Seoul Trip Report
 

It's National Election Day in South Korea and we've been in Seoul for two days (two more to go) so I thought I'd post some early experiences.

HOTEL:
We decided to splurge and stay at the Westin Chosun. The hotel is very conveniently centrally located between two subway stations. Although the subway system is fairly complex (nine lines and hundreds of stations), it is pretty easy to navigate with color-coded, biligual signs and announcements. The room has modern furnishings, flat screen TV and all the usual amenities. We haven't figured out how to use the mobile phone provided (note: most Western cell phones won't work on their network), but haven't really needed it. Hotel staff is extremely helpful and courteous. In general, Seoul seems a little more expensive than other Asian cities:
Room rate: US$240 not including breakfast
Internet access: US$22 for 24 hours
Subway: US$1 per ticket for most locations

SHOPPING:
(I'll preface this section by noting we are travelling around the world and most interested in small, lightweight items we can carry home.)

Namdaemun - Very popular street market filled with general goods, clothing, food, etc...stopped into the Mesa department store which has one entire floor of jewelry-making supplies. Lots of metal findings, but the quality of the beads and stones was not as good as shops in NY or Shanghai (or online retailer Fire Mountain Beads). Also checked out the Migliore department store and bought two oblong silk scarves with multi-colored paisley patterns for US$35 each.

Dongdaemun - Great market to buy fabric, lace, buttons, zippers, trim and other sewing/craft items. Beautiful home fabrics and woolens, but not much in the way of silk. Spent a whole afternoon here and will probably go back to see what else is in the area.

Myeong-dong - Popular area with lots of small shops for younger crowd. Quality varies widely depending on what you want. I bought a medium-sized silk dupioni handbag with decorative flowers for US$35. Good selection of restaurants in this area. Within walking distance of the Westin, Seoul Plaza and Lotte hotels.

Lots of designer shops and upscale department stores - Lotte, Shinsegae, Avenue L - offering expensive luxury goods. Large supermarket in the basement of Lotte offers wide range of produce, meat, dairy, deli, imported foods and personal care items.

The Sogong underground shopping arcade links the Westin and Lotte hotels and has lots of small shops with clothing, accessories, jewelry, crafts, tailors, optical, etc...

SIGHTS:
Across the street from the Seoul Plaza Hotel is a large outdoor ice-skating rink with a colorful brightly-lit fence and 20' decorated Christmas tree. Fun place to watch the skaters and take pictures!

We plan to visit the traditional palaces and other sights in the next few days and will post more later in Part 2.

Thanks for the report! I stayed at the Westin on a recent trip to Seoul and found it to be very convenient for 'tourist' things.

You mention that "most Western cellphones won't work on their network". This isn't true. You need a tri or quad band SIM-based phone, but I can assure you that if you have this, you can purchase a Korean SIM card and off you go.

Happy Travels!
Dave

We need the skinny on the knockoffs- you know handbags, wallets, etc.

Thanks for the report/information.

I'm leaving in 5 days and will certainly benefit from the information you are sharing!

Thanks so much for your post. We have spent one xmas/new years in Shanghai, and 3 in Japan over the past 4 years, and are thinking of going to Seoul for part of the trip next year, and then on to Japan.

There isn't so much written about travel in Korea, and I was wondering what it is like there during xmas/new year. Are shops open over the holidays? Which days do they take off work? Etc. Etc.

Waiting excitedly to hear more about the second part of your trip!

Your phone needs to have CDMA capability to work in S. Korea.

Thanks for the report. I am planning a trip to South Korea in the Spring to visit my son who is spending his second year teaching English in Gwangju. I am puzzled by the lack of interest in travelling to So Korea vs other Asian locales. I see people mentioning stops in Seoul but few venture to other areas.

Looking forward to more!

Sorry for the delay in posting the remainder of the trip report!

We only made it to one palace - Gyeongbokgung Palace and the National Palace Museum. Most of the buildings were not open and the palace grounds/garden were probably best suited for a summer visit than in December. The self-guided audio tour provided an informative history and was well worth the small fee. By far, the best part was watching the palace guards marching in their different brightly colored uniforms. Overall, it was interesting, but we would have liked to have seen the other palaces too.

More info: http://english.tour2korea.com/index.asp

On our last day, we found AFN - the Armed Forces Network TV channel that broadcast English-language programs for the large military population. A nice change from watching CNN, BBC World and Starworld.

Really enjoyed our time in Seoul and would like to go back. Also interested in visiting other areas outside Seoul, particularly Busan in the south and Jeju island. Once we got to Seoul, there seemed to be a lot more information on tours and opportunities to travel within South Korea than we've been able to locate online or in travel guide books.

Sorry to hijack the thread….
Mary, I was just thinking about you and your son the other day. So he decided to stay another year? Joe came home in early November and is now going to college (again). But he is talking about going back to Korea. He misses his Korean girlfriend. He loved Korea. I guess the good thing is if he goes back we will go visit again. We had such a wonderful time there. I’m like you I don’t know why tourist don’t go there. We didn’t go to Seoul but I loved the area we went to.

Lia, we stayed at the Westin Chosun in Busan. It is a lovely hotel and the walking trail across from it was wonderful.

Hi Hester,

Glad your son is back home!

Yes Ross went back and I am sure the girlfriend has something to do with it! He is living in the same city but working for a school district is a suburb of Gwangju. He wanted to learn to speak Korean and felt another year would make him proficient. He gets lots of paid vacation time at the new job so he is taking advantage of it and traveling in Korea and will be going to Japan as well.

I am looking forward to experiencing it firsthand so I have been checking Fodors to see if I come across anyone has wandered off the beaten path to South Korea!