Arriving in Seoul: First Impressions and Practical Tips
We arrived in Seoul on October 1st, 2025, for our six-month trip in Asia. We started with South Korea and stayed 18 days in the country. Autumn is a great time to visit: the weather is pleasant, prices are reasonable, and the fall colors are beautiful — even if we had a few rainy days.
We stayed 4 days and 5 nights in Seoul after an 11-hour flight from France.
At Incheon International Airport, you can easily take the Airport Express train to the city center, and you can buy tickets directly at the station.
Transportation & Practical Tips
Our accommodation was in the western part of Seoul, near Gyeongbokgung Station.
The first thing you need is a T-money card, which you can buy in any convenience store. You need cash to load money onto the card, and you can use it for buses and subways. We added cash with ATM that you can find in any convenience store.
To find good cafés, restaurants, or activities, you should download KakaoMap or Naver Map. Google Maps doesn’t work well in South Korea. Uber is also used for taxi, it’s really cheap in Seoul.
Most Koreans don’t speak english but you can use Kakaotalk if you need you translation.
For our first afternoon, we only visited Gyeongbokgung Palace. The entrance fee is very cheap (about 1–2 euros), and if you rent a traditional hanbok, you can enter for free.
We had our first dinner at Kandasobanear Gyeongbokgung. You order on a self-service machine inside and then wait until your meal is ready.
Day-by-Day Seoul Itinerary
Day 1 – Bukchon Hanok Village, Palaces & Insadong
For our first real day in Seoul, we walked to Bukchon Hanok Village, a neighborhood with traditional Korean houses.
The area opens at 10 am to protect the residents’ privacy. It’s very touristy, but in the morning it’s more peaceful.
We have two side of the street the touristy one and another part were you can find coffee and restaurant.
In Seoul, you can find great coffee everywhere!
Then we visited another famous palace, Changgyeonggung Palace. There are three different areas, and you have to pay for each one. We skipped the Secret Garden. I highly recommend this palace less crowed than Gyeongbokgung Palace.
After the palace and its gardens, we walked up to Ihwa-dong Mural Village. The small streets are full of street art, and from the top you get a nice view of Seoul (when it’s not too cloudy). We continued walking through Naksan Park.
We did everything on foot, but you can easily take the bus or the subway.
On the way back, we walked through the Insadong area. It’s very crowded and quite expensive for cafés and restaurants.
For dinner, we went to Solsot, a restaurant chain that you can find in several cities in South Korea. It’s healthy, cheap and very good. The one we have been is located in the B1 of a working building. The waiter explain us how to eat our meal!
Day 2 – Hongdae, Shopping & K-Pop Class
On our second day, we visited Hongdae, one of the best areas for nightlife and shopping. The streets are colorful, full of shops. You can also find many vintage shops.
I tried a K-pop dance class that we booked through the Klook APP. I really recommend checking this app regularly for good prices and fun experiences.
We walked to Gyeongui Line Forest Park. Along the small river, there are many cafés and restaurants — it’s a very relaxing area.
Just be careful: many restaurants close early in Seoul, often around 9 pm.
Day 3 – Seoul Tower Hike & Myeong-dong Street Food
On our third day, we wanted to get closer to N Seoul Tower. We first walked to Myeong-dong and tried a famous dessert in one of the street food markets.
Then we started the hike to Seoul Tower. It took us about one hour. There are many stairs, but everything is well maintained. At the top, it was very crowded, but if you walk to the other side of the viewpoint, it’s much quieter. We did get to the top of the tower because it’s was to expensive for us. From there, we continued walking toward Yongsan District.
We stopped for a nice coffee in Haebangchon Sinheung Market, and later we walked to another neighborhood to try our first Korean BBQ : Soseoul Itaewon
Day 4 – Gangnam, Sinsa-dong, Garosu-gil & Banpo Hangang Park
For our last day in Seoul, we explored the other side of the river.
We visited the Gangnam district, with its huge shopping mall and famous library. Besides shopping, the area didn’t feel very special to us.
We then took the bus to Sinsa-dong, a very chic district with stylish cafés and boutiques.
To finish our day, we walked along the river to Banpo Hangang Park. The weather was not good, so the visit was a bit disappointing, but on a sunny day it must be pleasant.
👉 If you want to discover more about South Korea read my article about Busan and other beautiful places to visit.
Leave a Reply