Seoul summary and travel tips – South Korea

After a week in the big city of Seoul, I have summarised all you need to know when visiting.

1. People – Friendly and efficient. Most speak at least a little English. These are super smart people. When you look at the history of South Korea, it is amazing to think that following the second world war and Korean War, which ended in 1953, this country was in tatters and very poor. In recent decades it has seen a meteoritic rise on the world stage and is now home to one of world’s the biggest economies (think Hyundai, Samsung, LG).
2. Neighbourhoods – there are several different neighbourhoods in Seoul, each offering a different experience. In summary:
   • Gwanghwamun and Jongno-gu – this is the area for palaces and traditional hanok. Lots of history to explore. https://thetravelbee.blog/2025/01/13/gwanghwamun-and-jongno-gu-seoul-south-korea/
   • Dongdaemun and Eastern Seoul – Shoppers paradise, lots of high-rise malls as well as Gwangjang food market. This area is all about design. https://thetravelbee.blog/2025/01/11/dongdaemun-seoul-south-korea/
   • Myeong-dong and Jung-gu– another retail area bounded by Namsan, the peaceful mountain overlooking the city. We skipped the shopping but enjoyed Namsan. https://thetravelbee.blog/2025/01/10/namsan-and-surrounds-seoul-south-korea/
   • Gangnam-gu– the upmarket, hip place. See this post for more detail https://thetravelbee.blog/2025/01/15/gangnam-and-taekwondo-seoul-south-korea/
   • Western Seoul – this is the student quarter and an area we purposely avoided. While we were visiting, there was significant political unrest and many demonstrations in University areas. It does look to be a fun and creative area to visit when the time is right.
   • Itaewon and Yongsan-gu – this area has a large US army base and therefore has a lot of America influence in terms of food and pass times (apparently this is where you find hookers). We gave it a miss.
3. Getting around – Taxis are cheap. We found with four of us, this was the easiest way to get about. Another plus side to taking a taxi, is your ability to see things as you pass (unlike when riding a subway), sometimes you strike a driver that speaks English and can point things out for you. Like any big city there is a very extensive subway. This seemed easy enough to use, but you do need to purchase a T money card. You can get these at Incheon Airport, Subway stations or convenience stores.
4. Prices – we found most things on a par with Australia. The things that we noticed were cheaper were; food at convenience stores, fruit and skin care. More expensive; electronics (which is odd since many are produced here).
5. Highlight – Without a doubt, our highlight was the DMZ tour. Expect to be shocked. https://thetravelbee.blog/2025/01/13/the-border-dmz-south-korea/
6. Interesting facts
   • There are no private boats on the Han river. This is because the river has been used many times by North Korean submarines to try and infiltrate Seoul!
   • Half of Korea’s population lives in Seoul or its surrounding areas. That’s 25 million people!
   • It is best to go shopping at midnight (apparently, although we didn’t try it).
   • There are particular areas in Seoul for purchasing certain items. For example, there is a Jewellery Street. We also saw a sewing machine area, electrical wire area, lighting area, toilet and bidet area!!!
7. Food – we loved the food. There are plenty of options throughout the city, including Westernised food. The convenience stores are pretty good (not up to Japanese levels though) for grabbing a quick bite in your hotel room, with a range of sandwiches, sushi, drinks and lots of noodles. All shopping centres have extensive food halls with lots of options. If you are interested in visiting a food market, I highly recommend booking a tour, without one I wouldn’t have known where to start. We booked ours through ‘Get your Guide’ and it was well worth the money.

In conclusion, we found Seoul a great place to visit. It is clean, friendly, super high tech and a great mix of old and new.

Hope you find this helpful, especially my kiwi friend, who is visiting Seoul in June!

TTB