I was in Seoul for work and extended 5 days for vacation. This happened in September, changing of the season from summer to autumn, the weather was less hot but the sky was gloomy. Not exactly a good time to go on vacation in Seoul. The best time would be April and November. Below is my 5-day itinerary that you may find helpful when you are planning for a short getaway to Seoul.
Day 1 (Saturday)
After I was done with my work, my vacation began. We spent the morning shopping at COEX before moving out of Park Hyatt at Gangnam-gu. Check out September in Seoul – Gangnam for more on my time at Gangnam-gu.
We took the taxi to Insadong and check-in at Fraser Suite Insadong at Jongno-gu and spent the rest of the day exploring Insadong, having street food, watching street performances and checking out the antique shops, traditional tea houses and art galleries. For more, go to my post at September in Seoul – Insadong.
Day 2 (Sunday)
Spent the day exploring Insadong and shopping at Myeongdong to experience how the locals spend their weekends. We spent the day shopping and people watching. We also walked along the Cheongggyecheon. For details, check out September in Seoul – Cheonggyocheon Stream.
In the evening, we went to Hongdae, the University Street, where Hongik University is situated and had BBQ for dinner and watched the street performances by the students.
Day 3 (Monday)
Spent the morning at Gyeongbokgung, more details can be found at September in Seoul – Gyeongbokgung.
In the afternoon, we visited the Bukchon Hanok Village, for details, check out September in Seoul – Bukchon Hanok Village.
By late afternoon, we went back to our apartment to freshen up and had dinner at Insadong. Then went to doota! at Dongdaemun for night shopping. Do bring along your passport for a tax refund of your purchases.
Day 4 (Tuesday)
Spent the morning at Cheongdeokgung, a must visit, check out September in Seoul – Changdeokgung to find out more about my visit.
Next, we went to The Secret Garden. Do not miss this place, check out September in Seoul – The Secret Garden for more photos of the beautiful Garden.
Then we walked to Samcheongdong to grab some food and watched the afternoon go by, follow by a nice dinner. For details, check out September in Seoul – Samcheongdong.
In the evening, we went to Itaewon, near the US Army base.
Day 5 (Wednesday)
The day before we flew back, we joined a local tour to Paju DMZ. For details, check out September at Korea DMZ Tour.
After a late BBQ lunch, we went for our final round of shopping at Myeongdong and bought souvenirs at Insadong. Then we went back to our apartment to drop our shopping bags, freshen up and spent our last evening in Seoul at N Seoul Tower aka Namsan Tower. For details, check out September in Seoul – N Seoul Tower.
If you are planning to be in Seoul during autumn, do visit Namsan Park (Imagine Your Autumn in Seoul) and during winter, do check out the outdoor skating rink at Grand Hyatt at Namsan.
Hope you find the above brief itinerary helpful to plan for your short getaway to Seoul. If you have more time in Korea, plan to get out of Seoul to other parts of Korea, check this out for more ideas – Travel to “Moon Lovers – Scarlet Heart Ryeo” filming sites. 🙂
P.S. My response to Weekly Photo Challenge Theme: Wanderlust
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Living for Experiences 
It turns out that you were in Seoul just when we were. We were lucky enough to have time in several other cities too, spending a month in South Korea, because my daughter was working there. Somehow I managed a blog post a day, and I’m going to enjoy checking yours out later.
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Yeah, I was there a couple years ago. Wow! I wish I could spend a month there too. Will check out your blog to learn more about other parts of South Korea.
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Well, the South Korea series starts here: https://margaret21.com/2016/09/12/rather-lost-in-seoul/, but as there are a month’s worth of posts you may well want to skip forward. They were all done on my smartphone, so many of them are quite short.I’m glad I made the effort though.
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Looks almost like my itinerary while in Seoul in August, except I crammed all that into about 3 days! (I think your way was better! 🙂 )
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Thank you 😊 I prefer to take it easy.
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Wow Audrey, a nice trip indeed, I love the pics and the brief descriptions which make it easier to scroll through. A very cool idea is that for each spot you have visited, there is a link to surf and learn a bit deeper, without necessary “tiring” the reader. Very well thought. Loved it and your tips as well. 🙂
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Thank you! 😊 Yes, it was a wonderful trip, we enjoyed ourselves despite the gloomy weather.
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Looks immaculate 🙂
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Thank you 😊 for your kind words
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Looks great!
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Thank you! 😊
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Very nice trip you had! We found out that the Hanok village is very close to the ginseng chicken restaurant! Namsan in the day was also fabulous with the entire city laid out beneath you!
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Thank you! 🙂 Are you referring to 土俗村？I was in Seoul in November two years ago, had ginseng chicken there with soju. Food was really good, tasted even better when the weather was cold.
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Yes, it’s full of tourists!
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If you are going Seoul, do check out the restaurant I mentioned in my post on Samcheongdong. Not a tourist restaurant and they serve good traditional Korean food.
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Will do!
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beautiful photos!
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Thank you! 🙂Hope you find the itinerary helpful.
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yes it’s surely is! 🙂
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