Looking for an easy 3-day 2-night itinerary in Seoul that takes you through a few different neighborhoods? This is a great Seoul Sampler that takes you through some of the most popular activities in the popular tourist areas of Seoul. Perfect for new arrivals in South Korea or folks who have family and friends visiting. About the Seoul Sampler Itinerary Areas Visited: Myeongdong, Jeongrogu, Insadong, Itaewon or Hongdae When you first visit Seoul either as a tourist or as a new resident in South Korea, you may find Seoul intimidating. The first thing that you need to do is get a lay of the land to find out where you want to focus more of your energy. You don’t want to spend all your time in one area only to discover a different neighborhood had more of what you like. This Seoul Sampler Itinerary takes you quickly through popular neighborhoods and connects you with the more famous highlights. After seeing the surface-level information, you can decide which neighborhoods best fit your vibe. After that, return to your favorite areas to dig deeper into the side streets and visit more of the curiosities. The 3 Day South of Seoul Sampler Itinerary provides different types of ideas to encourage customization. This means that works like a framework with ‘choose your own adventure’ elements. Don’t feel confined. This is just a framework. Feel Free to Go Off-Book Itineraries are meant to get you started and provide a framework for accomplishing certain goals. You have not failed if you don’t complete every part of the itinerary, instead, you’ve found the path to finding your Seoul. Day 1: Friday Evening In Seoul The best weekend in Seoul starts with you already in the city. It’s worth it to go to Seoul for a relaxed dinner and a lovely hotel before beginning two busy days of sightseeing. On your first night, simply focus on grabbing a great dinner and watch some Netflix in your room or take an easy stroll around the neighborhood. Spend time getting your sea legs. Where to Stay For the 3-Day Seoul Sampler itinerary, we recommend staying in Myeong-dong. The popular Seoul neighborhood of Myeong-dong still offers decent shopping, restaurants, and central access to the rest of Seoul. Myeong-dong has changed since the pandemic began and that’s ok. Prior to the Pandemic, Myeong-dong (명동) was known for night markets, beauty supplies, street food, and crazy crowds. The night markets may come back someday, but for now (2022) Myeong-dong has a new, equally lovely central city vibe that makes it perfect for families and those who need to get some quality sleep. Travel to Myeongdong Station (명동역) We will never recommend driving into the city. Sometimes it works out ok and other times you spend six hours trying to get one mile. If you want to have a relaxing weekend, don’t take chances on Seoul traffic and stick to public transportation. Grab an evening train, subway, or express bus to Seoul for a fun weekend getting to know a few different neighborhoods. If you don’t know how to navigate Korean inter-city public transportation you can contact 1330 who can help you create a travel plan using an express bus, train, or subway. Coming from outside Seoul Once you arrive in Seoul, use Naver Maps to route your subway connections to the Myeongdong Station (명동역). It may take about 1 hr to get to Myeong-dong from one of the major train stations or bus terminals. Coming from the Airport Travel from Incheon Airport to Myeongdong by train, taxi, subway, or bus. Travel time varies from 1 – 2 hours depending on types of transportation, number of stops, and traffic. Check-In to Your Hotel To make it a little easier, you will find three popular Myeong-dong tourist hotels recommended below. We’ve chosen these hotels since many folks are looking for comfortable places around 150,000 won a night. To help support our organization so that we can keep pumping out detailed blogs and information, we’ve added affiliate links for the hotels. It would be badass if you use the affiliate links! Booking through the links helps us out a ton! We do this work no matter what but affiliate money makes it easier to afford all the hosting fees. Keep in mind, that there are less expensive places to stay in Myeong-dong than what we recommend below. However, such hotels may have fewer Westernized ammenities or English support. That said, the cheaper hotels are still very lovely and we encourage you to book them if you don’t mind cultural differences such as harder beds or no English-speaking staff. We just based these options on what many non-Korean travelers prefer. 1. Pacific Hotel Seoul Meyongdong One of the best overall hotels taking into consideration price, location, and comfort. Reasons we recommend Pacific Hotel: What to know more? Linda Goes East posted a detailed blog about Pacific Hotel which dives deeper into the buffet and rooms. She has amazing blogs about Seoul. We highly recommend reading her reviews. Additionally, the reviews on Agoda have been solid. For example: “To start with the location was EVERYTHING! Walking distance to so much! The staff was friendly, especially housekeeping. They helped me book taxis when needed, answered questions, and always greeted me with a smile.” Melissa, USA 2. Sejong Hotel Seoul Myeongdong Great hotel if you want to be right next to the subway station. Reasons we recommend Sejong Hotel Seoul: 3. Royal Hotel Seoul Myeongdong This hotel can be quite expensive but Agoda runs deals up to 50% off. When that happens, be sure to book here. Want to know more? You can find extensive reviews for this location on all of the sites. They commonly mention the small room sizes as the biggest drawback and the fact that the breakfast menu is expensive and never