Seoul, South Korea2026
Seoul
Three days in Seoul on the back of a Japan trip, built around the palace, the markets, the murals, and a fortress wall with the whole city under it.
Lay of the Land
Having spent only three days on the ground in South Korea after our trip to Japan, we absolutely loved it. Although not as quiet and clean as Japan, it had all the charm nonetheless. It was almost like a mix of Japan and America smashed together, and the commercial nature of the country was much more in your face than Japan. Like Japan, though, it had exceptional beauty. We only really spent our time in Seoul, and below we walk you through all of our most memorable experiences.
- Days
- 3
- Cost, 2 people
- ~$1,700
- Best season
- Spring or fall
- Getting around
- On foot and metro
Map & Itinerary
Everything we found, on one map. Switch to Day by day to follow the three-day run, or stay on Map and switch the lens to Must-dos, Where to Stay, Eats, and custom layers like On foot, Views, Shopping, and Splurges.
Three days across central Seoul and one morning southeast of the city. Switch to Day by day to follow the route, or filter the map by lens.
Opens our Google Maps list of every spot in this guide. Tap the save icon to add the whole list to your own Maps.
Places on the map
- L'Escape Hotel, 67 Sogong-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul — A five-star experience without the five-star price tag, and the best-designed room we stayed in on the whole trip. Red velvet running through the rooms, an incredible bath, and spotless housekeeping. It sits right behind Myeongdong, which matters more than it sounds in a city where you end up walking everywhere.
- Myeongdong, Myeongdong-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul — A dense shopping street you will have a hard time missing, partly because Seoul traffic is bad enough that you end up walking across town anyway and this sits right in the middle of it. Skincare, street food carts, and crowds after dark. If you stay at L'Escape it is directly behind the hotel.
- Cheonggyecheon, Cheonggyecheon-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul — A sunken stream and walkway cut straight through the middle of downtown, and the most peaceful thing in the city center. Public art turns up along the banks and at Cheonggye Plaza at the western end. Drop down to the water and walk it in either direction; it is the easiest way to cross town on foot.
- Gyeongbokgung Palace, 161 Sajik-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul — The grandest of the city's five palaces and a genuine must-do. The vista is the reason to go, with the throne hall, the tiled roofs, and then the mountains of Bukhansan National Park rising thousands of feet directly behind the whole thing. Rent a hanbok nearby and entry is free, which is why the courtyards are full of them.
- Onjium, 5 Hyoja-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul — A few steps west of the Gyeongbokgung palace edge, and the meal we ran out of days for. An open kitchen and a counter looking straight into it, concrete and warm wood, with the cooks working an arm's length away. Firmly on the must-try list for next time. Book well ahead.
- Bukchon Hanok Village, Bukchon-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul — A hillside of restored hanok, the old tiled-roof courtyard houses, wedged in behind Gyeongbokgung. Walking here straight from the palace is the obvious move. Beyond the lanes it is a whole shopping district of small, strange, very good stores. People still live here, so keep your voice down.
- Magnet World, Bukchon, Jongno-gu, Seoul — A hole-in-the-wall in the Bukchon shopping streets, wall-to-wall with magnets, pins, and postcards under a yellow shopfront. Exactly the kind of small, specific store this neighborhood does better than anywhere else in the city. Worth ducking into on the walk down from the palace.
- Ikseon-dong Hanok Village, Ikseon-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul — A warren of narrow hanok alleys that turned into the city's best block of cafes, tea houses, and tiny restaurants without losing the old bones. Lanes barely wide enough for two people, brick and timber storefronts, a red mailbox on every other corner. Come late afternoon and stay as the lights come on.
- Gwangjang Market, 88 Changgyeonggung-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul — The oldest market in the city and worth the time whether or not you are hungry. Pull up a stool at the bindaetteok stall that was featured on Netflix's Street Food Asia in 2019 and order the mung bean pancakes. Upstairs and along the aisles it turns into clothing, including a Kodak store, which still exists in Korea, as an apparel brand rather than a camera company.
- Ihwa-dong Mural Village, Ihwa-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul — A steep hillside neighborhood north of Gwangjang Market painted over with murals, from full walls of camels crossing a skyline to small pieces tucked beside doorways. The fun is hunting them rather than ticking them off. Walk up through here and keep going; Naksan Park and the view are right at the top.
- Naksan Park, 41 Naksan-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul — A ridge park on the old city fortress wall with one of the best views over Seoul there is, and you can lean on the wall for it. From up here you can really see how fast the city is still expanding, cranes going up in every direction, with the granite of Bukhansan closing the horizon behind. Pair it with the Ihwa-dong murals on the climb up.
