Seoul recommendations

[Jeffrey O'Neill]

I'm planning to have a few days in Seoul next year. First time there.

Would like some suggestions on where to stay. I want to hopefully have a hotel that's not too far out of the city centre and close to public transport.

Any recommendations on things to see while there would also be greatly appreciated.

 

[thewinchester]

Your report is another reminder for me to finish my Asia 2010 trip report, we stayed in Seoul for four days last year.

Hotel

My personal recommendation is the Grand Ambassador Seoul (this is part of the Accor chain, and a Pullman affiliate - prev. was a Sofitel). Hotel was fully equipped, even with an ATM in the basement for easy cash access.

We had upper floor rooms (14th from memory). Rooms were extremely comfortable, well appointed, with free internet and a multitude of plugs at desk level - one of these an international multi built in. Don't be shocked by the in-room escape system system available for emergencies (yes, a abseil like system for escaping out of the window).

Food service on property was without parallel. Full open chef stations, dedicated bakery, and a full service cafe in the lobby, and F&B which was tasty, flavoursome, and using high quality produce and ingredients. Recommend The Kings Buffet, and one of the restaurants named Cafe De Chef. If your rack rate includes breakfast, you can take it downstairs in the buffet, or choose to have a continental option delivered to your room.

Staff were brilliant and responsive at every turn. Everyone we encountered spoke fluent English, which also came in handy when we needed an English address translated into Korean ready for a taxi driver the next morning.

The only downside of this hotel, I was most unhappy they cut the crusts off my late night room service cheese toastie! I know! (#firstworldproblems for the growing twitter crowd).

Transport

As for getting to and from the airport, you can take either a taxi or maxicab which are all metered and accept credit cards. The drive to the airport can take from 60 to 90 minutes depending on the time of day, traffic, and if your driver is practising for the next Korean F1. Yes, that's one way of saying that the posted speed limit especially on motorways is a polite suggestion; unless of course you're approaching a fixed speed camera.

A maxitaxi to/from airport will set you back around KRW 90000.

Rail services are available, but if you're travelling with heavy luggage a taxi is the better choice.

If you can't get your address translated and need a cab, look our for taxis that have a Red interpreter sticker across the top of the window. These drivers have advanced in-car computers that will help the driver know exactly where you want to go. Simply motion the driver, and point to the red sticker. Also make sure you grab the address card from the Bell Captain or concierge, as it has the hotel address in four different languages which you can just hand to your cab driver when you want to go back there.

In terms of the hotel I'm recommending, the nearest Seoul Metro station is a 4min walk down the road (Dongguk University, Red line - and next stop either direction is an interchange). If you're in town for a few days, buy yourself a T-money card (stored value ticket, vending machine at station). This is a stored value card, and each journey from tag on till tag off costs KRW 900 regardless of distance.

Please note, walking to this station is downhill, with one part a 15-20 degree slope. You can however get past this uphill bit with an escalator that goes into the university, and allows you to walk at grade avoiding the hill.

The hotel also operates a free shuttle bus that goes to Myeong-dong (the main shopping and entertainment district), In Sa Dong and back to the hotel on the hour from 0800 to 2200. It's a 10min shuttle to Myeong-dong, and that's mainly due to the nightmare traffic in Seoul and poor application of road rules. The shuttle also picks up in these locations. A wallet card for the service with times is available from the lobby concierge desk and bell captain.

Things to do

For me, here was a couple of our Korean highlights;

• DMZ tour: This is a full day tour, and best organised through Korridor. Bus departs from the USO Korea facility around 0700, taxi is cheap and easiest way to get there. You must bring your passport on this tour for security purposes. Bus transports you to UN Camp Bonifas, where you are given a full guided tour and overview of the camp, history of the Korean War, transported to Conference Row and taken into the meeting buildings (inc. technically crossing the border into Nth Korea) before driving around the Sth Korean side of the camp. Tour proceeds to highest viewing point, DMZ museum and tunnels followed by lunch and finally coach back to Seoul.
• Olympic Ro and Olympic park: This is a great walk for a couple of hours, seeing some of the olympic statues and sculptures/artworks, before arriving at the Stadium which has various museum and information walls around the site.
• National Palace & Museum: This is a wonderful place I could write about until the cows come home. I won't spoil it for you, but it looks beautiful. There's also a traditional castle that can be toured.

That's all I can think of right now. If there's anything you'd like to ask, don't hesitate to post here or send me a PM.

 

[Fantic125]

I usually stay at the Seoul Hilton Millennium.

Central location, a few minutes walk to the Seoul central train station, and easy access from Incheon via the airport bus (11,400 KRW at last visit, 45 minute ride to the hotel, leaves from station 11 on arrivals floor. Tickets available just outside the doors or from the organisers/handlers at the actual bus stop location)

The Millennium has a Casino on site (if you're into that sort of thing) as well as a couple of decent (although expensive) restaurants.

There are a number of local restaurants around the area that are more affordable, either on the street, in malls or in Seoul station.
Note: a number of traditional restaurants will have you sitting on the floor on thin mats, so do some stretching exercises beforehand!

There is a street market close by as well - walk out the front, turn left and follow the road down over the road bridge and it's on your right.