changes. However, they love the location and the price so it’s a solid option. “It’s all about the location. Perfect place if you want to stay in the heart of Seoul, Myeongdong. Shopping complex, street foods are located just in front of the hotel, doorstep away! the only cons are the small room size but amenities are complete.” Agoda Review Interested in exploring other hotel options? Myeong-dong has many great options so feel free to shop for something cheaper or locations with different amenities that better meet your specific needs. Myeongdong Dinner Options We don’t believe in running around Seoul chasing down dinner. It’s exhausting and hectic. Instead, eat at one of the delightful Myeong-dong restaurants and enjoy exploring the area. Here are 5 possible options in the Myeong-dong (명동) area. You can also use Naver Maps to search the area when you arrive. Day 2: Palace, Hanok Village, Insadong Today may feel like a huge and exhausting day if you don’t carefully manage your energy. Remember to drink water, eat snacks often, and sit down as much as possible. Don’t be a hero. This will be a great day if you just keep it slow and steady. 08:00 am Breakfast Beyond the hotel, very few places will open before 10:00 am. The places that do open early may not offer items you would consider breakfast. In fact, you could end up walking around for an hour before you find something you would call breakfast. Instead, we recommend one of the two following breakfast solutions so that you can easily stay on schedule: 09:10 am Depart for Changing of the Guard Estimated Travel Time: Taxi 20 minutes / Subway 35 Minutes The taxi times assume no traffic or having your public transit cards loaded and ready to scan. Check Naver to confirm traffic and times before grabbing a taxi. We do recommend taking a taxi for this first trip just to save yourself a little energy for the rest of the day. Don’t miss this. It’s one of the coolest things to see in Seoul. 09:45 am Changing of the Guard The changing of the guard takes place at 10am and 2pm every day except Tuesdays. Aim to arrive at least 15 minutes before the changing of the guard ceremony in order to ensure a good viewing spot. The performance begins when the gong sounds and continues for about 20 minutes. You want to see the morning show because then you avoid standing outside in the heat during the mid-day. 10:30 am Explore Gyeongbokgung Palace The Gyeongbokgung Palace grounds are easy to walk. Take your time and enjoy the benches and shade that you find. 11: 30 am Lunch We know this is early, but if you wait until after 12:00 pm to go to the restaurants you may not find any food to eat. This is not an exaggeration. Restaurants will fill up fast and many will sell out of their lunch menus by 1:00 pm or 1:30 and then close around 2:30 for a break. Eat early or risk not eating at all or eating only what you can find rather than what you want. Searching for the ‘ideal” lunch is where weekend trips to Seoul tend to get off schedule and exhausting. Many of the recommendations by bloggers (although fantastic) aren’t in a convenient place. This means that you may end up walking for hours out of your way and you can’t get your schedule back on track. Additionally, if places are popular online it means they may be over full AND sell out early. You are better off focusing on eating something lovely en route to where you are headed. In the image below you can see an area surrounded by orange that sits between Gyeongbokgung Palace and Bukchon Hanok Village. This is your ideal area to find a place open with seats. Any time we tried to eat in another area on this itinerary, the trip became too exhausting in a way that was not sustainable for families or people with mobility issues. This area shown in the image above also has both very expensive restaurants and lunch counters. We recommend not being super picky about lunch and just finding anything that works in this area. If you try to another area it will throw the itinerary off for the rest of the day and make things feel very hectic. 12:30 pm Bukchon Hanok Village 20-30 minutes walking time: Gyeongbokgung Palace to Bukchon Hanok Village Quite honestly, this area is mostly about walking and looking at history. It’s what Seoul used to look like before it grew toward the sky. The area has many hills. It’s somehow a little boring and highly magical at the same time. Everyone should see it at least once. Cafes: There are many lovely little cafes. We recommend trying a traditional dessert like bingsu or rice cake. Dining: There are places to eat in the Hanok Village area but we can’t tell you that it’s a great spot to grab a meal. Instead, we recommend heading to Insadong where Dress up: The most popular activity is to dress in traditional Korean clothing and walk the streets. It can be an amazing opportunity for family photos. Take Lots of Photos: Mostly this area provides studying backdrops for photos and a historical perspective on how cities used to be laid out. 3:00 pm Museum Options 10-30 minutes walking time: Walk time may vary based on museum selection Take a museum break. Museums provide a fun way to slow down, get out of the sun, and relax a little bit. Pick one of the following museums and get off the busy streets of Seoul for a while. 04:30 pm Insadong 30-70 minutes walking time: Walk time may vary based on your speed and interest. Now it’s time to walk through Insadong when the heat has dissolved away a little. The street can either be a quick little walk or getting lost in the stores for a few hours. It’s just up to you. You may find Insadong is a place you want to come back to and spend more...

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