Thinking of going around 3rd week of September. Main interests is learning local food ie street food and seeing whatever people like me are supposed to see.
Starter Questions!
1. Is the 3rd week September or so a good time to visit?
2. We can spend as long as we want .... but my instinct is say 7 nights to allow for the travel ..... is this about right?
3. Thinking of staying at the Intercontinental. Is this a reasonable place and a reasonable area to stay?
4. Is this like Singapore ie street food all over or are their "centers" or areas which are a good place to be close to?
5. Easy to travel around ie public transport compared to Singapore?
6. Any really interesting historical / heritage type villages within easy travel from town? Happy to extend the visit for suitable diversions .....
4) Food wise, it is available all over.
When night falls, some vendors set up tents on the street with street food.
Most of the food I ate were in small restaurants.
There is also an interesting indoor food market with live seafood and small stalls selling cooked food(like a Singapore hawker center but more chaotic and less sanitary) near Dongdaemun.
7) There are quite a few historical villages near Seoul.
The one I went to was in Suwon city, about an hour from Seoul.
Took a subway there and then transferred to a bus.
Cant remember the name but I highly recommend that historical village.
There is also a hanok(traditional Korean architecture) area within Seoul itself.
Out of interest ... a question for anyone that knows both Seoul and Singapore well. We visit Singapore a few times a year for food and walking. So using that as acommon point of comparison, will we find Seoul "sufficiently interesting" foodwise to make the trip? I only ask because my initial studies of the pictures and foodblogs is that it doesn't look as interesting as I originally thought. Also, i'm finding it difficult to find stuff to do to occupy ourselves outside of eating time.
Out of interest ... a question for anyone that knows both Seoul and Singapore well. We visit Singapore a few times a year for food and walking. So using that as acommon point of comparison, will we find Seoul "sufficiently interesting" foodwise to make the trip? I only ask because my initial studies of the pictures and foodblogs is that it doesn't look as interesting as I originally thought. Also, i'm finding it difficult to find stuff to do to occupy ourselves outside of eating time.
Any candid advice really apprciated.
Seoul has GREAT Korean food but not much else. Every other cuisine is pretty much skipable. Also, to get the best K-food, especially street-food, you might want to know a bit of Korean, because unlike Singapore, not very many people (or are there many menus) speak English.
Seoul has GREAT Korean food but not much else. Every other cuisine is pretty much skipable. Also, to get the best K-food, especially street-food, you might want to know a bit of Korean, because unlike Singapore, not very many people (or are there many menus) speak English.
Oh dear ...... ( ) ...... the chances of me speaking a few word of Korean is zilch .....
When I look at googled pictures of Seoul street vendors I don't see any price cards ...... is that normal or would there be prices and we just point and smile?
There are usually menus with prices and sometimes pictures.
Some of the restaurants also have English words for the menu, especially in the tourist areas.
Definitely try out the Korean bbq restaurants if you like grilled meat.
Most of the popular Korean food can be found in Singapore.
The difference is in the ambience, the setting of the eatery.
Korean restaurants in Singapore are all nice and modern but it's different in Seoul.
e.g. the hawker-center like place near Dongdaemun reminds me of a wet-market type Singapore 1970s hawker center.
Also sitting on the floor, cross-legged while eating, is an interesting part of certain restaurants.
I think that if you are into the food scene, going to Korea(at least once) would be interesting.
One thing i found interesting in Seoul is that there are lots of mainland Chinese there, as tourists and as food industry workers.
It was easier for me to communicate in mandarin.
I'll also be in Seoul and then headed to Singapore, in the fall.
1. Is the 3rd week September or so a good time to visit?
2. We can spend as long as we want .... but my instinct is say 7 nights to allow for the travel ..... is this about right?
3. Thinking of staying at the Intercontinental. Is this a reasonable place and a reasonable area to stay?
4. Is this like Singapore ie street food all over or are their "centers" or areas which are a good place to be close to?
5. Easy to travel around ie public transport compared to Singapore?
6. Any really interesting historical / heritage type villages within easy travel from town? Happy to extend the visit for suitable diversions .....
Any ideas and suggestions really appreciated.
Thanks!
1. Early autumn is a great time to visit, as the heat and humidity of the summer fades. It's currently monsoon season in Korea but tropical storms should be out of the area by late September.
2. 7 days is plenty to get a feel for the city plus a day trip or two out of town, leave some reserve for jetlag.
3. The ICs should be fine but are a bit distant from areas north of the Han river that tourists frequent (palaces, Insa-dong, Itaewon). Subway + taxis are convenient but expect ~30-45mins travel time each way if you plan to spend much of your visit north of the river.
4. There are street stalls + open markets which sell food but these tend more toward snacks rather than full meals. Koreans are big drinkers and much street food is consumed at night in roadside tents (pojangmacha) together with shots of the vodka-like soju.
5. The subway network is excellent but be prepared for crowds. You can get the Oyster-style transport card "T-money" when you arrive, it works in subways, buses and even many taxis. English is used in subway signs and announcements, taxis have free phone connections to English-speaking interpreters who will talk to the driver for you. Unless you're prepared to learn to read the Korean alphabet, buses are probably not an option.
