Overshadowed by the bigger reputations of neighbors like Tokyo and Beijing, Seoul, South Korea often doesn’t make it onto the radars of travelers to East Asia. But this hidden dynamo has the history, food, shopping, and nightlife to keep pace with any city in the world, and for the past several years Korean music, movies, and TV have defined Asian pop culture. Its frantic pace can leave the uninitiated visitor stranded, but you don’t go from being a third-world nation to the globe’s most wired country in 50 years by taking any time off. A city that works hard and plays harder, Seoul’s incessant activity almost demands 24 hour engagement, whether you’re just visiting or a lifelong resident.
8:00 – Namdaemun, Myeongdong
Start just northeast of Seoul Station at Namdaemun Market, one of the city’s largest, combining traditional market stalls, underground arcades, and a department store. Spread over several city blocks it’s a microcosm of a country in flux, where the world’s most cutting-edge cell phones and dried ginseng are sold at adjacent stalls. If you’re looking for it, and even if you’re not, you can find it here: hanbok, traditional Korean silk gowns; kitchen supplies; knockoff handbags; pirated DVDs. Grab a Korean breakfast of rice porridge, ramen, or bean sprout soup to fuel yourself.
For more modern shopping head a couple blocks further east to Myeongdong where high-rise shopping malls and international stores like American Apparel and Converse share turf with local brands. Check out Codes Combine, a street-savvy Korean label offering up-to-the-minute threads in muted, urban tones. On the streets outside stalls are set up offering good deals on hats, sunglasses, even toiletries. It’s also a good place to pick up t-shirts with incomprehensible English and socks with pictures of Korean pop stars for the mates back home.
10:00 – Cheonggyecheon, Jongno, Insadong
A short stroll north is Cheonggyecheon, a reclaimed stream that is one of the centerpieces of Seoul’s ambitious urban renewal efforts. Paved over to build a flyway during Korea’s manic post-war construction boom, the flyway was torn down and the stream replaced only recently. It’s now the site of artificial waterfalls, stone footbridges, and art installations. Running parallel to Cheonggye Stream a block further north is Jongno, or Bell Street. Used for royal processions in the imperial period, it’s still Seoul’s main drag, cutting through the heart of downtown. Lined with banks, jewelers, cafes, sidewalk vendors, and just about everything else it’s an ideal place to see the city in all its frenzied action. If you need a breather pop into Tapgol Park to take a look at the 450-year old Wongaksa pagoda and Korean pensioners chain-smoking and playing Go.
Running north from Jongno is Insadong, a small pedestrian street. It’s tourist central, but it’s also the best place to score some traditional Korean art and crafts. Ceramic vases, mother-of-pearl inlaid lacquer boxes, Korean-style steel chopsticks – get something nice for your mum, will you? For something a bit more idiosyncratic find the sidewalk vendor selling foreign currency and pick up a few North Korean bills.
13:00 – Gyeongbokgung, Bukchon
Two blocks west of Insadong is Gyeongbokgung, the imperial palace complex of the Joseon dynasty emperors. While not as staggering as the Forbidden City, it’s an impressive complex with dozens of residential buildings, audience halls, and a ‘pleasure pavilion’ overlooking a pond. Changing of the Guards ceremonies feature dozens of imperial guards in bright red, yellow, and blue uniforms engaged in an elaborate procession performed to the sound of traditional drumming.
Strolling east you get to Bukchon, the best place in Seoul to explore a neighborhood filled with hanok, traditional Korean houses. Like so many other cities in Asia, Seoul has sacrificed much of its traditional character and architecture in a rush to modernize, but pockets do remain and Bukchon is one of the best preserved. Built of timber with sloping tile roofs the hanok are a graceful and welcome contrast to the nouveau-Seoul construction technique of mix concrete, pour, repeat.
