Site-seeing and restaurants in Seoul?
 

I'll be in Seoul on business this October. I'm looking for suggestions on site-seeing during my free time, and also restaurants.

I was in Seoul for business in Feb. Not knowing what you are into, but...<BR>You can take the city bus tour if you want an overview of the whole city. It's one of those hop on/hop off deals. Very cheap and a good way to see the major sights. There are a few palaces that are quite interesting and beautiful. The street markets are great - Namdaemun and Dongdaemun are filled with lots of inexpensive treasures are so much fun to wander through (especially at night). You can get lots of local cuisine at the street stalls. Itaewon is the "foreign" part of town where you will find most of the GIs and other Westerners, there are some good restuarants in this area. I'm not particularly fond of Korean cuisine, so I found a good Thai restaurant there - Thai Orchid. The Grand Hyatt in Seoul is great... there is a fun, 1/2 expat, 1/2 locals bar called J.J. Maloney's... it's quite famous. The Korean war memorial is pretty interesting near the USO... lots of airplanes, tanks, weapons, etc from the various wars that Korea has been involved in. If you have a few extra days, I hear a trip to the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea is amazing. Hope any of this helps...

I have a question for anyone knowing Seoul. I'll be stopping over for 1 night on an Asiana connection to Bangkok (6AM one day til 5PM the next). I would like to arrive in Bangkok on a specific day but it would make my overnight in Seoul on Sunday. Will this effect anything I want to do i.e. shopping, sightseeing etc? Thanks to anyone who might know!

On my July business trip I enjoyed visiting a couple of palaces. I liked the Folklife museum and the museum inside one of the palaces that contained many photos and clothes of the royal family and others. The antiques shopping street was fun for souveniers, antiques, art, etc. along with street food vendors. I would like to have attended one of the dance/music shows but I couldn't seem to get the right time to go. The only difference I noticed on Sunday was that many of the shops in Namdaemun or Dongdaemun (don't remember which one we went to) were closed. In fact, I think the antiques street is closed to traffic on Sunday and more like a street market.

I don't know that I'd recommend Itaewon for someone who wants to experience Korea. There are numerous palaces and public gardens in Seoul--all covered in the guidebooks. The DMZ tour is interesting. As to restaurants--there are all sorts in the city, but the best are Korean, Chinese, and Japanese. I do like Korean food (most of it anyway) especially Korean-style barbecue. Just ask at your hotel, or your business contacts, they'll be able to recommend something close to your hotel. If your business contacts are Korean, they will probably be quite happy to take you to their favorite restaurant(s)--just make clear to them that you don't necessarily want the most expensive, posh restaurant in town, but that you are seeking their favorites.

Oops, wrong year. Sorry.