Seoul

Introduction

Night time traffic in Seoul

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Seoul (서울) is the heart of South Korea, hosting about a quarter of the country's population of nearly 50 million. Seoul was also the historic capital of Korea from the 14th century until the nation's partition into North and South in 1948. Located just 50 km south of the North Korean border, Seoul symbolises the division of North and South Korea.

Seoul enjoys a lively nightlife, which has earned it comparisons with Tokyo. Thankfully though, Seoul is much cheaper than the Japanese capital.

Neighbourhoods

Sights and Activities

• Gyeongbokgung Palace
• Deoksugung Palace
• Insadong
• Myeongdong
• Namsan Park
• Namdaemun/Dongdaemun Markets
• Itaewon
• Hangang River
• Olympic Park

Events and Festivals

Weather

Seoul has cold but relatively dry winters, averaging around zero degrees Celsius during the day and around -8 degrees at night, but dropping as low as -22 degrees sometimes. Most of the precipitation during this time is in the form of snow. Summers are tropical with hot and humid conditions. Temperatures average between 26 and 31 degrees from June to September with nights around or above 20 degrees. This is also the wet season with July topping at almost 400 mm of rain. The best times obviously are spring and autumn with much less rain and agreeable temperatures.

Getting There

By Plane

Seoul Incheon International Airport (ICN) serves as the gateway to Seoul and South Korea. It is one of the busiest airports in the world, located around 70 kilometres west of the capital and has been ranked one of the best airports in the world, together with the ones in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Korean Air serves dozens of destinations in Japan and China, as well as other cities and countries in Asia. It also has connections to about a dozen cities in North America and even more to European cities. It has flights to Australia, Sao Paulo and Pacific destinations like Fiji and Guam on top of that.
Another big airline is Asiana Airlines with just slightly less destinations further away but even more in both China and Japan.

Getting to/from the airport:

• Rail: The Incheon International Airport Railroad (A'REX) started operations in 2007. The station is located in the Transportation Center adjacent to the main terminal building. From 2007 onwards, only the first phase of the construction was opened to the public (Incheon International Airport - Gimpo Airport). The remaining phase of the construction is expected to be completed by 2010 (Gimpo Airport - Seoul Station). Until then, from the old Gimpo airport there are connections to the Seoul Metro Lines 5 and 9.
• Car: Link to the main land is provided by the Yeongjong Bridge and an expressway. Tolls are collected at the bridge. A second expressway on the Incheon Bridge connects the island with central Incheon. Parking and rental cars are available at the airport.
• Taxi: both white (cheap) and black (expensive) taxis are available at the airport.

The old Gimpo International Airport now mainly functions as a center for domestic flights although there are services to Tokyo, Osaka and Shanghai.

By Train

By Car

By Bus

By Boat

Getting Around

By Car

By Public Transport

The extensive Seoul Metro Subway is inexpensive and easy to use.

By Foot

By Bike

Eat

Drink

Sleep

As with any large city, Seoul has many different areas to stay, such as Gwanghwamun, Insadong, Bukchon Hanock Village, Myeongdong, Itaewon, Honggik/Sinchon/Ewha.

Budget and Midrange

Upscale

Work

Learn

Keep Connected

Internet

Internet is widely available in South Korea. The country is the sixth highest user of Internet in the world and there are internet cafes around the country in public places such as airports, train stations and bus terminals in South Korea. ‘PC bangs’ are rooms full of computers, predominantly started for people to play games. They are cheap and many open 24-hours with snacks available.

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls

Post

Korea Post is the national postal service and has fast, reliable and well-priced services. Standard letters and postcards start at 400 Won for domestically send ones. On their website you can find more about pricing details, as there are many different rates, depending on the zone (which country) you want to send it to, how much it weighs, wether it is air or ground service etc. Generally, post office hours are from Monday to Friday 9:00am to 6:00pm, though the larger central post offices tend to be open until 8:00pm and sometimes also on Saturday or even Sunday, usually only mornings.