Seoul — Sights
Palace walls by day, open kitchens at 2am.
- Deoksugung Palace — A royal palace where Joseon roofs meet a Western stone hall
- Jongmyo Shrine — A royal shrine remembered for long eaves and a quiet courtyard
- Cheonggyecheon Stream — An 11 km streamside walk through the centre of Seoul
- Seonyudo Park — A Han River island park where old waterworks meet planting
- Oil Tank Culture Park — An old oil depot transformed into a cultural park
- Seoul Museum of History — A free museum tracing Seoul’s urban change
- MMCA Seoul — The national contemporary-art museum on Samcheong-ro
- Buk-Seoul Museum of Art — A large contemporary-art museum beside a park
- Photography Seoul Museum of Art — A public museum dedicated to photography, opened in 2025
- Nam-Seoul Museum of Art — Sculpture and changing exhibitions by Sadang Station
- The War Memorial of Korea — A major memorial with galleries and outdoor military equipment
- Donuimun History Museum — A compact history museum over remnants of old Seoul lanes
- Seoul Forest — A large Seongsu urban forest beside the Han River
- Seoul Botanic Park — A Magok botanic park with tropical and Mediterranean conservatories
- Bongeunsa Temple — A city temple across from COEX
- Gyeongbokgung Palace — Seoul's main palace: free in hanbok, guard ceremony at the gate
- Bukchon Hanok Village — Tiled-roof alleys with N Seoul Tower peeking over the eaves
- Changdeokgung & the Secret Garden — UNESCO palace whose guided Secret Garden walk is the real prize
- N Seoul Tower — Hilltop tower in the heart of Seoul: love locks, 360° night views
- Myeongdong — Cosmetics shops by day, food stalls lining the street by evening
- Insadong & Ikseon-dong — Tea houses and crafts, then a lane of hanok cafés next door
- Lotte World Tower Seoul Sky — Seoul from 500 m up, including a glass floor on the 118th
- Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) — Zaha Hadid's silver curves; pair it with Dongdaemun's late shopping
- Hongdae — Buskers, photo booths and clubs, lively until late
- Seongsu-dong — Factory-shell cafés and pop-up stores that change every week
- Gwangjang Market — Sizzling mung-bean pancakes, yukhoe and mini gimbap in an old market
- Han River Park & Cruise — Picnic mats, fried chicken, convenience-store ramyeon, a sunset boat
- National Museum of Korea — Free permanent galleries, the Pensive Bodhisattvas and museum goods
- Starfield Library (COEX) — A free library with 13-metre shelves in the middle of a mall
- DMZ Tour (Imjingak, Third Tunnel, Dora Observatory) — See into North Korea on a half- or full-day tour
- Centre Pompidou Hanwha — Paris’s Pompidou, now with a Seoul branch by the 63 Building
- Seoul Museum of Craft Art — Old girls’ school grounds, craft seen up close
- Tongin Market — A Seochon market where coins buy your side dishes
- Gyeongui Line Forest Park (Yeontral Park) — A walking strip laid over the old railway bed
- Mangwon Market — Neighborhood market by Mangridan-gil, with a chicken queue
- Ttukseom Hangang Park — Sunset picnics behind the Seongsu cafes
- Nodeul Island — A river island with a bookshop and a lawn
- Kansong Art Museum — A private museum in the old Bohwagak house
- National Hangeul Museum — How Hangeul came to be, on display
- Yun Dong-ju Literature Museum — A small museum made from old water tanks
- Seoul Museum of Art (Seosomun Main Branch) — A museum behind an old courthouse facade
- Seokpajeong Seoul Museum of Art — A regent's villa garden and an art museum on one hill
- Seoul Anglican Cathedral — A red-brick Romanesque church tucked beside City Hall
- Seoul City Wall Museum — Six centuries of the Seoul city wall, free
- Seoul Chaekbogo — A used-book maze of dozens of shops
- Seoul Metropolitan Library — A library inside the old City Hall building
- Ikseon-dong Hanok Alley — Hanok cafés tucked into shoulder-wide alleys
- Namdaemun Market — A 600-year-old market with noodle and fish lanes
- Leeum Museum of Art — Old Korean art and contemporary art in two buildings
- Seodaemun Prison History Hall — The old prison where independence fighters were held
- Banpo Moonlight Rainbow Fountain — Rainbow-lit water pouring off a Han River bridge
- Seoullo 7017 Skygarden — An old overpass turned into a walk in the air
- Jogyesa Temple — A downtown temple where incense drifts between office towers
- Naksan Park and Seoul City Wall — A hill along the old city wall, best at sunset
- Bukhansan, Baegundae Peak — Granite peaks on Seoul's north edge, with the whole city from the top
- Suwon Hwaseong Fortress — An 18th-century fortress an hour from Seoul by subway