Bukchon Hanok Village at 6:15am when the traditional tile-roofed houses are in the morning light and you are the only person in the lane, the Gwangjang Market for the bindaetteok (the mung bean pancake) at 8am from the ajumma who has been making it on the same hot plate for 30 years, the jimjilbang experience at the Dragon Hill Spa that is the most specifically Korean cultural experience available to a visitor, and why Seoul — the city of 10 million that most UK travellers skip in favour of Tokyo — is one of the finest 48-hour cities in Asia.
Reading time: 10 minutes | Last updated: 2026
Seoul is South Korea’s capital and the city of 10 million that UK travellers consistently choose not to visit in favour of Japan. This is a miscalculation.
Seoul has: a street food culture (the tteokbokki, the sundae, the pajeon, the bindaetteok) that is as sophisticated as Bangkok’s and as specific as Tokyo’s. A neighbourhood structure (the Hanok villages, the Hongdae creative quarter, the Bukchon traditional district) that rewards walking. A bathing culture (the jimjilbang — the Korean bathhouse with the communal areas, the sleeping rooms, the egg vending machines at midnight) that is the most distinctive cultural institution available to a visitor. And a 5,000-year history that produced one of the world’s finest archaeological museum collections at zero entry cost.
The 48 Hours
DAY ONE
6:15am — Bukchon Hanok Village
The Bukchon Hanok Village (the neighbourhood of traditional Korean tile-roofed wooden houses between Gyeongbokgung Palace and Changdeokgung Palace) is the most photographed traditional neighbourhood in Seoul. At 9am it is also the most crowded — the photography tour groups from the Insadong area arrive in minibuses from 9am and the narrow lanes (the specific Bukchon lane at the top of Gahoe-dong that appears in every Bukchon photograph) fill to the point where forward movement requires patience.
At 6:15am: the lanes are empty. The tiles are wet from the overnight dew. The hanoks (the traditional Korean wooden houses, the curved roof lines, the clay tile walls, the sliding paper screen doors) are lit by the morning light from the east. The occasional resident emerging for the morning walk. Nobody else.
Walk from the Anguk subway station (Line 3) uphill toward the Gahoe-dong area. The specific lane: Gahoe-dong 11-gil (the lane with the most photographed Bukchon view — the descending series of hanok rooftops with the city modern skyline visible behind). At 6:15am: yours.
At 9am the Bukchon residents begin to receive the photography groups. They have lived with this for years. The neighbourhood council has posted signs requesting quiet after 10pm and before 8am and during mealtimes. Go at 6:15am for the neighbourhood and at 10am for the atmosphere of a living neighbourhood with the photography groups accepted as part of its contemporary identity.
8:00am — Gwangjang Market
The Gwangjang Market (Jongno-gu, Changgyeonggung-ro 88) — the oldest continuously operating market in Seoul, established 1905. The morning food section at 8am: the bindaetteok (the mung bean pancake, the batter ground and fried fresh on the circular hot plate, the specific crisp exterior and the soft interior that requires eating immediately from the paper plate), the yukhoe (the Korean beef tartare, the raw beef in the sesame-soy dressing with the egg yolk), and the mayak gimbap (the addictive small gimbap rolls — the name means “narcotic gimbap,” the rolls so named because they’re impossible to stop eating, the rice and the seasoned vegetables in the nori roll with the mustard and soy dipping sauce).
The market at 8am: the vendors at the inner ring of the market hall, the regulars at the plastic stools, the morning bowl of makgeolli (the Korean rice wine) that is the specific Korean morning accompaniment to the market food. Bindaetteok: W4,000-6,000 / £2.32-3.48.
10:00am — The Gyeongbokgung Palace
The Gyeongbokgung (the Palace of Shining Happiness) — the largest of Seoul’s five royal palaces, built in 1395 as the main palace of the Joseon Dynasty. The Gwanghwamun Gate (the ceremonial entrance, the three-arched stone gateway with the tile roof above), the Geunjeongjeon (the throne hall, the most ceremonially significant space in the palace, the throne still positioned under the gilded canopy), and the Gyeonghoeru Pavilion (the two-storey wooden pavilion on the artificial island in the lotus pond — the most photographed single element of the palace complex).