The Yongsan electronics market is only a 15~20 minute taxi ride from the hotel. There is also a hotel bus that departs on a regular basis to the main shopping malls.

thewinchester has recommended some good stuff (most of which I haven't done, as I'm usually there for business not as a tourist so I have limited time ).




FYI, the majority of local people outside of the hotels and tourist areas do not read or speak english, so if possible have the locations you want to visit written in Korean. Ask the front desk people at the hotel to do this, and also ask for a contact name and number you can use if you (or the taxi driver/guide) can use if you get lost.


Most importantly, have fun there. It's a great place to visit!

 

[Balwyn3103]

I've stayed at the Lotte downtown, the Hilton Millenium and the Shiller. All have internet access in rooms but pitifully slow. Charge is Shiller and Hilton about $20/day. A technician will come if you complain but doesn't help much. Was in the Hilton in July for 6 days and probably spent an hour a day just accessing email, etc. The market down the hill mentioned is I think Nam De Mun (sp?) and you need to go from building to building and floor to appreciate all it has.

Fully endorse day trip to DMZ and the new national museum. The building is great and the exhibits breathtaking.

I'd take the hotel bus from Incheon. Much cheaper and not much slower than taxi. There's a walking tour of some of the old town stuff-palaces etc, but our tour guide has a very annoying voice so I left half way through

 

[StevePER]

My personal recommendation is the Grand Ambassador Seoul (this is part of the Accor chain, and a Pullman affiliate - prev. was a Sofitel). Hotel was fully equipped, even with an ATM in the basement for easy cash access.

I've also stayed at the Grand Ambassador and recommend it. The only downside we found was there weren't a lot of restaurants around. But if you ask the concierge they will recommend a couple of good local places down a side street that worked out well for us. I would have loved to do a DMZ tour but couldn't manage it while travelling with child. We enjoyed visiting the palaces (We thought Changgyeong-gung was the best because there were fewer people there). We also enjoyed the tour we did of the presidential palace (Cheong wa dae). It is free but you need to book it in advance.

 

[airbound]

As others have done, I highly recommend the DMZ tour. I took the Koridoor tour offered out of the USO at Camp Kim at Samgakji in August 2010, and it was an incredibly surreal experience that I will never forget.

Be sure to go on a tour that includes the Joint Security Area (JSA) at Panmunjom. The JSA straddles the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) between the North and the South and gives you views of North Korea and North Korean soldiers. It is a fascinating place, with blue UN buildings (and other buildings) straddling the MDL. The USO tour took us into the UN conference room on the MDL, where the conference table sits on the MDL, thereby allowing the negotiating parties to remain on their own side of the MDL. You can actually cross to the other side of the MDL within this room (but certainly not outside it), where a Republic of Korea (ROK) soldier stands guard in front of a door to the North. It was the absolute highlight of the tour. You can even get a photo taken alongside the soldier or the other soldier who stands at the head of the table (just don't get too close!).

The USO tour also includes the third infiltration tunnel, which is a tight tunnel. If you are tall, you will often hit your head on support beams and the rocky roof of the tunnel, but you are given a hard hat for protection (and are required to wear it). The climb out of the tunnel is quite steep and requires quite a bit of fitness (especially in the heat and humidity of August!). The tour also includes Dorasan Station, which is a railway station built to service international train services out of South Korea into North Korea and beyond. It is built from the same materials as Incheon International Airport (a great airport), which is symbolic of both of these places being designed as international gateways to and from South Korea. Dorasan Station has a very weird feel--it is very much a white elephant, with nothing happening there except for tour visits. However, there is optimism in the South that one day relations with the North will be friendly enough to allow international train journeys to the North. In fact, there is a map there that shows that it will be possible to catch a train from Seoul not only into China, but also to London!

In terms of accommodation, I cannot really recommend anything. It really depends on where you want to stay. I will make note of the KAL Limosine Bus that operates from ICN to various hotels, giving you an option for transport to certain hotels: Incheon(ICN) International Airport - Bus Routes. It may be convenient to stay near one of these hotels, just for the transport. Also, if you are travelling light, there is a train from ICN to Seoul Airport Station, which is centrally located near the centre of the city. The non-express train costs less than $4, and takes about an hour. Otherwise, as others have said, there are always taxis (depending on your budget).

The Korea War Memorial near Samgakji is also highly recommended. It covers wars involving Korea (as oppossed to just the Korean War) and is worth the visit.

Getting around Seoul is exceptionally easy on their Metro, which is clearly colour-coded and signposted in English. Transfer routes between lines at the tranfer stations are also clearly signposted, making travel very easy. The T Money Card is useful for Metro (and bus) travel, and costs only 3,000 won. You can buy one from the 7-11 within ICN airport, so you can hit the ground running. The card can also be used to make purchases at 7-11 and some other stores, so is very handy to have.

If you like theme parks, Everland is about an hour out of the southern part of Seoul and is accessible by bus. It is a beautiful park and is absolutely world class. It has the world's steepest wooden roller coaster, T Express, which is incredible. (I queued 140 minutes last month on a weekend, so I recommend visiting on a weekday if possible, should you wish to go.) It also has shows, a safari, a zoo and other rides (including Global Village, a ride very similar to Disney's It's A Small World). There is also Lotte World within Seoul itself (but I cannot comment on that, as I didn't go inside the theme park itself).

 

[Jeffrey O'Neill]

Thanks for all the tips.

Now I have to book me flights and then the true planning can begin