6. The artificial folk village in Suwon is popular as it's near Seoul and has performances, is used to visiting foreigners etc. The folk village in Hahoe near Andong is more authentic, but a lot farther away. A lot of visitors do the DMZ tour, don't forget to reserve a day for that if it interests you.
Check out Dan Gray's Seoul Eats site if you're a foodie and want to explore Korean food, his company runs various food tours of Seoul.
I’ve lived in both Singapore and Seoul and must say that the two are worlds apart. No matter where I went in Singapore very seldom did I ever have a communication problem. On the other hand, in Seoul communication in English (or any other European language) is often difficult, at best.
Singapore has a culture of discouraging private ownership of cars -- definitely this is NOT the case in Korea. Combine that with the difference in population size between Seoul and Singapore, and you have a recipe for incredible traffic and occasional serious air pollution in Seoul. On the other hand if you can make use of the extensive subway system there, you can get between points A and B in a reasonable amount of time.
Both IC hotels are located in the Gangnam district, which is south of the Han River. This area consists primarily of office buildings and huge apartment buildings. Thirty years ago Gangnam was converted from agricultural land to an urban landscape; consequently, (and also considering what’s NORTH of the river) in my opinion there’s little of interest to a curious tourist. On the other hand, the history and real seat of culture emanates outward from the City Hall in the north. There are lots of good hotels in the area. My first choice, based on location is the Westin Chosun, then I’d say the Grand Hyatt is #2, followed by the Millennium Hilton, then Grand Hilton. (All of these places have extensive FT reviews in the Starwood, Hyatt and Hilton forums.)
Finally, I’d say nycflyer (post #9) has given you lots of good advice.
When I was living in Singapore, a UK newspaper named it the most boring place on earth. I wouldn’t quite agree, but I’ll also say NOBODY would ever say such a thing about Seoul. It’s non-stop 24/7 action -- a great place. Enjoy your visit!
Many thanks for the trouble taken by all to answer my questions.
It's been really helpful to us in that - one man's meat is another man's poison and it's our instinct that Seoul wouldn't be for us. So the ticket. - sadly - will be another trip to Singpaore.
Thinking of going around 3rd week of September. Main interests is learning local food ie street food and seeing whatever people like me are supposed to see.
Starter Questions!
1. Is the 3rd week September or so a good time to visit?
2. We can spend as long as we want .... but my instinct is say 7 nights to allow for the travel ..... is this about right?
3. Thinking of staying at the Intercontinental. Is this a reasonable place and a reasonable area to stay?
4. Is this like Singapore ie street food all over or are their "centers" or areas which are a good place to be close to?
5. Easy to travel around ie public transport compared to Singapore?
6. Any really interesting historical / heritage type villages within easy travel from town? Happy to extend the visit for suitable diversions .....
Any ideas and suggestions really appreciated.
Thanks!
1. September will be good, just be prepared for the weather as it can be quite hot still at that time of year.
2. 7 nights is definitely good - make sure you do some day trips.
3. I'd take SeoulMan's advice- not the best in terms of location etc.
4. Definitely plenty of Streetfood available, throughout the night as well - just don't go there expecting it to be like Singapore. My favourite is the Korean BBC- inexpensive and very tasty. Plenty of those dining options around town.
5. Dead easy - there is a reloadable card you can purchase which is valid for the trains (swipe and go), just can't recall the name of it off the top of my head. Trains are reliable and fast.
As for day trips the DMZ Tour is a must do. I did the USO tour, and generally this seems to come highly recommended.
4. Singapore is not a good standard to gauge in the first place since it is the least Asian of all the Asian cities that I've been to. I find it more a Western city on the Asian continent.
Seoul street food can be found across a number of locations. The shopping district of Myeongdong has plenty of mobile stalls offering everything from dried squid to sweet potato fries.
Nearby, Namdaemun has the sit-down tents where you can order seafood and eat on a bar table / foldable table next door. During bad weather or in the cooler months, tents are set up to protect against the elements.
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First trip to Seoul - therefore nob questions!
Would love to hi-jack this thread. I'm going to Seoul last week in October. Conference at COEX for 5 days. The conference hotels are the two IC's. Would it be good to stay there or should I stay somewhere more exciting? I've never been to Seoul before and would like to explore as much as possible. I am HH Diamond but not too fussed which chain. Looking for at least 4 stars and I don't mind using subways etc to get to the conference if needed.
Any suggestions would be gratefully received.
Many thanks for the trouble taken by all to answer my questions.
It's been really helpful to us in that - one man's meat is another man's poison and it's our instinct that Seoul wouldn't be for us. So the ticket. - sadly - will be another trip to Singpaore.
Thanks again ......
"sadly"? Why bother going if it's going to be yet another trip to somewhere you've already been several times?
If Korea is too far outside your comfort zone, how about Hong Kong (English widely spoken, good food), Kuala Lumpur or Penang (great street food places)?
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) ...... the chances of me speaking a few word of Korean is zilch .....
