Seoul 3 nights 2 days - where to stay, what to see ?

We put Seoul as a segment of our trip because we have never been in Seoul, and it is a free stop.

We have no idea where should we stay in Seoul, and what attractions to see. The Visit Korea Site is extremely user-unfriendly - you have to register to become a member in order to request information - even so, after registering 3 times, the website still would not let me do much. An email to the address provided, was returned as Non-delivery, Fatal Error. It is a stark contrast to tourism sites of Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, for example.

Since our trip cannot be modify now, so we are stuck with the Seoul segment. I hope kind folks on this forum can help us to get the most out of it.

First of all, suggestions to where to stay in Seoul is really appreciated.

We would arrive from TPE to ICN on Wednesday 8:40pm in June. I understand ICN is quite far away from the City. What are our options to go in town at reasonable cost?

We then have 2 full days in Seoul, before departing from GMP to KIX on a Saturday around noon. (the other 2 choices are either at 8:30 in the morning or 6pm in the evening, both would be from ICN). Currently we are booked at the noon JL 8962, provided JL does not change its schedule again.

So, we would really appreciate suggestions on how to utilize these 2 days.

Also what transportation to take to go to GMP, which I believe has Subway from town, and is 1/2 the distance comparing to ICN.

Thanks.

Seoul 3 nights 2 days - where to stay, what to see ?

Your budget would help us enormously

I%26#39;d personally stay in Grand Intercontinental, which is dear, but is a nice hotel. It%26#39;s on the end of the City Air terminal line for limo buses from ICN, which also go direct to Gimpo. Bus is cheap- about US$12 each for the 50 mile trip.

But there are cheaper options for hotels

What do you want to see, while in Seoul? Shopping? Palaces and culture? Neon-bright streets?

Let us have a bit more info, and i%26#39;m sure we%26#39;ll be able to help.

I%26#39;ve never had a problem with the VisitKorea site, but I suppose it depends on what you want from it. Most inof seems to be there on the site, rather than needing ot be requested.

Seoul 3 nights 2 days - where to stay, what to see ?

you can try the following hotels in myeondong

Sejong hotel

http://www.sejong.co.kr/en/

Prince Hotel

http://www.hotelprinceseoul.com/en/index.asp

Savoy Hotel

www.savoyhotel.co.kr/html/ENG/WC/index.asp

you can take the airport bus, exit 12 right to Sejong Hotel doorstep at 9,000 won per person. Prince is opposit direction

outside prince you can get the hop on and hop off bus http://www.seoulcitybus.com/eng/subA_B01.htm, you can pay when you get into the bus and i think that would cover most places for 2 days. The rest, just go eat/shop and people watch. And the subway is like just outside Prince hotel and Sejong Hotel.

Ibis myeondong

ibishotel.com/gb/…index.shtml

think you can get the GMP transport from myeondong...

If you are talking about Intercontinental of ICH group, we actually can stay there on points (free).

What is IC%26#39;s going rate if on pay night?

We would like to have a little bit of everything - a little bit of Korean Culture, some ';must see'; sights suggestions are appreciated, sample Korean foods, and see the ';good parts'; of the city. Actual shopping is not important at all, but seeing the shopping district(s) is always a good way to observe how locals live.

Hope this additional information would help you guys make more suggestions.

Thanks!

I forgot to add, I want a MAP of Seoul - I like to have a MAP ahead of time for each city we visit - this applies to cities everywhere in the world.

VisitKorea does not have an area for me to request brochures for Map(s), public transportation, and other tourists-related information.

On the contrary, Singapore tourism forwarded my request to its NYC office and informed me such via email. In less than a week, I received what I requested from its NYC office.

Japan tourism and the tourism office of each Japan island is terrific in this regard. Hokkaido even sent me the photocopy of full railroad timetable together with many other very useful information.

Call me old-fashioned, I prefer to have printed matters on hand to peruse instead of reading on web. I can very quickly find the useful pages, then just tear them off for the trip. It beats printing from websites.

You can actually request for a brochure thru the visitkorea website. I had no problems registering. I ordered free copies of the South Korea guidebook and map of Seoul. It was delivered to me in a few weeks.

Now since you mentioned that you have a problem registering, you may want to check out soft copies of the same instead. Here is the link:

…visitkorea.or.kr/enu/GK/GK_EN_2_7_5.jsp

You can get the maps/guide in pdf form.

^ Correction. You won%26#39;t be able to get it in pdf form, only in ebook form.

Re IC- take a look at IC H website for latest. I mean the Grand Int; I usually pay 190,000 Won for a superior room (upgraded to Junior suite) incl breakfast, but I%26#39;m a regular.

It%26#39;s a good location for transport, although not excellent for downtown- which is about 35 mins away by metro.

Close to Bongeun temple ( 5 mins walk away). Maybe spend time there -they do temple experience for foreigners.

Suggest you do trip tp Namsan folk village, walk round downtown , say Myeongdong in the evening. Insa dong ( tourist shops and stalls, actually not as tacky as you might expect).

Deokksu palace for changing of the guard at 2:30 and other times (by Seoul City Hall) then a major palace- Gyeongbuk for example. Also wander COEX mall, visit O%26#39;kim%26#39;s Brauhaus (in COEX) and just walk lanes around the Grand IC

BTW: you can get good uptodate map from your hotel.

And if you plan on a palace, do check times etc. Changdeok palace is, in my view, the best. But you need to take a guided tour -check times!!!(you can%26#39;t get in otherwise) BUT: on one day of the week, you can go in on your own, but not all of it is open, and its expensive on that day.

Blossom,

Thanks for the hotel links. Prince Hotel seems a good choice.

I am still unable to register on Visit Korea, despite I sent an email to its websupport about the problem. The culprit seems to be their email to activate registration never arrives my email address (I checked the filtered bulk folder, nada).

However, their one-day tour suggestions are good enough for me to go by.

I narrow it down to places we would like to visit:

The Palace, (may also incl the Temple).

The Mt.Namshan,

The shopping district(s).

The night market(s).

Based on the above, which area of Seoul should I choose our hotel?