Recommendations for South Korea?

[Deleted]

We just very belatedly booked our trip for the Chinese National Day and will be going to Seoul for 4 nights, Oct. 1 through 5, and staying in Gangnam. 

All we have so far is that we want to go to the street food area and hopefully visit the DMZ. 

I'd love recommendations on sights to visit in the city, restaurants, and any cool day trips outside the city. 
We like historic sites, hiking, walking, eating local food, some authentic local shopping, and maybe a little shopping for me as well. And maybe a night for staying out a little late and enjoying the local night life. Really we'll try pretty much anything. 

TIA!

[Deleted]

Any of the temples are great. There are a million of them and to me they were all the same (I lived there a year). The DMZ is great history and a must see. It is far from Gangnam though... maybe 2 hours or so? Anyway Bukchon Village Area is great. It is this old time "city" with inner and outer courts. You can't go there in a rush. There is a ton of street shopping itself in Gangnam its one of the must affluent areas. Shinsegae is great indoor mall but EXTREMELY Americanized (think Beverly Hills meets Mall of America). It's nice to see but skip if you are short on time. Itaewon is better for shopping if you want to shop among the locals. There is EVERY race here African, Americans, Filipinos you name it. Its is steps away from the American base so most vendors speak English which makes it easy. Also the war memorial is great!

[expatpumpkin]

If you write the S. Korean embassy, they will send you free guide books. And arrange a free tour guide to show you around. And loan you a PDA-translator. It's the most welcoming country I've ever been to. Have fun

[librarygirl]

Bongeun-sa was probably my favorite place that I visited in Seoul when studying there. It's a Buddhist temple and features a giant statue of Maitreya Buddha. At least when I visited, an English speaking docent took you around and explained about the temple (I was lucky enough to have my own private tour). It was great since it was basically an oasis of quiet just about even though the chaotic everything of Seoul was a stone's throw away. 

Here's a blog post with some pictures:

www.theredheadedtraveler.com/2011/10/pictures-telling-story-bongeunsa-temple.html

Otherwise, I would definitely recommend a visit to the War Memorial of Korea-even if you aren't the biggest fans of history/museums I still feel it's worth seeing. Changdeokgung was my favorite palace that I visited since it has a "secret garden" but any of them are stunning and impressive. I liked Insadong for shopping and tea houses. 

Bulgogi, bibimbap, kalbi (bbqed beef short ribs), and mando (Korean version of dumplings) are my favorite foods. 

If you ever return to South Korea, I recommend heading south and going to Gyeongju-beautiful!

[Deleted]

Sept 29, 2013 10:05:03 GMT -5 librarygirl said:

Bulgogi, bibimbap, kalbi (bbqed beef short ribs), and mando (Korean version of dumplings) are my favorite foods. 

If you ever return to South Korea, I recommend heading south and going to Gyeongju-beautiful!

OMG I love love love Dolsot Bibimbap.  Now I am craving it.


I have never been to or heard of Gyeongju...what is it?

[librarygirl]

Sept 30, 2013 9:57:29 GMT -5 vigurl said:

Sept 29, 2013 10:05:03 GMT -5 librarygirl said:

Bulgogi, bibimbap, kalbi (bbqed beef short ribs), and mando (Korean version of dumplings) are my favorite foods. 

If you ever return to South Korea, I recommend heading south and going to Gyeongju-beautiful!

OMG I love love love Dolsot Bibimbap.  Now I am craving it.


I have never been to or heard of Gyeongju...what is it?

It's a coastal city in the south (sorry if that came across as sounding like it was an attraction). But it has a plethora of incredible sights including Bulguksa Temple and Seokguram Grotto (well technically the latter is part of Bulguksa). But the grotto features a massive Buddha statue (I think it's somewhere around 11 feet?) and overlooks the Sea of Japan so just all around a stunning area. Both are UNESCO World Heritage sights too. The city also has a lot of royal burial mounds, I've sadly long since forgotten since ones I visited and being the oblivious 19 year old that I was didn't bother to write the names down. 

But if you ever get back there, you should definitely visit. 

I'd love to go back to Korea when they host the Winter Olympics in a few years, here's to hoping

Love Korean food! Although I can't find mando here in Pittsburgh

[Deleted]

Sept 30, 2013 13:57:09 GMT -5 librarygirl said:

Sept 30, 2013 9:57:29 GMT -5 vigurl said:

OMG I love love love Dolsot Bibimbap.  Now I am craving it.


I have never been to or heard of Gyeongju...what is it?

It's a coastal city in the south (sorry if that came across as sounding like it was an attraction). But it has a plethora of incredible sights including Bulguksa Temple and Seokguram Grotto (well technically the latter is part of Bulguksa). But the grotto features a massive Buddha statue (I think it's somewhere around 11 feet?) and overlooks the Sea of Japan so just all around a stunning area. Both are UNESCO World Heritage sights too. The city also has a lot of royal burial mounds, I've sadly long since forgotten since ones I visited and being the oblivious 19 year old that I was didn't bother to write the names down. 

But if you ever get back there, you should definitely visit. 

I'd love to go back to Korea when they host the Winter Olympics in a few years, here's to hoping

Love Korean food! Although I can't find mando here in Pittsburgh

Hmm I was in Busan and no one told me about that city.  I do plan to go back and take DH one day. 

There is a strong Korean community here so the food is everywhere.

There is even a jimjiban near by

[kpol]

I'm currently living in SK. Gangnam is a pretty good, central location and is generally really busy. The subway system here is really easy to follow and almost everything is accessible via subway.

Namdaemun or Insadong for traditional shopping. Insadong is more touristy but is good to go for souvenirs whereas Namdaemun is more of a traditional Korean market with clothes, accessories, kitchenware, and food products.

If you want to shop for cheap clothes for yourself, Express Bus Terminal, Dongdaemun, or Myeongdong are the best places. Myeongdong is very touristy and you will recognize stores there (H&M, Zara, Forever 21), but is still really amazing to see. Dongdaemun is wholesale prices and Express Bus Terminal is small store fronts littered throughout the bus terminal.

I highly recommend the DMZ tour put out by the USO. Generally, the tour needs to be booked a few weeks in advance. www.koridoor.co.kr/bbs/board.php?bo_table=travelInfo&wr_id=221

As for food, definitely try one of the millions of Korean BBQ places, street food is generally ok to eat, yaki mandu is delicious, kimbap, bibimbap, galbi, kimchi. If you want to try an amazing Mexican/Korean fusion place, Vato's Urban tacos is amazing. They have three locations; Itaewon (foreigner district), Sinsa (close to Gangnam), and the Galleria Mall. The Kimchi fries and galbi tacos are great.

Local nightlife is definitely in Hongdae. It's a little wild, but a must see if you come here. Be warned, though, most of the subways stop running around midnight so you'll have to taxi it back to the hotel. Ask someone at the hotel to write their address in Hangul on a card for you to hand over to a taxi to take you back.

Any questions, just ask and I can try to answer. October is a great time to come as the weather is finally cooling down.

[panicked]

All of these ladies have great suggestions. DO A DMZ TOUR. The Seoul Tower is cool too, bring a lock for the top!