[Travel Advice] 2 Days in Seoul, South Korea
Seoul Tour and Central area exploring
Random Observation/Comment #921: Does anyone else immediately sing “I’m a Seoul man - danana-da-danana” when they land?
//View from the Namsan Mountain Park by North Seoul Tower
I’m splitting the Travel Advice for this South Korea trip to Seoul and Busan as we had different agendas and vibes.
Things I Love About Seoul and South Korea
Reminds me of Tokyo, Japan - I love the clean streets and great infrastructure. It’s also a huge city with a large population and lots of tall buildings. The food is excellent and I think there’s something for everyone.
Delicious food and pickled side dishes - The different pickled side dishes are such a great addition to any meal. I may have convinced my wife to let me have kimchi in the fridge.
Interesting U-turns - I love that there are a lot fewer left turns on major roads and instead these little mini U-turns, which clears a lot of traffic.
Heated bench seats at markets during winter - What’s better than a bowl of hot noodles and mandu? Hot noodles and mandu with a toasty butt.
Inexpensive taxi rides - I was just going through my Uber app conversions to USD and I think most of them were less than $5. Also, the exchange rate of 1400 won to USD is pretty crazy.
Skincare products - This goes without saying that the cosmetics game is strong.
Inexpensive to drink soju - Soju is like water. I was definitely enjoying it. I actually couldn’t find a soju that cost more than $20. Liquor was definitely much more expensive. Beer was a bit meh.
Tablet ordering - Most BBQ places use tablets for ordering, which is super tourist friendly.
Things to be aware of
Google Maps does not really work well - You’ll see some reviews (which are skewed by tourists), but any of the walking and driving directions are non-existent even for estimation of time.
Super apps like Kakao are recommended - I still love the “Kakao talk” sound with payments/wallet, chat, taxi, and reviews all in one app.
Uber works well - There are Uber Taxis and they’re not that expensive either. We didn’t have any issues calling a ride in any of the popular areas.
Surprisingly popular for Chinese tourists - This was much more prevalent than in Japan. It was fairly normal for major Korean tourist areas to speak Mandarin and have translations for Japanese.
Cash is not a bad idea for the night markets and especially subway card - I would say that most dishes are around 7,000-10,000 won. I’m sure you can easily spend 140,000 won ($100 USD) in a few days.
Subway may not take foreign credit cards - I wasn’t able to buy the card or top it up with my credit card, so I wound up just getting an Uber.
WeChat is accepted broadly - Credit cards are usually okay, but more surprising is that there are tons of WeChat QR codes. If you’re already signed up to WeChat then that payment method should work as well.
Not great beers - I am spoiled by IPAs. I did find a few random select ones, but most places just have really bad beer. Maybe this is true for most places.
Learn some Korean - It’s always nice to be able to say “hello”, “good morning/afternoon/evening”, “where is…?”, “this one”, “excuse me”, “Is English okay?”, and “thank you”. There’s a Samsung interpreter feature that has it downloaded offline which worked well.
As usual for these trips, my general daily strategy is to book 1 thing to look at in a general area and then research 5 places to eat. I would then go to the area and walk around as much as possible so I can go eat some more.
2.5 days in Seoul Itinerary
Wednesday - Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) and Exploring
Arrived at 5AM at the airport. Note: We paid for the night before because we didn’t want to wait until the regular 3PM check-in time. In retrospect, this was definitely a great idea.
The Shilla Seoul Hotel - What a beautiful hotel on a hill. We were able to snag a great deal for $220 a night. I mean… there’s a place for golf practice next to the fitness center.
Note: There’s a hotel shuttle to DDP and Myeongdong that leaves hourly. They will also shuttle you down to the front gate if you want to take the trains. You can also get an Uber, which would have been cheaper and less time dependent.
Seouljip Korean BBQ lunch - Delicious galbi and a great intro for my wife to some of those pickled side dishes.
DDP - This is just so cool to wander. There’s all these cool exhibits everywhere and it’s such a great place to walk around.
DDP Architecture tour - This happens once daily and we just got lucky to join it. English friendly. 40 minutes and learned quite a bit about Zaha Hadid (architect).
Dundun Mall - Like many Asian malls, this one was super fun. There’s no UNIQLO in Denver, so we did some shopping. Remember to bring your passport for immediate tax free discounts.
Gwangjang Market exploration - The places I’ve purchased food doesn’t even have Google Maps places, so I knew it was great.
DDP at night - From the architecture tour, they recommended that we see it at night. It’s cool, but only if you’re in the same area.
Pyeongando Jokbaljip - Pork trotter wraps. I did eat a whole small serving by myself.
Pastry Boutique in Shilla Hotel - This place was a life saver since we slept past 9PM. We were able to get a baguette with delicious cream cheese that gave us some jetlag noshing power.
Thursday - 8 Hour tour
Booked through Viator - https://www.viator.com/tours/Seoul/Travel-for-foodies-Seoul-Highlight-Tour/d973-42053P12
8:30AM pick up at hotel
Gyeongbokgung Palace - We arrived as one of the first groups and we decided not to change into the traditional dress. This was key because this place gets super crowded with huge buses after the 10AM changing of the guards.
Changing of Guards - Cool 15-minute ceremony to witness at least once. It’s a nice reenactment.
Namsan Cable Car - It’s a short cable car ride and probably a better use of time than the hike up.
N Seoul Tower - We didn’t go up the tower, but the area around it has lots of love locks and amazing 360 views of the huge city of Seoul.
Drive around the Blue House area - There were some cool stories about this, but we didn’t actually get out of the car.
Jogyesa Buddhist Temple - This was a little mini stop before walking around the culture street and grabbing lunch.
Insadong Art Street - There’s all these little shops and art galleries. It’s an easy 1.5 hour wandering for buying some random things to bring home.
Lunch spot that doesn’t have an English name - We really enjoyed the bibimbap.
Ssamziegil - Insadong hand crafts exploration with a slow ramp up to the top.
Bukchon Hanok Village - There’s a small residential area that keeps the old school village architecture. I think there are around 800 houses that are protected by the original village.
Gyangjang market with tour - There’s no shortage of street food, noodles, and fried things.
Noodles from Netflix place - This lady was so nice. She has such a loveable face.
Late night drink at The Library - This was an expensive drink, but it had all the right vibes.
Friday - Hike and Commute to Busan
Namsan Botanical Garden - We got a taxi to the entrance and then just wandered around. We did make our way back up to the Shilla area, which was around a 45 minute walk.
Haus Coffee & Dessert - Brunch spot with delicious Persimmon granola dish. Highly recommended!
Seoul Station KTX to Busan - Booked this via https://www.koreantrain.com/ two days before. Klook did not allow us to buy this because they usually buy a few days out. Less than 3 hours and super comfy reserved seats.
Next is Travel Advice Busan:
Sunrises and Sunsets
Korean wedding - Congrats Justin and Esther
Drone show on a boat
Random noms at great restaurants
~See Lemons Love Seoul