| Have to go for a business trip, never been. Am allowed to tack on 3 extra days. Is that enough to do a decent amount of things? What would you recommend to make the best use of time? |
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Seoul is amazing. Where will you be staying?
I would spend one day at least one day north of the river in Insadong, Jogyesa Temple, Bukchon, Gyeongbokgung Palace. Also definitely go to Gwangjang market. Are you into museums? Shopping? |
| Yes, museums, food, shopping - all of it. I doubt I will have a chance to go back on someone else’s dime (at least for travel - I have to pay for the extra hotel days etc) so want to make the most of it. The work hotel is the Intercontinental but I could stay anywhere for the extra days. |
| Hi Korean American here, who will be taking her two kids and husband to Seoul for their first time in a month this May. I was hoping some people had given you some ideas. While I still have family there, it's been some time since I've lived there and/or visited. I would recommend you check out YouTube as there are tons of reactors who have posted popular places to check out. I'm watching one vide right now which was hosted by the Korean Cultural Center LA. Good luck and have fun! |
Forgot to add off the top of my head Seoul Tower, the National Museum of Modern Art, gyeongbokgung palace. If you're staying at the Intercontinental hotel they have a really good western/korean buffet. of course one of the best things about Seoul is the food. Also places stay open like all the time--so you can eat and see many things in a very short time frame. |
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We went in 2019 and it was amazing! You're going to have an absolutely fantastic time.
One of the highlights of our trip was a food tour. I can't recommend it highly enough - the food was great, of course, but also it got us into neighborhood places we certainly wouldn't have found on our own. This is the company we used: https://ongofood.com/ And be sure to go to the bathroom with windows in Seoul Tower. Definitely entertaining. (Granted, I had two tweens with me, so bathroom humor was very popular...) |
| As for where to stay, I'd just stay at the Intercontinental since you'll already be there. The Seoul subway is very easy to use and will get you wherever you want to go. |
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National Museum of Korea
D-tower in Gwanghwamun near US Emb, fun restaurants, coffee, people-watching esp when it’s SO COLD Leeum art museum is very good Seodaemun prison history museum Shangpree Spa (make appointment) Hongdae to buy cute stuff for your kids, especially daughters (big LINE store there) New Hyundai mall, newer Amore Pacific building, both have restaurants and coffee, nice in cold weather Intercon COEX is a great hotel Good food, incl street named Gwangjang street food just bundle up and stay near heaters Get bibimbap and gimbap, try soj, try a jjimjilbang |
| Go to the DMZ. Very cool. They have telescopes so you can see across the border and the fake town the North Koreans built. |
| Does anyone know of a good travel agent for the area? Since we don’t know it at all, not sure I can plan well (not knowing how long it takes to get places, how to long to spend in each) which order makes sense. |
| Whatever you do, please don’t “accidentally” wander/hike into N. Korea. |
| Make sure you got to the meat market, pick out some beef, and eat for a nice lunch or dinner. Hanwoo beef is some of the best in the world, and they don't really ship it outside of Korea. I like it even better than A5 waygu. It's not prohibitively expensive either. Definitely worth your time to go to he meat market! |
| Is it easy to get around the city? Is it generally safe at night? |
Yes and yes. Come in bro.....S. Korea makes US look like a developing 2nd world country when it comes to infrastructure. Of course it is easy to get to basically almost evrywhere in the city. |
| Check out Gangnam |