|
Now that my first round of 2023 travel is done, I'm making more solid plans to visit Seoul/Busan/maybe Jeju in early October. I know this is an unhelpfully vague question, but if I'm spending a week-ish in Seoul, is there a good part of the city to stay in? I'm planning to use the subways to get around, but finding a hotel in short walking range of lots of restaurants, shopping, street markets, etc. would be ideal. Doesn't have to be touristy. It's fun to show up at the best hole-in-the-wall spot in a new place and have the staff be surprised that a tourist found them. The biggest city I've actually spent time exploring is San Francisco, so I don't think my brain is prepared for the massive scope of Seoul.
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2023 14:30
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 2, 2024 13:25 |
|
|
Seoul is big but it's not that sprawling. It's about the size of Chicago, technically, but everything is mostly concentrated around the river. It's very, very dense. I'd probably try to stay somewhere around cheonggyecheon if you can swing it, that's probably best in terms of interesting stuff within walking distance, but the subway system is so good that you can go wherever, whenever. It's not something you have to structure your day around, just don't plan your intracity travel on a weekday rush hour and you can get anywhere in the city you'd probably want to go in like, an hour or so at worst. If you're looking for hole in the wall spots I don't know if Seoul is the place you want to go, at least if you want local flavor that's not touristy. I mean Seoul isn't really a tourism-oriented city, or at least not foreign tourism. You'll get the better Korean food etc. on the beaten path for the most part, especially if you're staying a week. The hidden gems you'll find there are like, a surprisingly good Italian place where the city transitions into sprawling apartment complexes. I don't really have a high opinion of Seoul in the same way that I don't have a high opinion of London or Tokyo or any other major world city in that they're all packed and everyone is stressed out and for the most part all kind of the same unless you're really interested in some niche thing about that city specifically. Personally I'd spend more time outside of Seoul than inside it, and I think that's where you'd find your non-touristy gems. The Korean countryside is gorgeous, the vibe is great, the prices are cheaper, and the food is way better.
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2023 15:48
|
|
|
I was staying between Chungmuro and Euljiro-3-ga last year and I really liked that area. Easy to go anywhere, nice neighbourhood.
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2023 16:42
|
|
|
Pentecoastal Elites posted:Personally I'd spend more time outside of Seoul than inside it, and I think that's where you'd find your non-touristy gems. The Korean countryside is gorgeous, the vibe is great, the prices are cheaper, and the food is way better. After living there for years I found Seoul to be a really depressing city for the most part, which is one reason I had to leave. Walking around during the daytime in most areas is just an exercise in seeing 90s era nu-brutalist buildings on the main streets hiding brick and green trim sadness blocs. I can't really think of anything particularly novel or exciting to go see. The food is still good though in Seoul. v  v But yeah I'd rather get out of the city than stay in it.OP, if you're going to stay there, I'd recommend just taking Taxis everywhere pretty much unless you're near a subway station that can take you to where you wanna go. It's pretty cheap and a lot faster.
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2023 16:45
|
|
|
I'm not opposed to leaving the city, but I'll admit I don't really know where else to go. It's sort of like... "Okay, I'm going to visit Chicago and also check out some of the midwest USA." Yeah, but where? A tourist doesn't randomly head to Akron or Fargo or Des Moines without a good reason. I've read some travel blogs and have a (pre-pandemic) guidebook, but much of the info I've found focuses really hard on historical tourism. Sure, I'd love to visit an old Buddhist temple. I don't need to visit 15 of them. My priorities: - Experience a bit of everyday life is generally like in Korea: walk around, take the subway, take the bus, people-watch. It seems to be pretty safe to just wander around, even in the dense parts of the city. I love exploring with no real destination in mind. - Eat awesome food. Not just Korean food (but definitely that), but Korean takes on other cuisines too. Well, maybe not the pizza. - Experience the nightlife. I'm not into trendy nightclubs or heavy drinking, but I'd love to see some live music, maybe visit a night market or two -- my friend recommend Dongdaemun? I'm a huge nerd, so stuff like board game cafes, arcades, escape rooms, and similar would be a big draw for me. - Do some embarrassingly touristy stuff. I DO want to visit some temples, parks, museums, historical or cultural exhibits. Heck, maybe even spend a day at an amusement park (Lotte World or Everland?). Outside of Seoul, Busan, and Jeju Island, where else might be worth spending a day or two?
