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Old May 26, 2014, 6:38 pm
  #1  
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Join Date: Feb 2011
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Seoul Trip Report

3 Days in Seoul in late April.

Accommodation - An airbnb place for about US $60 per night. It was clean, quiet and comfortable and everything worked properly. It's in a quiet residential neighborhood but still close to everything. Look on airbnb for "btw Seoul Station and Hongdae."

Food - Not easy to find places for breakfast and I never found the good bibimbap that I was hoping for, but there are lots of good dumplings.

Costs - Very low. Food, subways, taxis, museums are all very good value.

Weather - It rained almost the entire time.

People - Not all that much English spoken, but I was able to get by perfectly well. On a few occasions people came over to ask if I needed help finding something.

Sights:
Temples - Saw three of the main ones. I suppose if you are an architecture buff, you will enjoy them. For me, they all looked pretty much the same. I took the Secret Garden Tour which was no big deal. Perhaps in the fall it is better.

Museums - The Korean War Museum was ok, but surprisingly outdated. It was a victory for liberal democracy over communist tyranny? The south was just as tyrannical as the north at that time. The Seodaemun Prison was more interesting. And I found the World Cup museum enjoyable. It was nice to have the stadium entirely to myself.

The Cheonggyecheon stream promenade was a nice walk. And though I don't know which one, one of the mountains was located right near the apt I stayed at. It was an easy climb and with great views. I also liked walking around Insadong and Itaewon.

Jimjilbangs - Went to three. The Silloam was a bit hard to find, but interesting with about a hundred nude Korean bathers. At Itaewonland, there were only about 6 other people there. Both were about US $6 to enter. The Spa on Air at Incheon airport is the most expensive and least clean, but also least crowded and a nice treat before or after a flight.
trebex is offline  
Old May 26, 2014, 10:13 pm
  #2  
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
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Western breakfast place is hard to find in Seoul, unless you near itaewon. If I'm near gangnam, I usually go to paris bakery or eat at Korean restaurant for spicy stew and rice.
skchin is offline  
Old May 28, 2014, 1:57 am
  #3  
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: SIN and wandering.
Posts: 1,549
Originally Posted by skchin
Western breakfast place is hard to find in Seoul, unless you near itaewon. If I'm near gangnam, I usually go to paris bakery or eat at Korean restaurant for spicy stew and rice.
Paris Baguette or Paris Croissant (Yes, it's 2 different companies).

Not so much a breakfast place per se, but there are many cafes for a light bite or some pastries for breakfast
SQ319 is offline  
Old May 28, 2014, 7:46 pm
  #4  
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: CHO
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Originally Posted by skchin
Western breakfast place is hard to find in Seoul, unless you near itaewon. If I'm near gangnam, I usually go to paris bakery or eat at Korean restaurant for spicy stew and rice.
Full Western breakfasts are mostly the domain of Western hotels, it seemed to me on a couple recent trips. For pastries or breakfast sandwiches, though, you'll more likely die of analysis paralysis than starvation: plenty of independent cafes, Paris Baguette or Angel-in-us Coffee for local chains, then just as many Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks and McDonalds as your favorite (or least-favorite) North American city could offer.

I kind of miss the 뉴욕파이도넛s I got hooked on at DD Seoul, actually.
VT_hawkeye is offline  


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