If you are planning your next trip to South Korea, be sure to read this post to know more about top things to do in Seoul. Seoul, like any big city has a lot to offer. Hence, it is important to pick and choose your favourite activities to suit the time you have. If you have any questions, drop a comment below!
Myeong-dong Market Top things to do in Seoul
If you are visiting Seoul, you HAVE to visit Myeong-dong market. This is the one stop tourist street to try a variety of street foods and experience the liveliness of Korea both in the day and at night. From egg bread to japchae, Korean dumplings and a wide array of sweet treats, there are food choices for all. It had lots of vegetarian options! Aside from food, they have a wide array of shops, more specifically skin care shops that are open all day, all night which is almost overwhelming.
Go Skincare shopping
A visit to Seoul (or South Korea) is incomplete without buying your skincare supplies. Like I said above, Myeong-dong has plethora of options and brands to buy sheet masks and skincare products. Even on Instagram, every influencer had different skincare brands making it very difficult to pick products. You can just imagine how much choice is there! I opted for the safer option of an international brand called Innisfree where I got most of my sheet masks and serums from. They have been great so far. Aside from that you can pop into their local healthcare shop Olive Young (they are everywhere!) and speak to the staff for the latest trending options.
Day trip to DMZ
Definitely one of the highlights of our trip to Seoul was to visit the DMZ, get a glimpse of the North and know more about the war and partition. The DMZ section is covered in half a day which is enough if you are short of time. However, we had done a full day tour covering some memorials. You can only do this with a guided tour and there are plenty of options to book online. They all have a pre-defined route to cover so it really doesn’t matter which one you book. There is no point paying extra for a private tour as you have to go in minimum groups of 30. If your tour has less people, they will get people from other tours to join you or vice versa.
Bukchon Hanok Village
This village is quite close to Myeong-dong and on a good weather day, walkable from Myeong-dong in about 30 mins (which is what we did). The street, despite being in Seoul has really preserved the traditional Korean houses and you really get a feel for it. Whilst, I must say it is VERY crowded and tourists are flocking and taking photos at every corner of the place, it is definitely worth a visit especially in the golden sunset hour. You also have a chance to rent their traditional outfits and take pictures.
Gwangjang Market
This is the famous ‘Netflix’ market. One of the stalls got featured on Netflix’s popular show ‘Street Food Asia’, making the market popular since. I would recommend visiting the famous lady’s stall located at one end of the market (depending on where you enter). I was initially a bit dubious as I’m a vegetarian and struggled with food mostly on the trip. However, I was pleasantly surprised at the vegetarian options at the stall (and vegetarian kimchi!). I couldn’t try the hand cut noodles as they were all in a beef broth. However, the cold buckwheat noodles were one of my top meals whilst in Korea! The best time to visit would be around 4pm to avoid the long queues. They have English speaking staff to help you with the menu! Aside from this stall, the market is famous for their Mung Bean pancakes which were also delicious!
N-Seoul Tower
One of the iconic landmarks of Seoul is the N Seoul or Namsam tower. This is the highest point in Seoul. I did go all the way to the observatory (tickets to the top were about £10 pp) but you could also just go to the base of the tower for free (i.e. the top of the Namsan mountain). The Namsan mountain is a short ride from the street not far from Myeong-dong. This is a perfect spot for spectacular night time city lights.
Starfield Library
If you are a book lover or just an Instagram fanatic to click those cliche pictures, a visit to Starfield library is a must. It is hilarous to see people going up and down the escalators to get their next Instagram profile picture against the two-floored bookshelves. However, I must warn you, this place is located at one end of the city in Starfield Coax Mall in the Gangnam district. This is about a 25 minute train ride from Myeong-dong. Outside the mall, you will also find the famous ‘Gangnam Style’ statue!
Planning your next trip to Seoul?
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See our hotel review of the JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul and Conrad Seoul.
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