Our first day in Seoul didn’t go completely to plan, for reasons outside of our control, but we had a great time and I really love this city.
An unexpected change of plans
We started the day at a coffee shop near the hotel before taking a slow walk towards Changdeokgung Palace, one of the main palaces that you can visit in Seoul. It was only a 750m walk from the hotel so didn’t take too long, and I was excited to visit here because we had booked a tour of the Secret Garden – a pristine part of the palace that is only available on a guided tour, and which used to be a private area for only the King and his family.
However, when we arrived at the ticket booth we saw signs that said the Secret Garden was closed as of today due to the presence of a family of Wild Boar and that all pre-booked tours had been cancelled.
It was a little disappointing that we couldn’t visit the Secret Garden as it’s supposed to be an amazing place. But if it’s not safe to visit then it’s better to be safe, and luckily the rest of the palace was still open.
Changdeokgung Palace
Changdeokgung Palace is set in really lovely grounds and, despite much of it having to be rebuilt after damage sustained during Japanese occupation, during a visit you really get a sense of how grand the palace.
If you want you can rent an audio guide but we decided to just explore around ourself with the help of a map, reading the boards at each building, and scanning the QR codes on them if we wanted any additional context.
Some of the buildings that you can see include the library, temples, and the King’s private quarters among many others. They are all set in various courtyards and we had a great time exploring them, especially the ones that aren’t visited by all of the big tour groups.
Like many of the key sights in Seoul, there were a lot of big tour groups in the palace by the time we left – although almost none right at the start of the day. One thing we noticed, though, was that they all seem to stay to the same route, visiting the same few locations, and missing out huge chunks of the palace completely. This was perfect for us as we had some very tranquil moments during our visit, as shown below.
I think that I took far too many photos in Changdeokgung because I absolutely loved visiting it, and there is no way I’ll be able to upload them all to my blog. Hopefully the ones on this page
Bukchon Hanok Village
After Changdeokgung we took a short walk to the nearby Bukchon Hanok village, which is an area of Seoul that still contains lots of the older, traditional, Korean buildings. Some of them have been converted to shops and cafes but many of them are still lived in until this day.
We didn’t spend long there, just enough time to take a few photos, soak up the atmosphere, and to restock on water at one of the small supermarkets in the area. It was a nice place to visit, but unless you’re going to explore every road or spend a lot of time trying to get the perfect shot for Instagram you won’t need to spend much time here.
While at the supermarket we also picked up the second public transport card that we needed. The one that we were given yesterday was a standard card that you top up with money but Seoul recently started offering fixed price cards called the climate card which, if you can track them down (they aren’t available everywhere) are a lot cheaper than a pay as you go T-Money card. Luckily this supermarket had them available and a 3 day pass only cost 10,000 Won, which is less than 6 GBP!
After activating up the Climate Card – you need to buy them at the supermarket then activate them for whatever period you need them for – we made our way to our next stop for the day, the Heunginjimun Gate which is also known as the Dongdaemun Gate.
Heunginjimun Gate and the City Wall
The Heunginjimun Gate is one of the famous sights of the city and you see in all of the guidebooks. It was originally built in 1396, as the main gate on the East side of the city, and has been reconstructed a few times since then.
We grabbed a coffee before taking a seat and people watching for a little while to rest our legs after doing a lot of walking for a while. It was a nice area to relax, especially with the nice weather we have in the city at the moment.
From where we were sat you could see some of the remaining Seoul City Wall, and the associated museum, but we decided not to visit them on this occasion as our next visit was to another museum which would probably take a few hours to visit.
War Memorial of Korea
When you think of the history of the Korean peninsula there is probably one thing that stands out – the Korean War. It may have ended – albeit with an armistice not a peace treaty – in 1953 but it still has an effect on Korean society today due to the continued division of the Korean peninsula, and the ongoing tensions between the North and South.
The War Memorial of Korea is a huge museum dedicated to the Korean war, located towards the river, and this was our next stop after leaving the Heunginjimun Gate.
