Seoul Travel Guide | Millennial Abroad

This is a Korean Bucket List post. Check out the rest of my list here.

As I mentioned late last week, my two trips to Seoul this year were short and sweet, but not without a “millennial abroad” hustle and flare.

Immediately after Steph, Mary, Nina, and I finished touring around Gyeongbokgung Palace, we headed to Bukchon Hanok Village, knowing that we would only have about an hour and a half to explore before heading to Seoul Station to catch our train. Hustle, hustle, flare.

As is common with my bucket listing these days, I had researched some worthwhile sights to visit in Seoul weeks and weeks before going, in the spirit of Type-A planning. Once I was en route to Bukchon, however, the significance or even a visual of this tiny village had totally escaped my mind. This would explain why the girls and I spent approximately thirty minutes wandering around Samcheong-dong, assuming that these charming streets lined with its hip cafés, galleries, and shoppes were those of Bukchon Hanok Village.

Eventually, we realized that while the the neighbourhood of Samcheong comprises Bukchon, we needed to ascend a concealed staircase off of the main road, Samcheongdong-gil. Soon, the trendy accessory stores and bustling roads disappeared. Bukchon was very similar to Gyeongbokgung in that sense – despite being located in the middle of a major metropolitan city, the quiet streets provided a sanctuary from the thronged crowds on the streets below.

Bukchon Hanok Village, with its close proximity to Gyeongbokgung Palace, Changdeokgung Palace and Jongmyo Shrine, also has a rich history rooted in the Joseon Dynasty. Bukchon comprises dozens of small alleys, lined with hundreds of traditional houses called “hanok” that were built during the Joseon Dynasty. The nearly 600-year old village has been meticulously preserved, and now functions as cultural centre for tourists to experience what the atmosphere of the Joseon Dynasty was truly like. The village is home to a hanok-style guesthouse (Rakgojae), a traditional liquor brewery, and several museums devoted to traditional Korean talismans, embroidery, and Buddhist art.

The girls and I strolled the quiet streets of Bukchon for about 30 minutes, admiring the beautifully tiled roofs and serene atmosphere of the village. We were careful to admire quietly – there were multiple signs informing tourists to be respectful to the residents who call the hanoks home. Unlike other hanok villages throughout Korea, Bukchon was not constructed to function as a tourist attraction. I find it truly amazing that Bukchon has been preserved to the state in which it has been, and feel blessed that I got to observe and experience the Joseon Dynasty way of life, even in a “hustle, hustle, flare” sort of way.

Directions
To get to Bukchon Hanok Village, take Line 3 on the Seoul Subway to Anguk Station (stop 328). Walk straight for about 300m to arrive at the village. In addition, there is a Tourist Information Centre outside of exit 1, which provides tourism information on the Bukchon Hanok Village and Samcheong-dong.

Note: Please keep this in mind and follow the precautions below when visiting Bukchon Hanok Village:
– Please keep noise levels to a minimum (e.g. no loud voices, horsing around, filming, etc.) especially in the 31 Gahoe-dong area
– Please do not litter
– Please keep group visits to a maximum of 10 people
– Please do not use microphones or loudspeakers
– Please do not take photos or film the insides of houses

This is a Korean Bucket List post. Check out the rest of my list here.

On my very short list of “things I wish I had done differently during my year in Asia”, (I hate using the word “regret”), “spending more time in Seoul” would definitely place towards the top of it. Collectively, between a trip in August with Jess and Maddie and in June for Ultra Music Festival, I only spent approximately 52 hours in South Korea’s capital city during my year abroad. While my aforementioned trip to Seoul for Ultra Music Festival was one that I was frequently stuck in transit for, I did manage to prioritize a trip to the famed Gyeongbokgung Palace, located in the heart of Seoul.

Gyeongbokgung Palace, which literally means “palace greatly blessed by Heaven”, was originally constructed in 1395, (and later reconstructed in 1867 after a fire destroyed it during the Japanese Invasion from 1592-1598), and was the largest of the Five Grand Palaces built by the Joseon Dynasty. If you’re totally #irrelevant and are unfamiliar with the Joseon Dynasty, it was basically the Regina George of the Korean dynasties. The Joseon Dynasty may look like your normal, incredibly influential, legacy leaving, stone-faced, power-consolidating period for modern Korea with regard to language, etiquette, and cultural norms, but in reality, it’s so much more than that.

The girls and I rose from our Ultra-induced slumber in the late morning on Sunday and made our way to the palace grounds from Hongdae. Steph recommended taking the subway to Gwanghwamun Station in lieu of the aptly named Gyeongbokgung Palace Station. Her reason was “the subway exit is just so beautiful!” With arched eyebrows, I obliged. Steph, however, was totally vindicated when my arched eyebrows disappeared into a look of wonder. The subway exit opens onto Gwanghwamun Square, offering a beautiful intersection of antiquity and modernity. It features two giant statues – the first of Admiral Yi Sun-shin, and the second of King Sejong – mounted in the centre of the square, while the surrounding cityscape and mountainous terrain unfold around Gwanghwamun.

We walked down the promenade until we reached Gwanghwamun Gate (which, translated, means “may the light of enlightenment blanket the world” – quite a beautiful sentiment), and subsequently snapped some photos with the colourfully-robed guards stoically protecting the gates. We eventually reached the palace grounds proper, and purchased our tickets to enter the Heungnyemun, the first gate in the palace walls. This folded out into the Geunjeongjeon, which was used to entertain former kings’ envoys and guests. This hall was quite ostentatious, the lone figure in an otherwise arid square. The detailing of the hall was similar to other pagodas I’ve seen throughout Korea – intricately crafted and rich with colour.

One of my favourite part of the palace grounds was the Gyeonghoeru Pavillion, another space that had been intended for envoys and guests of Joseon Dynasty kings. The two story pavilion sits in the middle of a pond, surrounded by (what look like) dongbaek trees and weeping willows. Unsurprisingly,the girls snapped a few headstand and handstand photos of me with Gyeonghoeru in the background (see below). My other favourite area was Hyangwonjeong, another small pavillion in the middle of an artificial lake with hundreds of lily pads floating on its surface. A small bridge, the Chwihyanggyo , although not open to the public, connected the pavillion to the rest of the grounds. These quiet nooks were both so peaceful that I completely forgot that Seoul’s busy metropolis was just beyond the palace’s walls.

The girls and I slothfully sauntered around the rest of the palace grounds for about an hour, visiting the living quarters of King Gojong (Geoncheonggung), the crown prince and his wife (Donggung), as well as the Governor General’s residence before finally taking refuge in a cafe to enjoy some soft-serve ice cream beneath a vine-covered trellis. As the sun fiercely blazed, dripping vanilla ice cream down the side of my hand, I practiced some sun (minus the “set”) gratitude: I truly was in a “palace blessed by Heaven”.

Directions
To get to Gyeongbokgung Palace, take either Line 3 on the Seoul Subway and go to Gyeongbokgung Palace Station (stop 327) or Line 5 to Gwanghwamun Station (stop 533) and go out exit 2. The Palace will be in plain sight from both stops. Note: Gyeongbokgung Palace is closed on Tuesdays. For additional information on admission fees, operating hours, and tours, please refer to the Official Korea Tourism Organization.