Korean Job Discussion Forums

[wylies99]

Since many of you are new to Korea and this is your first vacation time here are some tourist spots
in Seoul that I recommend. Hopefully this will get a discussion started that can be helpful for newbies.

BTW, I think it's helpful to take the Seoul City Tour Bus if you're
new to Seoul and want to get around town easily. It costs 10,000 won for the day and you can
get on and off as much as you like. It stops at many places you'll want to see. It's a big help even for
those you've lived in Korea for more than a year. http://en.seoulcitybus.com/

See-
National Museum of Korea http://www.museum.go.kr/main/index/index002.jsp
See the free permanent exhibit on the right and the gift shop in the middle.

Seoul Tower- http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_6.jsp?cid=260067
See the top of the tower but skip the overpriced food and the "Teddy Bear Museum."

War Memorial of Korea http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Memorial_of_Korea

These are next to each other-
National Folk Museum of Korea http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Folk_Museum_of_Korea
Gyeongbokgung Palace http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyeongbokgung_Palace

Gwanghwamun Square- http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=929909
Cheonggyecheon Stream- http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=264625
This is just a great place to be with many stores, restaurants, and a positive vibe.

Avoid-
Insadong- Overpriced tourist trap with overpriced restaurants and shops.
Ag Museum- Don't waste your time.
National Palace Museum- Nice gift shop but the rest isn't worth the time.
Seoul Museum of History- If you've seen it once then don't bother going back. OK for a field trip, but not for your time, if you know what I mean.

So, who agrees or disagrees?

[fustiancorduroy]

I think Insadong is at least worth a stroll through, even if most of it is a tourist trap, as you wrote.

Some of the restaurants on Namsan tower are too expensive, but not all of them. Personally, I quite like the burger restaurant there and go often, partially due to the fact that it is the closest burger place to my apartment, but mainly because it is tasty and, at 7,000 to 10,000 per burger, relatively inexpensive. I haven't been to the Teddy Bear Museum, but my friend's parents went there and said it was the best part of the tower. Check it out if you're at all interested.

[edwardcatflap]

Mostly agree though I visited the National Museum of Korea about 5 years ago and thought it was dull - too many pots, not enough dummies/dioramas. So unless it's improved a lot I wouldn't recommend it. Also I quite like Insadong for the way it looks - one of the nicer streets in Seoul to walk down. I thought the prison at Sodaemun was worth a trip

[byrddogs]

I enjoyed Changdeokgung Palace a lot. I went there in the fall when the leaves were changing and it was beautiful. It was my favorite of the palaces in Seoul.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changdeokgung

[kimchi_pizza]

I hesitate even writing this 'cause I dread this area being full of dumb google-eyed tourists and/or drunk foreigners but....
as a nice getaway for fellow expat teachers I'll share a little secret, a gift of sorts.

Gyeongbuk Palace is nice, very nice BUT.....

Walk the road around the palace grounds.....it's like you're not in Seoul anymore, fantastic coffee shops, stores, museums, very artsy, cool, warm, friendly kind of area. You can even see the Blue House as well, but no pictures~ the plain clothes policemen/women will stop you. Which is actually kind of cool too since one confronted me. I really didn't know I couldn't take pictures. If you enter the road from the east, there's a high stone wall on the right and IF you look carefully one can see bullet holes left from the war.

Cheers and you're welcome~!

oh yeah, did I mention how quiet it is? Turn the corner and all the constant humming and honking of Seoul traffic literally disappears. amazing~ let the tourists have Insadong, let's keep this to ourselves.

[figshdg]

[kimchi_pizza]

I,uh...third... Seodaemoon Prison but a rating of PG-13 should be posted on the front, specially before one enters the basement quarters. Still, very interesting~

It's been a couple years since I went and the iconic tower was covered in tarps and construction beams which was disappointing. It shouldn't still be like that I hope.

[JustinC]

wylies99, I agree with all of those. If anyone wants some good shopping there's a decent night market in Dongdaemun. To see places outside of Seoul I recommend 'Adventure Korea' - I've been on two trips and still can't understand how they do it so cheaply.

[greasylake]

I don't know how much of a tourist spot it is but Seoul Dream Forest is a great way to spend the day with friends, family or a date. Although I would wait until fall for the weather. Great place to relax with a picnic and a stroll.

I like Insadong. Although it can have a lot of tourist trap places, there are some hidden gems in the place with people selling some high quality handmade Korean wares. That is not too easy to find in Seoul. I have also noticed a small increase of modern/traditional fusion items being sold. Which I think is great. I try to only buy things from the higher quality places that sell actual handmade and original goods, to support them. If I wanted just some tourist trinkets, they can be found for much cheaper at many other places.

[whiteshoes]

[fermentation]

I didn't get to see all of it, but I enjoyed the National Museum. The area outside the exhibit is nice too. I think I'll go back someday to see the rest of it.

If you can ignore the government propaganda, the War Memorial is also a good place to visit once. I went there like 3 or 4 times in my life and it was always a trip to see all the names of the American soldiers who died in the war.

I'm not a fan of the Seoul Tower though. If you been to one tall building in a city, you've been to all of them in my opinion.

[young_clinton]

All the palaces are worth seeing. There is 5 of them at different locations, all within central Seoul. Their are two fortresses in the Seoul metro area. One at Suwon and thier is another one, I don't know the name of the place. Those are worth seeing.

[PatrickGHBusan]

Most of the things on the list are worth the visit and I will add that Insadong is also well worth the visit. There are some pretty good restaurants in the alleys along insadong.

The city tour bus is a good idea for newbies or for people with little time in Seoul, for 10 000W it is a good deal.

The Tower is the one place I would not visit except perhaps one time at night if you wish to see the city lights.

[Kimchifart]

[sojusucks]

It depends on what you want to do with your time, be it sightseeing, shopping, dining, or whatever. The list for each, good and bad, would be different.