We have come back from South Korea with major Seoul fever. We LOVE this city a bit too much. Even our 8 year old said he wants to study here! Seoul ticks so many boxes for us, from history, culture, yummy foods, shopping and entertainment. Unexpectedly, Seoul has become one of our favourite cities in Asia.
Traveling in autumn (end of September) was a great choice as the weather was perfect sitting at an average of about 20 degrees during the day. Just like Busan, getting around Seoul is easy with cheap taxi rides and even cheaper metro. Most areas are walkable and pram friendly for those with younger kids.
Seoul is HUGE so we suggest not rushing your trip here and taking your time to explore. And don’t forget to eat your heart out!
During our two weeks South Korea trip, here is how we spent our 6 days in Seoul with kids:
HiKR ground
Located inside Korea Tourism Organization Seoul Center, this place is like a modern museum/art centre plus it’s FREE.
Most visitors come for the K-pop ground located on the 2nd floor. This is where there are lots of interactive dancing and K-Pop music video sets. It was lots of fun – even for us non K-pop fans!
Watch street performances & hang out with (real) sheeps at Hongdae
This vibrant neighbourhood is the hangout place for University students. It’s packed with shops, bars, trendy cafes and Korean bbq restaurants.
We checked out Thanks Nature sheep café and watched buskers and K-pop wannabes dance groups perform in the evening.
Banpo bridge fountain show
Between April to October the show starts at these times: 12pm, 7.30, 8pm, 8.30pm and 9pm. We suggest coming at night to see the colourful lights.
The tide rose drastically at nighttime so be prepared for some flooding action much to our boys’ delight. For better and less crowded view point, you can watch from under the bridge.
Hanbok day at Gyeongbokgung Palace
Rent hanbok for the whole family to visit Gyeongbokgung Palace. We chose Daehan Hanbok based on their great reviews and customer service (replies to our Instagram messages quickly). Not only wearing hanboks gave us FREE entry to the palaces, but we also took some amazing family shots here.
Don’t miss the changing of the guard which happens daily (except Tuesdays) at 10am and 2pm.
Booking.comSee Seoul from above at Seoul Sky Observatory
Lotte world tower is South Korea’s tallest building and world’s 5th tallest! The observatory on its 120th floor offers panoramic view of entire Seoul city.
To get up we took the Sky Shuttle elevator that reaches a speed of 600 meters per minute. It only took one minute to reach the top. We were lucky to have enjoyed sunset up here and night time views.
Lotte World Mall
This shopping mall is absolutely HUGE and connected to the Lotte World Adventure amusement park. You could spend 2 days here and not see everything the mall has to offer. Our boys absolutely loved the massive Toys R us store here (and it stays open until 10pm daily).
We didn’t visit the Lotte World Aquarium, but we had a break at Aqua garden café which entertained our kids.
Kids Toys street at Dongdaemun market
SO many toy stores line the streets here and they sell pretty much all kind of toys you can think of. Also prices here are generally cheaper than toy stores at the malls. Be warned the toy street close at 5pm so come earlier with the kids to avoid disappointment.
The proper street address is: Jong-ro 52 Gil, Dongdaemun
Explore Insandong & Ikseondong
Check out all the cute cafes along these narrow alleyways. We visited Nakwon station café which had lovely cakes and ice americanos. The famous Cheese industry and Soha salt pond are also located in Ikseondong alleys.
Being the “artsy” hub of Seoul, we could not resist the temptation of getting Korean style caricatures done for our boys here.
Ssamzigil shopping complex
This shopping mall in Insandong district has many local craft shops – way more unique than the mass produced stuff you see at the touristy markets. It also houses the Ddong poo café for another kid appropriate café break.
Eat your heart out at Gwangjang market
Food paradise! Too many to choose from but our absolute favourite was the mandu, kalguksu noodle soup and the red bean hotteok. Check out stalls number 22 and 70 (the latter featured on Netflix “Street Food Asia”).
You simply can’t miss this market to get authentic food at reasonable prices. Read our South Korea food blog here!
Coex Mall & Starfield library
The famous library is packed with tourists and influencers getting their photos done with professional photographers. Never saw so many people pretending to read a book before!
We chose to stay clear from the madness on ground floor and head upstairs to one of the cafes where we can admire it in peace.
We also had an ice cream fix at Baskin Robbins in the mall which has 100 flavours! Before you leave don’t forget to take photos with the Gangnam style hands statue located just outside of the mall.
Bongeunsa Temple
Across the road from the Coex mall is this beautiful and free temple. We loved the serenity of the place and the colour lanterns on display. Our boys also got special bracelet from one of the volunteers here (did I mention the Koreans adore children?).
Huwon secret garden at Changgyeonggung Palace
Pre book your tickets to the garden online. We loved the tranquillity of this place and despite the palace being smaller in size, the charm makes up for it.
Myeongdong night market
Myeongdong is perfect for shopping and street food! Our boys loved watching the “chefs” work their magic right in front of them. Wait times at popular stalls can be long and prices are more on the high side, but you pay for the experience.
Our favourites here were the grilled chicken skewers, grilled super fat squid tentacles and the bungeoppang (fish-shaped bread with sweet red bean filling).
Cheonggyecheon stream
Popular among families, this place is perfect for taking an afternoon break and let the kids have a bit of fun crossing the stream. It’s 10.9 km long stream runs from Gwanghamun to Dongdaemun.
ACCOMMODATION
We chose to base ourselves in Metro Hotel, Myeongdong. With 2 queen beds available in the family room, and costing around $185 (Australian dollar), this 3-star hotel is a great choice for families.
It is right in the heart of Myeongdong, also has a 24 hours 7 Eleven shop just outside! We also loved how easy it was to grab taxi using the KakaoT app from this location.
GETTING AROUND
Between cities, we did not use the KTX bullet train at all. The cities, including Busan we visited were better connected by bus. We booked our intercity bus tickets the day before at the station. Korean bus websites are user friendly but only local Korean cards can be accepted for payment.
In each city itself, we relied heavily on taxis. We downloaded KakaoT (Kakao taxi) app which is much like Uber. We always paid the driver with our Australian bank credit card without any issues. Seoul subway system (similar to Singapore’s MRT) is also super convenient and cheap at around 1500 Won per single ride. Children under 6 is free.
For other places we have visited, checkout our website’s travel Destinations section. We buy our travel essentials online via Ebay
