOGLE TRANSLATE: Many Koreans do not speak English. Additionally, many restaurant menus and explanations in museums are not translated in English. The Google Translate app will allow you to translate anything by just snapping a picture of it. It will also help you translate anything you wish to say in Korean.
• NAVER MAPS VS GOOGLE MAPS: Many other blogs will tell you to use Naver Maps while in Korea. Indeed, on Google Maps, you will only have access to public transportation directions but not indications to go anywhere by foot or by car. I would suggest, however, having both apps on your phone when going to Korea. Google Maps, for example, is excellent if you are searching for restaurants around you: it will give you a more exhaustive view of existing restaurants than Naver Maps will.
• GOING SHOPPING: If you go shopping, make sure you read the rules displayed in front of the fitting rooms before entering. They are much stricter than in Europe. In all stores, you have to remove your shoes and leave them in front of the fitting room before entering. You usually are not allowed to try on anything white and you might have to wear a face cover or mask if you are wearing makeup. The amount of items you can bring in a fitting room at a time is usually limited at 3. Depending on stores, you might find even stricter rules: items of a certain price range cannot be tried on, one size / free size items cannot be tried on, specific categories of clothing such as dresses or tops cannot be tried on,… Make sure you read the instructions well so you respect the store rules when going to try clothing on.
• HOTELS: It is not the norm in Korea for hotels to do your room every day. Some hotels will only do your room during your stay when you ask them and it might be limited to a certain number of times per stay. Some hotels will change towels every day and others will not.