The Changing of the Guard ceremony at Gwanghwamun Gate: 10am and 2pm (Tuesday to Sunday). The ceremony in the traditional military costumes of the Joseon Dynasty. Crowds arrive for the 10am ceremony; the 2pm version is slightly less visited.
Entry: W3,000 / £1.74. Free in hanbok (the traditional Korean dress — rental available from the numerous shops adjacent to the palace entrance for W15,000-20,000 / £8.69-11.59 for the day).
The National Folk Museum of Korea (within the palace grounds): the finest folk culture collection in Korea, the exhibition covering the daily life of the Joseon period — the agricultural tools, the domestic objects, the costume, the food culture. Entry: free.
1:00pm — Lunch: the Tongin Market Dosirak Café
The Tongin Market (Jahamun-ro 15-gil, Jongno-gu, 10 minutes walk from Gyeongbokgung) — the traditional neighbourhood market in the Hyoja-dong area. The specific Tongin Market experience: the Dosirak Café system (the dosirak is the Korean packed lunch box — the customers purchase tokens at the café entrance, then use the tokens at any of the market food stalls to select their lunch items, filling the metal dosirak with whatever they choose). The token cost: W5,000 / £2.90 for five tokens. Each stall item: one or two tokens.
The market at 1pm: the bibimbap stall (the rice mixed with the seasoned vegetables and the gochujang — the Korean fermented chilli paste), the jeon stalls (the savoury pancakes, the kimchi jeon and the haemul pajeon — the seafood and spring onion pancake), the japchae (the glass noodles with the stir-fried vegetables and the soy dressing).
2:30pm — The National Museum of Korea
The National Museum of Korea (Yongsan-gu, Seobinggo-ro 137) — the largest museum in South Korea and one of the finest in Asia. The collection covers Korean history from the prehistoric period through the Joseon Dynasty: the Gyeongcheonsa Pagoda (the 14th-century 10-storey marble pagoda, the most significant single object in the collection), the Goryeo celadons (the jade-green pottery of the Goryeo period, 918-1392, considered the finest ceramic tradition of its era globally), and the Joseon painting collection.
Entry: free. The museum is enormous — 6 floors, 300,000 objects in the permanent collection, 15,000 on display. Allow 2 hours for the highlights.
5:00pm — Insadong and Ssamziegil
The Insadong street (the arts and crafts street connecting Anguk and Jongno-3-ga) and the Ssamziegil courtyard complex (the circular multi-storey open courtyard with the independent craft shops spiralling upward) — the most characterful commercial district in central Seoul for the visitor interested in Korean craft objects rather than Korean technology.
The hanji (the traditional Korean paper made from mulberry bark — the shops at Insadong specialising in hanji products, the notebooks, the fans, the decorative objects), the celadon ceramics (the contemporary versions of the Goryeo tradition), and the dalgona (the Korean street candy — the honeycomb toffee stamped with a shape that must be extracted without breaking, the specific street food associated with Squid Game which has given it a second life as a tourist experience but which was genuine street food before the programme).
7:00pm — Dinner: Jeonju Restaurant Street (Mukja Golmok)
The Jeonju restaurant street in the Jung-gu area — the concentration of Korean BBQ, dolsot bibimbap, and traditional Korean restaurants serving the business district population at dinner. The BGGD Seoul instruction: eat at a Korean BBQ restaurant where the table has a built-in grill and the meat is cooked at the table. This requires a Korean BBQ restaurant rather than a general Korean restaurant.
The specific order: samgyeopsal (the thick-cut pork belly, grilled at the table, wrapped in the perilla leaves with the kimchi and the garlic and the gochujang paste), the doenjang jjigae (the fermented soybean paste soup, served alongside), and the banchan (the side dishes — the kimchi, the seasoned spinach, the bean sprout, the japchae — that arrive automatically with any Korean meal).
Cost: W25,000-40,000 / £14.49-23.19 per person with meat and drinks.
