Your Seoul Guide

Photo by J on Unsplash Updated April 2026 · 8 min read Not every Seoul itinerary needs to be about the biggest, the most crowded, or the most photographed. This one is about a corner of the city that moves at a different pace. Gyeonghuigung, the Western Palace, sits quietly in Jongno — free to enter, rarely busy, and carrying one of the more melancholy histories of any palace in the city. Attached to its grounds is the Seoul Museum of History, which is honestly one of my favorite places in all of Seoul. And a short walk away, Donuimun Museum Village — a neighborhood that recreated 100 years of Seoul’s urban history in a single block of alleys — is currently closed and facing an uncertain future. But the story of why it is closing is itself worth knowing. This is a half-day that rewards the curious more than the checklist. In this guide Gyeonghuigung — the forgotten western palace Seoul ...

Photo by Inhyeok Park on Unsplash Updated April 2026 · 10 min read If I had to pick one place in Seoul that rewards slowing down, it would be Changdeokgung. Most people have heard of Gyeongbokgung — the grand, photogenic palace that appears on every Seoul itinerary. Changdeokgung is the other one. Quieter, older in feeling, and in my view considerably more beautiful. It sits at the foot of a forested ridge in northern Jongno, its buildings tucked into the natural contours of the hillside rather than laid out on a flat ceremonial grid. Behind the palace is Huwon — the Secret Garden — 78 acres of wooded paths, pavilions, and lotus ponds that served as the private retreat of Joseon royalty for centuries. And through a connecting gate in the eastern wall lies Changgyeonggung, a second palace that is included in the same ticket and well worth your time. In this guide History & what to see Huwon ...

Photo by Julie on Unsplash Updated April 2026 · 8 min read Of all the palaces in Seoul, Deoksugung is my personal favorite. It is tucked right next to the busiest intersection in the city, surrounded on all sides by modern office buildings and the glass curve of Seoul City Hall. But that is exactly why I love it. Step through the main gate and the city drops away. The palace grounds are quiet, shaded by old trees, and framed by a skyline that somehow makes the whole thing more striking, not less. On a clear day you can even spot Namsan Tower rising to the south. It is one of those views in Seoul that genuinely stops me every time. Deoksugung is also the only palace in Seoul with an art museum inside its grounds, a cafe where you can sit and look out over the courtyard, and a stone wall road outside that has become one of the most beloved walks in the city. Add the Royal Guard Ceremony and the surrounding Jeongdong district and you have a half-day...

Photo by Elliot Gouy on Unsplash Updated April 2026 · 7 min read Seoul is not just a city of palaces, street food, and subway lines. It is also a city ringed by mountains — and unlike most major capitals, those mountains are genuinely easy to get to. You can be standing at N Seoul Tower looking out over the entire city within an hour of checking out of your hotel in Myeongdong. You can walk a 600-year-old fortress wall in the middle of a residential neighborhood and end up at Dongdaemun for late-night shopping. That combination of nature and city is one of the things I love most about Seoul. Namsan in particular is a place I come back to no matter the season — spring cherry blossoms, summer evenings with a breeze, autumn colors, even winter nights when the city lights are clear and sharp. It never gets old. Seoul is built around four inner mountains — Namsan, Naksan, Inwangsan, and Bugaksan — and the ancient Joseon Dynasty fortress wall that connects t...

Starfield Library, inside COEX Mall in Gangnam — one of Seoul’s most photographed spaces. Photo by Kelvin Zyteng on Unsplash Updated April 2026 · 7 min read If you’ve heard of Gangnam, it’s probably because of one song. PSY’s “Gangnam Style” put this district on the global map back in 2012, and the name has stuck ever since — even for people who couldn’t point to Seoul on a map. The reputation isn’t wrong, either. Gangnam is Seoul’s most upscale district — the department stores are enormous, the beauty clinics are everywhere, and the streets are full of well-dressed people. But it’s also a place where a 1,200-year-old Buddhist temple sits directly across from Asia’s largest underground shopping mall, and where you can spend ₩8,000 on a bowl of kalguksu ten minutes from a Michelin-starred restaurant. I make the trip regularly — usually to meet someone, ...

Photo by Janis Rozenfelds on Unsplash Updated April 2026 · 7 min read Seoul's subway system is excellent — I say this all the time and I mean it. But there are days when the subway is not the answer. When you are heading somewhere with no convenient station nearby, carrying too much to comfortably squeeze into a rush hour train, or out late when the last train has already left, a taxi is just the better option. I usually get around by car, but there are times when a taxi just makes more sense — heading somewhere with no parking, or a neighborhood where driving just adds stress. On those days I call one through Kakao T. It takes a few taps and a car is outside within minutes. This guide covers how to do exactly that — which apps to use, how to pay as a foreign visitor, what the different taxi types mean, and a few practical things worth knowing before you get in. In this guide Kakao T: what it is and how to use it K-...

Photo by Jo Quinn on Unsplash Updated April 2026 · 8 min read There is a specific kind of hunger that hits when you walk past a bunsik stall. It does not matter that you just ate. The smell of tteokbokki sauce — sweet, spicy, faintly smoky — is basically a reflex trigger for anyone who grew up in Korea. I have been eating street food my whole life, and it is still one of my favorite things about living here. Korean street food has changed a lot since I was young. Some things have stayed exactly the same — the classics are still everywhere, still cheap, still as good as they ever were. But some things are different. The egg bread carts that used to be on every corner are harder to find now. The pace of food trends has become almost absurdly fast. And a whole new category of viral snack culture has emerged that did not exist a decade ago. This guide covers all of it — the classics you need to try, the seasonal things worth hunting down, and the viral foo...