Tags
Buamdong, Bukchon, Bukchon Hanook Village, family travel, Hanok, Ikseondong, Korea, Korea with kids, Myeongdong, Namdaemun, Palaces, Samcheongdong, Seoul, Seoul with Kids, Travel, travel with kids
Our trip to Seoul in October was a wonderful getaway! The kids had an amazing time exploring the palaces, riding in taxis and the subway, and exploring the massive city. The weather was a perfect 70 degrees most of the trip – aside from one rainy day. We saw so many amazing and different neighborhoods including the Bukchon Hanok village, three different palaces, hiking the city wall, N Seoul tower, two street markets, a sprawling food market, rooftop cafes, a variety of excellent restaurants, nature’s finest, and much more. Here is a rundown of our day by day experiences.
Bukchon Hanok Village early morning
Day 1 – Bukchon and Samcheongdong
Our Air BNB apartment in Bukchon Hanok Village was right in the center of the tourist area. We spent the first full day getting settled in and used to the interesting house layout. The master bedroom and rest of the living area was separated by a courtyard and required stepping down a few steep steps to go between. This was a little tricky with the kids and at night but we adjusted pretty quickly. The other issue we tackled day 1 were the mosquitos! After the rainy season they can hang around Seoul especially in the older buildings or wherever there is standing water. We bought some repellant which was a challenging task in a foreign country and that helped the situation.
Hanok House Air BNB – Jump!
The Hanok house location was absolutely perfect to explore the village and surrounding areas! The streets are completely quiet in the early morning and evening and do get very crowded between about 10AM and 5PM daily. Interestingly, there are sign wavers that serve as “hall monitors” and hold up signs to keep quiet in the village.
Bukchon Map – shhhh quiet
Samcheongdong is a lovely neighborhood that lies in between Gyeongbokgung Palace and the Bukchon Hanok Village. The main street is several blocks long of shopping and restaurants, some of which offer incredible views to the west of the palace and surrounding mountains of Seoul. We explored the neighborhood the first day and several other times during the week since it was just a 10 minute walk from the house.
Samcheongdong (later in week when it was sunny!)
On our first full day, we made our way down to Gyeongbokgung Palace and visited the Korean National folk Museum. The kids loved the children’s area where they could interact with many aspects of Korean culture. It was a great activity for the only rainy day we had!
Korean Folk Museum
Dagny liked the Monkey
Day 2 – N Seoul Tower, Namdaemun, Myeongdong
We traveled to Namsan Mountain via taxi and took the cable car up to N Seoul Tower. The bright orange taxis in Seoul are literally everywhere and are extremely cheap – typically around 5000 Won ($4 – $5) for a few mile trip and they take both Won and Credit Cards. The view from Namsan mountain is amazing and offers 360 degrees of Seoul. The base of the tower is most famous for the thousands of locks left as souvenirs. We added ours to the collection in a less crowded area of locks. Hopefully it will be there the next time we visit!
Cable car up Namsan Mountain
Left our lock!
It’s an additional free to ride up to the top of the tower but was certainly worth the price for the experience. There was a cultural light show exhibit, a candy shop, coffee café, and gift shop at the top. Plus bathrooms with the best view possible of Seoul!
Best bathroom view!
After the ride down, we caught a quick taxi to Namdaemun (also known as Sungnyemun, or South) Gate and spent time walking around the sprawling Namdaemun Market. There are literally hundreds of vendors selling luggage, fabrics, shoes, food, and so on. We found some nice shoes for the girls while we were in one of the market buildings.
Busy Namdaemun Market
Many stores have BIG characters
Heading east past Namdaemun is the cosmopolitan shopping area of Myeongdong which has a nice mix of shopping and restaurants. We particularly enjoyed Art Café and the Line Friends Store. For lunch we tried some Korean BBQ.
