Sights
Myeongdong by day and by night
Myeongdong is the first busy district most visitors run into in Seoul. Leaving after the main street of cosmetics shops and food carts would be a shame: the cathedral and the old theatre sit just off it, the cable car up Namsan is a short uphill walk, and after dark the same street turns into a different place.
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Climbing Haebangchon hill in the right order
Haebangchon is a neighborhood where people live on the slope below Namsan, so every approach is uphill. Ride the neighborhood bus up to the five-way junction, then take the market alley, the 108 Stairs and the Sowol-ro viewing deck in turn, and half a day is gone. The elevator beside the stairs is a mobility aid for residents, not a tourist ride, so find out whether it is running before you go.
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Jeonju Hanok Village does not sell tickets
There is no wall around the village and no ticket booth. Of the twelve cultural sites inside it, only Gyeonggijeon charges admission, and that is 3,000 won for an adult. The story that wearing hanbok gets you in free is widely repeated, but no such rule exists.
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Visiting the DMZ
There is a hard line between what a foreign visitor can and cannot do right now. The Paju DMZ peace tour takes you inside the Civilian Control Line on a same day ticket if you bring your passport, while the Panmunjom tour and the DMZ Peace Trail accept applications from Korean nationals only. Imjingak and the two unification observatories need no clearance at all.
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A walk through Seongsu-dong
Seongsu is a working factory district with cafes and showrooms laid over the top of it. Red brick alleys, shoemakers' workshops, a large park and the riverside all connect on foot, so half a day here needs no plan at all.
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Choosing a theme park around Seoul
There are really only three worth the trip. Lotte World sits on a subway station and stays open late, Everland is much bigger but takes a whole day including travel, and Seoul Land is cheaper and less crowded. Which one suits you is decided less by taste than by how much daylight you have left and what the sky is doing.
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Seoul's top sights
One palace, one viewing tower, two neighborhoods to walk. That covers most of what makes Seoul feel like Seoul, and all of it is reachable by subway in a day or two.
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Playing it weird in Hongdae
A one-minute caricature booth, a convenience store with 200-plus ramen flavors on the wall, a workshop where you blend your own perfume, a free art park, and a Harry Potter-themed cafe. Five very different moods, all within walking distance of Hongik University Station.
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