Must-see attractions in Seoul

  • Deoksugung Palace in Korea .

    Deoksugung

    Myeong-dong & Jung-gu

    One of Seoul's five grand palaces built during the Joseon dynasty, Deoksugung (meaning Palace of Virtuous Longevity) is the only one you can visit in the…

  • National Museum of Korea at night

    National Museum of Korea

    Itaewon & Yongsan-gu

    This vast and imposing concrete slab of a museum takes visitors on a fascinating journey through Korea's past from prehistory all the way to the Korean…

  • Olympic Park with pond and ducks in foreground.

    Olympic Park

    Gangnam & Southern Seoul

    This large and pleasant park was the focus of the 1988 Olympics. Strolling its paths takes you past its stadiums surrounded by plenty of greenery, ponds…

  • Detail of ROK Airforce plane outside War Memorial and Museum, north of river.

    War Memorial of Korea

    Itaewon & Yongsan-gu

    This huge museum documents the history of the Korean War (1950–53) using multimedia exhibits and black-and-white documentary footage, along with artefacts…

  • Magic Hour of Bongeunsa Temple in Gangnam, Seoul

    Bongeun-sa

    Gangnam & Southern Seoul

    Located in the heart of ritzy Gangnam, the shrines and halls of the Buddhist temple Bongeun-sa, with its tree-filled hillside location, stand in direct…

  • Building in Namsangol Hanok Village, Myong-dong.

    Namsangol Hanok Village

    Myeong-dong & Jung-gu

    Located in a park at the foot of Namsan, this peaceful village is a wonderful spot to encounter traditional Korean culture. It features five differing…

  • Noryangjin Fish Market

    Seoul

    Providing terrific photo opportunities, Korea's largest fish market supplies every kind of aquatic life form to restaurants, fish shops and the general…

  • Namdaemun traditional market

    Namdaemun Market

    Myeong-dong & Jung-gu

    You could spend all day in this swarming night-and-day market and not see it at all. The largest market in Korea, each section has hundreds of stalls,…

  • Leeum Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea, Asia

    Leeum Samsung Museum of Art

    Itaewon & Yongsan-gu

    Amid the celebrity-owned apartments on the leafy southern slope of Namsan is Korea's premier art gallery. Beautifully designed and laid-out, it balances…

  • Seoul City and N Seoul Tower, South Korea

    N Seoul Tower & Namsan

    Myeong-dong & Jung-gu

    The iconic N Seoul tower (236m), atop the city’s guardian mountain Namsan, offers panoramic views of this immense metropolis from its observation deck…

  • View of Tangent building

    Tangent

    Gangnam & Southern Seoul

    Hyundai Development Company commissioned Daniel Libeskind to work with Seoul-based firm Himma on its headquarters opposite COEX Mall. The result, Tangent,…

  • Lotte World

    Gangnam & Southern Seoul

    This huge complex includes an amusement park, an ice-skating rink, a cinema multiplex, a department store, a folk museum, a shopping mall, a hotel,…

  • Gyeongui Line Forest Park

    Seoul

    This 6.3km park, named for the former Gyeongui Line (on which it was built), is a narrow, long green space that runs along the discarded railroad tracks…

  • KT&G SangsangMadang

    Seoul

    Funded by Korea’s top tobacco company, this visually striking building is home to an art-house cinema, a concert space (hosting top indie bands) and…

  • Seokjojeon

    Myeong-dong & Jung-gu

    A good example of Deoksugung's potpourri of contrasting architectural styles, the grand neoclassical-style Seokjojeon was designed by British architect GR…

  • Seoullo 7017

    Myeong-dong & Jung-gu

    This overpass-turned-park is a green space in the heart of the city. About 24,000 plants are grown here, including various types of flowers and trees, all…

  • South Korea: Seoul City Hall

    Seoul City Hall

    Myeong-dong & Jung-gu

    Looking like a tsunami made of glass and steel, Seoul City Hall was completely redeveloped in 2013 and now is a major architectural attraction of the city…

  • Itaewon Bugundang History Park

    Itaewon Bugundang History Park

    Itaewon & Yongsan-gu

    Even longtime residents of Itaewon might be surprised if you tell them that it is indeed possible to find historical relics in the heart of the…

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    Namsan Park

    Myeong-dong & Jung-gu

    Beloved by locals as a place for exercise, peaceful contemplation and hanging out with loved ones, Namsan was a sacred shamanistic spot when the Joseon…

  • Myeong-dong Cathedral interior, Myong-dong.