9:00pm — Gwanghwamun Square at Night
The Gwanghwamun Square (the main square in front of the Gyeongbokgung Palace gate) at night: the fountain, the statues of Admiral Yi Sun-sin and King Sejong (the 15th-century king who developed the Hangul writing system — the specific Korean alphabet designed for ease of learning and now the most rationally constructed writing system in regular use), and the palace gate illuminated above the square. The Cheonggyecheon Stream (the restored urban stream running through central Seoul from the Gwanghwamun area to the Han River, the stream that was covered for a highway in the 1960s and restored in 2005): the evening walk along the stream level, below the city streets, the illuminated bridges above.
11:00pm — Hongdae
The Hongdae neighbourhood (the university district surrounding Hongik University, accessible by subway on Line 2 to Hongik University station) — the nightlife and creative district that is the most specifically young-Seoul neighbourhood. The street performers (the Hongdae busker tradition: the breakdancers, the indie bands, the acrobats, the performances beginning at 9pm in the Street Park), the independent record shops, the clothing boutiques, and the club district.
The Hongdae clubs (Thursday-Saturday: the Contra, the Answer, the NB2 — the techno and electronic music venues that operate from 11pm to 6am): cover W10,000-20,000 / £5.80-11.59. The Hongdae street food at midnight: the tteokbokki (the rice cake in the spicy gochujang sauce) and the fried chicken from the street vendors.
DAY TWO
8:00am — The Dragon Hill Spa (Jimjilbang)
The Dragon Hill Spa (Yongsan-gu, Hangang-daero 40, accessible from the Samgakji subway station) — the most complete jimjilbang in Seoul and the most accessible to visitors unfamiliar with the format.
The jimjilbang format: segregated gender facilities for the naked bathing areas (the hot and cold mineral pools, the charcoal sauna, the ice room, the scrub service — the Italy towel exfoliation scrub performed by the scrub attendant at W20,000-30,000 / £11.59-17.39), and the mixed gender communal area (the heated floors for sleeping, the snack bar, the egg vending machine at the baked egg vending machine — the eggs slow-cooked in the jimjilbang heat chamber until the whites are dark brown, the yolk creamy).
The Dragon Hill Spa operates 24 hours. Entry: W15,000 / £8.69 (weekday), W17,000 / £9.85 (weekend). The price includes a locker, a towel, and the standard-issue jimjilbang outfit (the shorts and the round-necked shirt that give everyone in the communal area the same appearance regardless of what they arrived wearing).
The specific instruction: the scrub. The Italy towel scrub removes the top layer of dead skin with a thoroughness that no shower or bath approximates — the residue visible on the attendant’s towel after the treatment is the specific jimjilbang revelation that every first-time visitor experiences with approximately equal surprise. Book the scrub at the jimjilbang reception.
11:00am — The Namsan Tower
The N Seoul Tower (Namsan-dong, accessible by cable car from the Myeong-dong area or by stairs: the 265-step walk takes 20 minutes): the tower on the Namsan mountain at the centre of Seoul, the 360-degree observation deck at 479 metres above sea level (236 metres tower height + 243 metres mountain height).
The view: the full Seoul basin, the Han River visible to the south, the mountains visible in all directions, the density of the city’s high-rise development comprehensible only from above. Entry to the observation deck: W16,000 / £9.27.
The padlocks: the N Seoul Tower is covered in the love padlocks attached by couples (the tradition is to attach a lock engraved with names and throw the key into the valley below — the locks are removed periodically but the tradition continues). No requirement to participate.
1:00pm — Namdaemun Market Lunch
The Namdaemun Market (the largest traditional market in South Korea, adjacent to the Namdaemun (Great South Gate) — the 14th-century stone gate that is the oldest surviving gate in Seoul): the market at lunchtime, the galchi jorim (the spicy braised cutlass fish) at the market restaurants, the haemul sundubu jjigae (the soft tofu stew with the seafood, the egg broken into the bubbling clay pot at the table), and the hotteok (the sweet filled pancake, the brown sugar and walnut filling caramelising in the hot oil — from the street vendors at the market entrance, W1,500-2,000 / £0.87-1.16 each).