16:00 – War Memorial Museum
Korea’s history is one of the most painful and fascinating in the world, and the sprawling War Memorial Museum does a good job of portraying all that the peninsula has been through. The displays cover everything from centuries-old resistance to Japanese colonialism to the Korean War to the more recent efforts of Korea’s military. You’d need a full day to cover this giant museum, so if you only have a few hours on your hands your best bet is to pick one area and stick to that. For a crash course in modern Korea it’s a good idea to go with the Korean War. Technically ongoing as no peace treaty was ever signed, only an armistice, the war and division of the peninsula define to a large extent the politics and psychology of the country. While South Koreans are almost impossibly blasé about the North’s periodic shit-fits, the longing for reunification is deeply and personally felt. Many Southerners have a relative that lives north of the DMZ or know someone who does.
18:00 – Namsan and Seoul Tower
For all the things that it is, one thing that Seoul isn’t is pretty. The endless concrete, the masses of people everywhere, the frenetic pace – sometimes you just need to get out. Fortunately there’s an option right downtown: Mount Nam. If you’re feeling ambitious, hike to the top – that’s what the retired couples in their matching hiking suits and climbing poles will be doing – or just hop on the cable car. At the top of Namsan is Seoul Tower, where you can get the best views of the city. Watch the sun go down and the millions of lights go on. Above it all, the city starts to look pretty good.
20:00 – Hongdae
After dark is when Seoul truly comes into its own. Take the subway to Hongdae, the eclectic electric neighborhood around Hongik U., Korea’s premiere arts university.
Korea has a vibrant music scene, but it’s not limited to K-pop stars like Rain and the Wonder Girls. Hongdae is the alternative epicenter and your ears will thank you if you follow them to Purple Records. Check out Dynamic Duo, the country’s biggest hip-hop act; MC and producer The Quiett; the adult pop of Clazziquai; or Shorty Cat‘s irrepressible cutie-punk on ‘I Ain’t Be Controlled.’
The world’s most perfect pre-drinking meal may arguably be the Korean barbecue. You, a bunch of friends, plastic stools around a charcoal grill, $3 bottles of beer and the Korean wonder-spirit soju, and copious amounts of grilled pork, kimchi, garlic, rice, and vegetables. You grill your own meat and all dishes are shared. If you’re not already best friends with the people you’re eating with, you will be by the time it’s over.
Hongdae’s night life destroys any promise you made to yourself about ‘taking it easy.’ No matter what, there’s a bar or club that’s exactly what you’re looking for. Follow the cognoscenti to Nabi, an impossible to find cocktail and hookah bar arranged around a reflecting pool. Head to the double-deck M2 and Q-Vo to dance to electronic or hip-hop. Or just get a bottle of beer from the 7-Eleven and sit on the plastic stools outside, watching the show. Grab some street food – tteokbokki (rice cakes in a spicy sauce) or fried dumplings – before ending the night as all Korean nights must end: at the noraebang. Just don’t call it karaoke here.
5:00 – Noryangjin fish market
Hail a cab and head to Noryangjin, one of Asia’s largest fish markets. Time for breakfast. Early morning is when buyers bid on the day’s catch (so don’t make any sudden movements or you may have to find space in your suitcase for a 100 kg tuna) but it’s also when hangovers are fended off. Order a big steaming bowl of spicy seafood stew or, if you’re feeling brave, san nakkji, live octopus. Pick one out and your server will cut it up with scissors and serve it with a side of chili sauce. It’s unexpectedly delicious. No, seriously. Just chew thoroughly because the suckers still work.
6:00 – Jjimjilbang
Relax, refresh, recover. It’s been a long day, so to end it head to a jjimjilbang, a traditional Korean sauna. There you can shower, soak in the various hot baths, or get a massage, haircut, or exfoliating rubdown. For about $10 you can stay as long as you like, so when you’re done cleaning and flushing the toxins out of your system make for the sleeping room. It might have soft mats or it might just be a heated floor, but if all the soju and steam have done their job it won’t matter. Sleep it off because when you wake up the city will still be there, waiting for you.
Images, from top, by US Army Korea IMCOM, Today is a good day, TchmillFan and Niamh Cotter. Cover image by Slack12. All on Flickr.
