Seoul, South Korea 4 Day Itinerary
Seoul, South Korea 4 Day Itinerary
Seoul is one of the easiest major cities in Asia to navigate as a first-time visitor: the subway system covers almost everywhere you need to go, English signage is widespread, and the food culture rewards curiosity at every price point. The challenge is not logistics but scope. This is a city of ten million people with five UNESCO-listed royal palace complexes, some of the world’s best street food, and neighbourhoods that feel completely different from each other. Four days is enough to get your bearings and eat extremely well. It is not enough to do everything. This itinerary picks a lane and stays in it.
Practical Foundations
Airport transfer: Incheon International Airport is 60 kilometres from central Seoul. The AREX Express Train runs nonstop to Seoul Station in 43 minutes and costs 9,500 KRW (around 7 USD) one way. The All-Stop AREX takes about 60 minutes and costs 4,150 to 4,750 KRW depending on your destination; it connects to major subway stations across the city. Buy tickets at the AREX counter or tap a T-Money card. Note that as of January 2026, Asiana Airlines operates from Terminal 2, so check which terminal your airline uses before planning your route to the train. A taxi from the airport costs around 60,000 to 80,000 KRW and takes 60 to 90 minutes depending on traffic.
T-Money card: Buy one at any convenience store (CU, GS25, 7-Eleven) inside the airport for around 3,000 KRW, then load it with cash at any subway station machine. You use it for the subway, buses, and some taxis. A single subway journey costs 1,400 to 1,800 KRW.
Currency: South Korean Won (KRW). Cards are accepted almost everywhere in the city, but street food stalls and traditional market vendors sometimes prefer cash. Banks and official exchange counters give much better rates than airport kiosks.
Scam to know: The most common nuisance for tourists in Seoul involves friendly strangers who approach you to practise English and then invite you to a “gallery” or “cultural event” where you are pressured to buy expensive art or overpriced drinks. It is not dangerous but is a reliable way to lose an hour and some money. Politely decline any unprompted invitations from strangers near Myeong-dong, Insadong, and Hongdae.
Weather: Summers (June to August) are hot and humid, with a monsoon period (jangma) typically running late June through mid-July. Spring (April to May) and autumn (September to November) are the most pleasant times to visit, with autumn foliage making October the most visited month.
Day 1: Joseon Seoul (Gwanghwamun, Gyeongbokgung, Gwangjang)
Start at Gwanghwamun Gate, the southern entrance to Gyeongbokgung Palace, at 9am when the crowds are manageable. The Changing of the Royal Guard ceremony at the gate runs twice daily at 10:00 and 14:00, lasts about 20 minutes, and is free to watch. The guards in Joseon-era costume are visually striking and the ceremony itself is genuinely formal rather than a casual tourist performance.
Gyeongbokgung Palace (3,000 KRW entry, closed Tuesdays) is the largest of Seoul’s five Joseon Dynasty palaces, built in 1395 and destroyed by Japanese forces in the 1590s, then largely demolished again during the Japanese colonial period in the 20th century and only partially restored since the 1990s. The restoration is ongoing and the palace grounds are expansive enough that they never feel crowded even with hundreds of visitors. Rent a hanbok at one of the shops outside the north or east gates for around 15,000 KRW for two hours; hanbok wearers enter the palace free and can take photographs in the throne hall area that is otherwise roped off.
The National Folk Museum of Korea is inside the palace grounds and free to enter. It is a good place to understand the context of what you are looking at in the palace itself. The open-air section with reconstructed traditional buildings is better than the interior galleries.
For lunch, walk northeast to Gwangjang Market, Seoul’s oldest covered market, established in 1905. This is the most authentic food market in the city and, unlike many famous food markets in Asia, has not been significantly sanitised for tourism. The front section of the market hall is dedicated almost entirely to food stalls. Order bindaetteok (mung bean pancakes stuffed with pork and bean sprouts, around 5,000 KRW each) and yukhoe (seasoned raw beef bibimbap) from one of the market’s elder grandmothers who have been running their stalls for decades. Eat at the stall, not at the plastic tables away from the action. Come hungry; the portions are large and the prices are low.
Afternoon: walk south to Cheonggyecheon Stream, a 10-kilometre urban stream that was buried under a highway in the 1970s and restored between 2003 and 2005. The story of its restoration is more interesting than the stream itself, but the walk along the lower embankment is cool and shaded and a good way to cross the city centre on foot.
Evening: Myeong-dong for street food and watching Seoul in full consumer mode. The night market stalls along the main pedestrian street sell tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes), hotteok (sweet pancakes), and tornado potatoes. It is touristy and the prices are slightly higher than elsewhere, but the atmosphere after dark is lively. If you want to eat sitting down, find a restaurant on a side alley rather than the main drag: prices drop and quality rises.
Where to stay: The Myeong-dong and City Hall area has the highest concentration of mid-range business hotels with easy subway access. Expect to pay 80,000 to 150,000 KRW per night for a decent double room. The Euljiro neighbourhood immediately east of City Hall has a cluster of boutique hotels in converted industrial buildings that opened in the last few years and charge similar rates with more character.