Namdaemun Gate
Day 3 – Buamdong, Ikseondong, Insadong
Buamdong is a great location to explore the Seoul city wall and explore the outdoors. It was also a short taxi ride, however there is a longer option that we took to go over the “Skyway” which offered some nice views to the north of Seoul. Buamdong is home to Changuimun Gate, one of the 8 city gates of Seoul, and also the oldest remaining gate whose wooden top section dates back to 1741. From here you can hike up either Inwangsan Mountain to the South or Bugaksan Mountain to the East. The city wall connects the four main mountains surrounding the center of Seoul and was constructed in 1396. We walked some of the wall up and back on towards Bugaksan which offered great views of the city. The only thing is that there are no pictures allowed because of a military training area below.
City wall above Buamdong
Changuimun Gate, Dagny is in a sticking her tongue out phase
We headed to Ikseondong next via Taxi to check out this hip and relatively new neighborhood. The area is very popular with young locals for its shops and cafes and is made of renovated traditional Korean Hanok houses. We arrived by 11AM, and were happy we did because the area became very crowded during lunchtime! We found an excellent French place to eat just before the peak of the crowds and also did some shopping in the area. The kids also got to experience a Korean photo booth while mom did some shopping.
Ikseondong before lunch and the crowds…
….and after!!
Insadong is a short walk West from Ikseondong and is more developed and touristy. We explored the multi-level Ssamziegil spiral shopping mall and found some great souvenirs to take home – Day planner for Dad and custom luggage tags for the girls. There was literally “make your own” everything in this place.
Make your own bag tags in Szamzigil Insadong
Day 4 – Family Photos & Samcheong Park
An idea that went extremely well was to hire a photographer to do some family pictures while on vacation in Seoul. We found Dongjin on AirBNB experiences (https://www.airbnb.com/experiences/389352) and reserved in advance of our trip. Jin took us all around the Bukchon and palaces area including some hidden spots we would have never known about. He was amazing and so much fun- we highly recommend him!
Fun Photoshoot!
Bukchon during the Photo taking
After pictures we walked up through Samcheongdong to Samcheong Park. There are several walking trails and a nice kids playground. The trails go all the way up to the mountain to the city wall as well (great place for a run!).
Samcheong Park
Tons of Kids Activities
After an afternoon at the park, we found a rooftop cafe in Samcheongdong for some dessert and great views.
Fun stop in Samcheongdong
Day 5 – Palaces & Dongdaemun
Friday was a perfect sunny morning and we decided to walk over to Changdeokgung and Changgyeonggung Palaces, a 15 minute walk east of the Bukchon Hanok Village. Both were very impressive but Changdeokgung was slightly better because we visited that one first (less crowded) and there was no construction unlike Changgyeongung. The two palaces are connected and you can buy $3 tickets outside of the palace gates. We had intended to visit the Secret garden also but this did not open until 10:30AM and was by tour only. It was amazing walking the palaces and reading about the history of each.
Changgyeongung Gate
Entrance at Changdeokgung
Lone blue roof inside Changdeokgung with bride and groom
Our next stop via Taxi was the massive Dongdaemun area. Starting at the Heunginjimun (east) gate, we explored some of the street markets (fabrics & shoes) before visiting the Hyundai shopping mall and having some Korean BBQ on the restaurant row behind the mall. After lunch we headed to the Dongdaemun History & Culture Park and walked some on the Cheonggyecheon canal before ending up at Gwangjang Market. The whole experience was a ton of walking, shopping, and eating in a variety of different venues.
Cheonggyecheon canal
Gwangjang Market
Day 6 – Hanboks & Gyeongbokgung Palace
Our last day in Seoul was probably the most memorable. The girls rented traditional Korean Hanbok dresses for two hours and we walked around the palace grounds at Gyeongbokgung Palace. The process of renting the Hanboks was so much fun! They even did our girls hair and added accessories.
They loved wearing the Hanboks!
Making Friends
Beautiful Backdrop of Gyeongbokgung Palace
Seoul was an incredible place to bring family and especially during October when the weather is nice with good air quality. We had amazing food and experiences and will likely be back before long!
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