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2023 18:14
|
|
|
you'll want to stay north of the river I think -- dongaemun and namdaemun markets, namsan tower, the national museum, deoksugung, gyeongbokgung, SEMA, namsangol, and a ton of others I can't think of right now. You could spend a week there pretty easily without burning out (probably) but if you're used to SF this is all going to feel shoulder to shoulder jam packed 100% of the time. Seoul doesn't really have night markets like Taipei etc does. dong/namdaemun are both open late but they're not really night markets per say but worth checking out. If you're looking for night life (clubbing), hongdae is in the west and gangnam is in the east, south of the river. Pass on itaewon. Busan is better for interesting nightlife, especially live music, imo. Someone might argue with me on this but I don't think you're going to find some uniquely korean low-intensity nightlife scene. You can find escape rooms or board game cafes but if you don't speak, or at least read, the language you're not going to have a good time. That said, a lot is open late. A lot of the parks, especially those by the river, are really nice at night and there's always food and drink around. A lot of the smaller bars and cafes open late, and there are food carts on every corner (or at least there were, pre-pandemic, but it's probably not too different now). I also don't know how much fusion cuisine you're going to find outside of a few sino-korean staples (jjangmyeon, tangsuyuk) that's not really a hugely popular thing for the most part. Eat a bunch of street food, and stick to Korean restaurants. You can find very good non-Korean food in Seoul, but if you're only there for a little bit I wouldn't necessarily bother. I would not go to an amusement park unless you have kids Outside the city it depends on if you want a strictly planned visit or you're willing to explore. Admittedly you probably won't have a lot of success with the former, but for the latter you can essentially pick a town or minor city, google "%city_name% food" or temple or whatever, and take a train or bus out there and see what's up. Korea is built straight up so if you find yourself in a small town you'll be able to see most of it in an afternoon and you can just wander into whatever restaurant or cafe or bar looks interesting. The main draws are food and scenery, though, so if that doesn't feel like enough maybe stick to Seoul. e: WhiteHowler posted:Outside of Seoul, Busan, and Jeju Island, where else might be worth spending a day or two? there's not a lot in the immediate vicinity of seoul (sleeper suburbs), but the coasts are all very nice. I've spent a lot of time in sokcho (small coastal resort town), gagneung (for odaesan national park), pyeongchang. mokpo and the islands are very cool but maybe not doable in a day or two. Maybe cut seoul short by a day or so and check out geoje or tongyeong. More to the north I've spent a some time in chuncheon and really like it. Gapyeong is fun too, if you're willing to spend an afternoon putzing around nami island Pentecoastal Elites fucked around with this message at 18:50 on Mar 14, 2023 |
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2023 18:42
|
|
|
AHH F/UGH posted:After living there for years I found Seoul to be a really depressing city for the most part, which is one reason I had to leave. Walking around during the daytime in most areas is just an exercise in seeing 90s era nu-brutalist buildings on the main streets hiding brick and green trim sadness blocs. I can't really think of anything particularly novel or exciting to go see. The food is still good though in Seoul. v yep. love korea and miss it every day. still can't stand seoul though. hopefully going to see the inlaws this fall and now that they're out in namyangju I can maybe even avoid it entirely
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2023 18:56
|
|
|
Hongdae is a decent place to stay for what you want imo, and not super expensive. A variety of small restaurants and shops and cafes and stuff, and lots of non-Korean food there too. Lots of young people too so you shouldn't have much trouble as an English speaker. Escape rooms might be tough and everything in a board game cafe is gonna be in Korean, but there's a cafe for everything you can imagine in Seoul these days (knitting, pottery, painting) so I'm sure you can find some things that are doable. e: Insadong and Iksadong are also worth checking spending a day in for similar vibes; the highlight of the former is this ascending shopping complex basically entirely made up of individual artists selling their stuff, and the latter is this maze of hanok restaurants and shops. Might be weird if you're alone, but you can definitely go to Lotte World or the like without kids; it's mostly couples there, and it's something you can probably enjoy without much Korean. The neighborhood (Jamsil / Songpa) around it is also pretty pleasant, some nice parks and good restaurants nearby (피제리아라고 is some of the best pizza I've ever had incidentally; it's the cheap chains you want to avoid but there's plenty of quality stuff out there). I'd also definitely second the suggestion of parks by the Han River; it's one of my favorite places in Seoul (near any of them, really). Go to a riverside shop and get some ramyun and chill out for a bit. Probably more fun when not alone but in general I would say Korea is better experienced with others. For cultural stuff by Seoul I'd recommend the area around Gwanghwamun, where the biggest palaces (Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung) are. The national palace museum (attached to Gyeongbokgung) is fairly nice, and you can see more vernacular stuff on the other side of