Day 2: Palaces and Hanok
Begin at Changdeokgung Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and, unlike Gyeongbokgung, a palace that was actually used as a royal residence until 1910. General admission is 3,000 KRW. The reason to come here rather than spend a second day at Gyeongbokgung is the Huwon (Secret Garden): a 78-acre wooded garden behind the palace with pavilions, lotus ponds, and century-old trees that feels completely removed from the city. Entry to the Secret Garden requires a separate ticket (5,000 KRW) and a mandatory guided tour. Tours run in English at 11:30am and 2:30pm. Book in advance at the official Korea Heritage Service website because the English tours fill up quickly, especially in autumn.
After the palace, walk south to Bukchon Hanok Village, a hillside residential area between Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung where roughly 900 traditional Korean houses (hanok) from the early 20th century have been preserved. The view south from the top of the ridge looking toward the city is excellent. One piece of honest advice: the main alleys are now extremely crowded with tourists, particularly in the morning. The village has also implemented visitor restrictions requiring quiet after a certain hour due to complaints from residents who still live there. Wander the smaller side lanes rather than staying on the main photographed alley. Most visitors spend an hour here; that is probably right.
Insadong and the adjacent Ikseon-dong form a neighbourhood that ranges from over-commercialised (Insadong main street) to genuinely interesting (Ikseon-dong’s small lanes). Insadong has antique shops, tea houses, and handcraft stores; some are good, many sell the same tourist goods you find everywhere. Ikseon-dong is a block of late-Joseon hanok houses now occupied by small cafes and restaurants. It is packed on weekends. Tosokchon near Gyeongbokgung serves the city’s most famous samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup, around 17,000 KRW), which Koreans eat in summer as a restorative. Queue is long at lunchtime but moves quickly.
Evening: Jogyesa Temple is the head temple of the Korean Buddhist Jogye Order, tucked into a block in central Seoul with little external indication of what lies inside. Entry is free. Evening is calmer than daytime. The main hall dates to 1910 and the courtyard white lotus lanterns, when they are hung for the Buddha’s birthday celebrations in May, are extraordinary. Outside that season, the temple is still a useful hour of quiet.
Day 3: Gangnam, Han River, Dongdaemun
Cross the Han River to Gangnam. The real Gangnam district is not much like the Psy video, which was filmed partly in Seocho and Jamsil. It is actually a densely packed grid of office buildings, high-end restaurants, plastic surgery clinics, and premium shopping. The most interesting stop for visitors is the COEX Mall underground complex in Samsung-dong, which contains the Starfield Library (a public reading room with a two-storey wall of books, free entry and extremely photogenic) and an aquarium if you have children.
From COEX, walk or taxi to Apgujeong Rodeo Street and the adjacent Garosugil in Sinsa-dong. Garosugil (“tree-lined road”) is a pleasant street of independent boutiques, international restaurants, and coffee shops under ginkgo trees. It is the most relaxed shopping strip in Seoul: no hard sell, no crowds, and the cafes have outdoor seating. Worth two hours.
Back north of the river, spend the afternoon at Lotte World Tower in Jamsil if observation decks interest you. At 123 storeys and 555 metres, it is the fifth-tallest building in the world and the view on a clear day covers the city in all directions. Tickets for the Seoul Sky observation deck cost around 27,000 KRW for adults.
Evening: Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP), the Zaha Hadid building, is at its best after dark when the exterior curves are lit. The design museum inside hosts rotating exhibitions; check what is on before going. The surrounding Dongdaemun market area is a textile and fashion wholesale district that stays open until very late; the streets around the DDP have dozens of cheap restaurants serving Korean barbecue and naengmyeon (cold buckwheat noodles, particularly good in summer).
Day 4: Hongdae, Mapo, Departure
Hongdae (Hongik University area) is Seoul’s arts and youth district. During the day, the streets around the university have independent clothing shops, second-hand bookstores, vinyl record shops, and small music venues. The area opens up properly after 5pm when the street performers, food carts, and bar entrances fill the pedestrian zones. For a last morning in Seoul, Hongdae is better than Myeong-dong because the cafes are cheaper and more interesting, and the shopping is less oriented toward chain brands.
The neighbourhood immediately east of Hongdae, Yeonnam-dong, has been quietly absorbing the overflow of independent cafes and small restaurants that could not afford Hongdae rents. A walk through Yeonnam-dong’s central park strip leads to a cluster of small restaurants on the side streets. Breakfast or brunch here is a good start to a departure day.
Korean barbecue deserves at least one dedicated meal on any Seoul trip, and the Mapo area near Hongdae has some of the city’s best mid-range options. Look for restaurants that grill at the table over charcoal rather than gas: the flavour is different and the process is slower in a way that rewards lingering.
For shopping before the airport, the duty-free shops at Incheon Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 carry Korean cosmetics (Sulwhasoo, Innisfree, Laneige) at prices that are marginally lower than in-city stores but with a wider selection. Korean skincare is genuinely good and not overpriced relative to equivalent Western products; if you are going to buy any, buy it here rather than at tourist price in Myeong-dong.
Allow at least two hours from central Seoul to the airport via AREX, including time to check in. The train runs every 5 to 10 minutes from Seoul Station on the All-Stop service. The last AREX Express Train to the airport departs Seoul Station around 9:50pm; check the current schedule before your last evening.