    Myeong-dong Catholic Cathedral

    Myeong-dong & Jung-gu

    Go inside this elegant, red- and grey-brick Gothic-style cathedral, consecrated in 1898, to admire the vaulted ceiling and stained-glass windows. The…

  • Banpo bridge

    Some Sevit

    Gangnam & Southern Seoul

    At the south end of Banpo Bridge are these three artificial floating islands interconnected by walkways. Each features futuristic buildings in a complex…

  • Seonjeongneung

    Gangnam & Southern Seoul

    Seonjeongneung Park contains two main burial areas for kings and queens from the Joseon dynasty. The first tomb is for King Seongjong (r 1469–94), who was…

  • Lotte World Tower

    Gangnam & Southern Seoul

    Completed in early 2017, Seoul's latest landmark is the 555m-high Lotte World Tower – the tallest skyscraper in Korea (and sixth highest in the world)…

  • SMTown coexartium

    Gangnam & Southern Seoul

    This five-level interactive shrine to K-Pop in the COEX Mall has already become a pilgrimage hot spot for fans since opening in 2018. The photo hall is…

  • Gyeongui Line Book Street

    Seoul

    This extension of the Gyeongui Line Forest Park is a book-themed pathway of bookshops housed in train-carriage-like containers. The street commemorates…

  • Seoul Arts Center

    Gangnam & Southern Seoul

    As well as being home to Seoul's premier concert halls, this art centre also has three art galleries. Seoul Calligraphy Museum is devoted to hand-drawn…

  • Jeoldusan Martyrs' Shrine

    Seoul

    Jeoldusan means ‘Beheading Hill’ – this is where up to 2000 Korean Catholics were executed in 1866 following a royal decree, most thrown off the high…

  • War & Women's Human Rights Museum

    Seoul

    In Korea the survivors of sexual slavery by the Japanese military during WWII (known euphemistically as 'comfort women') are respectfully called halmoni …

  • Football Faentasium

    Seoul

    This interactive museum at the World Cup Stadium & Mall is a must for football fans, despite the steep admission fee. Korean football history and its…

  • National Assembly

    Seoul

    Home to South Korea’s parliament since 1975, the pleasant grounds here with a fountain and an elaborate hanok (traditional wooden house; used for official…

  • Seoul Metropolitan Library

    Myeong-dong & Jung-gu

    Opened in 2012, the Seoul Metropolitan Library is within the original City Hall's Renaissance-style building, constructed in 1926, that's fronted by a…

  • Sungnyemun

    Myeong-dong & Jung-gu

    Standing alone on an island (in direct contrast to the mayhem around it), Seoul’s picturesque Great South Gate, Sungnyemun, is one of the capital's…

  • Citizens Hall

    Myeong-dong & Jung-gu

    Head down to City Hall's basement to reach Citizens Hall, a multipurpose space with an interesting mix of multimedia art exhibitions, design shops and a…

  • Ewha Womans University

    Seoul

    Come to this venerable university, founded in 1886 by American Methodist missionary Mary Scranton, to view Dominique Perrault’s stunning main entrance…

  • Mullae Arts Village

    Seoul

    Something very interesting is going on in Mullae-dong, a light-industrial area of the city packed with compact metalwork factories. Artists and designers…

  • Banpo Bridge Rainbow Fountain

    Gangnam & Southern Seoul

    Covered with 10,000 lights, the Banpo Bridge Rainbow Fountain's coloured water rains down in messy arcs from the double-decker Banpo Bridge. More…

  • Jeonggwanheon

    Myeong-dong & Jung-gu

    Within the Deoksugung complex, the interesting fusion-style pavilion Jeonggwanheon was designed by Russian architect Aleksey Seredin-Sabatin as a place…

  • Seoul Olympic Museum

    Gangnam & Southern Seoul

    Seoul's Olympic Museum has been completely updated as an interactive museum to not only show highlights of the 1988 Olympics but also the thrills of the…

  • Oil Tank Culture Park

    Seoul

    Originally built after Korea’s first oil crisis in 1973 and reopened in 2017, this cultural centre is made up of five abandoned oil tanks. Planted in a…

  • Lotte World Adventure & Magic Island

    Gangnam & Southern Seoul

    Lotte World Adventure & Magic Island is a mainly indoor Korean version of Disneyland, complete with ‘flying’ balloons, 3D films, laser and music shows,…

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