the palace at the National Folk Museum. The whole neighborhood is a bit upmarket but definitely worth a day and it's very walkable; lots of imitation-traditional restaurants and stuff nearby too with traditional Korean roofs and woodwork. The MMCA (National contemporary art museum) is also nearby and worth a look, and there are a bunch of other small galleries and stuff in the area. Have to keep in mind Seoul's palaces were systematically destroyed during the Japanese occupation though so most of what you're seeing is reconstructions; if you value authentic history and touching 1000 year old bricks then I would recommend Gyeongju instead, which is a fun enough city in its own right for rural vibes. For actually just experiencing Korea it's ironically the sleeper suburbs (I've spent the most time in Guri) I'd recommend the most, although it might be a struggle not speaking Korean. Yeah if you're repulsed by apartment blocks it's not gonna be for you, but they are insanely convenient and comfortable. Everything is nearby (often literally inside the building; floors 1-4 might be shops and restaurants, so if you're a resident you just take the elevator down and never have to see the sun), everything is open super late, the food is both cheaper and if anything better than in the upmarket places. Go to a PCbang and order the ridiculous 1500 calorie 짜파게티 + 불닭 combo, or a noraebang and shout your heart out; sample the street food, sit out at a convenience store when you're tired. Lots of the subways actually stop after like 11-12 so you could get stranded in Seoul, but in the suburbs you can be doing this until 3 in the morning. Koramei fucked around with this message at 19:48 on Mar 14, 2023 |
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2023 19:38
|
|
|
Pentecoastal Elites posted:Seoul doesn't really have night markets like Taipei etc does. dong/namdaemun are both open late but they're not really night markets per say but worth checking out. quote:If you're looking for night life (clubbing), hongdae is in the west and gangnam is in the east, south of the river. Pass on itaewon. Busan is better for interesting nightlife, especially live music, imo. Someone might argue with me on this but I don't think you're going to find some uniquely korean low-intensity nightlife scene. quote:You can find escape rooms or board game cafes but if you don't speak, or at least read, the language you're not going to have a good time. quote:I also don't know how much fusion cuisine you're going to find outside of a few sino-korean staples (jjangmyeon, tangsuyuk) that's not really a hugely popular thing for the most part. Eat a bunch of street food, and stick to Korean restaurants. You can find very good non-Korean food in Seoul, but if you're only there for a little bit I wouldn't necessarily bother. quote:I would not go to an amusement park unless you have kids quote:Outside the city it depends on if you want a strictly planned visit or you're willing to explore. Admittedly you probably won't have a lot of success with the former, but for the latter you can essentially pick a town or minor city, google "%city_name% food" or temple or whatever, and take a train or bus out there and see what's up. Korea is built straight up so if you find yourself in a small town you'll be able to see most of it in an afternoon and you can just wander into whatever restaurant or cafe or bar looks interesting. The main draws are food and scenery, though, so if that doesn't feel like enough maybe stick to Seoul. Thanks for the advice!
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2023 19:46
|
|
|
Korean theme parks are couple-centric more than kid centric. But very much skewing towards younger; Lotte World lets you in free (or reduced? I did not actually try) if you're wearing a highschool uniform, to give you an idea. Bars/eateries/food trucks are absolutely everywhere (and nicer than in the US). Live music you'll have to actually seek out, but it's totally findable.
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2023 19:51
|
|
|
Koramei posted:Korean theme parks are couple-centric more than kid centric. But very much skewing towards younger; Lotte World lets you in free (or reduced? I did not actually try) if you're wearing a highschool uniform, to give you an idea. quote:Bars/eateries/food trucks are absolutely everywhere (and nicer than in the US). Live music you'll have to actually seek out, but it's totally findable.
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2023 20:01
|
|
|
seoul and busan absolutely have huge nightlife scenes, I just don't know the degree to which they're uniquely or interestingly korean if you're not into drinking or clubbing all night. I'm not saying there's nothing to do at night in a major world city of ten million people.
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2023 20:01
|
|
|
North of the river is where you want to stay for convenient access to the stuff you mentioned. The neighborhoods Pentecostal Elite mentioned are all good recommendations. You can definitely find cool hole in the wall places hidden in the euljiro area, though you’ll need directions so ask again for specific places closer to trip. Lots of places for live music too. If you a two day trip somewhere else, Busan is my top recommendation. It’s great and you can make a comfortable itinerary with a lot of Busan-specific things in that time span. Jeju is nice but very spread out with relatively poor public transport, so a bit less comfortable for a short trip. I normally also advise people to get out of Seoul, but it sounds like with your travel goals you’d enjoy the week there. The only place I’d potentially add beyond Busan is Seokcho to see Seoraksan, if you’re a fan of hiking.
|
|
#
?
