This is the post I have most been dreading writing about South Korea because there is so much to say about Seoul and we saw and did an awful lot. The reason I decided to write about things we experienced and did in South Korea is because I felt there wasn’t much useful and accurate information available about South Korea outside Seoul, so this doesn’t seem as “necessary” a post, ie about Seoul.
However, there are lots of different books, blogs, websites about Seoul so I am going to deal with Seoul in less detail than other places. I will place more emphasis on my thoughts about whether I thought things were worth doing or not and the highlights of each site I’ve listed that we visited.
My highlights/recommendations
DMZ/JSA/3rd infiltration tunnel tour (you’d miss out by not doing this, for too many reasons to list – even the info we were given on the bus there was interesting).
PHOTO DMZ JSA tour – The white posts mark the North/South Korea divide with 4km of DMZ on each side of the “line”
PHOTO Changdeok Palace
A palace, maybe Changdeokgung.
A market.
Bukchon Hanok Village – a good couple of hours wandering (and worth extending that walk over the main road where Anguk metro is to Insadong – it’s basically one longish largely pedestrianised road with lots of alleyways leading off it)
North Seoul Tower.
Walk around Myeongdong (eg en route to the lift that takes you to the cable car that takes you to North Seoul Tower).
Thoughts on Seoul
It is not a beautiful city. It is difficult to take a photograph beyond detail (eg of the palaces or of roofs around Bukchon Hanok Village) that make Seoul look pretty.
PHOTO View from the base of the North Seoul Tower
It is busy and noisy, yet you can find districts or areas that suddenly seem far-removed from the city buzz, which is unexpected and lovely.
It is vast and things do not just go on at ground level, eg shops won’t just be on the ground floor, they will be on the floors above too.
There is a lot to do and see in Seoul, as you’d hope and expect in a city that large.
There are a lot of hideously ugly modern buildings.
PHOTO Gangnam – messy overhead electricty
The overhead electricity lines make it look messy.
There is a lot of traffic and congestion.
It is an interesting and different (in my experience) city to visit. However, I will make no effort to go again, but I wouldn’t be disappointed if a trip “came up” for whatever reason.
Places visited and comments on them
Changdeokgung and Biwon (Palace and Secret Garden) – if you don’t like tours, don’t opt for the tour of the palace, especially as the Secret Garden can ONLY be visited on a tour and I find tours challenging, especially when you have a tour guide who’s clearly going through the motions and who tells the same jokes all the time (it takes c1 hour 40, which includes too many stops for my liking). The colours of the palace are lovely. Worth going but most palaces/temples have very similar colour/paint themes so I don’t recommend spending a day doing a palace and temple crawl as you will get blase and not appreciate what you’re seeing. (NB take note of the English tour times as there aren’t that many for the garden – Secret Garden is best with snow and in spring/summer/autumn (not a great deal to appreciate when we went, between winter and spring, the end of March)
PHOTO Gyeongbok Palace changing of the guards
Gyeongbokgung (Palace and changing of the guards) – Palace grounds make for a nice stroll, changing of the guards is very colourful (likelihood is you’ll take a ridiculous number of photos), though their uniforms looked far too “fancy dress” in terms of their quality (no disrespect intended). There is one changing of the guards within the front square by the ticket offices and one on the pavement between the busy main road and the palace gate – they are at different times. The one in the big square is probably the most impressive if you want to time a visit to see the changing of the guard.
PHOTO Bukchon Hanok Village, Seoul – from observatory
Bukchon Hanok Village (old town) – around Anguk metro – lovely area, one part is quiet and peaceful, the other is really busy with lots of lovely cafes, restaurants, food stalls and expensive but nice shops (for both hand made Korean goods and trendy brands, eg there’s a fancy Kiehl’s shop there). Well worth a visit and probably a good idea to look at a walking tour map to see which roads are good as we almost missed the exciting side of the Hanok Village by only staying in the quieter area where our guest house was. The Observation/Viewing Area is someone’s top floor flat (only c 3rd floor) and you pay to go in (you get a soft or hot drink included in the 3,000 entrance fee and there is a toilet with a lovely view) and can sit and look at a great view of Bukchon Hanok Village – though it was from here that I realised Seoul isn’t a pretty city.
DMZ/JSA tour (North/South Korea border area) – YOU HAVE TO GO, it’s fascinating and scary in a “oh, my, I’m a tourist and I’m on a bus with US soldiers and there are live mines on either side of the road and I’m in an area where some eye-wateringly dreadful things have happened”. The tours are generally around 7 am – 3 pm. Pay the full amount and do the all-encompassing trip. There is so much more to it than you can imagine. I was totally blown away by the whole experience and it is without doubt one of the most memorable things I’ve done on any trip abroad.
