How Many Days in Seoul? — Trip Planner

What first-timers get wrong in Seoul

Google Maps barely handles walking directions because of mapping export restrictions, so install Naver Map or KakaoMap before landing. A T-money card costs about 3,000 won, saves 100 won a ride against the 1,500 won single fare and works on buses too. Banchan side dishes come free and are refilled on request. Tipping is not done, and taxi drivers will chase you down the pavement to return change.

What's actually worth your time in Seoul

Gyeongbokgung waives admission entirely for anyone arriving in rented hanbok, which is why the forecourt is full of them; the guard-changing ceremony runs twice daily and stops on Tuesdays when the palace closes. Changdeokgung is the better palace, and its Huwon secret garden needs a separate timed ticket with a guide. Bukchon Hanok Village is a residential street with posted quiet hours, not an attraction. Namsan tower is a cable car and a view.

Seoul's museums, and which one to pick

The National Museum of Korea at Yongsan gives away its permanent galleries, including the pair of gilt-bronze pensive bodhisattvas displayed alone in a darkened room. The War Memorial of Korea is likewise free and considerably heavier going. Leeum splits between a Mario Botta rotunda for celadon and metalwork and a Jean Nouvel box for contemporary art. MMCA Seoul opens free on the last Wednesday evening of each month.

Seoul with kids, realistically

Lotte World in Jamsil keeps most of its rides under a glass dome, which solves both the winter and the summer rainy season. Seoul Children's Grand Park charges nothing and combines a zoo, botanical garden and small rides. The subway is unusually good with a pushchair, with lifts signposted at nearly every station and wide gates as standard. Everland, the larger park, is an hour out in Yongin.

When the weather turns in Seoul

Starfield Library inside the COEX Mall stacks its shelves thirteen metres up and costs nothing to sit in, with an aquarium and cinema in the same basement complex. Goto Mall beneath the Express Bus Terminal runs some 880 metres of clothing stalls. A jjimjilbang, the 24-hour bathhouse with communal sleeping halls, is the local answer to a washed-out day and undercuts a cinema ticket.

When to go to Seoul

The month to avoid is January — around 2°C (36°F) with roughly 4 rain days. Prices and crowds track the weather here: April is the sweet spot, January the month most people skip.

Pack for peak season: Layers — t-shirts under a light jacket or sweater, Evenings turn genuinely cool — pack a warm layer for after dark, Comfortable walking shoes — every guide on this site assumes you'll use them.

Where to base yourself in Seoul

• Hongdae — Youth culture, clubs, indie cafés, university energy.
• Itaewon — International food, vintage shops, evening rooftops.
• Gangnam — Luxury, modern restaurants, K-pop label headquarters.
• Bukchon Hanok Village — Traditional wooden houses, old-Seoul photo strip.