2:30pm — The Changdeokgung Palace and the Secret Garden
The Changdeokgung (the Palace of Prosperous Virtue) — the best-preserved of Seoul’s royal palaces, UNESCO-listed, the residence of the Joseon kings after Gyeongbokgung was burned during the Japanese invasion of 1592. The Huwon (the Secret Garden — the 78-acre garden at the rear of the palace, the lotus pond, the pavilion, the 300-year-old juniper trees) is accessible only on the guided tour.
Palace entry: W3,000 / £1.74. Secret Garden guided tour: W5,000 / £2.90, English tours at 10:30am and 2:30pm (Tuesday-Sunday, reserve at changdeokgung.go.kr — limited spaces, book ahead).
5:00pm — Itaewon and the Multicultural Quarter
The Itaewon neighbourhood (the multicultural district near the former US military base) — the neighbourhood that contains the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art (the most significant private art museum in Seoul: Samsung’s extraordinary collection of Korean and international art in buildings by Mario Botta, Jean Nouvel, and Rem Koolhaas: entry W10,000 / £5.80), the Haebangchon (the HBC — the neighbourhood above Itaewon with the independent restaurants and the Korean-international community), and the Gyeongnidan-gil (the street that has become Seoul’s most fashionable café strip).
7:30pm — Final Dinner: Tongin-dong Samgyetang
The samgyetang (the whole young chicken stuffed with glutinous rice, ginseng, jujubes, and garlic, slow-simmered in a clear ginseng broth) — the Korean restorative soup traditionally eaten in the hottest days of summer but available year-round. At the samgyetang specialists near the Gyeongbokgung area (the Tosokchon Samgyetang at Jahamun-ro 5-gil, 5 — one of the most celebrated samgyetang restaurants in Seoul): W16,000-18,000 / £9.27-10.43 per clay pot. The experience: the whole chicken arrives in the clay pot, still bubbling, the rice inside the chicken cavity, the chopsticks and the steel spoon for extracting the rice, the accompanying side dishes.
The Essentials
Getting to Seoul from the UK: Korean Air, Asiana, British Airways direct from Heathrow to Incheon International Airport (ICN). 11 hours. Return: £500-800. The connection via Seoul on the way to Australia or Southeast Asia (Korean Air’s Incheon hub is the most efficient transfer point in Asia) makes a Seoul stopover logical.
Airport to city: The AREX (Airport Railroad Express) from Incheon to Seoul Station: the All-Stop train (43 minutes, W4,950 / £2.87) or the Express Train (43 minutes non-stop, W9,500 / £5.50). T-Money card (the transit card, W3,000 / £1.74 deposit, loaded with credit at any convenience store) covers the entire Seoul transit network.
Where to stay: The Ryse Hotel (Hongdae area, £100-150/night), the Guesthouse Korea (Insadong area, private rooms from £35-55/night), the Tokkebi Guesthouse (Bukchon area — staying within walking distance of the hanok village is the specific accommodation decision for the early morning visit: £45-70/night).
The Closing Moment
I was in the jimjilbang at 9:15am on a Tuesday. The communal floor was occupied by approximately 20 people: three elderly Korean men playing cards, a family with a sleeping toddler, a group of young women with face masks applied, one other foreigner who had arrived on the same flight I had.
The heated floor. The smell of the charcoal from the sauna. The egg from the vending machine. The specific sound of a city-wide collective exhale.
The jimjilbang is the institution that explains the most about Korean culture that any other single experience doesn’t. The communal bathing (the nakedness without the English anxiety about nakedness), the shared sleeping space (the social acceptability of sleeping in public in a heated room), and the egg: the slow-cooked, slightly caramelised egg that costs W1,000 / £0.58 from the machine and is the correct jimjilbang meal at 9am.
Seoul is underestimated by UK travellers. It is the city where the gap between the reputation and the reality is the widest in Asia, consistently in the direction of the reality being better.