We went with a recommendation to use http://www.koridoor.co.kr (JSO) and I would recommend them too. You HAVE TO book in advance as the tours book out and there is a daily limit as to how many people can go on the tours. If you opt for their lunch, I think c 6,000 won, it’s buffet style either Bulgogi or Bibimbap. We took our own food and ate it in the same place (which is fine).
PHOTO North Seoul Tower – a miniscule part of the mass of “love locks”
North Seoul Tower (360 degree views of Seoul) – I have vertigo and getting the cable car up to the tour was quite an ordeal for me, but I managed it, just. The tower gives amazing 360 degree views and has written on the viewing glass the distance to whichever city is in the direction you’re looking. It is well worth a visit. Don’t get confused by the ticketing, the all-in ticket includes the teddy bear museum and other things you might not want and which cost a lot more. There is emphasis on courting couples and there are padlocks (love locks) everywhere – great colourful photos. We spent a long time at the bottom of the tower, in part because you are very high up and can take photos that aren’t behind glass. I enjoyed going up the tower, or at least to the bottom of it, more than I would have expected to, in part because I have vertigo.
Insa-dong (lively shopping and eating area) – loads of restaurants and shops. We were told it was quite expensive around here but it didn’t seem that bad compared to other places. Lively and interesting area.
Gangnam (modern area with designer shops and plastic surgery clinics) – Psy’s awful “Gangnam Style” is largely what took us to this area. It didn’t really do much for me. That side of the river is the new side. There are plastic surgery clinics all over the place and you see examples of the surgeons’ work walking all over the place. It wasn’t quite as cool, hip and trendy as I’d envisaged, or at least not on the scale I’d envisaged. A bit, “Oh, is that it?”. The area around Gangnam metro station is not worth going to. There is nothing to see; just normal shops and offices and busy roads.
PHOTO Korean War Memorial – part of an almost 360 degree mosaic
War Memorial/Museum of Korea (indoor and outdoor museum devoted to the history of warfare in Korea) – the museum is free and you can walk around various aeroplanes outside. The Korean War exhibitions aren’t that easy to find inside and we expected more, though it is nicely presented. Other war history was lost on us as we knew nothing about it. It’s an interesting museum to dip in and out of though. The museum is very near the DMZ tour start/end if you do the JSO/Koridoor tour. The Korean War memorials are touching.
PHOTO Korean War Museum – tear drop made of US soldier dog tags
COEX (large shopping and entertainment mall) – not my kind of place at all. No natural light, busy and shops that were of no interest to me (mainly fashion based, high street style). One highlight was going in the posh food hall of the Hyundai Department Store – lots of unusual/different foods and loads of tasters.
Cheonggye Stream, Cheong-gye-cheon (landscaped stream running through the city) – It looks as it did in the pictures. Not worth going out of the way to see but we were walking through that area and had lunch by the stream (not that you’d know the stream was there, it’s a lot lower than street level, in case you were hoping for river side restaurants, al fresco dining – unless you take a packed lunch)
Myeong-dong (buzzy shopping and eating area with Gothic-style cathedral) – the cathedral is nothing special if you live in Europe where there are loads of stunning churches and cathedrals but it’s bizarre seeing it in Seoul. The Myeongdong area reminded me of Amsterdam’s shopping centre off Dam Square. It was busy, lively, exciting and lots of street food stalls)
Dongdaemun market (largely outdoor fashion and food market) – interesting to see, though the food side of it was more interesting to me. It wasn’t quite as impressive as I’d expected but in fairness we didn’t spend that much time there.
PHOTO Namdaemun Market, Seoul
Namdaemun Market (general market) – kind of as above. Lively at night.
PHOTO Yongsan, Seoul – about 2km from the electronics area (near War Museum)
Yongsan Electronics Market (indoor electrical department store) – aesthetically disappointing, not at all what I’d envisaged – only worth going if you want to buy something in particular.
Gwangjang Market (street food at night) – interesting, as all markets are to me, particularly the food element. To be honest, I got a bit confused about which market we saw when and in which we ate. I am not convinced you need to visit all the big markets to get an idea of markets. I think markets are a great place to go to get an idea of real life in a new country.
Yeouido Full Gospel Church (massive modern church) – all very bizarre. Huge building. We were there on a Sunday when a service was in full swing – hadn’t expected it all to be in Korean. It is massive. Wouldn’t recommend going unless you have an interest in seeing an enormous gospel church, which isn’t a pretty building.
Yeouido Saetgang Eco Park (strip of park where you can hire bicycles) – seems to be the place to go on the weekend, particularly if you have kids. Lots of people, nice atmosphere but not a park to go out of your way to see.