MINI GUIDE
Stopover in Seoul
COMPILED BY LORNA PARKES, WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM TRENT HOLDEN AND SIMON RICHMOND. PHOTOGRAPHS: NIPHON CHANTHANA/500PX, MAURIUSZ PRUSACZYK/ALAMY, SFL TRAVEL/ALAMY, BLOOMBERG/GETTY, FRANK ‘N’ FOURS/ALAMYSeoul essentials The know-how
FURTHER READING
Lonely Planet’s
Pocket Seoul
(£7.99) makes
the perfect
companion for a
stopover,
dishing up the best of the
city. The full-size Seoul
guide is £14.99. Seoul is
one of 100-plus cities on
Lonely Planet’s Guides app- get it for free on app
stores. I’ll Be Right There
(£12.99; Other Press) by
Shin Kyung-Sook is an
evocative portrayal
of a capital wracked by
protests in the 1980s.
Korean-American expat
and food expert Daniel
Gray runs excellent local
cuisine and restaurant blog
Seoul Eats (seouleats.com).
MUSEUM TRAIL
National Museum of Korea
Packed with national treasures
(museum.go.kr).
Seoul Museum of History
Describes the city through the
centuries (museum.seoul.kr).
War Memorial of Korea Masses
of military-related and Korean
War displays (warmemo.co.kr).
Gwacheon National Science
Museum Catch the hourly robot
Gangnam Style dance show
(sciencecenter.go.kr).
Lock Museum The art of locks
(100 Ihwajang-gil, Jongno-gu).
Modern Design Museum Traces
the history of modern design in
Korea (designmuseum.or.kr).
Seoul Yangnyeongsi Herb
Medicine Museum
All about traditional
Korean medicine
(museum.ddm.go.kr).
National Folk Museum
of Korea Fascinating
exhibits, some in the
palace grounds
(nfm.go.kr).29 Ma-gil, Mapo-gu; from £60).
Down a narrow street, Small
House Big Door is a suave little
art hotel. White rooms feature
handmade furniture; the pricier
ones have outdoor sitting areas.
There’s a rooftop lounge, plus
a lively café (smallhousebig
door.com; 6 Namdaemun-ro
9-gil, Jung-gu; from £65).
RakKoJae Seoul is a
beautifully restored hanok
with an enchanting garden. The
en suite bathrooms are tiny, but
prices include the mud-walled
sauna (rkj.co.kr; 98 Gyeo-dong-
gil, Jongno-gu; from £160).WHERE TO STAY
Creatively decorated in bright
colours and modern furnishings,
cosy Urbanwood Guesthouse
feels like an arty apartment.
English-speaking host Martin
knows the area (Hongdae) well
(urbanwood.co.kr; 5 Wausan-roTRANSPORT
Korean Air, Asiana Airlines,
Singapore Airlines and Malaysia
Airlines all offer direct flights
from Singapore or Kuala Lumpur
to Seoul Incheon International
Airport (from £254;
malaysiaairlines.com).If you’re
flying with Korean Air or Asiana
you can also drop your bags at
the handy City Airport Terminal
inside central Seoul Station when
returning to the airport; the A’Rex
express train connecting the city
with Incheon leaves from here,
too (arex.or.kr; £10.50; 45
minutes). Getting around Seoul is
easy thanks to the city’s excellent
subway system (smrt.co.kr;
tickets 90p).Oriental Sun is just one of four
rooms at Urbanwood GuesthouseCourses Tours Sights Eating Sleeping