If you have a long layover at ICN
One of the airport buses, 6011, goes to Gyeongbokgung and Anguk-dong. If you get off there you could see one, two, or all possibly all three of the palaces along the north edge of downtown.
Following that you could walk south through Insadong, a touristy but nice (mostly) pedestrian area with lots of shops, galleries, and tea houses. This will bring you to Jongno, one of the main east-west streets downtown, with lots more shops, especially jewelers, as well as restaurants and bars.
If you continue south you'll find a stream running east-west through the middle of a street, the Chunggyecheon. It runs for several kilometers in total, and through the center of town has been turned into a sort of pedestrian chill-out zone. If you walk to the west end of that you'll find yourself just about a block north of City Hall and Seoul Plaza. Not a whole lot to see there, but it's pretty central, and maybe something would be going on.
Across the big street to the west is Deokseogung, another palace, which is cheaper and a good place to go hang out. It also has a regular changing of the guard ceremony and inside there is an art museum which has had some very interesting exhibits. To the east is Euljiro, another east-west street. There are lots more shops, this time specializing more in various types of hardware and professional supplies. It's interesting (for me) to walk through but it's not really a tourist destination.
If you continue south, you'll come to Namdaemun/Sungyemun, the south gate to the old city, (currently being repaired) nearby which is Namdaemun Market, which has all sorts of things from clothing to pottery to souvenirs... Food too, but food's everywhere. For the most part it's relatively cheap, and haggling is possible, unlike in most shops. Also nearby is Myeong-dong, a more upscale shopping area, with lots of shops, a few department stores, and a (very) small Chinatown as well.
If you have the energy left, you'd then be pretty close to Namsan, the mountain in the center of Seoul. It's not a difficult hike, and there's also a cable car you can ride up. From there you can get an excellent view of most of Seoul, visibility permitting.
There's plenty more you could do, although while you could walk down to some of the other areas, they might be a little further away. You would be pretty close to Seoul Station though, so you might be able to get the train back to the airport from there (scheduled to start running in January 2010).
For further reference check out:
http://asp.congnamul.com/seoul/english/map.jsp
It's a pretty good interactive map of Seoul, and the view starts off centered over City Hall. Just be aware, it only works in Internet Explorer, not Firefox. Best of luck!
Following that you could walk south through Insadong, a touristy but nice (mostly) pedestrian area with lots of shops, galleries, and tea houses. This will bring you to Jongno, one of the main east-west streets downtown, with lots more shops, especially jewelers, as well as restaurants and bars.
If you continue south you'll find a stream running east-west through the middle of a street, the Chunggyecheon. It runs for several kilometers in total, and through the center of town has been turned into a sort of pedestrian chill-out zone. If you walk to the west end of that you'll find yourself just about a block north of City Hall and Seoul Plaza. Not a whole lot to see there, but it's pretty central, and maybe something would be going on.
Across the big street to the west is Deokseogung, another palace, which is cheaper and a good place to go hang out. It also has a regular changing of the guard ceremony and inside there is an art museum which has had some very interesting exhibits. To the east is Euljiro, another east-west street. There are lots more shops, this time specializing more in various types of hardware and professional supplies. It's interesting (for me) to walk through but it's not really a tourist destination.
If you continue south, you'll come to Namdaemun/Sungyemun, the south gate to the old city, (currently being repaired) nearby which is Namdaemun Market, which has all sorts of things from clothing to pottery to souvenirs... Food too, but food's everywhere. For the most part it's relatively cheap, and haggling is possible, unlike in most shops. Also nearby is Myeong-dong, a more upscale shopping area, with lots of shops, a few department stores, and a (very) small Chinatown as well.
If you have the energy left, you'd then be pretty close to Namsan, the mountain in the center of Seoul. It's not a difficult hike, and there's also a cable car you can ride up. From there you can get an excellent view of most of Seoul, visibility permitting.
There's plenty more you could do, although while you could walk down to some of the other areas, they might be a little further away. You would be pretty close to Seoul Station though, so you might be able to get the train back to the airport from there (scheduled to start running in January 2010).
For further reference check out:
http://asp.congnamul.com/seoul/english/map.jsp
It's a pretty good interactive map of Seoul, and the view starts off centered over City Hall. Just be aware, it only works in Internet Explorer, not Firefox. Best of luck!
posted by Colin at 7:27 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home