Posts tagged 'Seoul travel'
A first-visit overview of Seochon, set out from official records: the height limit that held from 1977 until 2024, the three redevelopment zones cancelled ex officio in 2015, why franchises cannot open here, and why one neighbourhood carries three different names.
A first-visit guide to Seongbuk-dong. Bukjeong Village, where 279 of 371 houses were to be kept in 2019 until a February 2026 notice ordered the lot demolished, the 40 ambassadorial residences on the opposite slope of the same neighbourhood, and which village bus to take from Hansung University Station.
A first-timer's overview of Euljiro, from official sources: the airport bus runs straight through the neighbourhood, every station exit leads to a completely different place, and one alley has a Seoul city heritage page that says demolition is under way.
A first-visit overview of Ikseon-dong, set out from official records: the urban hanok built for Korean residents in the 1930s, how the redevelopment zone was lifted in 2018 with three preservation measures attached the same day, why the alleys are narrow because the law says so, and the fact that people still live here.
A first-timer's guide to Seongsu-dong: the airport bus that actually stops in the neighbourhood, the three different districts behind the three Seongsu Station exits, the weekend car-free window, and why even shops on the district office's own official course disappear.
Wearing hanbok gets you into Seoul's palaces free, but only certain garments qualify. Here are the two requirements, the styles that get refused at the gate, why Changdeokgung's Huwon is the single exclusion, and how hanbok lets you into Gyeongbokgung's night viewing without a booking.
A first-timer's guide to the Korean bathhouse, checked against the law itself. Where you are naked and where you must be dressed is set by the Enforcement Rule, not by custom; there is no legal basis anywhere for a tattoo ban; and sleeping over is a stranger arrangement than most travellers expect.
The 2026 Chuseok holiday runs four days, 24 to 27 September. When the palaces and national museums open, when department stores and banks shut, and why the subway runs late on only two of the four nights — all checked against official notices.
Now, Yeogi