Seoul

• Bukchon Village (traditional architecture homes)

• Gyeongbokgung Grand Palace

• Lotte World Tower (great views of the city)

• Hongdae District (strolling, shopping, themed cafes)

• Naksan park (walking paths, city views)

Because we don't know the Korean alphabet, we didn't jot down the names of restaurants, however, we have listed some of our favorite types of foods we had in Seoul:

​​​

• Dumplings

• Korean BBQ

• Tea (green tea latte, apple berry, and lady grey milk tea)

• Kai-gukso (noodle broth soup)

• Bulgogi

• Samgye-tang (game hen soup)

• Mango Korean shaved ice

• Bibimbap

​​

 Our friends assured us that you really can't go wrong with any Korean restaurant (most were hole-in-the-wall places that didn't look particularly fancy)  ​

We stayed at the Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas, which was both nice and reasonably priced.  

​

• On the airport limousine shuttle bus ​route (about 1.5 hours from the airport)

• The breakfast buffet was outstanding!  They had a huge variety of both Asian and American quality cuisine, presentation, and service.   We recommend purchasing the buffet package upon booking!

• Close to the subway and bus lines

• The staff at the front desk spoke English

​

Most of the activities we enjoyed were in North Seoul ("old Seoul"), so perhaps that could have saved us some transit time.

• If you are not traveling with someone who speaks Korean, consider an app that can help you read signage and communicate.

​​

• Seoul is HUGE.  Plan for plenty of time in transit.

  • A "Tmoney card" can be purchased at convenience stores and loaded with funds to utilize the public transit system.​​​​

​​

• Think of ordering foreign currency ahead of time, although we didn't actually need it.  Wells Fargo has a super easy system online.  What we didn't use, the hotel was able to apply towards our stay.  

​​

• Hawaii is a nice mid-way stop from the west coast :)