Mar 15, 2023 00:40
|
|
|
Bugblatter posted:I normally also advise people to get out of Seoul, but it sounds like with your travel goals you’d enjoy the week there. Yeah, I think so. I grew up as a suburbs kid and didn't really grow out of it, so cities seem less mundane to me than they probably are for most Americans. The idea of a big city that's relatively safe to explore is very appealing. We'll need to work out vacation timing, but I feel like an 8-day visit might be appropriate: five in Seoul, two in Busan, and a bonus day trip to someplace else. It looks like there's high-speed rail from Seoul to Busan. I assume like the other mass transit in Korea, it's modern/safe/fast/reliable?
|
|
#
?
Mar 15, 2023 01:03
|
|
|
WhiteHowler posted:Yeah, I think so. I grew up as a suburbs kid and didn't really grow out of it, so cities seem less mundane to me than they probably are for most Americans. The idea of a big city that's relatively safe to explore is very appealing. Yeah the high speed rails (KTX and SRT) are fantastic. You’ll get nice views from of the countryside on the trip too.
|
|
#
?
Mar 15, 2023 01:52
|
|
|
I took my mom to Lotte World when she visited, it's not that weird to be an older person there. It would be weird to be alone, but my mom had a good time. It's a fun little afternoon, but skip the Lotte aquarium, it's awful.
|
|
#
?
Mar 15, 2023 03:07
|
|
|
Yeah if you want to go, go. No one cares. If you're worried about weird, you're already weird by being foreign so adding on to that doesn't matter.
|
|
#
?
Mar 15, 2023 08:29
|
|
|
Two of my favourite things to do in any foreign country are live sports and music. If you're into baseball at all, seeing a game in Korea is a must -- tickets are cheap, beer is cheap, and plenty of good food available inside and out (which can be brought in.) And if seeing an indie rock lineup in a 200sqft underground basement bar with 8 other people for a $5 cover sounds fun (it is), you can certainly find that in Hongdae, although you might be twice as old as anyone else there.
|
|
#
?
Mar 16, 2023 06:50
|
|
|
Korea in general is safe as hell. That's my contribution! Also Hongdae was fun as hell 15 years ago, but I'm an old man now.
|
|
#
?
Mar 16, 2023 14:05
|
|
|
How's the vegan situation at restaurants/convenience stores nowadays? It was pretty awful when I left in 2017, where it was basically Buddhist cuisine and seventh day adventist restaurants.
|
|
#
?
Mar 28, 2023 09:13
|
|
|
Slightly less awful but still awful. Unless you’re at one of the handful of specifically vegan restaurants I wouldn’t really trust anything to actually be vegan.
|
|
#
?
Mar 28, 2023 09:24
|
|
|
Visiting this summer and will have to get creative, I guess, but that's disappointing. There's been a marked increase of vegan Korean stuff at the local Asian markets here over the past few years, even stuff like 신라면 and 불닭볶음면. My theory for that was that just dropping all meat/seafood entirely from a product was easier than actually sourcing halal meat.
|
|
#
?
Mar 28, 2023 19:32
|
|
|
nullscan posted:Hongdae was fun as hell 15 years ago, but I'm an old man now. 10 years ago I moved to Seoul apparently and now I've been having some really strong Matt Damon in Saving Private Ryan moments this year. I imagine Hongdae has fallen to the same fate as every other cool party spot in Seoul from 10 years ago: the grimy fun parts have been pushed out in favor of franchise cafes and upscale cookie/cupcake shops.
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2023 01:44
|
|
|
AmbientParadox posted:10 years ago I moved to Seoul apparently and now I've been having some really strong Matt Damon in Saving Private Ryan moments this year. I imagine Hongdae has fallen to the same fate as every other cool party spot in Seoul from 10 years ago: the grimy fun parts have been pushed out in favor of franchise cafes and upscale cookie/cupcake shops. Oh yeah, like 5+ years ago. I think 2017 was the first time I remember thinking “huh, all these cool grungy spots are just nice adidas stores now” and the transformation was complete a few years later. Bar Da is still there though. Unchanged, cool, and still a health hazard. There’s still no shortage of clubs and bars in the area of course. But it’s a very different feel.