- Namhansanseong Park, Namhansanseong-myeon, Gwangju-si, Gyeonggi-do — An absolute gem, and enormous for something billed as an urban park. Trails run for miles, and a reasonable 20 to 30 minute climb puts you on the old fortress wall looking back across the entire city, Lotte World Tower included. Getting in by rideshare is easy; getting out is not, so bring a transit card for the bus.
- Born and Bred, 1 Majang-ro 42-gil, Seongdong-gu, Seoul — Korean BBQ with all the fixings, and the reason to spend an evening on it rather than a quick meal. The cuts come out on a board first so you see what you are eating before it hits the grill, and the staff cook it for you. Book ahead.
- Wooga, Sinsa Square G, 652 Gangnam-daero, Gangnam-gu, Seoul — The other Korean BBQ we loved, and the Gangnam one, in the Michelin Guide though not starred. Beef and a heap of shredded scallion cooked together on a flat iron griddle, the strips finishing on a raised rack off to the side. Same idea as Born and Bred, a long evening rather than a quick meal, and worth booking ahead. Between the two, you can happily do both on the same trip.
- Starfield Library, COEX Mall, 513 Yeongdong-daero, Gangnam-gu, Seoul — A vast open library dropped into the middle of the COEX mall, with shelves running nearly fifty feet up under a glass roof. Free to walk into and busy with people photographing it, which is half the spectacle. The mall around it is worth an hour on its own.
- Gangnam Style Statue, Yeongdong-daero, Gangnam-gu, Seoul — Two giant bronze wrists crossed in the horse-dance pose, outside COEX. Deeply silly and completely worth the two minutes. It is a short walk from the Starfield Library, so do them together.
- Baskin-Robbins, 100 Flavors, COEX, Yeongdong-daero, Gangnam-gu, Seoul — Not the Baskin-Robbins you know. This one runs over a hundred flavors at once and will serve you a flight of them in a metal tray, which is the only sane way to order. A very Seoul thing, a familiar American brand turned up several notches.
- Yeouido Cherry Blossom Festival, Yunjungno, Yeouido, Yeongdeungpo-gu, early April — The city's big spring event, when the road behind the National Assembly on Yeouido turns into a tunnel of cherry blossom and most of Seoul walks it. Roughly the first two weeks of April, though the bloom moves a little each year. Go early in the morning if you want it to yourself.
- Lotus Lantern Festival, Jogyesa Temple and Jongno, around Buddha's birthday in May — Yeondeunghoe, on the UNESCO intangible heritage list, held around Buddha's birthday in May. Jogyesa and the streets around it fill with paper lanterns and a night parade runs the length of Jongno, from Dongdaemun down to the temple. The one event we would actively plan a spring trip around.
- Zest Seoul, 5 Dosan-daero 17-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul — A dark wood-panelled room with a deep back bar, low green armchairs, and patterned tile underfoot. This was the nightcap on the plan after dinner in Gangnam, and the one we ran out of evening for. Reserve.
- Bukhansan National Park, Bukhansan National Park, Seoul — The mountains you see standing behind Gyeongbokgung, and reachable by subway and bus. Baegundae is the peak everyone climbs, a half-day scramble to bare granite above the cloud line. With one more whole day this is absolutely the hike we would have done. Go on a weekday; weekends bring half the city in matching hiking gear.
Day-by-day itinerary
- Day 1: Arrive, the palace, the hanok lanes. Fly Hiroshima (HIJ) to Incheon (ICN) (10:35am); Drop bags at L'Escape; Gyeongbokgung Palace; Bukchon Hanok Village; Magnet World and the Bukchon shops; Dinner at Born and Bred (8:00pm); Ikseon-dong for the evening; Myeongdong after dark.
- Day 2: Downtown, the murals, then Gangnam. Cheonggyecheon and Cheonggye Plaza (Morning); Lunch at Gwangjang Market; Ihwa-dong Mural Village; Naksan Park and the fortress wall; COEX Mall and Starfield Library (Evening); Gangnam Style statue; Baskin-Robbins, 100 flavors; Korean BBQ dinner in Gangnam (7:30pm).
- Day 3: The fortress wall, then home. Namhansanseong Park (Morning); Fly Incheon (ICN) to Newark (EWR) (9:30pm).
