A traditional day in Seoul
Gyeongbokgung Palace
When my cousin came to visit in January I wanted to take her on a tratitional tour of Seoul. We started off at Gyeongbokgung Palace, arguably one of the most beautiful palaces in Seoul with a stunning gardens, a botanical garden and even a museum. This was the home of King Sejeon the Great, who famously created Hangul. Around the palace there are stores where you can even rent a hanbok, Korean traditional dress, so you can walk around the palace like royalty!
Bukchon Hanok Village
From the palace you can take a short bus journey (just one stop on the 11 bus) and head to Bukchon Hanok Village. This small area has streets lined with traditional Korean buildings. There are many residential homes, as well as a few shops and cafes in the village. This is a great spot to take pictures, and there’s also the option to rent hanbok here too!
Insadong Street
From Bukchon, I recommend Insadong Street (15 minutes by bus - number 02, or 20 minutes walking). This place is of culture, art and so many delicious restaurants. You can spend hours here getting lost in the diverse range of stores. This is a great place to buy souvenirs (or keepsakes for yourself!) and a lot of the shops sell beautiful handmade items.
Just for any vegan/vegetarians, the majority of the restaurants in Insadong are pretty meat heavy, however I have stumbled upon two places I definitely want to recommend:
- Osegyehyang (100% vegan restaurant. They use soy meat to recreate typical Korean dishes)
- Maru Jayeonsik Kimbap (100% vegan kimbap place that also sells tteokbokki with vegan fish cakes)
Insadong Spa & Sauna
If you’re in the mood for some relaxation after a busy day exploring, you can end your day at this traditional jjimjilbang. This place was honestly such a great and unique experience. First of all, the owner was so friendly (also fluent in English and was delighted to speak to me and my cousin!). He was so helpful in recommending treatments to us. We went for a mugwort steam, as well as a full body scrub. Afterwards we spent some time in the saunas. They even have a salt sauna which is great for boosting your immune system, circulation and has various benefits for skin health.
Fair warning though, at jjimjilbangs you do need to remove all your clothes in order to go into the bath area (which was something I found so awkward at first) but there are separate bathing areas for men and women, and the awkward feeling quickly goes once you start relaxing. You also are provided with clothing to go into the saunas. If this is something you’d like to try, I wouldn’t let a little awkwardness put you off!
And that’s it!
I hope you will enjoy this short day tour!
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