1
Catch the guard ceremony at Gyeongbokgung
Landmark
Seoul’s grand royal palace, time it for the changing of the guard, and rent a hanbok to get in free.
Time2 hrs
Cost₩3,000
Best atGuard times
TipHanbok = free
Country
South Korea
▶ Video · Seoul Street Food Crawl
▶ Watch the guide The best things to do in Seoul are Gyeongbokgung palace, the Bukchon hanok lanes, street food at Gwangjang Market and a night out in Hongdae. Give it 3–4 days, visit in spring or autumn, and grab a T-money card for the subway.
Seoul fuses palaces and neon, mountains and megamalls, and somehow does it all at speed. Below are the ten experiences worth your time, mapped, with a Wimup video guide.
Seoul’s grand royal palace, time it for the changing of the guard, and rent a hanbok to get in free.
Steep lanes of traditional tiled houses between two palaces, go early and keep quiet; people live here.
Neon skincare-and-street-food central, come at night when the food carts and crowds come alive.
Cable-car up Namsan to the classic viewpoint; sunset turns the sprawl gold, then neon.
The university quarter’s buskers, indie clubs and late eats, Seoul’s youngest, loudest night out.
A sunken stream-park threading downtown, a cool, quiet walk below the traffic, lit up at night.
The Korean bathhouse-sauna ritual, hot pools, scrubs and sleeping rooms; the most local thing you can do.
The hanok courtyard institution for ginseng chicken soup, minutes from Gyeongbokgung.
Four things on the menu since 1966; the knife-cut noodles and mandu are the point.
Five millennia of Korean art and the serene Pensive Bodhisattva room; permanent halls are free.
The Korean War told at full scale, tanks and aircraft included; sobering and free.
A free park with a small zoo, botanical garden and playgrounds everywhere.
Rent a bike, order chicken to a riverside mat, and do summer like a Seoulite.
Korea’s biggest theme park, home of the wooden T Express coaster and the famous pandas.
Lunar New Year: palaces fill with hanbok and ancestral rites; much of the city closes.
The road behind the National Assembly becomes a petal tunnel.
A UNESCO-listed lantern parade for Buddha’s birthday, from Dongdaemun to Jogyesa.
Open-air pools, night markets and concerts along the river.
Korean harvest festival: folk games at the palaces, and empty roads for once.
A million people line the Han for the year’s biggest show.
Glowing sculptures float down the Cheonggyecheon stream.
The old city bell rings 33 times at midnight in Jongno.
Grill-your-own galbi and samgyeopsal with banchan.
Rice, vegetables, egg and gochujang, mixed at the table.
Chewy rice cakes in sweet-spicy sauce, the street snack.
A bubbling, sour-spicy kimchi stew.
Mountainous shaved-ice dessert with sweet toppings.
Twice-fried, lacquered and impossibly crisp.
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