Must Do’s
Start with Gyeongbokgung. It is the grandest of the city’s palaces and the vista behind it is the thing you will remember: the throne hall, the tiled roofs, and then Bukhansan National Park rising thousands of feet above and behind the whole city. Immediately around the center, north of the Han river, Cheonggyecheon is a genuinely peaceful park with a river running through it and good art scattered along the banks. Gwangjang Market is worth the time to see whether or not you are hungry. And north of that market are the two we would send anyone to: the Ihwa-dong Mural Village, where the fun is hunting the murals rather than ticking them off, and Naksan Park above it, which has incredible views over all of Seoul and where you can really see how fast the city is still expanding.
A mix of Japan and America smashed together, with the same exceptional beauty.
Activities
South of town is Namhansanseong Park, an absolute gem. This urban park is truly massive, just southeast of the city center, and you can hike its trails for miles. The neatest part is that a reasonable twenty to thirty minute climb puts you on the perimeter wall looking out across the entire city, including an amazing view of the Lotte World Tower, one of the tallest buildings in the world and the tallest in Korea. Be careful getting here, though: you can easily rideshare in, but you can very rarely find one out, and you must have a local transit card to ride the bus.
Back in the center, the walking is the activity. The palace into Bukchon into Ikseon-dong is one long afternoon on foot, and the murals up to the Naksan wall is another.
Behind Gyeongbokgung is a whole district of shopping around Bukchon Hanok Village, with some really cool hole-in-the-wall shops like Magnet World. It makes sense to walk over here right after visiting the palace, which is exactly what we did. Myeongdong is the other one, a shopping street you will have a hard time missing, partly because traffic in Seoul is so bad (worse than New York or LA at many times) that you will be forced to walk around town, and this sits sort of in the middle of it. Especially if you end up staying at L’Escape, since it is right behind the hotel.
South of the river, Gangnam is worth an evening. COEX Mall holds the Starfield Library, a genuinely huge indoor library with shelves running nearly fifty feet up, the Gangnam Style statue sits outside it, and there is a Baskin-Robbins with over a hundred flavors. Those three are the sites not to miss here.
Events
We did not time our trip around anything. Late October simply fell at the end of a Japan trip, and it turned out to land on the tail of the foliage season, which is its own event here: the ridges above the city turn and the parks fill up with people walking them. If your dates are flexible, two others are worth planning around. Cherry blossom comes to Yeouido in the first half of April, when the road behind the National Assembly becomes a tunnel of it. And the Lotus Lantern Festival, around Buddha’s birthday in May, fills Jogyesa and the streets of Jongno with paper lanterns and runs a night parade through them.
Must-Eats
Gwangjang Market is the meal. Inside you will find everything from a Kodak store (yes, they still exist, but only in Korea, and as a clothing brand rather than a camera company) to the food stall that was featured on Netflix’s Street Food Asia in 2019. Pull up a stool there and order the mung bean pancakes.
For a sit-down, Korean BBQ with all the fixings, and worth giving a whole evening to. We loved two: Born and Bred, where the cuts come out on a board first so you see what you are about to eat, and Wooga over in Gangnam, which the Michelin Guide lists. Do both if you have the nights for it.
Just west of the palace edge is a restaurant called Onjium. We did not have time, but it is firmly on our must-try list for next time.
Where to Stay
When in Seoul we stayed at L’Escape, a truly five-star experience without the five-star price tag, coming in at a reasonable $300 to $400 per night when we booked in late October. Our favorite part was the design. The rooms had red velvet throughout, incredible baths, and were very well cleaned. It also sits right behind Myeongdong, which matters more than it sounds in a city where the traffic pushes you onto your feet anyway.
Stay central and north of the river. That is the whole strategy here.
Budget
Seoul is not an expensive city by the standards of the trip that got us there. The flight from Japan was about $250, the room was $300 to $400 a night, and from there we mostly just spent on restaurants.
Getting there
- Flights, Hiroshima to Seoul (2)
- ~$500
- Airport transfers
- ~$40
On the ground
- L'Escape (2 nights)
- ~$700
- Restaurants and street food
- ~$400
- Taxis, rideshares, transit
- ~$80
- Palace entry (2)
- ~$6
Per couple, three days, tacked onto the end of a Japan trip. The flight and the room are what we actually paid; the rest is roughly where the money went, which was almost entirely restaurants.
Where to Stay
- ★ L'Escape Hotel
- About $300-$400 a night
Eats
- ★ Gwangjang Market
- A few dollars a dish
- ★ Born and Bred
- About $80 a head
Activities
- ★ Gyeongbokgung Palace
- About $3 entry
Time Range
Three days was enough to fall for Seoul and nowhere near enough to see it. If we ran it again we would give it four or five, keep the same central base, and spend the extra day on Bukhansan and an afternoon outside the city. Anything beyond that and you should be leaving the capital entirely, for Busan or Jeju.
