By Korea.net Honorary Reporter Alfonso Delgado from the Philippines
Photos = Alfonso Delgado

Over the years, I had given friends quick, five-hour tours of Seoul during their stopovers at Incheon International Airport. We hopped around the city covering Seoul Station, Itaewon, Namsan, Namdaemun Market, Myeongdong, Gwanghwamun Square, Cheonggyecheon stream, Gyeongbokgung Palace, and Gangnam Station for five hours without using any private vehicle but the bus and subway with stops for shopping, lunch and snacks! This could only be done with the knowledge of the city’s geography, and bus and subway systems. I doubt if anyone has ever replicated my feats.

So, even before my mom and sister arrived in Seoul, I already knew where to bring them. They’re not into Korean cosmetics, Korean dramas, or K-pop. They just wanted to sightsee and savor the local cuisine.

From the airport, we took the airport taxi to my apartment in the Dongdaemun District in Seoul. The airport taxis are another convenient way to your destination in Seoul. You can also reserve a trip back to Incheon Airport after your vacation.

And for six days and five nights in Seoul, these are the places I brought them to.

We arrived on a Monday night, and while the weather was generally good, the week was a mix of yellow dust, rain, and sun. I had to adjust our daily itinerary to avoid exposing ourselves to the irritating yellow dust.

On the second day, being Catholics, we visited the Myeongdong Cathedral, the premier place of worship for Korean Catholics. Pope Francis held a mass here during his visit to Korea in 2014. And then we had dinner at my favorite mandu dumplings restaurant in the middle of Myeongdong. This restaurant is popular among tourists and their big-sized mandu never fails to give me a ‘burp’! Don't forget to pay a visit to Myeongdong food alley. From desserts to barbecues, to roasted chestnuts, this popular food alley at the center of Myeongdong is a must for tourists eager to enjoy the local delicacies and snacks.

On the third day, we shopped at Dongdaemun’s Dongmyo toy alley for the kids back home. With our shopping bags full of toys, we simply walked towards the Dongdaemun Design Plaza and stopped by Dongdaemun’s NPH bag market before they closed at noon. The bag market opens at night and closes at noon the next day.

As my mom loves colorful flowers, I brought them to Jogyesa Temple as this place has its own flower exhibitions once in a while. I also needed to show her the unique architecture of the Buddhist temple which we don’t see often in the Philippines. From the temple, we crossed over to Insadong and walked around there. Then we headed to Namsan tower in a cab to enjoy the view of the city.



On the fourth day, we had brunch in Hannam-dong in the Yongsan District. Since Garuso-gil was just across the river, we took a cab and were there in about five minutes. Garuso-gil is a popular street in the Gangnam District that’s full of uptown shops, cafes, and restaurants. From Garuso-gil, another cab ride brought us to the Lotte World Tower, the tallest building in South Korea. It is also the fifth tallest in the world. From Lotte World Tower, we hurriedly left before the rush hour kicked in and headed to a huge supermarket in Dongdaemun where we bought some Korean snacks and Choco Pies to bring home to the Philippines.

On the fifth day, we walked around Yongsan Station, which is the major train station, after Seoul Station, for the KTX trains heading to the provinces. The station has a mall and cinemas, where I saw up close Nicolas Cage and Tom Cruise in person during premieres of their respective movies. After lunch, we walked around the Namdaemun Market, where we had popular hotteok pancakes and bought more Korean souvenirs. A Friday night food fair at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza was an interesting stop that evening. The back area of DDP was full of food trucks and people.

On the last day, since we were leaving that night, we had time in the morning to buy fresh strawberries, chestnuts, and pears from my Cheongnyangni fruit market, the biggest one north of the Han River. Since our flight out of Seoul was in the evening, we took it easy; we woke up late and had a late lunch at the Lotte mall at Cheongnyangni Station nearby.

At 5 p.m., our reserved airport taxi picked us up from my apartment. Our flight was at 10 p.m., and since we had nothing else to do, we just left for the airport early knowing that expressways were congested on Saturday afternoons. The traffic was bad from Dongdaemun up to Mapo District, and leaving early was a good idea.

Unlike package tours where the stops are timed and limited, our sightseeing around Seoul was laid back and relaxed. So, if you’re traveling to Seoul and just want a lazy sightseeing, you can just pick the spots you want to visit and move around using the subway or taxis. But here are the tips I want you to remember:

1. If you opted for non-breakfast hotel accommodations, you can just visit a gimbap rice roll restaurant in the neighborhood for cheap meals or get coffee at the nearest café.

2. During weekdays, avoid traveling during the rush hours: 8-9:30 a.m. and 5:30 to 8 p.m. Expressways are also clogged during weekend afternoons.

3. Don’t exchange all your foreign currency at the airport. There are money changers in Dongdaemun, Itaewon, and Myeongdong that give better rates than banks.

4. Bring your own eco bags when going to supermarkets. Some of them don’t provide shopping bags.

5. Bring face masks during yellow dust season and foldable umbrellas during the rainy season.

6. Have enough time for your ride back to Incheon Airport for your flight home. From Seoul, two hours may be enough. Also, make sure to check in online if you can to get in a less crowded line at the check-in counter.

7. There’s a digital weighing scale at the departure area if you want to make sure you’re within your baggage allowance limit. If you exceed, you can always transfer non-liquid things from your luggage to your carryon bag. I have done this with fruit.

wisdom117@korea.kr

* This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.