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2023 02:03
|
|
|
Bugblatter posted:Bar Da is still there though. Unchanged, cool, and still a health hazard. I'm amazed that fire escape / outdoor patio area hasnt harmed anyone yet. Truly a treasure
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2023 03:23
|
|
|
Seeing all kind of posts about how Itaewon and HBC are getting gentrified and it makes me sad.
|
|
#
?
Apr 23, 2023 01:14
|
|
|
here again to actually go into the city proper (instead of just back and forth between my hotel and a music festival) to see some touristy things before i promptly fly out again glad to see that google maps is still not quite useful, and that kakaomaps apparently cant find things when using latin characters. also it won't let me save locations without an account, and refuses to let me create an account because i am "suspicious" i like the airport train having both japanese-language announcements and DOKDO IS OURS ads
|
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2023 13:23
|
|
|
Qtotonibudinibudet posted:here again to actually go into the city proper (instead of just back and forth between my hotel and a music festival) to see some touristy things before i promptly fly out again Naver maps works well enough in english. although you won't be able to save locations there either.
|
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2023 13:38
|
|
|
was also as amused that the metro add fare machines are as garbage here as they are in BART - won't take cards, only cash - apparently inexplicably requires you to hold the ticket in the opposite orientation as indicated - refuses bills with the slightest amount of crease the station agent gave up on it and made change by hand anyone wanna do last minute weekend evening goon meet? you can help me try to stave off trans-Pacific jet lag!
|
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2023 21:19
|
|
|
Qtotonibudinibudet posted:
|
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2023 10:27
|
|
|
Qtotonibudinibudet posted:was also as amused that the metro add fare machines are as garbage here as they are in BART i feel like it'd be okay for them to only accept coins / bills if they didn't make you pre-define the amount of money you want to deposit sometimes i just wanna dump all my coins into my t-money card
|
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2023 18:40
|
|
|
Seoul Harbors World's Most Dissatisfied Peoplequote:Residents in Seoul also had the greatest distrust of strangers with 71.4 percent, while only 6.4 percent trust them. In Tokyo 48.4 percent did not trust strangers and in New York 35.4 percent. I for one, lay the blame squarely at the feet of the goons
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2023 18:32
|
|
|
you can really feel everyone being miserable in seoul. yeah everyone's job sucks poo poo and it must be hard as hell to raise a kid anywhere in korea but I swear to god once you get past the 100 its like getting out from under a fog.
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2023 19:42
|
|
|
Outside of Seoul it looked fairly nice to raise kids. We visited my in-laws last year and the daycare and multiple playgrounds were in the same complex as the apartments. It also felt extremely safe.
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2023 19:55
|
|
|
I was shocked how expensive Seoul is now. You can go to Tokyo for like a third the price and everything is better.
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2023 20:00
|
|
|
Seoul bad.
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2023 23:54
|
|
|
don't die from missile attacks, goons
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2023 16:18
|
|
|
Hey guys, my partner and I have just booked a fairly impulsive trip to South Korea at the end of October. We go to Japan fairly often but wanted to mix it up this time, very little knowledge of the country outside of a love for the food and a handful of movies and tv shows. We'll be there for 11 nights, with the first being spent at Incheon as we get in just before midnight. Really I'd just like some advice on the itinerary: we're thinking probably 6 nights in Seoul and 4 nights in Busan. Does that sound reasonable or should we tweak the ratio? We're much more the 'soak it up' sort of travellers rather than 'we must hit these 6 tourist spots on a strict schedule' type. The recommendation is to stay at Myeongdong, pretty safe call right? Busan recs seem more mixed - leaning towards Seomyeon rather than the beachside (we live minutes from some of the best beaches in the world in Australia so that is less of a draw for us) but could easily be swayed. Sorry this is probably all entry level poo poo but we couldn't really swing a trip further out to do a lot of research lol. Most importantly, please let me know your favourite lesser known Korean foods, I'd hate to miss out on interesting meals!
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 00:02
|
|
|
That all sounds solid to me. Depending on what you like to see and do, you might reverse the ratio. I think Busan is the more pleasant city for my tastes and it’s a bit more spread out and takes longer to see, whereas Seoul is quite condensed. I think most people would recommend your current ratio for a first trip though. Myeongdong is kinda a tourist trap, but that also means it’s a convenient place to stay and it’s probably the most central spot for most tourist sites. I normally stay in Seomyeon when I visit Busan. It’s the closest thing Busan has to a convenient center transportation-wise and a good nightlife scene.
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 01:27
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 2, 2024 13:25 |
|
|
Most of the goons who still live here barely look at this thread as well, so I'd make a KakaoTalk account and join the room for live updates.
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 10:11
|
|