When to Go
Spring and fall. Weather-wise it is about the same climate as New York City, so the shoulder seasons are the walking seasons. We went in late October and had clear skies, cool evenings, and the turning leaves on the ridge above the city.
Logistics
We came in from Japan, which is the cheap way to do it: Hiroshima to Incheon ran about $250 and took under two hours. Once you land, the thing to know is the traffic. It is worse than New York or LA at many times of day, which means the metro and your own two feet are usually faster across the center. Get a transit card on day one. It is what gets you out of Namhansanseong when no rideshare will come.
- Getting there
- Fly into Incheon (ICN). From Japan it is under two hours and about $250; from the US East Coast it is a long-haul, and our return leg was ICN to Newark, landing the same evening.
- When to go
- Spring or fall. The climate runs close to New York City, so those are the mild, walkable windows.
- Getting around
- Metro and on foot. Traffic is worse than New York or LA at many hours, so walking is often faster across the center. Get a local transit card early; some places (Namhansanseong) are easy to rideshare into and nearly impossible to rideshare out of.
Splurges
The room is the splurge, and it is a cheap one by five-star standards. L’Escape at $300 to $400 a night gets you design that most hotels twice the price do not have. The other is the beef. Give a Korean BBQ dinner a full evening rather than treating it as a meal between two other things, at Born and Bred or at Wooga.
Wishlist
All three of these are in Seoul, and we simply ran out of hours for each. Bukhansan is the big one: with a whole extra day, that hike is absolutely what we would have done. Onjium, just off the palace wall, is the meal we missed, and Zest in Sinsa is the drink after it.
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Bukhansan National Park
The granite national park inside the city limits, rising thousands of feet directly behind the palace.
Wish We Had Time
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Onjium
The research-kitchen restaurant just off the palace wall, reviving royal Korean court cooking.
Wish We Had Time
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Zest Seoul
The cocktail bar in Gangnam we had penciled in for after dinner and never made.
Wish We Had Time
Resources
- Korea Tourism Organization Seasons, etiquette, and getting around.
- Seoul Metropolitan Government Neighborhoods, the metro, and what is on while you are in town.
- L'Escape Hotel Where we stayed, right behind Myeongdong.
- Gyeongbokgung Palace Hours, entry, and the changing of the guard times.
- Onjium The one just off the palace wall we ran out of days for. Book ahead.
Late October in Seoul runs close to a New York fall, and the trip is almost entirely on foot.
On your feet
- Broken-in walking shoes
- Something with grip for the fortress wall
Layers
- A light jacket for the evenings
- A warm layer for the ridge
Practical
- A local transit card, bought on day one
- Cash for the market stalls
Camera
- A film camera
- Film, at least two rolls
Gallery
How many days do you need in Seoul?
Three days is enough to fall for the city and see the things you came for: the palace, the markets, a mural neighborhood, and one big view. Four or five would let you add a proper mountain hike and a day outside the city, which is exactly what we would add next time.
When is the best time to visit Seoul?
Spring or fall. The climate is close to New York City, so those are the windows with mild days for walking and cool evenings. We went in late October and had clear skies the whole time.
Is Seoul expensive?
Not especially. Our room at L'Escape ran $300 to $400 a night in late October, which is a genuine five-star experience without the five-star price tag, and most of the rest of the money went to restaurants. Street food at Gwangjang Market is a few dollars a dish and palace entry is about $3.
How do you get around Seoul?
On foot and by metro, more than you expect. Traffic in Seoul is worse than New York or LA at plenty of hours, so walking is often faster across the center. Get a transit card early: for somewhere like Namhansanseong Park you can rideshare in easily but almost never find a ride out, and the bus is the way home.
What are the must-do things in Seoul?
Gyeongbokgung Palace with the mountains rising behind it, Gwangjang Market for the mung bean pancakes, the Ihwa-dong murals up to the Naksan Park fortress wall, Cheonggyecheon through the middle of downtown, and Namhansanseong Park for the view back over the whole city.
Where should you stay in Seoul?
Stay central, north of the Han river, so you can walk. We based at L'Escape in Jung-gu, right behind the Myeongdong shopping street and a short ride from the palaces. The design is the reason to book it: red velvet through the rooms, an excellent bath, and spotless housekeeping.
Is Seoul like Japan?
Not quite. It is less quiet and less spotless than Japan, and far more commercial, more in your face. It reads a little like Japan and America smashed together. It also has the same exceptional beauty, and the charm holds up.