We spend around 2 hours walking around the complex. During the visit we learnt a lot about the history of the peninsula which led to the War, lots of information about the war itself, and details of the tension that continues to this day.
There are a lot of photos and boards with text but there are also lots of artefacts to see including weapons, uniforms, and even some of the tools that have been captured from North Korean agents who have infiltrated over the border throughout the years.
As it is a memorial first, and a museum second, I didn’t take too many photos but the ones below show just a small selection of the things that you can see.
I found it really interesting, having been to the equivalent museum in Pyeongyang, to see the history of the Korean peninsula and the Korean War told from the perspective of South Korea. You can read my blog from North Korea on this site but let’s just say the perspectives – and the narrative – are very different on each side of the border.
I also found it really interesting because the Korean War is not a subject that is regularly taught in detail in history class in the UK, although I was aware of the basics, and so I felt that I learnt a lot during my time at the memorial. I would have loved to have learned more, so checked out the gift shop while I was there, but unfortunately it only sold generic souvenirs and not any materials about the Korean War like I would have expected.
After leaving the main building we spent a little while exploring the outside display which features ground vehicles, boats, and aircraft used during the Korean War by both the Koreans and the other allied forces – including a B52 bomber which you can ascend some steps to get a look inside.
Overall I’m definitely glad that I visited the War Memorial of Korea, and it felt important to visit it before heading to the DMZ tomorrow to be able to give context to some of the things that we’re going to see.
We could have spent a lot longer exploring the museum but we were starting to get hungry, as we hadn’t eaten since breakfast, and so we wanted to grab an early dinner.
Visiting Itaewon for some American BBQ
I absolutely love Korean food, so want to try as much of it as I can while I’m here, but there is one non-Korean restaurant which I wanted to try while in Seoul.
If you’ve watched the YouTube channel Asian Boss at any point in the past you may be familiar with Linus BBQ, which is an American BBQ restaurant in Seoul run by Linus Kim. Linus is originally from Alabama and has been running a BBQ place in the Itaewon district of Seoul for some time, which has been featured in a few Asian Boss videos.
Itaewon is less than 1km from the War Memorial of Korea so we decided to take a nice leisurely walk up the road which definitely got our appetite going, and by the time we arrived in the area Linus BBQ had been open for a short while so we made our way in. It was still very early when we arrived, so there was only 1 other table there, but by the time we left it was full.
We ordered a platter to share, so that we could try something of everything, and overall I really enjoyed our time there. The food could have been a bit hotter – most of it was only lukewarm – but the flavours and textures of it were great and the food really filled a gap after a long day of sightseeing.
Itaewon is known as a bit of a party area and there are lots of bars and clubs which cater to an international audience. It’s also where you will find a lot of international restaurants. It wasn’t on our to-do list but we didn’t want to travel all this way just to eat and so we did spend a little while exploring the area.
The district did have a nice atmosphere, and I’m glad we came here, although it’s not the sort of area I would pick to spend lots of time in or to stay in while I’m in a city like Seoul.
The 2022 Itaewon tragedy
While exploring we came across the memorial for the tragedy that happened in Itaewon in 2022 where 159 people were killed in a crowd surge down a small alleyway during celebrations for Halloween. This tragedy left quite a big mark on Korea and ever since then the authorities have been trying to make sure that as many people as possible learn lifesaving skills – we saw videos teaching CPR being played on the screens on the metro trains, for example.
You can read more about the tragedy online so I won’t go into it in more detail here.
Our plans for tomorrow
We have an early start tomorrow as we will be visiting the DMZ on the border with North Korea, and we need to be in Myeongdong at 7am for the coach, so after leaving Itaewon we made our way back to our hotel.
It’s a lot earlier than I normally head to bed but I’m still tired after the last few days, and I want to make sure I’m awake early enough tomorrow, so I think I will head to bed shortly.
Having visited the DMZ from the North, during my 2010 visit to North Korea, I’m really looking forward to visiting it from the South.